Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is due in court tomorrow for the fifth time in weeks, where he’ll be arraigned on charges that he assaulted a sheriff’s deputy last month. Kilpatrick also faces criminal charges of perjury for his alleged involvement in a cover-up of a police investigation and his denial under oath that he had an extra-marital affair with his former chief of staff. The denials contradict hundreds of text messages sent between Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, who also faces perjury charges. Kilpatrick’s next court appearance could determine whether he’s free to travel to next week’s Democratic National Convention and historic nomination of Barack Obama. Last week, Judge Leonard Townsend reversed an order that Kilpatrick wear an ankle tether and be restricted from leaving metro Detroit after a bond violation. But within hours, Kilpatrick was tethered again, due to separate restrictions connected with the assault charge. Townsend shocked prosecutors by openly advocating in court for the mayor to attend the Democratic National Convention, but Kilpatrick has said he doesn’t want to be a distraction. Many critics of the mayor say his association with Obama could cost the presidential candidate votes in November.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is to be released from jail on Friday, but tethered to a monitoring device, according to the latest news reports. Despite his apologies to 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles at a hearing on Thursday, Kilpatrick (seen above in booking photo) woke up in Wayne County Jail this morning after he made an unauthorized trip out of the country. The trip apparently was in violation of the conditions of his parole on purjury charges in connection with an affair the Detroit mayor allegedly had with a co-worker. However, now the so-called hip-hop mayor faces a whole new set of problems. Read more at BET.com/News. Should he have been sent to jail?

Sen. Barack Obama made his first appearance Sunday morning following his eight-day tour through the Middle East and Europe before minority journalists gathered in his hometown of Chicago. For more on what’s happening in the presidential race, see Pamela On Politics.