Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will face the Wayne County judge he fought to have removed from his case for a probation violation hearing at the end of this month.

Chief Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny denied Kilpatrick's appeal to remove Judge David Groner from his case, so Kilpatrick will appear before Groner on March 24 at 10 a.m. for a hearing in the ongoing restitution case.

Outside of the courtroom Kilpatrick did not answer any questions, but his new spokesman, Mike Paul, said his client was looking forward to returning home to Texas to be with his family.

Just before the impromptu post-hearing news conference, Paul snubbed Local 4 reporter Paula Tutman when she tried to ask Kilpatrick a question.

"Well, there you have it. The PR guy tried to elbow me out of the way," said Tutman on live TV.

Paul also told reporters that Kenny's ruling was a "partial victory." "What we were seeking all the time was fairness, accountability," Paul said. "And the judge added something that was just as important: 'swiftly.' And that's what we feel we're going to have now. Judge Groner, we feel that he will deal with us in a more just and accountable way."

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Kilpatrick is accused of violating his probation by failing to fully pay $79,011 toward his $1 million restitution by Feb. 19. He was arraigned on the probation violation Tuesday but was told to stay in Detroit until the disqualification issue could be settled.

Kilpatrick arrived to court just before 9 a.m. and went into Kenny's courtroom for the 20-minute hearing.

Kenny said that after reviewing the transcripts of Tuesday's hearing where Groner refused to remove himself from the case at the request of Kilpatrick's attorney, Michael Allen Schwartz, he sided with his fellow judge.

Schwartz had cited three main reasons why Groner, who presided over Kilpatrick's original perjury case and a series of restitution hearings, should step aside.

Schwartz accused Groner of having a secretive meeting with Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Spada, when he came to ask Groner to sign an arrest warrant for Kilpatrick. He also said he was uncomfortable with the fact that Groner's brother-in-law is chief assistant prosecutor for Wayne County, Richard Hathaway. Schwartz also said Groner is biased against Kilpatrick.

Groner explained that he never had a secretive meeting with Spada and that when Spada presented him with an addendum to Kilpatrick's arrest warrant, which included more accusations against Kilpatrick, he had his clerk bring back the document to his desk, and then he signed it and gave it back to his clerk.

"I never saw him," said Groner. "That was the contact I had with him, which is no contact. You allege I had a secret meeting."

He denied that his brother-in-law's relationship would interfere with the case and denied that he had a personal bias against Kilpatrick.

"I have no relationship with him (Kilpatrick). I know of him, but I have no personal relationship," said Groner.

Kenny said he did not agree and denied their motion to remove Groner from the case.

"The defense motion for disqualification for judge Groner is considered and the motion for disqualification is denied," said Kenny.

Kenny asked the defense how long he believes the probation hearing will take place.

?I believe it will take one day,? said Schwartz.

Kenny urged the probation hearing to take place swiftly and said he would take over Groner?s arraignments for the day to help move it forward in a timely manner.

Kilpatrick was arraigned Tuesday on those charges where Kenny entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf and set a $10,000 bond.

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On Tuesday, Schwartz and Kilpatrick stopped briefly outside the courthouse to talk to reporters about why they thought Groner could not be fair.

"In Judge Groner's court, I was not allowed to make statements. I was cut off. I couldn't even make statements to begin with," Schwartz said.