DETROIT (AP) — Documents related to a whistle-blower lawsuit that led to a text-messaging sex scandal involving the mayor and his top aide must be released to the public, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Colombo Jr. said the city has three days to appeal his decision.

The newspapers are suing Detroit to determine if there was a secret settlement in the whistle-blower lawsuit, in which a jury ruled against the city. The case eventually cost the city more than $8.5 million.

Colombo on Tuesday indicated that indeed there was a secret settlement, pointing to certain documents that he said wouldn't have been negotiated if there was no deal.

"The public should be very happy with what happened today," Detroit News attorney James Stewart said following Tuesday's hearing. "This information is going to come out. I think the notion the public hasn't found this out before will dismay people."

The whistle-blower lawsuit was filed by two police officers who alleged they were fired for investigating claims that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.

During testimony in the civil trial, Kilpatrick and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, denied having an affair during 2002-03 and conspiring to have one of the officers fired.

However, the Free Press two weeks ago published sexually explicit text messages between the pair in 2002 and 2003 that appear to contradict what they said on the stand.

After a jury awarded damages to the officers in September, Kilpatrick vowed to appeal. A month later, a settlement was reached.

The contents of those messages may have played a role in the city's refusal to release documents related to the settlement.

Kilpatrick wrote Beatty in 2002: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."

The prosecutor's office opened a perjury investigation on Jan. 25. Beatty announced her resignation Jan. 28. Two days later, Kilpatrick made a televised speech apologizing to family and constituents but avoiding direct mention of the allegations. His wife, Carlita, sat by his side and urged the city to remain committed to him.

In addition to documents related to the settlement, Colombo ordered that a Jan. 30 deposition of defense attorney Michael Stefani by lawyers representing The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press also be released.

"They're all smoking guns," Free Press attorney Herschel Fink said of the documents relating to the city's settlement of the civil lawsuits.

City lawyers filed an emergency order Tuesday morning that would allow them to appeal Colombo's decision by Friday. Colombo said his office would deliver the documents to the Court of Appeals if necessary.

Also on Tuesday, the Detroit City Council voted to have the city's auditor general look into Kilpatrick's finances beginning in 2002.