Boob's Tube

Here's how publicity hound Joe Arpaio used a TV station to try to destroy rival Dan Saban with a bogus rape claim

A A A Comments By Paul Rubin Thursday, Jan 25 2007

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"I have no response for Lisa," Saban said. "She knows how I feel about this whole situation."

As for Joe Arpaio, he revealed how he views himself in relation to the law during his January 10 deposition in the Saban suit.

Dan May

Rob Koebel's career at Channel 15 was short-lived after this April 30, 2004, "scoop."

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Saban attorney Robbins asked the sheriff about his definition of "conflict of interest," a key legal concept in the lawsuit.

To Robbins' way of thinking, Arpaio and Hendershott had (and have) a substantial monetary interest in the sheriff's reelection. That should have caused them to recuse themselves from the Saban investigation — especially after Hendershott heard firsthand what Ruby Norman had to say about the sheriff's main opposition.

"I have no idea what a conflict of interest is until you study the situation," Arpaio testified. "I can't give you a specific on what is a conflict of interest. If my brother was going to be investigated, would that be a conflict of interest? I don't know. I would probably investigate my brother, so that's a hard one to answer."

Robbins asked Arpaio if he has "any rules or guidelines that you know of that would help you to determine if there is a conflict of interest."

"I have no rules," Maricopa County's top lawman said. "I have nothing down in black-and-white that I know of that's going to force me to make a decision based on any rule, regulation . . . I am the sheriff, I have the authority to investigate anybody in this county, and I take that very serious."

That statement may say more about Sheriff Arpaio and how he and his agency do business than anything that Dan Saban or anyone else could possibly allege.