The Wily Warbler Visits Ciria Lopez-Pacheco and Courtney Bisbee Behind Bars

There were significant problems with the police work done by Detective Christopher Kinder of the Scottsdale Police Department, and Bisbee and others have claimed that she had ineffective counsel, that counsel being Joel Thompson of Phillips and Associates, the law firm The Bird sees advertised on the boob tube nonstop.

On October 22, Bisbee's current attorney, Ulises Ferragut­, filed a powerful petition for a new trial, which included affidavits from several noted experts.

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More About

• Courtney Bisbee
• Ciria Lopez-Pacheco
• Andrew Thomas
• Prisons
• Criminal Sentencing and Punishment

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These included Phoenix lawyer Alan Simpson, who helped Ray Krone escape Arizona's death row; psychology Professor James Wood, an authority in the forensic interviewing of children by police whose testimony helped free John Stoll, the Bakersfield, California man falsely convicted of multiple child molestations; and psych Professor Richard Ofshe, an expert in police interrogation tactics who also testified in the trial of Damien Echols and his co-defendants, dubbed "The West Memphis Three."

In November, Ferragut filed a motion asking for Bisbee's release pending the court's decision on the petition for a new trial. It was a longshot and was quickly denied by Granville.

Ultimately, the court must decide whether to grant a hearing on the petition for a new trial, and as you might imagine, County Attorney Andrew Thomas wants to draw out the process for as long as possible. Before the court can make a decision, Thomas' office has to file a response, but on December 24, Deputy County Attorney Gerald Grant asked for more time.

According to Grant, Bisbee's petition "raises claims that will require a thorough review of the record and the investigatory materials that led to the filing of the criminal charges." (Italics added by this avian.)

Could this mean that Thomas is looking for a scapegoat in the initial investigation, and a way out of this troubling miscarriage of justice that shows no signs of going away? Maybe. After all, Thomas could make the case that the Scottsdale PD botched the job from jump, which it did.

Detective Kinder even made misstatements to the first grand jury in the case, leading members to believe Bisbee had confessed to the molestation, when she hadn't. As a result, Bisbee was held for 66 days without bond, until a second grand jury granted her release on a $100,000 bond.

Bisbee can prove that Thomas had evidence of her innocence as far back as early 2007. If the county attorney never acted on that evidence, he still has the opportunity to right a wrong, and come out looking almost like a hero. And that wouldn't be a bad move for a guy who wants to either be governor or attorney general someday.

Meanwhile, Bisbee maintains the sort of positive attitude that'd give the eternally upbeat TV pastor Joel O'Steen a run for his moolah. She seems ready to outlast all opposition, instructing her counsel to object to the prosecution's requests for continuances, and penning letters to Judge Gary Donahoe, listing the numerous times the county attorney has been advised of new evidence in the case. (Donahoe's managing Bisbee's file until it's ready to be handed off to Granville, who will then make a decision regarding the petition for a new hearing.)

"I'm wrongly imprisoned," Bisbee explained to The Bird. "And the state has had exculpatory evidence from 18 months before. Andrew Thomas should be responsible. He should have looked into this a long time ago."

This small woman, in her orange prison garb, has a huge smile and speaks as though she's the one holding all the cards. Fueling her fight is confidence in her own innocence and the corny belief that justice will prevail. On paper, everything seems stacked against Courtney Bisbee. But on paper, it's hard to see the determination behind that smile.