He didn't win reinstatement until November 2007. But, meanwhile, he found good-paying jobs ($55 an hour) as a mitigation specialist for Nate Carr in Naranjo and for Randall Craig in the sprawling Mark "Baseline Killer" Goudeau case.
To be appointed in a capital case, rules of the Arizona Supreme Court say, a defense attorney must "be a member in good standing of the State Bar of Arizona for at least five years preceding the appointment" and "have practiced in the area of state criminal litigation for three years preceding the appointment."
Steve Johnson was able to bypass these rules because, without comment, the Supreme Court in January 2008 granted his petition and allowed his appointment as a second-chair attorney in trial and appellate proceedings. (Last September, the court granted another Johnson petition, this one to allow him to be lead counsel in death-penalty cases.)
"It's up to the first chairs who they want as co-counsel or as mitigation specialists," said Jim Logan of the county's Office of Public Defender Services. "I did mention Mr. Johnson's recent history to Mr. Carr and to others at one point or another, and they seemed okay with it."
Among his new cases after his reinstatement as a lawyer, Johnson became co-counsel to Randy Craig in the capital case of Donald Delahanty, accused of killing Phoenix police officer David Uribe during a routine traffic stop on West Cactus Road in May 2005.
Many criminal defendants are prone to whining about their attorneys when things go poorly.
But the several recent clients who have protested to judges and to the State Bar about Johnson sound eerily similar to those of a decade or so ago, when he lost his livelihood for years.
A year ago, the Bar issued a formal reprimand against Johnson after a convicted inmate complained, with good reason, that the attorney — his court-appointed appellate advocate — had not responded to his repeated phone calls and a letter. The reprimand was a hard slap on the wrist, one step short of yet another suspension.
Another complainant was Mexican national Fidel Godinez-Garcia, one of eight men charged in May 2008 in the Phoenix murder of a suspected high-level human-smuggling boss. Court records show that Jim Logan appointed Johnson in late 2008 to replace Nate Carr as lead attorney in the non-capital case.
Godinez-Garcia wrote to the Bar in early July 2010 that his trial supposedly was on the horizon, yet he hadn't spoken with Johnson for months.
This, by the way, should have surprised no one, given the workload that court officials had allowed Johnson to assume. Legitimate mitigation work in Naranjo and Goudeau alone would have been more than enough for most people.
But Johnson also was lead lawyer in one first-degree non-capital murder case and co-counsel in at least three others.
Godinez-Garcia, who doesn't speak English, claimed that Johnson (who doesn't speak Spanish) had showed up for a rare jailhouse visit without an interpreter.
"That just goes to show that he is not taking me serious," Godinez-Garcia said. "My case is very important to me and my family, and I need a lawyer that will take me serious." (Another inmate translated into English what Godinez-Garcia said for the handwritten missive.)
But Johnson remained on the defendant's case until early this year, when another private attorney on the county's contract list replaced him.
Daniel Garcia-Saenz is another murder defendant who expressed serious dissatisfaction with Steve Johnson in writing. He also is a Mexican national and remains accused with three other defendants in the 2008 drug-related home-invasion murder of a West Phoenix man. Actually, the accused man wanted both lead attorney Carr and co-counsel Johnson off his case.
In late 2009, Garcia-Saenz informed trial judge Michael Kemp that his attorneys weren't paying any attention to his case.
"There is no way I could ever trust such dishonest and incompetent attorneys," the defendant wrote. "They have repeatedly told me they would visit and would bring information to me to review and then broke those promises. This is the same type of dishonesty they have demonstrated for a year and continue to do so in my case."
Judges usually pay little heed to such grievances, not wanting indigent clients to engage in lawyer-hopping as trial dates near.
But Kemp, a former county and federal prosecutor, was concerned enough to hold a hearing in December 2009 on the issue. According to a court transcript, the judge asked Nate Carr how many interviews he had conducted in the case during the year and a half he had been on it.
None, Carr replied, suggesting he simply followed the lead of other attorneys in the multi-defendant case.
Carr actually agreed with Garcia-Saenz about the lack of mutual trust between the attorneys and their client.
Kemp allowed Carr and co-counsel Johnson to withdraw, without sanction. More than three years later, Garcia-Saenz still is awaiting resolution of his case.
Jim Logan approved all of Carr and Johnson's bills in the case, almost $100,000 for Carr and $40,000 for Johnson.
Looking over the pair's invoices in Garcia-Saenz, it appears that both men were hard at work as the case edged forward. But court files show that they filed just four minimal legal motions between them during their year and a half on board and, as Carr admitted, had completed no interviews.
This is crazy! Thank you for posting this. I am not really sure why the taxpayers are to be the one suffering in this situation. For instance, the <a href="http://www.remotesiteproducts.com/SPD/phoenix-power-supply-2866750-phoenix-contact-quint-sfb-24-volt-5-amp-power-supply-class-1-div-2-best-power-supply--8000043B-1238704301.jsp">phoenix power supply</a> do not care about that!
You state that the death penalty "work"s. What, pray tell, are you talking about? It works as punishment? Nope, once the person is dead, there is no more punishment - I want the murderer of my first wife to remain on this mortal coil for as long as he breaths - yet confined in a 6X10 cell - it's a punishment worse than death. Death is the easy way out - I want that SOB to suffer for as long as humanely possible. Do you mean deter others from engaging in murder? Nope - you don't teach people that killing people is wrong by killing people. It's a stupid response to an evil act. Allowing our State to utilize deadly violence against one citizens will result in MORE violence not less. Check out the murder rates in Canada and then compare them with the United State murder rate. In fact, look at the rates for all the States and Countries without the death penalty. The rates are all less. In fact, If you controlled for all other factors, the death penalty would be seen as the REASON our murder rate is so high.http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/deterrence-states-without-death-penalty-have-had-consistently-lower-murder-rates http://fullfact.org/blog/death_penalty_homicide_rates-2905 Firingsquad you better provide a little better evidence than your say so - cause you ain't got squat so far that proves the death penalty "works" - there IS NO SUCH EVIDENCE!
Time to end the politicized death penalty gravy train. Premeditated murder by the state does not bring back the victims lives. The death penalty has not deterred those hell-bent on killing men, women and children. What man / woman should determine who lives and who dies?
Thank you for this story Paul. I tried screaming this from the rooftops when the men who murdered my sister and their attorneys spent millions of taxpayer dollars over 7 plus years appealing their sentences claiming they were mentally retarded. Flying elderly retired German elementary school teacher and his wife to feebly testify about his particular memory from 40 yrs ago about one student in his classroom and other over the top expenses on taxpayers' dime. All to attempt to abolish the death penalty through the most preposterous, yet legal, arguments. If people don't care that murderous death row inmates get some of the best legal representation in our country for years and years, maybe they will care how their tax dollars are being squandered. The pathetic irony in our case was that the truly mentally retarded in our State could surely have benefitted from those millions yet it all went to conniving sociopathic premeditating first degree murderers. Kathy Monkman
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Want the death penalty ? So prosecutors can strut and posture, so the MSM can hype it as an ongoing drama, and so we can show we are "tough" on crime ?
Alright, then ! Pay up and SHUT UP.
Still in the system ..... those in the MCAO / AG's offices and courts, who were responsible for the wrongful conviction, two trials and wrongful imprisonment of an innocent Arizona man, Ray Krone. Nothing has changed.
The MCSO needs a major house-cleaning rather than continue to sweep their malicious prosecution and incompetent convictions under the rug. When will the MCAO "right the wrongs" that have been building up for years.? Arizona's draconian mandatory minimum sentencing -- has been their weapon for "easy" convictions. Why don't the prosecutors and legislators what to reform Sentencing laws which would save taxpayers millions of $$'s? Save innocent lives and their families and future? Why has the lid been slammed on those who are innocent silenced behind the walls of Arizona's prisons?
Who is going to investigate the over 200,000 felony cases since 2005 --- under the Thomas / Aubuchon / Alexander reign of terror on the people, the justice system and the Constitution -- for wrongful convictions? Those who remain silent are complicit in the broken criminal justice system that is mass incarcerating its people, putting ALL at risk for great harm.
Ray Krone spoke in Phoenix, 10 years since his exoneration. So the MCAO hasn't had any other wrongful convictions and exonerations since then? Would it be they haven't made mistakes or abused their power? Those who have new evidence and / or wrongfully convicted, who were sentenced and convicted under disbarred ex-MCAO Thomas and ex-DCA Lisa Aubuchon should have their cases opened and investigated. That is the responsibility of the new Maricopa County Attorney. Where is the Conviction Integrity Unit in the MCAO? The AG's office?
The Ray Krone story by Jim Rix:
Jingle Jangle The Perfect Crime Turned Inside Out (9780978806705):
Jim Rix: Books
http://www.amazon.com/Jingle-Jangle-Perfect-Turned-Inside/dp/0978806700
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I hope they come down hard on this corruption, they are not better than the criminals.
Dont forget Ray Krown was on dealth row. "JINGLE JANGLE" by jim rix
on dealth row 12 years in az, and wasnt even guilty. These corrupt individuals sound guilty to me.
Thank you for this important article, Clean up the state, expose them
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Get rid of the death penalty. It deters no one, takes too long to provide meaningful closure to the victims, and costs an arm-and-leg (not to mention the soul.)
Lock 'em up, don't let them out. SAVE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS!
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I agree that the death penalty is not the deterrent we all hoped it would be. Let's face it, if someone goes on a killing spree, they are either mentally unstable, seeking fame, or have no reason to live. Killing them does them a favor.
I say, make prison more like what our servicemen and woman have to deal with. No cushy beds, sweltering heat, no TV and crappy food. Education, cable TV, and extra privileges should be made available only for those trying to better themselves and being model prisoners. We need serious hard labor in our prisons and no weights to bulk up the 'bad asses'. Tough conditions deter people in the rest of the world. Whereas, people pray they get to do jail time in a US prison.
This would save all the money on mandatory appeals and PCRs, and reduce our tax burden. It costs $40k a year to house a prisoner. Over 20 years, that's $800k. For a death penalty case, there is the enormous expense of multiple trials, attorneys for both sides and the cost to house them. We pay at least 3 times as much to "put them to death", if we get around to it before they die of old age. Either way they are out of society.
@AZJaz (Johnson) and Josh (Carr), Give it a rest. You're only making it worse for yourselves.
You think Mr. Rubin doesn't have more on you two? think again. The surface has barely been scratched in deals like this. You can attack Mr. Fox all you want but answer this: Why would Mr. Fox be "disgruntled"? He got paid $138,000 for the case - not to shabby.
Fact is, you both submitted fraudulent bills and are now going to be facing a State Bar investigation as well as criminal charges. Evey fraudulent billing you signed under oath and submitted is a count. The systematic way you defrauded the county sets up a fraud schemes charge. The aggregate amount exceeds $100,000.00 which is mandatory prison. And so, you attack Fox. To be expected from you two - what else can you two really do to deflect from your acts? How could Fox report your incompetence during trial? That would be a violation of his duty to the client. And do you know if Fox in fact did contact the Bar after the trial? If he did and the Bar either chose not to then act or are sitting on it waiting to act, he did his ethical duty. That issue will soon enough be cleared up as well. (and you better be hoping he didn't because if he did.... ) But, in your shrinking worlds, Fox is "disgruntled"? And that's how you explain all this.... explain the 8 hour DOC phantom visit you billed $1,000 for... Hardly, you and Johnson are just desperate. Its already out on the street how you've gone around and tried to win over people with your spins. No one is buying it. And your civil lawsuit threats? Really? go for it - no 5th Amendment right for those depositions.
As for Mr. Logan... not his job?? Really? gets paid $164,000 a year and you think it's NOT his job to control and verify how taxpayer money is being spent? Truth soon to come out there too - he was either well aware of you two and your fraudulent billings months in advance (which is the strong suspicion...soon to be known) or he was completely inept in running an office where millions of taxpayer dollars were being paid out annually. Either way, he's done.
Mr. Carr, Not sure that Naranjo does or doesn't deserve the death penalty, Admittedly, i'm not privy to the case facts and MITIGATION that should have been presented - but one thing is for sure - NO ONE facing a death penalty deserves a shttty trial with lawyers who were far more interested in bilking the county for over a million dollars than representing your "Looks more like a killer than a retard" client before the "not so bright" judge. Your feelings and thoughts (all supposed to be confidential) in your billings clearly show just how "interested" you were in giving your client a fair trial, not to mention your understanding and appreciation of the attorney client relationship. It was more important for you to bill for scanning....Everyone deserves a fair trial with competent attorneys. People grip about the appeals process? Well. you two just ensured that we will be paying or a boatload of appeals thanks to your "work". Try and blame Fox all you want..... they're coming for YOU TWO....And none to soon. You have brought disrespect and condemnation on the entire legal profession; and your pathetic spins make it even moreso. And even if Fox was "disgruntled".. so fucking what! Doesn't mitigate (you do understand that concept, don't you?) the frauds you and Johnson committed. In fact, given how you handled this case, I can even concede that Fox was "disgruntled", but not for the reason you and Johnson are trying to spin on the streets. And your efforts in that regard will come out.....
You state you are not privy to the case facts, yet discuss what mitigation should have been presented and how the defendant was represented. How can you possibly assume what is 'the truth' based on billings? Were you in the courtroom? Were you part of the defense or prosecution? Clearly, you are in the legal profession based on your comments. However, I believe you are grossly coming to conclusions based upon your own assumptions and not facts. I would be interested to see what investigation was done pertaining to the actual representation and what documentation was provided by the accused. We are still only privy to part of the story.
@JoAnne He's largely correct, but I don't think he's in the legal profession, certainly not as an attorney. There are tells ...
Well, isn't it Mr. Carr, who in his billings, mentions mental "retard"ation? That would seem to be a mitigating factor. But that issue aside, address the fraudulent billings issue, because that's really why we're here... not because of the guilt or innocence of this Naranjo guy nor whether this Fox attorney was "disgruntled" (for some mysterious reason).
In fact JoAnne, let's just assume Mr. Naranjo received stellar representation (a fact that would work to the benefit of Mr.Fox as well, correct? soooo, no need for the "disgruntled" spin...) Now, justify the fraudulent acts of Carr and Johnson please. Are you suggesting that because Naranjo, for argument's sake, may have got a good, fair trial, the fraud is acceptable?
Let's not get hung up on peripheral issues, let's deal with the "white elephant" in the room JoAnne. And my job is of no consequence in this regard. (no I certainly not anywhere near the case nor the courtroom) But even in my profession,this level or fraud would never be tolerated.
For all we know, mental retardation may have been brought up in trial. Again, we are not privy to all case facts. I only raised the issue of inadequate representation because it was your assumption the defendant did not receive a fair trial.
I agree, this article is strictly about how much attorneys are making on death penalty trials. Other than the unexplained jail visit, I would be interested to see what else was possibly fraudulent. All 3 attorneys would not be present for all events for years' worth of investigation, prep and trial. If they were, that would be redundant and a serious over-billing if everyone charged for the same work. Clearly, one person can do an interview and then discuss findings with the team. Is that one who conducted the interview then fraudulently billing because they are the only one who shows that event? Over the course of a 4 year trial, there would be many separate events. If 1st chair and mitigation met once a month to discuss an issue, that would account for meetings that were billed without 2nd chair being present.
I'm not saying all is on the up and up. And, I certainly hope this story will lead to a closer look at what is turned in. We will all see in the end what the truth really is based upon the State's action.
Interesting article. It would be interesting to know how much Mr. Carr made off of being one of two advisory counsel in the case of State v. Dixon (Clarence W.). Dixon defended himself but had two advisory counsel, a mitigation specialist, investigator, etc. From the time of his indictment until receiving the death penalty in January of 2008, it took over 5 years. No doubt as advisory counsel, Carr made the same rate as if he were actually doing all the legal work himself. Now, Dixon has another taxpayer attorney representing him through the post-conviction relief process, that will drag on...followed by many years of federal appeals processs. There oughta be a law that with 3 DNA matches, you go directly to the chair!
The previous comments that aren't showing up will return at some point. The paper happened to undergo a systems change yesterday (see post in Valley Fever) concerning the comments section, and the "Grim Reapers" comments will be re-uploaded.
Is it just me or does it seem grossly negligent for an attorney to write comments and notes on invoices submitted to the very County who is prosecuting their clients - information that falls under "attorney/client privilege"? That, to me, seems like grounds for an immediate mistrial or retrial for those who have been convicted. Just curious, how many of their death-row clients were acquitted?
@poos If they are on death-row. None. Death row is only for the convicted. You don't go to death row until after you lose.
I've been saying this for years- our system is so currupt in allowing these defense attorneys to file one extension after another-there are defendants such as Dauntorian Sanders and Susan Wilbrecht, along with all of the scum bags in the Ame Deal case, that will sit in the county jail for YEARS while defense attorneys try and delay the inevitable. We're paying for them, and alot of these defense attorneys are in private practice and doing double-duty, therefore convincing the county judges to allow them to bill us for even more, since they're 'taking time away' from their clients and their ability to make a living, so we pay even more exuberant fees. It's not just Maricopa County tax payers getting cornholed, it's all Arizona taxpayers in all of the counties. The system is being severely abused-not to mention the mountains of paperwork the investigating police department has to provide the defense-and then AHCCCS, DPS, any jurisdiction the defendant lived in, DOC, everyone gets involved and has to supply information on the defendant, thier family members, alot of which is not particularly revelant to the case but the defense attorneys are looking to blame someone for the actions of their client. Then we have the jurors- lets spend weeks trying to find unemployed, idiotic jurors to sympathize with the defendant and drag an already convoluted, emotional, distressing and expensive case out even longer. The judges are to blame for some of this-someone who has been sitting in the county jail for 3 flippin years awaiting trial, has tax-payer funded defense attorneys at their disposal. Look at the Dauntorian Sanders case and the Ame Deal case is likely to cost us millions.
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@Kaz411 The answer is to eliminate the Death Penalty in the State of Arizona. I hope you are not advocating the elimination of the United States Constitution's provisions regarding these matters.
Or perhaps it Is more important to you to have the State of Arizona try to teach people that killing other people is wrong by killing people???
I have the unique unfortunate priviledge of having my first wife's killer on death row in Arizona. Over 30 years ago, I advocated at his trial that the death penalty not be imposed for JUST THAT REASON. The memories of that experience have been dredged up again and again by lawyers for the asshat that killed her. I was even placed in jeapordy as a suspect by the friggin anti-death penalty lawyers from Washington that were bird-dogging the case!!!!!
The Death Penalty is a failure - it costs the taxpayers too much - it drags the greiving victims of the crime back into contact the court system time and again - it is unjust (innocent people have been killed by the State - YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) - and it's just a horrible example to set for the rest of the world's governments by the most powerful country in the world. Please, people - see past your feelings of revenge and hatred for people's venal acts and see the damage that your support of this system of State Sponsored Death Machine wreaks on our Country.
@Firingsquad You state that the death penalty "work"s. What, pray tell, are you talking about? It works as punishment? Nope, once the person is dead, there is no more punishment - I want the murderer of my first wife to remain on this mortal coil for as long as he breaths - yet confined in a 6X10 cell - it's a punishment worse than death. Death is the easy way out - I want that SOB to suffer for as long as humanely possible.
Do you mean deter others from engaging in murder? Nope - you don't teach people that killing people is wrong by killing people. It's a stupid response to an evil act. Allowing our State to utilize deadly violence against one citizens will result in MORE violence not less.
Check out the murder rates in Canada and then compare them with the United State murder rate. In fact, look at the rates for all the States and Countries without the death penalty. The rates are all less. In fact, If you controlled for all other factors, the death penalty would be seen as the REASON our murder rate is so high.
http://fullfact.org/blog/death_penalty_homicide_rates-2905
Firingsquad you better provide a little better evidence than your say so - cause you ain't got squat so far that proves the death penalty "works" - there IS NO SUCH EVIDENCE!
If your assumption is that Taylor Fox is a good guy, simply because of his billing, you are flawed in your thinking. What makes a good lawyer is whether or not they do the work to give their client the best defense. Simply looking at dollar figures on a bill, does not indicate quality or lack thereof. What would have made this an interesting piece is if Mr. Rubin could have shown that the defendant did not receive adequate representation, but the county was billed a large sum. With 3 witnesses and a confession of guilt, something tells me all of the preparation in the world would not have yielded a verdict different from what came down. However, we cannot judge an attorney's work based on his billing alone. There would be notes, interviews, court appearances, etc., to go with them. Only if those items are lacking will Mr. Rubin sway me.
And your comment show that you know nothing about death penalty work. Rarely is it the case that the defendant didn't do the crimes alleged. It more often is about mitigation. And in this case, Carr unethically exposes in his billings that mental retardation might have been an issue (despite his conclusion that his client "looks more like a killer than a retard"). Further, you seem to be saying that because you conclude the evidence of guilt against this defendant was overwhelming, this somehow justifies Carr and Johnson's fraudulent billings...How would you like to go to a doctor, who conclude you're dying of cancer, and uses that fact to justify fraudulent medical billings... Your car mechanic... your home contractor... You're either someone who is clueless about this whole subject matter... or you're either Carr of Johnson.. either way, you're desperate.
First off, I am neither Carr or Johnson. Period. Just because someone actually reads the story and has more questions than answers, does not make them one of the accused. I have not stated that all was done correctly either, or that the defendant was guilty anyway, so what difference does it make. I have simply stated that all facts are not present. If attorneys are billing all of these hours and there is no documentation to back it up, that would be one thing. All Mr. Rubin has is billing sheets which show minimal information. He does not hold case files, transcripts, attorney's notes or even an interview with the family. The only 'source' for his story appears to be Taylor Fox, who has clearly made more damning inferences about how the case was handled through the media and not the proper legal channels. He even states he never went to Logan. So now, he is giving the appeals team all sorts of information, unknown to be true or false at this stage.
For Carr to bill for 12 hours one day and Fox to bill for 7.2, there is no mention of what each person was doing for those hours. Did they share an office and sit side-by-side duplicating the same work? If not, there would be a discrepancy. Was one person assigned to interviews and another assigned to research? That would make sense to me, and how much or how little someone chose to work on their duty would be of importance, in my eyes. As for the notations by Carr in the billings, I do not think they are professional, and at some point in time, Mr. Logan should have told him not to write commentary on them.
And I do not believe that Mr. Fox, nor Mr. Johnson "Made a Killing" on this case. Over a 4 year stretch, Mr. Fox averaged $34,500 yr and Mr. Johnson less than $25,000 yr. The majority of their hours would have been during the actual trial itself. If someone was robbing the system, the numbers would be outrageous.
Johnson's suspension was for trying to do too much work for too many people, not fraud. He simply could not keep up with his workload at the time. Read the article Perfect Storm.
I've read the article and am going to have to side with Perfect Storm here. State Bar gave way too many breaks here and why the Arizona Supreme Court waived the rules to allow Johnson to come near a capital case is mind-boggling.
I believe if Mr. Fox would have reported to the State Bar, they would have investigated and it would be part of this piece. The fact there is no mention makes me wonder. Also, you have stated the enormous amount of time and effort and years' worth of prep that goes into a case such as this. Who are any of us to state what is fraudulent or not? You cannot know for a fact that Mr. Carr did not prep for the interviews unless you have asked for and seen his notes. He does not state he met with the brothers either. He could have simply spent time going over what was reported to him from Mr. Fox and developing strategy from there. And let's be honest, this reporter didn't just stumble upon this information that was laying out in the open. Someone had to get him interested in this and get the ball rolling. That is how ALL news stories begin. There are a lot of personal attacks against Mr. Carr and Mr. Johnson by Rubin. However, why is there no mention of the problems Mr. Fox had in this case? Sounds to me as though Mr. Fox was disgruntled and is trying to make the others on his team look bad.
Really? This is your "take"? You're about to be sadly disappointed in your deductive reasoning skills..... stay tuned, I sense this matter is far from over.
And you'd be wise "Josh" (Car or Johnson) to take serious heed to the last sentence of azjaz' post.............oh, and bone up on the nuances of the 5th Amendment..... Just sayin'
It must be so easy for some of you to play armchair quarterback, but let’s face reality here. Mr. Logan has how many attorneys that he receives invoices from on a daily basis? He couldn’t possibly have enough staff to police and investigate all the invoices coming into the office. Imagine how many man hours it would take to contact jails, prisons, witnesses, courts, or look over emails and phone records to verify that what these contract attorneys are submitting are correct. Let’s put blame where it CORRECTLY belongs. Attorneys take an oath to uphold the law and should be help to a higher standard. If a contract attorney has signed their name to an invoice that they solemnly swears to be accurate and true, than that is where the blame rests. Mr. Rubin, I would also like to ask you a question? How much time did it take you to pore over, investigate, compare and talk to attorneys and witnesses regarding a few cases? Now imagine how much time you would have wrapped up doing that for hundreds of cases. Do you think you could do a better job? Something tells me probably not! I hope I have made my point. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Mr. Logan and his ability to successfully run Maricopa County’s IR offices. Stories will be written to sway people towards the author’s point of view but remember there is always way more to the story than what is printed.
I don't blame Logan too much. If he did the kind of sleuthing the PNT did he would never get anything else done. The PNT got a lead, acted on it, and got an interesting story.
Logan's a good guy, a white hat. Chasing him is a distraction.
Sounds good, how about we try it out on you. Remember, only one shot at an appeal if a corrupt judge/prosecutor/cop gets you framed for capital murder. And make it snappy because they are going to kill you within 6 months.
Oh, sorry, the cop was exposed as a crooked cop 2 years after your conviction and 18 months after you were put to death, too bad.
Oh, yeah, you mean like they do in Iran, North Korea and China and follow Al Qaaida and the Taliban with their Sharia Law sense of "quick justice".... yeah, let's go that way.
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Unfortunately the system is rife for and with abuse. The law states they are entitled to all these appeals at taxpayers expense. We know their families will/cannot not pay for it. These egregious cases need to prosecuted and the attorney's disbarred.
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He is not making a killing. I'm absolutely certain he charges private clients more than $125/hour, so for every hour he works for the county, he's actually losing money. If the county paid any less, they would not be able to attract qualified attorneys. Don't hate. You can "make a killing" too. Just get a law degree, pass the bar and get on the county's list.
No, it doesn't work that way. The overwhelming number of criminal defense defenses are done on a set-fee basis. Virtually no one pays for their own murder defense. Billing hourly for a criminal case is a license to legally print money. If these allegations are correct, then why wasn't that enough for these guys?
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There are good attorneys and bad. Taylor Fox is a good one. Lawyers that practice with honesty and integrity should be encouraged. The more you explore this story for yourself, the more you will see that not every government lawyer is out to rob taxpayers blind. Some, like Taylor, just want to (oh my goodness, get ready for this ... ) uphold the tenets of a legal system they are wholly devoted to. This is not an easy profession. Stop berating the good guys.
Now I bet you don,t have this in your state . Hope you stay there becouse we find it out then go after them for this . So Itake it your home state don,t do know wrong . EAKKKK ( WRONG ).
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