Stymied by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, County Attorney Andrew Thomas now threatens to conduct the investigation and possible prosecution of Don Stapley in his own office. Again.
Remember, the first case against Stapley traveled from Thomas' office to the Yavapai County Attorney's Office. Then came the new case, examined briefly by Yavapai before making a brief stop in the hands of a couple of sharpshooting lawyers from Washington D.C.
With the Supervisors refusing to even consider letting him hire the special prosecutors, Thomas -- through his chief assistant, Sally Wells -- makes it clear that the Supes will face consequences for its decision. In an
October 30 letter, Wells states that failing to consider Thomas' request may result in "litigation or the assumption of the primary investigative and prosecutorial responsibilities by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office."
To get a job done to your liking, you've got to do it yourself? Well, either that or you sue.
The Board, through their legal mouthpiece, Wade Swanson, doesn't
address Thomas' new threat directly in a
November 2 follow-up letter
to Thomas. Instead, Swanson focuses on the fact that Thomas is legally
prohibited from 1) hiring the prosecutors from D.C., 2) taking the case
away from Yavapai, and 3) hiring anyone without using "proper"
procurement rules.
Swanson, the county's civil litigation department chief, states in his
letter that it just wouldn't be right to hire the D.C. lawyers at their
exorbitant rates without any knowledge of how many investigations
they'd end up handling. In a footnote, Swanson notes that the last time
the county hired a special prosecutor without detailing "a specific
scope of services" was when lawyer Dennis Wilenchik was hired.
"That debacle should not be repeated here," Swanson writes.
Swanson closes his letter with the peace-and-flowers message, "We
look forward to continue to work with you on resolving the legal issues
raised herein."
Well, why not look forward to the continuation of this game? It's been so much fun so far!
