According to a recent minute entry by Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Steven K. Holding, a bench warrant has been issued for state Senate President Russell Pearce's son Joshua Trent Pearce.
Holding's minute entry states that Joshua, 30, was supposed to be present in court on January 26 for a "review hearing" concerning his mental health calendar, but the son of the most powerful politician in Arizona failed to appear.
So over the objection of his public defender Tammy Wray and at the request of the probation department, Commissioner Holding issued a warrant for Joshua, setting bond at $5,000 cash. The minute entry was electronically filed with the clerk of court this morning.
As I've previously reported on this blog, in 2007 Joshua waived trial and pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI, receiving five years probation.
The criminal complaint involved a 2006 incident where Joshua was arrested while driving high on marijuana and other drugs. His then girlfriend (now wife) Samantha was in the vehicle with him, along with their five day old child.
I called Pearce's attorney, Wray, but she declined to comment on the specifics of the case.
And I reached out to Senator Pearce via his e-mail account, but he has yet to answer my inquiry.
As regular readers of this blog know, Joshua Pearce was recently under scrutiny by the Mesa Police Department for allegations involving possible child abuse.
Joshua Pearce's infant daughter suffered a fractured skull, but investigators said they lacked probable cause to make an arrest in the case.
Interestingly, in the Mesa police report on the alleged abuse case, which you can read, here, one of the investigators stated that Joshua was currently in rehab somewhere in Arizona, and that his children had been placed in foster care.
If this is true, and Joshua is in rehab, it might explain why he wasn't in court on the 26th. But I have no confirmation regarding the rehab statement in the report.
Joshua has been arrested numerous times by the Mesa PD. You can read about some of those other run-ins, here.
CBS 5/KPHO has followed the story, even asking Senator Pearce for comment. He declined, telling KPHO, "It's a personal, family issue."
More as I get it...
