Kenneth Fields

Wolfswinkel Family to Get $1.4 Million in County Settlement Over Legal Abuses; $5 Million in Total Payouts Thanks to Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio

Developer Conley Wolfswinkel, his family and company will received $1.4 million in the largest Maricopa County payout yet to victims of the legal abuses of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas. As the county just confirmed, the Wolfswinkels are getting more in this settlement ... More >>

Barbara Mundell, Retired Judge, and Susan Schuerman (Supervisor Don Stapley's Secretary) Each Get $500,000 in Settlements From County

Barbara Mundell, the now-retired Maricopa Superior Court Judge targeted in an unethical investigation by county lawmen, received $500,000 from the county to settle a lawsuit.Susan Schuerman, the executive assistant for Supervisor Don Stapley, also received a $500,000 settlement, county officials con ... More >>

Right-Wing Bloggers Jump Into County Fray -- and Facts Be Damned

Right-wing slant? No problem. Right-wing "facts" that aren't really facts? Problem.​ The public can be forgiven for not fully understanding the ongoing mess of Maricopa County politics, and why a former county attorney stands to lose his law license. But, dang it, people who publish articles ... More >>

Lisa Aubuchon Displays Bizarre Thinking in State Bar Discipline Hearing

Lisa Aubuchon, former deputy county attorney, testifies yesterday in the State Bar disciplinary proceedings. She stands to lose her law license after allegedly fudging the attempted prosecutions of county officials.​Lisa Aubuchon lives in an alternative universe.True, we may have watched too many ... More >>

Thomas Defends Shoddy Conspiracy Case; Struggles to Explain Why "Biased" Judge Ruled in His Favor

Andrew Thomas explains his thought processes behind his aggressive prosecutions of county officials.​Former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said in a disciplinary hearing against him today that he doesn't know why a judge he thought was "biased" made a major ruling in Thomas' favor.Thomas h ... More >>

Retired Arizona Public Officials Sue to Keep "Hundreds of Millions" in Pension Payouts Being Denied Because of New Law

Image: Ray SternColin Campbell, retired Maricopa County Superior Court judge, is representing a group of retired judges suing a state pension plan in an attempt to reverse a law that shrinks pensioners' cost-of-living adjustments.​ Retired judges are fighting a new law that reduces their pensi ... More >>

Don Stapley Wins Victory in 2008 Criminal Case; Appeals Court Rules Supervisor had No Financial Disclosure Requirement

Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley won his 2008 criminal case today in the state Court of Appeals.​ The Arizona Court of Appeals has agreed that Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley did not violate any financial disclosure law, ending a tainted criminal case against him. The ruling today ... More >>

Don Stapley Awaits AZ Court of Appeals Decision in First Criminal Case; County Supervisor Files Amended Claim Vs. County

Don Stapley​ Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley filed an amended claim against the county for wrongful prosecution last week while waiting for a decision by the state Court of Appeals on his 2008 criminal prosecution. Oral arguments in what's known as Stapley One (on account of there bein ... More >>

Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio "Corruption" Case Against County Judge: a Dog

Back from Maricopa County Sheriff's Office headquarters in downtown Phoenix, where we spent a few hours looking through public files involving the infamous, spectacularly overblown (yet never prosecuted) "bribery" case against Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe. Conclusion: & ... More >>

David Smith, Maricopa County Manager, Gets No "Credit" for Not Suing County, Thomas Spokesman Says

  David Smith gets no "credit" from Andrew Thomas for deciding not to sue the county.​While Andrew Thomas won't stoop so low as to take our call, his debate-loving spokesman, Barnett Lotstein, nearly always calls us back. We just heard from him on our question, posed in an e ... More >>

Resolution Process Considered for Claims Related to Actions of Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas; Plan Involves Hiring Dispute Expert Kenneth Feinberg

  Photo: Wikipedia Dispute master Kenneth Feinberg may get the job of resolving millions in claims against Maricopa County by county officials.​The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors are expected to vote Wednesday on whether to hire dispute expert Kenneth Feinberg to handle claims a ... More >>

David Hendershott's Complaints Vs. Four Judges Dismissed by Judicial Conduct Commission

  ​The Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct has dismissed all four complaints filed against local judges by David Hendershott, chief deputy under Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The commission "found no clear and convincing evidence of ethical misconduct" and voted to dismiss the c ... More >>

Andrew Thomas, Sheila Polk Testify in Hearing to Disqualify the Maricopa County Attorney from Prosecuting Mary Rose Wilcox Case

Andrew Thomas yesterday took the stand to defend his office's handling of the case against Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox.​In a hearing yesterday that stretched to more than four hours, both Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk shared their perspectives ... More >>

Mary Rose Wilcox Slapped With New Indictment; Chicanos Por La Causa Records Provided Evidence, Thomas' Office Says

​ A new grand jury convened by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has indicted Mary Rose Wilcox on 42 criminal counts after problems were alleged in the first go-round. Thomas' office released news of the grand jury's finding this afternoon. Not only did a second grand jury managed to ... More >>

Amended RICO Complaint Against County Officials Is Still a Piece of Crap

Andrew Thomas' latest RICO filing is full of lame conspiracy theories. What else is new?​We thought that this time, maybe things would be different.Ha!Last month, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas filed a lawsuit against county officials and a few prominent ... More >>

Dennis Wilenchik Cleared of All Wrongdoing by AZ Bar -- No, Really

courtesy of the Arizona Republic Dennis Wilenchik, home free​Dennis Wilenchik, the one-time special prosecutor whose investigation into New Times led to the nighttime arrests of its top executives, has been cleared of all wrongdoing by the State Bar of Arizona.And, sadly, this isn't one of ... More >>

The Nooses Must Be Cut Down

Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk provided the blade. Now it's up to AG Goddard and President Obama to use it

Mary Rose Wilcox Charges are Unfounded, Lawyer Says; Claims "Reckless" County Attorney has Conflicts

Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox is a political victim and innocent of the crimes alleged in last week's indictment, her lawyer said today in a news conference. He's at least half right.   Image: Ray Stern Earl Wilcox, Mary Rose Wilcox and Colin Campbell. &nbs ... More >>

The Pink Negro: As an Ivy League Lawyer, is President Barack Obama Hard Enough to Confront the Evil Personified by Sheriff Joe Arpaio?

Thomas and Arpaio Talk Tough on County "Corruption," Deflect Questions About Their Own Credibility

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio vowed on Tuesday to get to the bottom of what they call a serious corruption problem among county leaders and judges. Their afternoon news conference followed the announcement earlier today that County Supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Ros ... More >>

Arpaio's Chief Deputy Files Judicial Complaints Against Four Judges

​ An investigation should be launched against four retired and current Maricopa Superior Court judges who committed ethical breaches, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's chief deputy demands in letters to the Arizona Judicial Conduct Commission. The complaint letters by Dave Hendershott (left), dated ... More >>

Racketeering Lawsuit Against County by Thomas and Arpaio is Weak Conspiracy Theory

The first reason why the racketeering lawsuit filed today against county leaders is probably going nowhere: It's being handled by Lisa Aubuchon, the deputy county attorney who has consistently blown politically sensitive cases for Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Under Aubuchon's leadership, ... More >>

Serving Up Stapley: Why’s the Don Stapley Prosecution a Big Joke? Because the Accusers Are Far Shadier Than the Accused

Don Stapley Victory: Prosecutor Drops Remaining Criminal Charges

  ​Don Stapley won. Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio lost. The Maricopa County Supervisor has been under a legal black cloud since December, when County Attorney Thomas slammed him with 118 felony counts of violating campaign finance law. But Thomas tossed the case to Yavapai Count ... More >>

Note to Andrew Thomas: You are STILL Not Dennis Wilenchik (Sorry!)

​We were amused by Andrew Thomas's pissy little press release last night, in which the Maricopa County Attorney threw a pity party over the fact that nearly half the charges against Supervisor Don Stapley have been thrown out.Thomas, of course, runs the agency that originally indicted Stapley ... More >>

Don Stapley Case Update: 51 of 118 Criminal Counts Dismissed on Technicality

  ​It's 51 down, 67 criminal counts to go for Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley. The county leader under investigation and indictment for failure to follow campaign finance disclosure laws convinced Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields to dismiss nearly half the counts on a tech ... More >>

Thomas Ticked That Stapley Benefits in Criminal Case From Law He Failed to Properly Pass

​ It was a given that Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas was going to be miffed by the recent ruling on Don Stapley's case by Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields. Thomas has been saying for months that Fields is biased against him and he tried to get the judge kicked off the case. Fields ... More >>

Don Stapley Criminal Case Won't Go Back to Grand Jury, Judge Decides

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields ruled today that the criminal case against County Supervisor Don Stapley won't get sent back to a grand jury for reconsideration. Stapley's lawyers still have a chance on Tuesday to convince Fields to dismiss the 114 felony counts of failing to di ... More >>

Stapley Case Update: Andrew Thomas Disses Us, Confuses Self With Dennis Wilenchik

  It's true: We've had an ongoing chuckle at the expense of Lisa Aubuchon, the hapless prosecutor assigned to the Don Stapley case. But Aubuchon's most recent filing in this case isn't so much funny as pathetic. For one thing, she disses us. (Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas' offic ... More >>

Three-Time Loser Deputy County Attorney Screws Up, Again

We know it's very bad karma to laugh at people in over their heads, but when it comes to Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon, we just can't help ourselves. We have nothing against Aubuchon personally; it's just that County Attorney Andrew Thomas appointed her to run his pre-trial division -- and ... More >>

Court Employee Touted by County Attorney for Revealing Alleged Judge Bias is Daughter Of Treasurer

Charles "Hos" Hoskins, Maricopa County treasurer, has sued the county supervisors over computer issues and told them to pound sand recently when they asked for ideas on budget cuts. Now, all of a sudden, his daughter, Robin Hoskins, is being touted by county attorney Andrew Thomas as ... More >>

Don Stapley Case: Andrew Thomas Offers Up "Experts" Who Say Stapley Judge is Biased

If you don't believe Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas when he says the judge appointed to hear the Don Stapley criminal case is biased, maybe you'll believe the experts he rounded up. Thomas submitted affidavits to the county Superior Court today by the experts, consisting of two judges, an a ... More >>

Don Stapley Case: Andrew Thomas Wages Battle Through Media on Claim of Biased Judge

As noted in our recent blog post, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas' office was told recently to provide the Superior Court by Monday with evidence that a judge is too biased against Thomas to hear the case of criminally indicted County Supervisor Don Stapley. Thomas c ... More >>

Don Stapley Case: Court Rejects Motion to Change Judge; Prosecutor Denied "Unusual Request" for Judge Interview

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge today rejected a bid by County Attorney Andrew Thomas to change a judge in the politically loaded criminal case of County Supervisor Don Stapley. Thomas (pictured) feels retired Judge Kenneth Fields, assigned to the Stapley case, is biased agai ... More >>

Dave Hendershott, Maricopa Sheriff's Office Chief, Accused of Possible Improper Influence Peddling in Stapley Case

Dave Hendershott, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's right-hand man, may have improperly tried to influence county Superior Court staff in the case against Supervisor Don Stapley, a letter sent to Hendershott today from the court's attorney states. The accusation comes ... More >>

An "F" for Effort

Sandra Dowling left a huge mess. Now she's trying to stop the cleanup

Send in the Clowns

Don't bother, they're here. After a decade of voter-mandated reform, the Arizona Legislature is as out of touch as ever

2000 Maniacs

The hits just keep on coming at Phoenix City Hall

The Once and Future Mom

CPS slammed for severing parental rights while doing little to preserve the family

SUSPENDED ANIMATIONPROHIBITED FROM PRACTICING LAW, CUSTODY ATTORNEY BOB HIRSCHFELD WON'T GO DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT

COURT OF NO RESORT

BARBARA ROSS SAYS A JUDGE AND HER FORMER HUSBAND--ATTORNEY GENERAL GRANT WOODS--TRANPLED HER CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS IN A CHILD CUSTODY CASE

GILBERT'S UTILITY FUTILITYCRESADE TO SEIZE APS TERRITORY ENDS WITH A WHIMPER