Subject: Maricopa County Superior Court

• Motion from Demon Dog Dennis Wilenchik and Candy "Babyface" Thomas shot down by Judge Barbara "Badass" Mundell.

  October 11, 2007

• Doubting Thomases can read the lawsuit against the Mayo Clinic mentioned in our cover story here

  May 22, 2008

• Charge It To Bad Luck

  February 21, 1990

• DISTRICTS SUED OVER MOLESTATIONSSCHOOLS LET PREDATOR RUN FREE, VICTIM'S FAMILY SAYS

  January 13, 1993

• FOLLOWING THE MONEYA NEW COURT FILING CLAIMS DEAN BREWER LOOTED CHARTER TITLE VERY THOROUGHLY, INDEED

  August 4, 1994

• Letters

  February 29, 1996

• Parking Mirage

  City pretends that parking garage next to stadium is not a favor to Colangelo's Diamondbacks

  April 25, 1996

• Mesa: Accused Cleaning Service Had Access to Library, Not City Hall

  October 20, 2008

• Flashes

  November 14, 1996

• Letters

  January 16, 1997

• Gilbert Pols Meet in Executive Session on Mormon Murder Case

  October 22, 2008

• Down the Drain

  Judge flushes allegations that water was tainted by Motorola

  June 18, 1998

• Take Me Out to the Courtroom

  Bank One Ballpark contractors cry foul, prepare $34 million lawsuit

  November 12, 1998

• Letters

  08-31-00

  August 31, 2000

• Booby Call

  Hooters restaurant not welcome in Ahwatukee, some residents say

  January 11, 2001

• Fid Life Crisis

  Fiduciary pleads guilty to stealing money from clients

  March 22, 2001

• Power Play

  County law enforcement's attack on the judiciary didn't work, but the war's far from over

  December 6, 2007

• Sheriff's Office Swears All Videos Released in Beating Death After New Times Sues

  The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office blew off New Times when we first requested the videos and other documents associated with the death of jail inmate Juan Mendoza Farias. So, New Times sued under Arizona's public records law. The officials stalled, apparently because they felt the material might be too harmful too release before voters made their choice in November between Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his political opponent, Dan Saban. Lo and behold, the sheriff's office eventually compli

  December 16, 2008

• CityNorth Development Threatened After Appeals Court Blasts City's Tax Giveaway

  The Arizona Court of Appeals today struck down Phoenix's giveaway of $97 million in sales tax that was promised to a developer in exchange for building the Kierland-Commons-like CityNorth center. A few months ago, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Phoenix's be-kind-to-developers deal after it was contested in a lawsuit filed by the conservative Goldwater Institute.

  December 23, 2008

• Court Commissioner's Leather Jacket Helped Rapist Escape From Superior Court

    A convicted child rapist who escaped custody at the Maricopa County Superior Court on Tuesday helped himself to a court commissioner's leather jacket before walking out the front door of the court building, says a source close to the investigation. Adrian Gonzalez Cruz, 28, showed up to a court hearing dressed in a long-sleeved, button-down shirt and baggy trousers when a deputy from the Maricopa Sheriff's Office left him alone in a holding area. Cruz, who's serving a life

  February 18, 2009

• UPDATE: Mormon Murder Trial Jury Still Deliberating

  Maricopa County Superior Court jurors in the Doug Grant murder case have been deliberating his fate for 10 hours and counting.  Grant (not the Jason-looking Doug Grant to the left) is charged with killing his wife Faylene back in September 2001 at their Gilbert home. With devout Mormon Faylene's written blessing, Grant married his ex-lover soon after his wife died in the family bathtub. We won't go into further details of the case again in this update. You can r

  March 9, 2009

• Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall Fire Started by 14-year-old, Says Fire Department

    Hellfire and damnation came to a Mesa Kingdom Hall last month in the form of an arsonist who lit up the place. The fire caused $500,000 in damage to the building, a church for Jehovah's Witnesses. As it turns out, this wasn't retribution by a jealous god, nor the devious act of a person gone insane from too many knocks at the door by well-dressed folks carrying black briefcases stuffed with Watchtower missives. Fire investigators say this morning it was just a&nbs

  March 12, 2009

• UPDATE: No End in Sight to Juror Deliberations in the Mormon Murder Trial

  The 12-person jury in the Doug Grant Mormon murder case has gone home for the weekend, and it appears that members are nowhere close to reaching a verdict. The best indication of that is a "deliberation schedule" the panel sent out a few days ago to Judge Meg Mahoney, who has presided over the high-profile case: The proposed schedule now extends to the beginning of April, and it includes days off here and there for unspecified reasons. The jury began deliberations eight days ago (March 5), and

  March 13, 2009

• "TheEroticReview.com" Founder, David Elms, on the Lam

    A Maricopa County Superior Court judge signed a bench warrant today for prostitution whiz David Elms, who skipped his scheduled arraignment. As readers of the blog know, Elms also missed a court hearing on March 4, but officials decided it might have been inadvertent. When he failed to appear again this morning, Commissioner Lisa Vandenberg raised his bond to $300,000 and issued the warrant for his arrest. Elms, the founder of a Web site that helps people find quality hookers,&n

  March 18, 2009

• THIS JUST IN: Mormon Murder Trial Ends With Manslaughter Conviction Against Doug Grant

  Sports nutritionist Doug Grant was convicted of manslaughter in the bathtub-drowning death of his wife, Faylene, by a Maricopa County Superior Court jury a few minutes ago. The so-called Mormon murder case (Doug and Faylene Grant, pictured, were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) went to the jury Thursday, March 5. Grant originally was indicted on one count of premeditated first-degree murder in the mysterious 2001 death of his wife, but prosecutor Juan Martinez threw

  March 24, 2009

• Andrew Thomas Spanked By Appeals Court

    That was fast. Two days ago, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas fired off a Hail Mary to the Court of Appeals, complaining that superior court judges are biased against him and asking the higher court to intervene. Today a three-justice appellate panel dismissed Thomas' petition for special action -- without even asking for a response from the other side, much less holding a hearing. The two-page opinion, signed by Division One Appellate Justices Phillip Hall, Maurice Portl

  March 26, 2009

• Stick It to 'Em!

  July 8, 2004

• The Street

  From vile meth labs to safecrackers, the Street has the Valley covered

  September 4, 2003

• Court House Scoundrels

  Unsuspecting consumers are getting ripped off by the hundreds. The Supereme Court is working to stop this unauthorized practice of law.

  December 19, 2002

• Taxing Question

  Law allows tourism authority to tap $1 billion for stadium construction

  October 11, 2001

• Judge Not

  By letting cases languish, a veteran Family Court judge and his assistant created havoc in the lives of parents and children

  August 31, 2000

• Docket Science

  Civil suits take back seat to criminal cases in county's full court press

  August 10, 2000

• Some Assembly Required

  Exhibition lets locals create pieces based on written instructions

  July 20, 2000

• UPDATE: Doug Grant Sentencing Postponed Until Further Notice

  Doug Grant, the onetime Phoenix Suns nutritionist convicted last month of manslaughter was scheduled to be sentenced Friday, May 1. But Vincent Funari, the able public information officer for the Maricopa County Superior Court, just sent out an e-mail to announce that Grant's sentencing has been postponed until further notice because the defense team "submitted a lengthy mitigation package for the judge [Meg Mahoney] to review."

  April 30, 2009

• Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Legislative Districting Plan

  Ruth McGregor This just in: The Arizona Supreme Court has upheld the state's legislative districting plan, nearly seven years after it was initially adopted.A group of left-leaning advocates, including Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, State Representative Pete Rios and the Hispanic Bar Association Los Abogados, had originally challenged the plan in Maricopa County Superior Court. Their suit argued that the commission failed its mandate by not creating enough "competitive" districts a

  May 20, 2009

• Arizona Photo Enforcement: How to Beat It Mailbag 2 -- Of Process Servers and Out-of-State Residents

  New Times' Valley Fever blog strives to give readers the best possible information about how the photo enforcement system works, from the first strobe of the flash to last minute of your Traffic Survival School (which, if you're willing to exercise your rights and get lucky, you won't have to sit through).Here are a more mentionable comments and questions from readers on our popular "Arizona Photo Enforcement Ticket: How to Beat It" article from back in December: (FYI: Earlier questions were exa

  May 29, 2009

• No Jail for DMX: Rapper Sentenced to Supervised Probation

  Wikimedia Commons DMX has avoided more jail time in Phoenix.Earl Simmons, better known as rapper DMX, will not have to do more jail time in Phoenix.The hip-hop star, 38, was sentenced to supervised probation by the Maricopa County Superior Court today, for a charge stemming from his previous incarceration. In May, Simmons completed a 90-day sentence at the Maricopa County jail for theft, drug possession, and animal cruelty. While incarcerated, DMX was charged with attempted aggravated ass

  June 8, 2009

• The Case That Won't End: Doug Grant's Stepdaughter Files `Wrongful-Death' Suit

  If things weren't bad enough for Doug Grant, now serving a five-year prison term after a jury convicted him of manslaughter in the death of his wife Faylene, get this: Jenna Stradling, his 19-year-old stepdaughter (and a key witness against him in the controversial, high-profile case) has filed a lawsuit against him in Maricopa County Superior Court.  Among other things, the suit seeks punitive damages against the former Phoenix Suns nutritionist for "wrongfully" having caused F

  June 12, 2009

• Captain Joel Fox Files Court Motion to Stop $315,000 Fine for Hiding Names of Contribution

  Captain Joel Fox appealed his case to the Maricopa County Superior Court yesterday and asked for his $315,000 fine to be delayed until the appeal's outcome. Fox wants the court to overturn the decision by Judge Thomas Shedden of the state Office of Administrative Hearings, cancel out his fine and order the county to pay his legal fees. Followers of this case won't find much new in his arguments [see below]. Fox is still basically claiming he and the shy boys behind the mysterious $105,000 Repub

  July 1, 2009

• Hot Links: Coyotes, Dogs in Heat, and Dead Sharks in the Road

  A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that the city of Glendale must reveal records by Friday that show what incentives it's offering to a new owner of the Phoenix Coyotes ice hockey team. Among the potential team buyers are Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, and Daryl Jones of Research Edge LLC...A teenage boy visiting Valley relatives from Alaska died Monday after suffering a heat stroke while on a hike at South Mountain Park on Sunday. The temperature that day was aroun

  July 22, 2009

• Cheerleading Companies Fight to Block Pending Limits on Their Customers by Sports Association

  Image: www.arizonaheat.org​Give me an -- injunction! Three "all-star" cheerleading gyms in the Valley are suing the Arizona Interscholastic Association, claiming the rule-making collaborative of state schools is ruining their business. A lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court a couple of weeks ago says the AIA passed a rule in March that bans participants of school cheerleading and pom-pom squads from practicing or competing with the gyms. Arizona Heat Elite in Mesa, Arizona Al

  July 30, 2009

• Lawsuit: MCSO Detained Mexican With Valid Visa For 13 Days

  ​Sergio Martinez Villaman was in this country legally -- with the papers, passport, and VISA to prove it. But sheriff's deputies thought the Mexican national must be one of those dreaded "illegals." During a June 2008 crime sweep in Mesa, they pulled him over on one of the usual pretexts, for failing to use his turn signal. Even though Villaman produced his papers on the scene, they still detained him -- and that supposed poor use of the turn signal ended up costing the guy thirteen days i

  August 7, 2009

• Bitter Lawsuits Between Arizona Prison Employees Costing Forest Many Trees

  We bumped into this wild 48-page Arizona Court of Appeals ruling, which was issued earlier this month. ​  It concerns a complicated and somewhat troubling set of back-and-forth lawsuits involving a former correctional officer and a criminal inspector. The inspector, whose name is Darrell Smith, investigated then-Officer Derrick Allen for alleged wrongdoing involving a female inmate. The allegations involved drugs and sex (no rock-and-roll alleged). The machinations of what

  August 27, 2009

• Suspect in Baseball-Bat Killing of Two Boys Found Incompetent to Stand Trial; New Hearing May Take Months

    ​The man accused of a random, fatal baseball-bat attack on two little boys playing in a park in December has been found incompetent to stand trial -- for now. Joe Sauceda Gallegos, 39, a reported schizophrenic with a history of mental problems, became the only suspect after the mangled, bloody bodies of the boys -- aged 7 and 10 -- was found by neighbors in a southwest Phoenix park. He's been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and child abu

  October 14, 2009

• Woman Sues Mesa Bar After Stripper Pole Breaks, and She Topples

  www.estergoldberg.com​ A Mesa woman has filed suit in Maricopa County Superior Court accusing a local sports bar of violating city codes by not applying for a building permit for a stripper pole that she toppled from, cutting her ring finger. ReAnna M. Hedrick, 28, claims in the October 16 suit that on September 3, 2008, she was at Famous Sam's Sports Bar in Mesa, now under a different name, for "Ladies Night" when she thought it would be a good idea to try

  October 27, 2009

• CBS' 48 Hours Set to Air Hour-Long Take on Doug Grant Murder Case

  Readers of this paper are likely to recall the Doug Grant murder case.   ​Remember, the onetime Phoenix Suns nutritionist who was convicted of manslaughter in the 2001 drowning death of his beautiful wife Faylene. (That's the happy couple on the day of their second wedding, mere weeks before her tragic death at their Gilbert home.)   We wrote a slew of stories on the bizarre and tragic case, which culminated in Grant's conviction at the Maricopa County Superior Court

  October 29, 2009

• Metadata in Electronic Government Records Must be Released to Public, Arizona Supreme Court Rules

  Phoenix police Sergeant David Lake may get to find out whether his supervisors screwed him over, thanks to unanimous pro-public-records ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court. As we related back in January, Lake was halted twice by the court system in his quest to obtain the metadata embedded in a Microsoft Word document written by one of his supervisors. Metadata (yeah, it's an ugly, modern word that doesn't flow trippingly from the tongue). But every computer user ought to know about it

  October 29, 2009

• Charges Dismissed Against Mesa Woman Accused of Putting Fetus in a Backpack

  www.ebaumsworld.com​A 22-year-old Mesa woman accused of leaving a fetus in a backpack had criminal charges against her dismissed today in Maricopa County Superior Court.Back in March, police at the Gila River Indian Community found a backpack under a tree while on a routine patrol about five miles southeast of Sacaton.Inside the bag, police found an infant baby boy -- dead, and wrapped in vinyl sheets. The umbilical cord was still attached.Police traced the baby back to 22-year-old Faith Hope

  November 3, 2009

• Arpaio Pissed Over Judge's Ruling to Have MCSO Detention Officer Hold a Press Conference

  www.citizensrequired.com​According to the sheriff, nobody tells his guys what to do except Sheriff Joe himself -- not even Maricopa County Superior Court judges.This morning, a Maricopa County detention officer was found in contempt of court for taking documents out of defense attorney Joanne Cuccia's files as she was addressing the court at a sentencing hearing for her client, Antonio Lozano.They even caught it on video -- check it out here.

  November 18, 2009

• Hmmm, County Attorney's Office Says It's Unlikely MCSO Officer Found in Contempt of Court Will Go to Jail or Hold Press Conference

  ​Since our last post about the Maricopa County detention officer found in contempt of court for taking the papers of a defense attorney in Maricopa County Superior Court, the County Attorney's Office called us back.We asked Deputy County Attorney Tom Liddy, who is representing Officer Adam Stoddard in his contempt case, if the officer will be holding the press conference ordered by Judge Gary Donahoe."I would advise your readers to not hold their breath," he says.

  November 18, 2009