Tom Irvine

David Hendershott, Lisa Aubuchon and Lawyer Ed Moriarity Ordered to Pay Six-Digit Fees for Filing Garbage Lawsuit Vs. County Foes

David Hendershott, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's former trusted chief deputy, and Lisa Aubuchon, the stooge of disbarred former County Attorney Andy Thomas, probably will pay a steep price for doing the bidding of their bosses. A judge has ordered Hendershott, Aubuchon, her husband, their la ... More >>

Andrew Thomas, Lisa Aubuchon Must be Disbarred to Help Restore Public Trust, State Bar Counsel Urges

Andrew Thomas, former county attorney, must be disbarred to restore public trust, says the Arizona State Bar's independent counsel.​ Former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his former underling Lisa Aubuchon must be disbarred in order to restore public trust in the legal system, the ... 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 >>

More Nonsense From Thomas: Claims TV Reporter Revealed News of Lawyer's County Clients, but Judge had Ruled on Issue Months Prior

TV reporter Josh Bernstein is one of former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas' heroes.​ New setting, same old story.Under oath while on the stand this morning in the his disciplinary "trial," former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas claimed that a TV reporter gave his office a great ... More >>

Andrew Thomas: County Supervisors and Judges Were "Openly Thumbing Their Nose at the Law"

Andrew Thomas said he had no animosity toward County Supervisor Don Stapley, who he had charged in December 2008 with 118 counts related to Stapley's alleged failure to disclose some business deals on officials forms.​Andrew Thomas certainly seems to believe his own theories as he defends himself ... More >>

Andrew Thomas' Theories on County Conspiracy (Still) Have Holes

Andrew Thomas defended his actions against county officials today in a State Bar disciplinary hearing. We use the word "defended" loosely here.​ We're biased on this one.Gotta admit it.We watched hours and hours of testimony by former Maricopa County Andrew Thomas today, and the guy definitely ... More >>

Andy Thomas Longtime Shill Barnett Lotstein Gets To Spin One More Time

To hear Barnett Lotstein tell it, ex-Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Peyton Thomas was willing to sacrifice his political career in order to do the right thing by going after alleged "corruption" in county governmentThis guy was Maricopa County Attorney for six years.​Lotstein spun, um, testified ... More >>

Ed Moriarity, Lisa Aubuchon's Pro-Bono Lawyer in Bar Discipline Case, Makes for Good Theater -- but Not Good Defense

​Ed Moriarity, Lisa Aubuchon's pro-bono lawyer from Montana, has helped represent celebrity clients from Imelda Marcos to Karen Silkwood.According to his former partner, Gerry Spence, Moriarity was born in a mineshaft.Since his opening statement in the State Bar disciplinary hearings for former Ma ... More >>

Andrew Thomas and Lisa Aubuchon's Defense in Disbarment Hearing Looks Weak in Opening Statements

Image: Ray SternAndrew Thomas wasn't at today's State Bar disciplinary hearing -- which was probably a good thing for his ego.​ Did a cabal of county supervisors, judges, lawyers and others work together to block legit police investigations into allegations of public corruption?Or did a poli ... More >>

Prop 203: Friday Deadline More a Suggestion Than Deadline. Results Not Expected Until Next Week

​If you were expecting to learn the fate Prop. 203 -- Arizona's medical marijuana initiative -- tomorrow, don't hold your breath. Election officials don't expect to be done counting ballots until next week, which violates election statute, but, as we just found out, is not that big a deal.From ... More >>

Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Poor Labor Practices Will Cost Maricopa County $2 Million

The Shurf just cost taxpayers another $2 million -- but there go his office's credit cards!​At a meeting this morning, county supervisors voted unanimously to curtail Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's access to county credit cards -- putting a $200 per-purchase limit on cards issued to th ... More >>

Don Stapley Claim Vs. County Could be Settled by Board of Supervisors; County Leaders Mum on Possibility

  Image: Ray Stern It seems likely that Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, (seen here with husband, Earl, and attorney Colin Campbell), will file a claim against the county like Don Stapley did last week. ​ The malicious prosecution claim filed against Maricopa County by Don St ... More >>

The Court Tower Conspiracy: Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio's Court Tower "Cover-Up" Sounds Like a Good Story, But It's Pure Fiction

Joe Arpaio's Lawyer for Records Dispute Costing Taxpayers $990 -- Per Hour

Joe Arpaio has spared no expense in his quest to read e-mails penned by county judges.​ We knew Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was desperate to read e-mails penned by judges and court staffers. But even we had no idea he was this desperate. According to documents obtained by New Ti ... 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 >>

Lawyer Named by Thomas and Arpaio as Racketeer Appointed to Character Committee by AZ Supreme Court

To Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio, local lawyer Edward Novak is a scoundrel -- one of several conspirators in a federal racketeering lawsuit the county lawmen filed on December 1.   Edward Novak ​To the state Supreme Court, Ed Novak is a respected master of his profession who should spend ... More >>

Racketeering Lawsuit by Thomas and Arpaio has "Fatal Defects," Say Lawyers Asking for Dismissal

The federal racketeering lawsuit filed last week by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio has "fatal defects" and should be dismissed, argue high-profile lawyers named in the suit. ​ The evidence-light racketeering lawsuit claims the Board of Supervisors, top judge ... More >>

Criminal Complaint Filed Against Judge Gary Donahoe; Today's Hearing on Special Prosecutors Canceled

  ​The Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced this morning that a criminal complaint has been filed against the Superior Court's criminal division chief, Judge Gary Donahoe (at left). Michael Scerbo, spokesman for County Attorney Andrew Thomas, stated in a news release that Donahoe ... More >>

Andrew Thomas Offers No Evidence of Bribery in Judge Gary Donahoe Case -- But Charges Him Anyway

​Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas this afternoon struggled to explain his decision to charge the county's presiding criminal court judge, Gary Donahoe, with three felony counts -- including bribery, obstructing a criminal investigation, and hindering prosecution.But Thomas couldn't offer ... More >>

Arizona Republic Publisher Mike Ryan Quits the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce — Finally

Arpaio's Public Records Requests are Cloverfield Monster Size

  Andrew ThomasThis is one Titanic fishing expedition. The requests made of county offices by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and Sheriff's Office have received a lot of attention because they're so broad, but details about them in the press have been scarce. We figu ... More >>

County's Lawyer Ordered County Attorney Not to Contact Board of Supervisors Directly

Barnett LotsteinIt seems there's a good reason for why Maricopa County Andrew Thomas won't return County Supervisor Max Wilson's phone call: Wilson's attorney ordered him not to. As we reported yesterday, Wilson wrote to Thomas yesterday that he was surprised greatly to read a ... More >>

"Appearance of Evil" Requires Personal Sanctions Against County Attorney Andrew Thomas, Say County Supervisors

A conflict of interest between Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and the county Board of Supervisors over the investigation of a planned court tower creates the "appearance of evil," a judge has ruled.  Judge Gary Donahoe The background: In the midst of a feud with the County Superv ... More >>

Jail Lawsuit Lawyers at Odds: Chief Deputy Orders Sheriff's Office to Sever Joint Defense

Thomas IrvineWith so much county news going on, we had temporarily overlooked this fascinating tidbit: Dave Hendershott Thomas Irvine, the lawyer hired by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to help backhoe the rift between top county leaders, has been appointed as co-counse ... More >>

County's New Civil Litigation Department Approved by Court; Andrew Thomas Thwarted

  Just got word that the cease-and-desist motion filed by Maricopa County Andrew Thomas to stop the county from taking over civil litigation matters has failed. Superior Court Judge Donald Daughton rejected the motion. As we were the first to report on Monday, the county Board of Supervisors v ... More >>

County Creates New Civil Litigation Department With Money Taken From County Attorney Andrew Thomas

The Maricopa County Board Supervisors today sealed the deal on their transfer of power over civil litigation matters out of the office of County Attorney Andrew Thomas (pictured). With a vote in their informal meeting this morning, the supervisors created a new department to handle civil lawsui ... More >>

Andrew Thomas Possibly to Appear in Court Today in Case of County Attorney Vs. County

It looks like Round Two of the lawsuit between Maricopa County and the Maricopa County Attorney's office begins today.An "order to show cause" has been issued in the case, and we understand it's likely Andrew Thomas has been ordered to appear for a hearing at 1:30 p.m. (Thomas could send an att ... More >>

Letters

Letters from the week of January 1, 2004

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf Man?

Cave Creek rabble-rouser-cum-newspaper-publisher Don Sorchych has the town running scared

Loose Screws

Bank One Ballpark may be in danger of collapsing. The Arizona Diamondbacks didn't want you to know that.

Squeeze Play

Contractor sues to get stadium district records

Billion-Dollar Bad Guys

The county's jails are crammed full. But not with the dangerous felons backers of an initiative to raise money for new jails would have you believe.

BOB Doesn't Get With This Program

Stadium gives indie baseball mag publisher the boot

ROADS TO RUIN

IF PROPOSITION 400 PASSES, TAXPAYERS WILL COUGH UP BILLIONS FOR FREEWAY CONSTRUCTION. IF ONLY MAG ADOT KNEW WHERE THEY WERE GOING TO SPEND IT.

RESIDENTS BE DAMMED THE FEDS WANT MORE LAND FOR LAKE PLEASANT, BUT TWO FAMILIES ARE PUTTING UP A FIGHT