Faieza Alyas was fixing her husband, Amir, breakfast of lentil soup and crackers when she learned that the Phoenix police considered them criminals. The day–Monday, September 29, 1997–had started typically for the Iraq-born couple and their two sons, Christian, 15, and Brandon, 11. The north Phoenix family arose early, with…
We believe the Arizona Veterans Service Commission has the managerial and operational responsibility to be accountable to all veterans and the public. –The Arizona Veterans Service Commission Mission Statement Superior Court Judge Pam Franks glared into the courtroom gallery on March 2 and got to the point. “I’m going to…
Randy Wakefield won vindication in Justice Court last Thursday, when a judge dismissed criminal charges against the veteran county prosecutor. Phoenix city prosecutors failed to convince Judge Sam Goodman that Wakefield had broken grand jury secrecy laws when he told a family member about an investigation involving his son, Craig…
Maricopa County prosecutors want the man convicted of murdering Phoenix heiress Jeanne Tovrea on death row–and they’re posing some novel legal theories in an effort to get him there. James “Butch” Harrod faces an April 6 sentencing before Superior Court Judge Ronald Reinstein. A jury last November convicted the 45-year-old…
Last September 6, a desperate Debbie Knight mailed a letter to medical authorities in Arizona. “I write this letter to you today because I need your help,” the Marysville, California, woman wrote the Arizona Board of Medical Examiners (BOMEX). “There is a doctor living in Maryland who practices medicine over…
Alvin Chernov’s sister, Debbie Knight, poses the question, “Do doctors ever get prosecuted for screwing up on the job?” The answer is yes, but rarely. Physicians frequently are the targets of civil medical malpractice lawsuits and–less often–when they take sexual liberties with patients. But it’s the unusual case–probably not more…
Editor’s note: Paul Rubin and David Holthouse reported extensively on crystal methamphetamine in the December 18 issue in a 16-page special section, “Methology.” Valley drug cops busted 11 crystal methamphetamine labs during the first three weeks of January. One of them was a three-bedroom apartment in the 1700 block of…
Herminia Rodriguez looks out the passenger window of her attorney’s car and sees Harrah’s Ak-Chin in the distance. “Oh, my God,” she says. “I just have this feeling they’re going to say no again. God have mercy.” Chico Rodriguez tries to put his wife of 36 years at ease. “Hey,…
At precisely 6:42 p.m. on October 11, Herminia Rodriguez struck it rich. Or so she thought. The 64-year-old Phoenix grandmother was playing the “Quartermania” slot machine at Harrah’s Ak-Chin, a popular casino about 40 minutes southeast of Phoenix. With her husband, Chico, seated next to her, Rodriguez punched the spin…
Meth Roots Methamphetamine is an all-American drug. It should come as no surprise that many embrace a high that can make running errands feel like the quest for the golden fleece. As early as the 1830s, the French writer Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: “It is odd to watch, with what…
“Better Than Hawaii” It’s 3:43 in the morning and Cyndi and Shana are coloring. They’re dressed for comfort in sweat pants and tee shirts; long hair pulled into ponytails. Markers and crayons are scattered about them on the living-room carpet, and it’s easy to imagine them as little girls, playing…
A Convict’s Warning What I do find appalling is that there are a lot of people in here simply for having big mouths and a lack of common sense. I estimate that only 25 percent of the crimes of manufacturing and conspiracy to manufacture meth were actually directly involved in…
James Cornell “Butch” Harrod is on trial, possibly for his life. He’s on the witness stand, trying to convince a jury that he didn’t commit one of Arizona’s most sensational murders. He’s accused of the April 1, 1988, execution of wealthy Phoenix heiress Jeanne Tovrea, who was shot to death…
Seventeen-year-old organist Arthur “Buddy” Strong II is ready to lift the congregation of the Faith Tabernacle Church to a higher place. The setting for this musical levitation is South 24th Street, between Broadway and Roeser. The neighborhood is commonly considered among the Valley’s most dangerous, but all the madness temporarily…
Document-preparation king Dick Berry may be back in business, hiding behind a new lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy cases. The U.S. Trustee, who oversees bankruptcy court, says Berry has found a new front man in longtime friend Gary Brown, a Chandler attorney who works out of his home. Berry has…
Every week, estranged spouses ask Maricopa County court commissioner Pete Reinstein to make “emergency” rulings for them in child-custody quarrels. Says Reinstein, “They come rushing in before the custody orders are completed, and they’ll say something like, ‘Hubby or wife is out doing drugs, and he or she shouldn’t be…
Mental-health experts were asked what would happen to someone like Artie Martinez today under circumstances similar to his in 1955: He was taken to the Arizona State Hospital after he disrobed in public, and remained incarcerated there for most of the next 40 years. * Dave Coons, staff psychiatrist at…
A few days before Christmas 1955, Artie Martinez took off his clothes and went for a stroll. Sheriff’s deputies found Martinez–a 27-year-old deaf man–wandering incoherently near 52nd Street and McDowell. Not surprisingly, he wound up at the Arizona State Hospital. Martinez wasn’t charged with a crime, never has been. Nonetheless,…
On August 14, chief United States Bankruptcy Judge George Nielsen Jr. issued a stern order against Valley document-preparation king Dick Berry: “Richard S. Berry shall pay . . . $172,103 within ten days. This amount represents the fees received in Chapter 13 cases in violation of this court’s order entered…
Veteran prosecutor Randy Wakefield greeted a supervisor in his office on the morning of June 4. It wasn’t unusual for Jim Blake, the Maricopa County Attorney’s criminal division chief, to exchange a few friendly words with Wakefield. The pair had worked in the same shop for more than a decade…
On July 21, Phoenix defense attorney David Erlichman stood before Superior Court Judge Michael Yarnell and said this: “I consider myself the last of the line here, Your Honor, defending the very true freedoms of America because I’m from Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and that is what it is all about,…
Wayne Legg handed his wallet, watch and keys to a friend a few minutes before the jury delivered its verdict on Tuesday afternoon. He must have had a premonition. The panel convicted the once-powerful Mesa attorney on 13 counts of felony theft and fraud after a monthlong trial. Moments after…
