Arizona can’t force Jared Loughner to take his anti-psychotic medication for now, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court ruled today.The opinion comes less than a week after U.S. District Judge Larry Burns said Loughner could be forced to take his meds. This spring, the apparently insane Tucson massacre suspect, who shot…
When a creepy stranger clad only black boxer-briefs climbed into a 14-year-old’s bed on Sunday morning and told her to be quiet, the girl made the only sensible choice:Scream. Loudly.Her shouts woke up her 11-year-old brother, who shared her bedroom in the home near Peoria and 7th avenues. The boy…
Arizona’s harsh laws against undocumented immigrants plays a role in the waning popularity of the Phoenix boxing scene, as New Times pointed out in a May 12 article.The beating of local favorite Alexis “Beaver” Santiago in Indio on Friday, which saw Coachella’s Randy Caballero take the WBC Youth super bantamweight…
Judging from the war-like sounds of our neighborhood, more people than ever were using fireworks this Fourth of July because of last year’s law that legalized them.We’re pretty sure a lot of the bangs we heard weren’t from the now-legal snakes, sparklers and ground-spinners. Plenty of typical firecrackers were being…
Governor Jan Brewer believes that a “clarification” by the feds on medical-marijuana programs proves she took the “proper course of action” in halting the voter-approved dispensary program.Brewer and state Attorney General Tom Horne filed a declaratory judgment in federal court in May, and also instructed the Department of Health Services…
The medical-marijuana-dispensary industry faces more hurdles and delays following a “clarification” by the U.S. Justice Department, industry reps say.The letter by Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole, which dizzily seems to give protection to marijuana patients while threatening the businesses that serve them, was sent to U.S. Attorneys in all…
The Obama Administration has little interest in prosecuting medical-marijuana patients or their caregivers, states a letter by Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole.The letter appears to be the awaited “clarification” by the Administration promised earlier this month by Attorney General Eric Holder. And, as we predicted last week, it’s about…
An Arizona man whose 20-year prison sentence was thrown out last year wants payback from the Town of Patagonia over the allegedly dishonest actions of its fired police chief, Ed Dobbertin.A federal complaint filed yesterday by Patagonia resident Alan Woods, 42, alleges fraud, malicious prosecution (something his Phoenix lawyer, Dennis…
A new medical-marijuana club managed by Allan Sobol — an industry huckster and pot-business pioneer — says it will give away up to an eighth of an ounce of “high-grade” pot for “free” to qualified patients. Naturally, there’s a catch. The club charges members a hefty $75 in dues each…
The son of the director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety avoided being arrested this week by making a child support payment. Court records show that a bench warrant was issued for Robert Halliday, 31, (who shares the name of his veteran cop dad,) after he failed to appear for a telephone…
Want pot? Are you one of Arizona’s 6,000-plus, card-carrying, qualified medical marijuana patients? Or a valid patient from another state? Join the club. In a creative work-around to the state’s lack of marijuana dispensaries, a group of card-holding patients are offering various strains of buds, edibles and tinctures in exchange for donations…
Extraditions performed by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office were “inexplicably exorbitant” but not a criminal misuse of public funds, U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke has decided. At the request of County Manager David Smith (see below), Burke’s office conducted a review of how Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s employees brought suspects to the Valley from locations all…
Rick Renzi, the disgraced former Arizona congressman, can be prosecuted for his alleged crimes related to a corrupt land-swap deal, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has decided.The 45-page ruling issued today could have an impact on the President and other members of Congress, because Renzi had appealed to the Speech and…
Four U.S. Congressmen want Attorney General Eric Holder to clarify the Obama Adminstration’s position on medical marijuana, and what they’re asking for cuts down party lines. Ironically, it’s two Democrats who are pushing for states’ rights, while two Republicans are demanding that the federal government keep its stranglehold on the marijuana industry…
“Yes?” No. About 40 people have been laid off at the Arizona Republic, which also announced plans to close a Chandler press that prints USA Today and various inserts. The local pink slips come as part of a 2 percent layoff at Gannett’s publishing division nationwide. About 700 people are…
Victor Riches, chief of staff to Republican Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin, had two vials of cocaine in his leased car when police pulled him over last year on suspicion of DUI. Bicycle riders take heed: Riches was seen speeding and driving in a bike lane near his north-central Phoenix home before…
Gilbert police are taking a harsher stance on the state’s new medical-marijuana law than other Valley police agencies, but Police Chief Tim Dorn can’t be troubled to explain his policy. Dorn’s hiding behind his spokesman, Sergeant Bill Balafas, who tells New Times that we won’t get an interview — or…
In the latest sign that Gilbert police have gone rogue, a medical-marijuana patient tells New Times that he was taken to jail two nights ago for possessing a half-ounce of weed. This is the third case we’ve heard about in the past week in which Gilbert officers allegedly…
Gilbert police made another medical-marijuana raid last week — this one at the office of a Tempe advocacy group where patients sold pot to other patients.About 4 p.m. last Thursday, cops — some in masks — entered the small office of the Medical Marijuana Advocacy Group, in an industrial complex at…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office can keep large portions of the Babeu report hidden until Captain Joel Fox’s disciplinary process is complete, a judge told the Arizona Republic and Channel 12 News (KPNX) today.The newspaper and TV station had sued the MCSO to force an immediate and complete disclosure of…
Larry Black, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s former No. 3 man, is no longer listed on the Phoenix International Raceway’s Web site as director of security. We can only speculate that he’s lost the lucrative job he’d had since 1998 in the wake of damning allegations that caused Arpaio…
Arizona’s medical marijuana program is presenting a strange, new world for law enforcement. Before a single state resident had a registration card issued by the Arizona Department of Health Services, police in Mohave County were seeing pot-possession cases that would normally be routine suddenly dumped by prosecutors. Yesterday, we wrote…
