An 82-year-old man caught last year for a 1987 murder — and the central character of a feature article this week in New Times — was sentenced today to seven years in prison. As detailed in the article, Richard Rodgers gunned down 23-year-old Terry Keenan in a parking lot for doing nothing more than…
Here’s a short, “home” movie that won’t bore you, courtesy of one of the doctors-in-training at the Maricopa Medical Center:…
A bailiff in a beige uniform opens the door next to the courtroom’s inmate-seating area, which is empty for the moment. It’s Monday at the Maricopa County Superior Court, and the inmate galley begins to fill up for the morning’s hearings. “It might be easier to get him through this…
A Guadalupe man run over by a Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop last year will receive $600,000 in a settlement of his lawsuit.Armando L. Nido didn’t pull over for deputy James Carey, (see our post about Nido’s notice of claim), so Carey didn’t stop for Nido. He…
After hearing that Lisa Aubuchon had hung up a shingle on the Internet, advertising her services as a lawyer in Tempe, we gave the former prosecutor a call.Despite all the grief we’ve given the fired Maricopa deputy county attorney about her losing ways, including a recent zinger about her Internet defender– a…
A homeowner in Mohave County faces a possible citation and fine for allegedly using mothballs outdoors as a snake deterrent. The looming enforcement action for suspected misuse of pesticides is the only case that Jack Peterson, acting director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture, can recall that involved an average resident. Usually,…
Michael TurneyMichael Turney, the stepfather of a girl missing since 2001, was sentenced today to 10 years in a federal prison for possessing a large cache of fully functional, homemade bombs.He pleaded guilty back in April.Federal agents who raided Turney’s home at 17218 North 34th Street in December of 2008…
A time-honored tradition in Arizona is to use the state as a base for crimes committed elsewhere in the country. That’s just what John Wanek did: The Phoenix-based developer, owner of Ventana Companies, 3100 North Third Avenue, #201, falsified his financial status, took out tens of millions of dollars in loans,…
Twenty people were arrested and 49 others ejected from Sunday’s football game at the University of Phoenix Stadium. Most were Raiders fans, according to posts on a football Web forum. Oakland Raiders followers lived up to their reputation on Sunday as some of the rowdiest punks in football fandom. …
“All this poor woman did was try to prosecute criminals…” The above line is taken from a ridiculous blog post published today on the pro-Andrew Thomas Web site, Sonoran Alliance, in reference to fired deputy county attorney Lisa Aubuchon. The post uses a few words to create a fantasy world…
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu recommends paid leave for Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s chief deputy, David Hendershott, while he investigates allegations of corruption in Arpaio’s office. In a news release e-mailed this evening, Babeu brushes off the claim today by supervisors Mary Rose Wilcox and Don Stapley that he’s not the right…
David Hendershott was the main guy behind the SCA political money-laundering scam. Joel Fox lied to cover for Hendershott, Larry Black, Steve Ellman, and others involved in the scandal. SCA contributors knew from the beginning that funds collected by the SCA would be used to help Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s 2008 re-election campaign, not…
Maricopa County Supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox have asked the feds to consider taking control of the Sheriff’s Office in light of allegations revealed in a top deputy’s memo. The supervisors, two chief targets of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s politically motivated attacks, addressed the memo by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell…
Josh Bernstein Josh Bernstein, an “investigative” reporter for Channel 15 (KNXV-TV) who was repeatedly praised by former County Attorney Andrew Thomas for his work, is hanging up his shiny shovel. A memo obtained by New Times from ABC15 News Director Joe Hengemuehler states that Bernstein “has made a decision to…
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 being a Stapley Two case)…
Dave Hendershott’s trips to Honduras — another example of corruption, according to Deputy Chief Frank Munnell A bombshell memo from a top Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office official alleges that Chief Deputy David Hendershott betrayed Sheriff Arpaio and ran a corrupt office through fear and intimidation. (Read an update here.) Basically, Deputy Chief…
AZUSA World Ministries, a non-profit religious corporation with locations across the Valley and in Africa, filed yesterday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Court paperwork shows the company owes between $1 million and $10 million to creditors, with the biggest debt being to Greenfield Warner, LLC, a commercial real estate company. The…
The electronic strip-shows being installed at airports around the country haven’t helped catch any terrorists, bombs or guns. Yet body scanners are paying off for local law enforcement: The high-tech machines excel at detecting tiny packets of illegal drugs hidden on a person’s body or in a pocket. Since the scanners went…
Whuu-chhh! There’s a new Disciplinary Judge in town. And he’s looking to break in his whip on the backs of Arizona’s worst lawyers. As part of a sweeping change in attorney-discipline rules, the state Supreme Court today announced the appointment of Arizona’s first-ever Presiding Disciplinary Judge. Pinal County Superior Court…
Three out of four firearms used in Mexico crimes trace back to the four Southwest border states, judging by guns submitted for tracing by Mexican authorities, says a report by a coalition of U.S. Mayors.The findings were released in a new report by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition, co-chaired…
A Phoenix woman who sent her daughter and other teens to rough up her ex-boyfriend has been sentenced to 1.75 years in prison. Katherine Faye White supplied her daughter, the daughter’s 20-year-old friend and three minor teens with a Taser, crowbar, duct tape and other supplies needed for the job. Her instructions,…
Police are still looking for leads in a robbery at the Hyatt Place Hotel in downtown Scottsdale early Tuesday, in which a man wearing a wig helped himself to cash in the front-desk register. Not an unusual crime. But we find the man’s actions just following the unarmed robbery a…
