Arizona State Government Adam Henning, principal at Adobe Mountain School Arizona’s incarcerated juveniles are having sex with staff members at one of the highest rates in the country, according to a survey published by the U.S. Department of Justice. In a survey of thousands of kids held in juvie halls across…
Pinal County, Maricopa’s southeastern neighbor, has been rocked in recent years by allegations of incompetence and wrongdoing by some of its top officials. New Times has obtained two more names for the list: * Lisa Garcia, assistant county manager for Health and Human Services, who was suspended for a week…
An elderly man extradited to Maricopa County in November on a 1987 homicide charge is apparently being held under the wrong name. Confusion in the case, however, didn’t help the white-haired, wheelchair-bound guy get out of jail during a court hearing on Monday. As we reported previously, Phoenix police and the U.S. Marshal’s…
A Pinal County judge has put the criminal case of Maricopa County Judge Gary Donahoe on hold until the state Supreme Court figures out what should be done with it. An article in the Arizona Republic this evening says the stay will be effective until March, when the Arizona Supreme…
We had no idea that Paradise Valley’s veteran judge, Elsa Lynch, was in a peck of legal trouble when she told us in July about her upcoming retirement. Forgive us for momentarily losing our suspicious mind. A few weeks after our chat, it turns out, Lynch was indicted by a federal grand…
A couple of weeks ago, we related how a top official with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office met with some rich guys during a fishing trip in Alaska three years ago. As we were told by the lawyer for the rich guys, Grant Woods, the Alaska trip — which was…
New Times is a lying, “insidious” publication that ABC News Nightline program should never have used in researching its recent report on Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s spokeswoman states in a new video made by the agency. (Scroll down for link to video). After that bold and unsubstantiated insult,…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Tasers should be used only when a suspect poses an immediate threat to a police officer or the public.The gun-like weapons, sold by a Scottsdale company, deliver an immobilizing, painful dose of electricty that’s supposed to be non-lethal. Most of the time,…
Barbara Mundell will step down as presiding judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court this summer, but it has nothing to do with being deemed a criminal conspirator by our local sheriff and county attorney. Mundell took the five-year post on July 1, 2005, so her time will soon be up, says Jennifer Liewer, spokeswoman for the Arizona…
A guy trying to break into a home near Central Avenue and McDowell Road turned out to be a “star” of America’s Most Wanted — a suspect in the April beating death of a trucker’s helper. Phoenix police say they received a report of a man trying to force his way through the back…
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas wants approval of his special prosecutors, now that the state Supreme Court has denied a request to stay the prosecution of Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe. We’re hearing this from Thomas’ office, which put out a news release today concerning the decision and two motions…
Global warming threatens to sink Santa’s workshop and push reindeer toward extinction, a renowned climatologist tells New Times. As we’ve read in recent months, climate change could melt the ice cap at the North Pole during the summer in 10 to 20 years, according to some estimates. Scientists aren’t sure…
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge won’t give his opinion to county leadership about those pricey special prosecutors County Attorney Andrew Thomas wants to hire.In a ruling that cuts both parties down to size (but seems to ding Thomas more), Criminal Division Judge Roland Steinle refused to block Thomas from…
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…
The State Bar of Arizona has rejected five complaints against Maricopa County leaders submitted a few months ago by the Sheriff’s Office. MCSO Chief Deputy Dave Hendershott wrote to the State Bar with complaints against County Manager David Smith, Wade Swanson (director of general litigation office), Richard Stewart (director of special…
The lawyer for indicted Maricopa County Supervior Mary Rose Wilcox wants a guarantee that County Attorney Andrew Thomas won’t accuse the Pima judge assigned to the case of conspiring against him. In a motion filed today, attorney Colin Campbell asks the Superior Court to force Thomas to state publicly he won’t…
Back in July, Captain Joel Fox, frontman for the SCA fund, wrote the following comment on our blog: There has never been a “meeting” of SCA donors. How you figure you could get all the people on that list into one room is beyond me. I can hardly get in…
The private attorney who represents the state Attorney General’s office against claims of bribery by the Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is also named in the flimsy — but serious — federal racketeering lawsuit launched by the sheriff and county attorney. Image: Wikimedia Commons Yet on Wednesday, the AG’s office advised the Superior Court on how to…
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 judges and two local lawyers conspired to obstruct justice and hinder a criminal investigation…
The CEO of Chicanos Por La Causa on Wednesday denied some media reports that the agency’s lending division, Prestamos, is a “lender of last resort.” Prestamos is at the center of the criminal indictment of Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. She’s been accused of failing to disclose at least $177,500…
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is giving Colin Campbell, Mary Rose Wilcox’s attorney, until 5 p.m. today to voluntarily talk to a deputy about issues related to a supposed criminal conspiracy among county leaders. Campbell, former presiding judge of the Superior Court, received a letter from the Sheriff’s Office yesterday,…
A team of deputies hit the streets last night in an attempt to interview Superior Court judges’ assistants in their homes.”It was pure intimidation,” one judge who asked to remain anonymous tells New Times. Judicial assistants are hired and fired by the judges, and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was counting…
