A semi-truck and a passenger struck a downed motorcyclist lying in the middle of a lane on the Loop 101 at about 10:30 p.m. last night, and neither vehicle stopped. It’s unclear whether the motorcyclist was killed by those impacts, or from the wipe-out that preceded the collisions. The Department…
Recent tragedies involving Valley bicyclists hit by vehicles have spurred activists to bring awareness to the problem with a “Ride of Honor” on May 19.On April 11, an SUV driven by Amy Alexander of Scottsdale plowed into a another Scottsdale resident, 53-year-old Shawn McCarty, who’d been riding in a bike…
Here’s a quick rundown on Maricopa County news today:* Andrew Peyton Thomas, former Maricopa County Attorney, failed politician and author of right-wing books, won’t appeal a state Supreme Court Disciplinary Panel’s decision to cancel his law license. We’ve cut-and-pasted his wussyish comments about being railroaded below. As Thomas explained in…
A police report on the April 11 collision that killed bicyclist Shawn McCarty sheds no light on why Scottsdale resident Amy Alexander’s SUV drifted into a bike lane.Alexander’s Chevy Tahoe slammed into the back of McCarty’s bicycle on a Sunday afternoon, causing the 53-year-old to fly into the air and…
News media across the country lit up over the weekend with anti-Sheriff Joe Arpaio stories after a recording surfaced in which Arpaio admits he busted Mexicans to “spite” critics.Bigots at the Texans For Immigration Reform fundraising rally in September of 2009 laughed as the Maricopa County sheriff described the illegitimate…
Rachel Alexander, the lawyer who worked with former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas to attack his political enemies, will appeal the suspension of her law license.Alexander received a suspension of six months and a day by the state Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Panel for her role in working on a nonsensical…
Amy Alexander, the Scottsdale woman who struck and killed a bicyclist with her SUV last month, has paid a $420 fine for the two civil-traffic violations she received. Police say that 53-year-old Shawn McCarty was wearing a helmet and riding in the bike lane on Thompson Peak Parkway when Alexander’s…
Disgraced former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has until Tuesday at 5 p.m. to file an appeal to his disbarment order. The failed politician lost his law license after a disciplinary panel of the state Supreme Court found he had committed perjury, filed charges he knew were outside of the…
One thing to add about our blog post today on the raid of Arizona Cannabis Society:Phoenix police say they intend to submit charges on some of the people involved, including charges related to the production of concentrated marijuana.That brings up the thorny question of whether such concentrates are legal under…
Arizona Cannabis Society, a medical-marijuana caregiver collective featured prominently in a March New Times blog post, was raided today by Phoenix police.Founder Bill Hayes is still being detained, cops say. However, police have no intention of booking anyone into jail today, says Phoenix Police Sergeant Trent Crump. Several people found…
Stanfield farmer Carlos Carranza Jr. was sentenced to 21 months in prison today for blowing a government loan on strippers, a BMW and other items.Carranza Jr.’s wife, Laura Murrill, 31, will serve a three-year probation sentence for helping to spend the dough.Carranza Jr. used to work with family members at…
Peter Pocklington, former owner of the hockey’s Edmonton Oilers, has been accused by Arizona officials of scamming investors out of millions with bogus claims about a gold mine in La Paz County.This one has echoes of a ripoff we wrote about last week from the late ’80s called the Pannos…
The bill to defend a gang of rogue prosecutors in Maricopa County: $1.5 million.At least former County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his bad-girl deputies, Lisa Aubuchon and Rachel Alexander, now all disbarred or suspended, won’t be getting any more of their lawyers’ bills paid for by county taxpayers. Yesterday, the…
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld — in part — Arizona’s voter-approved 2004 law requiring voters to show proof of citizenship before receiving a ballot.The Appeals Court en banc panel mostly shot down the challenges to the law, which had itself been upheld in Arizona U.S. District…
Disbarred former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas can no longer rely on taxpayers to pick up his legal fees.The Board of Supervisors decided yesterday during executive session not to fund Thomas’ appeal of his disbarment, should he file one, county spokeswoman Cari Gerchick says.His former underling, Rachel Alexander, would also…
Maricopa County leaders retaliated against a county civil attorney for providing Sheriff Joe Arpaio legal help and for voicing her opinion to a newspaper, the woman claims in a lawsuit.Maria Brandon, a veteran deputy county attorney until her termination in June of 2011, says that her civil rights were violated, she…
Former Mayor Phil Gordon Phil Gordon, Paul Charlton, Rick Romley and Terry Goddard sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today asking him to have Sheriff Joe Arpaio charged for abusing his power. Gordon’s a former Phoenix mayor; Charlton’s a former Arizona U.S. Attorney; Romley’s a former Maricopa…
U.S. District Judge Neil Wake moved the start-date of a potential defamation trial against Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio to May 1, after County Supervisors have the chance to approve a settlement. The trial for the lawsuit launched by Thomas Lovejoy, a Chandler police officer who accidentally let his dog die in…
Lisa Aubuchon, the former Maricopa deputy county attorney disbarred last week along with her former boss, Andrew Thomas, has filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court. This afternoon, the county Board of Supervisors is in executive session to decide — among other things — whether Thomas and suspended lawyer Rachel Alexander could have any…
The public first saw a transcript of a secret recording made of one of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s staff meetings after New Times published it online.Last week, we noticed that Channel 5 News (KPHO-TV) had obtained the actual audio recording and aired pieces of it in a broadcast. That…
Joel Fox, a former captain in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, was “floored” when state criminal investigators showed up with a search warrant at his house on March 31, 2009. “I couldn’t believe it,” Fox said on the stand this morning, testifying in his attempt to get his job back…
Pending settlements to Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, retired Judge Barbara Mundell and county employee Susan Schuerman will reportedly save the county millions.The county says that, the settlements to Mundell and Schuerman (Supervisor Don Stapley’s executive assistant) are now final, but the potential settlement for Wilcox is still up…
