The music minister of the First Southern Baptist Church of Phoenix has resigned after being arrested last week in connection with a misdemeanor sex crime. Phoenix police arrested Gordon Christopher, 59, about 5:45 p.m. on March 9, and sought prosecution on a charge of “public sexual indecency — sexual contact,” records show…
That was fast.Just one short week after he was appointed to be a special investigator, charged with probing Bar complaints into Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, J. Scott Rhodes has withdrawn from the task.The news came in a written statement from the Arizona Supreme Court this afternoon. The court had…
E-mails penned by Maricopa County sheriff’s officers — as well as all other county employees — will stay for now with Maricopa County officials, and not the Sheriff’s Office, a judge has ruled.At a hearing in Tucson last week, Pima County Superior Court Judge Ted Borek ordered that his preliminary…
Former Congressman J.D. Hayworth says the only way to keep a man from marrying a horse is through a federal marriage amendment.Naturally, we can think of several other snafus that might keep a man from marrying a horse — namely a horse’s inability to speak or sign a marriage license (basic…
Two weeks ago, Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo issued a scathing ruling against Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas — kicking him off the prosecution of County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and dismissing the charges against Wilcox to boot.That decision was a complete excoriation of Thomas’ attempts to prosecute…
They got ’em.Police in Navajo County have two men in custody they believe are responsible for a string of bank robberies stretching across four states, including Arizona.Police believe the “High Country Bandits,” as the pair were dubbed by the FBI’s bandit-naming department, are responsible for 16 bank robberies in Arizona,…
When you file a lawsuit that’s vigorously contested, but withdraw it before any judgment or settlement in the case — that’s called failure, right? At the least, it would appear to be the acknowledgment of a mistake. Not so, according to Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Thomas said today that…
This just in: Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio have dismissed the lawsuit that accused county officials, judges, and their lawyers of being part of a “criminal enterprise.”The suit — which the duo filed in December — spared no detail in exploring Thomas’ allegations that the Board…
It’s no secret that Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has been on a quest to stop the State Bar of Arizona’s duly appointed independent investigator from even thinking about beginning an investigation into Thomas’ ethical mishaps.Almost immediately after Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Rebecca Berch appointed J. Scott Rhodes to…
Avondale police are looking for a bank-robbery suspect who held up a Chase bank earlier this afternoon.Police say the suspect hit the Chase Bank at 1545 North Dysart Road about noon and is still on the loose.The suspect walked into the bank, presented a demand note indicating that he had a weapon,…
A substitute teacher in Surprise has some explaining to do after police found her in possession of a computer that belonged to the school where she worked.Jeanette Guyer, 42, was a substitute teacher at the Desert Moon Elementary School in Surprise but left the school just before Christmas.Surprise police Sergeant…
This just in: Attorney J. Scott Rhodes is part of the conspiracy to deprive Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas of his law license!We’re kidding — but only kind of. The real scoop is that Rhodes, an attorney at Jennings Strouss, has agreed to serve as independent counsel on complaints that…
Phoenix police are asking the public’s help in tracking down the killer of a Phoenix man murdered early Saturday morning.The victim, whom police identified as 21-year-old Aaron Mathew Ford, was shot just after midnight on Saturday, near the northbound access road to the Black Canyon Freeway near 4450 N. Black…
One of three former karate instructors accused in the deadly arson fire at the Phoenix headquarters of Young Champions of America was sentenced today to 14 years in prison. In an emotional hearing before a packed courtroom, Judge Joseph Kreamer told Jonathan Antonucci that he was troubled by several aspects of the case. In particular,…
One member of an Arizona State University fraternity could be looking at a little more than double-secret probation after allegedly stabbing another member when he tried to throw him into a pool.Members of the Sigma Nu fraternity threatened to throw 21-year-old Samson Fivey into a pool at the fraternity house early…
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas forwarded the criminal cases of Mary Rose Wilcox and Don Stapley to Gila County today, ending his quest to hire a special prosecutor. Gila County Attorney Daisy Flores has agreed to accept the cases, Thomas wrote in a short news release, (see full text below).The…
In a blog post earlier this week, we referenced documents we’d obtained from the State Bar of Arizona’s investigation into “special prosecutor” Dennis Wilenchik’s handling of the New Times matter. Those documents also figure prominently in our column this week about Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.Some of our readers asked…
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has been pushing the Board of Supervisors to appoint a private attorney as independent special prosecutor on matters involving county officials — offering “ironclad” representations that the independent prosecutor will be “absolutely independent.”But newly released documents obtained by New Times show that the last time…
Someone call a shrink, stat!That was our thought after reading Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ revealing interview with the Arizona Republic over the weekend. Thomas was apparently giving the daily of record his first candid interview after a climactic week that saw a visiting judge remove him from prosecuting County…
An 82-year-old suspect in a 1987 murder is suffering from memory problems and requires a competency hearing, according to the man’s attorney. Recent paperwork filed in court also clears up confusion about the suspect’s name: His real name is Richard Earl Rodgers, but his fingerprints are the same as the…
A couple more turns of the screw to report this morning on the county front: 1. Former Arizona Chief Justice Ruth McGregor — a retiree who just returned from an out-of-country trip — ruled that a Yuma judge will decide last week’s squabble over the appointment of a special prosecutor in the…
Image: James King David Eisenberg and Victoria Toensing, at a news conference in October. The next step in Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ push to hire special prosecutors will likely be a request for an expedited ruling in a lawsuit that addresses the matter. Thomas wants the special prosecutors…
