A rodeo performer accused of torching his Carefree-area home in 2007 to collect the insurance money has been arrested after more than a year on the lam. Aaron Jeter, 41, conspired with two other men to burn down the custom-built home at 613 West Galvin, just north of Carefree, a Maricopa…
Reason, the influential libertarian magazine devoted to “free minds and free markets,” has published a piece criticizing Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas as “Sheriff Joe’s Enabler.”The piece was published online yesterday.In it, senior editor Radley Balko explains that “[f]or all of Arpaio’s tough on crime preening, Thomas may actually be…
There’s no shortage of discouraging news for Arizona today. In a prior post, we told you about Maricopa County’s dismal national ranking in terms of job loss, and the latest news on the education front isn’t any better.According to the annual report from Editorial Projects in Education, Arizona ranks fifth-worst…
We knew Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was desperate to read e-mails penned by judges and court staffers. But even we had no idea he was this desperate. According to documents obtained by New Times, Arpaio has actually agreed to pay Washington, D.C., attorney Carter G. Phillips $990 — per hour…
Winchester, the small Oro Valley cancer-surviving dog that was found semi-conscious and lying in a pool of his own feces on New Year’s Day, died Thursday after fighting off death for about two weeks.Winchester went missing on New Year’s Eve and was found by a dog-sitter in his owner’s yard…
Move over, rover, let Gary take over. In a tale that could seemingly only happen in rural stretch of central Arizona — or the hills of West Virginia — Chino Valley resident Gary Riley has been accused of sexually assaulting his neighbor’s dog. The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office says another Chino…
We thought that this time, maybe things would be different.Ha!Last month, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas filed a lawsuit against county officials and a few prominent judges, attempting to use RICO laws to show that these public officials are a “criminal enterprise.” Not surprisingly, considering…
Police are asking for the public’s help in tracking down a man they believe stole thousands of dollars from a charter school in Chandler.Stealing from a school — how, um, classy.Authorities say James Bassett, along with his wife, Laurie Bassett, embezzled more than $20,000 from the Dobson Academy School in…
In what teacher Alex Chambers describes as actions leading to the ultimate failing grade for breaking and entering, an alleged copper thief is in critical condition after falling through the ceiling at Bret Tarver Elementary School in Phoenix. Teachers at the school found the F-getting thief unconscious on the floor in one…
A phoned-in bomb threat this morning at the Maricopa County Superior Court had some folks wondering about a possible tie to negative news about Sheriff Joe Arpaio. An earlier bomb threat at the court last month followed the jailing of Adam Stoddard, the detention officer Sheriff Arpaio claimed was the victim…
A Tucson woman told a judge on Wednesday that she starved her baby, Kimberlie, which caused the baby’s death in August of 2008. In Pima County Superior Court, 27-year-old Terri Sullivan admitted to starving the baby after she was born in July 2008, as well as failing to get help when it was…
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…
A lawyer in Ohio pleaded guilty yesterday to money laundering charges stemming from money he received from the leader of a drug ring based in Phoenix. Authorities say 40-year-old Kyle Hunter received more than $100,000 from convicted drug king-pin Leonard Barnhouse. Payment for services rendered, right? Wrong — Barnhouse paid…
Dennis Wilenchik, the one-time special prosecutor whose investigation into New Times led to the nighttime arrests of its top executives, has been cleared of all wrongdoing by the State Bar of Arizona.And, sadly, this isn’t one of those New Times spoofs. The State Bar really has dismissed all claims against…
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…
The U.S.Attorney’s Office in Phoenix announced that the man convicted of leading four Guatemalans to a watery death has been sentenced to close to 10 years in prison.Juan Pablo Moreno-Gonzalez, 27, was sentenced to 115 months in federal prison for his role in the deaths of the four men, whom…
Rachel Alexander, the deputy county attorney now handling the Maricopa County Attorney’s racketeering lawsuit against a host of county officials, was working out of Thomas’ executive office as recently as mid-December, county records show.Indeed, Alexander — a conservative blogger and longtime Thomas supporter — wasn’t transferred to the MCAO’s Major…
A Tempe woman, who was denied parental custody rights last week and then drove her 8-month-old son to Florida, has been caught and will be brought back to Arizona. The baby, however, has not been found and the mother isn’t talking. Elizabeth Johnson, 23, was denied custody of her son,…
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…
In China, 2009 was the year of the cow. In Arizona, however, 2009 may have been the year of the rabid bobcat.Officials at the Arizona Department of Health Services say there were more cases of rabies in 2009 than in any other year to date, including at least two rabid…
Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon — long considered Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ hatchet-woman for politically sensitive cases — is no longer handling the racketeering lawsuit that Thomas’ office filed against a host of county officials.Instead, the RICO suit will be now be handled by one of the few attorneys…
