Sometimes God allegedly tells people to run for public office, and sometimes He’ll allegedly tell a Mesa man that his neighbors are “terrorists” trying to murder him with chemical weapons, so it’s probably best to kill them first.For some reason, the cops weren’t buying the terrorist-neighbor story allegedly proposed yesterday…
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…
Glendale resident Antoin Thurman — a man who once made an educational video describing his prostitute-management skills (more on that later) — was booked into jail Friday night after surviving gunshots from as many as four police officers.Thurman, 26, was allegedly in a domestic-violence situation with a woman on April…
There aren’t many consistencies in the case of missing baby Gabriel Johnson, except for the boy’s pops lengthening his rap sheet, and Gabriel’s mom not showing up to court.Both of those happened again this morning.Logan McQueary, who had moved out of the state, was in a Maricopa County courtroom this…
Four members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club were found not guilty of charges of “rioting” and assisting in a criminal street gang.The four acquitted, Rudolfo “Rudy” Martinez, Gerald Smith, Dale Hormut, and Stephen Helland, were among seven bikers arrested by an Arizona Department of Public Safety task force in…
While writing this morning about a Skull Valley family that went home a couple weeks ago and found a naked guy in their house, it seemed like a rare incident.That’s apparently not the case since a very similar incident happened again last night, this time in California.In the incident up north,…
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…
Witnesses to the Tempe shooting death of 20-year-old Gabriel Batten earlier this week told police the alleged shooter, Kyle Levitt, shot Batten twice in the abdomen before any sort of physical altercation occurred, according to court documents obtained by New Times.Levitt, a 25-year-old student at Arizona State University, is accused…
Police say 32-year-old Mesa resident Gerald Gonzales was selling heroin to an undercover cop.Gonzales wasn’t alone, though, as police say Gonzales had a sidekick with him on a couple occasions — a 3-year-old kid.According to court documents obtained by New Times, the officer first picked up a half-gram of heroin…
This has been a week of good news for Mary Rose Wilcox. She’s either received a settlement award of $1 million from Maricopa County, for which she serves as one of five County Supervisors, or she’s close to a settlement. The county’s not saying which just yet. The rumors of…
There are a few reasons why it’s not a good idea to run from or fight with police officers, attempt to out-drive them, or try to reach for a gun while cops are trying to handcuff you.The photo to the right, of 18-year-old Bobby White, may be one of those…
Arizona Bike Week is geared more toward the casual motorcyclist, but that doesn’t mean the gangsters are absent.A Scottsdale police spokesman tells New Times just two alleged motorcycle gangsters were arrested during this year’s Arizona Bike Week, which ran during the last week of March.According to police, one member of…
In case you’re just now emerging from under a rock, former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas was disbarred yesterday.An Arizona State Supreme Court disciplinary panel found that Thomas — as well as his former deputy, Lisa Aubuchon — were attempting prosecutions in the name of politics.Thomas and his comrades can…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas were blasted in a court ruling on Monday, the day before Thomas found himself disbarred. As we pointed out earlier today, the 247-page opinion by the state Supreme Court panel that disbarred Thomas made it clear that Arpaio had…
If the state Supreme Court had a disciplinary panel for sheriffs, Joe Arpaio would in all likelihood be stripped of his ability to practice law enforcement.Yet Arpaio continues to skate toward potential re-election despite his role in many of the same actions that got his former ally, ex-Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas,…
Today’s written ruling by the three-person panel that calls for the disbarment of former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his “special assistant” Lisa Aubuchon should be mandatory reading, and not just for lawyers. It is profound in fact and happens to be beautifully written. One example of what we’re…
Barbara Mundell, the now-retired Maricopa Superior Court Judge targeted in an unethical investigation by county lawmen, received $500,000 from the county to settle a lawsuit.Susan Schuerman, the executive assistant for Supervisor Don Stapley, also received a $500,000 settlement, county officials confirm.The county’s spokeswoman, Cari Gerchick, says that Mary Rose Wilcox…
Despite earlier reports from the Tempe Police Department that the men involved in yesterday morning’s shooting weren’t students at the nearby Arizona State University, it turns out the alleged shooter actually is.Kyle Levitt, the 25-year-old Tempe resident who police say fatally shot 20-year-old Gabriel Batten, is an undergraduate student at…
