There's beaucoup speculation out there about the location of MCSO detention officer Adam Stoddard, the poor, poor deputy (sniff) who's been jailed for contempt of court by Judge Gary Donahoe following Stoddard's refusal to apologize for his videotaped swiping of a public defender's docs right off her desk.
My colleague Sarah Fenske recently surmised that Stoddard may be in the so-called "Mesa Hilton," where high-profile FOJs (Friends of Joe) stay when they get a DUI. Ray Stern talked to G. Gordon Liddy progeny and deputy County Attorney Tom Liddy, as well as MCSO Chief Deputy David Hendershott about the Stoddard case today, but neither copped to the defiant D.O.'s whereabouts.
Nick Martin over at Heat City was the first to score Stoddard's booking number and mug shot. But he doesn't seem to know where Stoddard is either. When you call the MCSO's info line and plug in Stoddard's booking number, no info is available.
Anyway, I just got a call from Robert McDonald, who has an online radio show on Jeff Farias' Web site, thejefffariasshow.com. McDonald, who tells me he's a former corrections officer (though not with MCSO), says he takes a class at Mesa Community College taught by Jerry Sheridan, the chief of custody for Joe's jails. McDonald has e-mailed me a copy of his schedule, showing that he takes a class with Sheridan as the teacher.
McDonald said he chatted with Sheridan after class last night, and asked if Stoddard was in the Mesa Hilton. Sheridan supposedly told him, "No, he's in LBJ," which Sheridan explained stands for Lower Buckeye Jail. McDonald related that Sheridan also mentioned that Stoddard is being kept in solitary confinement for his own protection.
If true, you've gotta wonder if Stoddard's also got a six pack of beer, cable TV and a big Domino's pizza. Can't imagine the MCSO feeding Stoddard the same slop that's fed to the other inmates.
There is no way for me to confirm McDonald's account, not having been there myself. However, Sheridan has taught classes at MCC, according to an AZ POST newsletter from 2003. Also, MCC's Web site lists a "Gerard Sheridan" who teaches night classes in "administration of justice." (I'll follow-up with the college tomorrow when the administrative office is open.)
Still, Sheridan could have been misleading his student, or maybe Stoddard was at LBJ and has since been moved. Who knows?
The one thing I do know is that MCSO deputies continue to believe they're above the law. Their recent sick-outs, their candleight vigils for their jailed pal, and so on, reveal that they have no respect for judicial authority. None. They are a law unto themselves.
In acting the way they've acted, they have endangered the lives of those who work in the buildings they operate in. Evidence the bomb threats downtown courts have endured in the last two days. The absence of Joe's beige patrol during a crisis drives home the point.
Even if there's no direct connection between the walkout and the bomb threats -- and I'm not suggesting there is -- a real cop would not play sick while there's work to be done. "Protect and serve," remember that line? It just happens to be on most MCSO vehicles.
