What some see as the last remaining obstacle for State Bar action against former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and former Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon has come down.
John Gleason, a Colorado lawyer assigned to probe allegations of prosecutorial abuse by Thomas and Aubuchon, has been working on the case for the State Bar for a few months. Rumor has it that he's pretty much finished and may be preparing to announce his findings, but was held back because of a pending state Supreme Court ruling on a last-ditch appeal by Aubuchon.
Today, the high court decided not to take up Aubuchon's appeal, which sought to block her answers to Gleason's questions from being distributed to the very people she once tried to prosecute. You can read more detail about her hail Mary tactic from a blog post we wrote last month about it, which comes complete with a link to the special action motion she filed.
Some of our anti-Thomas/Aubuchon sources have sounded giddy in the last week or two at the idea that if the court declines Aubuchon's case, Gleason will soon announce something.
We're not holding our breath, having heard for the past year or so about "imminent" action by the State Bar, state Attorney General's Office and U.S. Attorney's Office against Thomas, Aubuchon, and officials from the Sheriff's Office.
But it makes sense that nothing would have happened while the state Supreme Court could still decide to back Aubuchon.
Now, it looks like it might finally be open season.
