Maricopa County Is the Laughing-Stock--Another Sheriff Joe Shocker

There's so much that can be said (and the Bad Lawyer Blawg has said it) about the disasters, frauds and follies perpetrated on the taxpayers of Maricopa County by "America's Toughest Sheriff" Joe Arpaio and his thuggish troops, lawyers and apologists.  Every week, new revelations of misfeasance and malfeasance trickle out of Maricopa County via the Arizona Republic or Phoenix New Times.  This week alone, the Bad Lawyer planned a post on the failed persecu....prosecution by Arpaio of one of Arpaio's political enemies, County Superviosr Don Stapley.

I always believed that Maricopa County taxpayers put up with Joe and his cronies criminality (racism, misappropriation of millions of dollars, Stalinesque-law enforcement) because the taxpayers believed, mistakenly as it turns out, that Sheriff Joe was protecting them from the invasion of them wet backs.  The feds won't enforce the immigration laws, well by-God, Sheriff Joe will!  Now as it turns out, Arpaio was failing in even that task. 

Here's the link to this morning's AZCentral story account of the arrests among the Sheriff's own staff for smuggling "illegals." Sheriff Arpaio can't even supervise his own people.  Congratulations, Maricopa County, you deserve Sheriff Joe.

False Allegations of Crimes Made By Arpaio and Thomas--US Attorney Confrims

OK, you can read the Bad Lawyer archive of Maricopa County, Arizona stories to get the context if you haven't been following this carnival. 

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (America's Toughest Sheriff) and his boy Andy, (former Maricopa County Attorney, Andrew Thomas') engaged in a Stalinistic terror campaign to indict and prosecute all other elected Maricopa County officials not-named-Arpaio-or-Thomas--but, as we suspected all of the charges, indictments, and arrests were false.   Reporters Yvonne Wingett and JJ Hensley at AZCentral relate and supplying links to the US Attorney's summary of his investigation of cases Arapaio and Thomas forwarded to the feds for followup, after numerous dismissals by Arizona courts.  The conclusion by the feds, no evidence of any crimes by any of the Maricopa officials persecuted by Arpaio and Thomas.  

Here's the article:

"There is no evidence of federal crimes by county officials in material forwarded to federal prosecutors by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas, U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke says.  Last March, Arpaio and Thomas forwarded nine cases of suspected county corruption to the U.S. Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section for review. Though an attorney working on behalf of Arpaio and Thomas said federal officials promised to review the material, a Justice Department section chief later chastised him for giving the impression that federal agents would likely take on the investigations.

The cases instead were sent to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix for review.

'Our thorough review has shown that there is a total lack of evidence of the commission of any federal crimes by the individuals listed in the materials,' Burke wrote in a letter to Interim County Attorney Rick Romley. 'Furthermore, in several instances, the evidence was so lacking as to make the theory of liability nearly incomprehensible.'

However, Burke recommended the matters be reviewed for any potential violations of state statutes. Romley, who cannot review the matters because of conflicts of interest, has asked the Navajo County Attorney's Office to perform that task.

Robert Driscoll, an Arpaio attorney, said Arpaio and Thomas filed a wide-ranging racketeering suit after failed attempts to get an outside prosecutor to review their allegations against other county officials. When the racketeering suit was withdrawn, Driscoll said Arpaio and Thomas wanted a prosecutor to review the cases.

'I don't think it would be fair to say that a declination (to prosecute) means there's nothing there,' Driscoll said. 'There's been a review and people are better off than they were at least knowing it's been reviewed.'

The material included Arpaio and Thomas' investigations into the county's project to build a new court tower, and use of public funds to search for listening devices in county offices. Those cases were presented to a grand jury, which determined there was no probable cause that a crime was committed."
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So now you have an overwhelming finding of pure political malevolence by these two clowns, Arpaio and Thomas.  Andrew Thomas was soundly defeated in a bid to be the Republican nominee for the position of Arizona attorney general and a bar investigation is underway.

Arpaio's profligate spending on guns and lawyers, including Big Law--ended when the County Supervisors he and Thomas repeatedly and unsuccessfully indicted recently regained control of the county spending authority.  And Arpaio's Sheriff's department is itself on the verge of collapse in the face of corruption investigations and denunciations from former trusted associates. 

You gotta give it up for Sheriff Joe, he is the darling of the Tea Party.  He's on the road raising money for all the tin foil hat types, that is until he ends up in U.S. District Court. 

But Arpaio's victims: county officials who were arrested, smeared and indicted; and, the taxpayers of Maricpa County, they just keep paying.

Good Nurse Update!

NYT reporter Kevin Sack brings us up to date on the Texas nurses featured on Bad Lawyer in February.  As you will recall these nurses reported a bad and incompetent doctor to the appropriate medical board and the net result was that the local Sheriff, a pal of the doctor, investigated the nurses and arranged for their prosecution.  Prosecutors alleged that the nurses reported the incompetent Doctor in "bad faith."  A local jury acquitted nurse, Anne Mitchell and charges against the second nurse, Vickilyn Galle were dropped before her trial. 

The Times is reporting that the nurses will split $750,000 in settlement of their claims for violation of their First Amendment rights and retaliatory discharge.  These good nurses lost their jobs after decades of experience in nursing.  These two women were actually in charge of quality assurance and regulatory compliance, but since this episode have been unable to find work in their field. 

The settlement amount hardly seems enough, in light of what they were put through by this Sheriff and the authorities in Winkler County, Texas. 

Too Late for Bad Sheriff Day, Joe Arpaio Weighs In . . .

Maricopa Sheriff, Joe Arpaio waited a day too long to make onto Bad Lawyer Bad Sheriff Day, but what the Hell we knew he'd make it back in short order and sure enough the Associated Press is reporting the following:

The sheriff of the most populous county in Arizona says he's 'not going to put up with any civil disobedience' when the state's new immigration law takes effect.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says that if protesters want to block his jail, he'll put them in it. The Arizona law, which takes effect Thursday, requires officers enforcing other laws to check a person's immigration status if they suspect the person is in the country illegally.  Arpaio told ABC's  Good Morning America  he doesn't know 'what the big hype is.'  He says it's 'a crime to be here illegally and everyone should enforce' the law.
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This guy is the Bull Connor of our era--thug justice.  Arpaio epitomizes disrespect for the rule of law.  His day will pass and Maricopa County will shudder at the historical association with his image.

BJs for the Sheriff--More Bad Sheriff Day

Courthouse News Service is report on the Texas Sheriff, Bill Keating (pic) who solicited sexual favors from female inmates and the  wives of men in trouble with the law.  This is Dan McCue's report:

"The former sheriff of Montague County (near Wichita Falls, Tx) used his position to demand 'blow jobs' and other sexual favors from female inmates and other women whose relatives or husbands were entangled with the law, three alleged victims claim in Federal Court.  The women say the county failed to stop or prevent former Sheriff Bill Keating from 'coercing, intimidating, and threatening' women who relied on him to deliver justice.

Two of the three alleged victims, Lashana Dykes and Dawnita Knight, say they were repeatedly targeted for sexual assault and harassment by Keating. The third plaintiff, Shelley Lemon, says Keating made several inappropriate sexual propositions after he let her severely disabled husband off on a probation violation.

Keating allegedly visited Lemon's home after a warrant was issued for her husband, who had recently suffered two severe strokes that left him 'confused' and 'child-like.' Lemon says she offered Keating a cup of tea, which he declined, stating, 'what I really need is a good piece of ass.' He then 'demanded that Lemon 'owed him a favor' in return for his efforts in getting the warrant lifted and explicitly stated that he thought he was entitled to a 'blow job,' the lawsuit states.

Lemon says she 'put him off' that day, but later enlisted the help of police investigators after Keating kept calling to try to 'arrange a sexual encounter.'  Investigators allegedly asked her to wear a wire during her next meeting with Keating. Suspicious, the sheriff cooled his advances, but asked a community 'snitch' -- a local drug addict whom he allegedly paid for sex -- whether she thought Lemon could be trusted, according to the complaint. Lemon says she moved to Waco, Texas, because she feared for her life after Keating found out that she had been talking to police.

Dykes claims that within hours of her arrest, Keating drove her to a remote area in his patrol car and asked for oral sex. When she declined, he began rubbing her breast and between her legs, the lawsuit claims. When she continued to resist, he allegedly offered her cigarettes, marijuana and meth, which she also turned down.

She says Keating called her into his office about a month later. He allegedly handcuffed her when she arrived, telling her that 'today is your lucky day.' He then 'bent Dykes over his desk then pulled down her pants and told Dykes that they were going to do some 'role playing,' the lawsuit states.

'Keating pull (sic) down his own pants and tried to rape Dykes in his office,' the complaint states. But his plans were foiled when a jailer knocked on the door, she claims. 

Knight says her severe depression made her 'easy prey' for the sheriff. Although she resisted his overt sexual advances, she says she was repeatedly taken to his office to give him massages and watch porn on his office computer while she sat on his lap. Knight said she was twice required to have sex with a male jail trustee and was constantly reminded of her jailers' power over her. She was ultimately transferred to another jail by state officials.

The three women have sued Montague County for alleged civil rights violations.  They say the county is liable for failing to properly train and supervise its employees, allowing the sexual victimization of inmates by jail staff, fostering and encouraging such abuse, and failing to redress the situation."
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Consider the vulnerability of these women, and the incredible power of the Sheriff.   When one inmate makes an allegation, . . . you know what I mean.  When three make the claim with the sort of detail you have here, I think you might have something.

The Orange County, California Sheriff Says This Lady Punched Herself In the Face

Yeah, that's right, the nice lady in the pic, with the black eye that is suing the Orange County Sheriff's department claiming they used excessive force according to the Orange County Register, they are claiming she punched herself in the face sustaining the injury.  This is reporter Teri Sforza's account:

"Might the county’s defense be summarized as, 'The lady gave herself a black eye, and you can’t sue us anyway, and everything regarding our officers’ history of troublesome behavior must be kept from the jury?'


The wheels of justice do grind.

We’ve been telling you about the lawsuit involving an Old English sheep dog, a woman named Toy (who suffered a nasty black eye), and Orange County Sheriff’s deputies (including one who was arrested for DUI after two crashes within a half-hour). Even though the federal judge handling the case seemed to give the county the kiss of death — 'a reasonable jury could conclude that the defendant officers used excessive force' – the case is proceeding to trial[.]

[The Cirty of]Mission Viejo paid $24,000 to make this suit go away, mind you, but the county is fight, fight, fighting on. The final pretrial conference is set for July 29, and the trial is set to begin Aug. 24, according to a proposed order (read it here: pretrial conference order). We’ve asked the county to provide the billing totals for the law firm handling this case, and we’ll alert you when they arrive.

[Orange] County’s planned defense for excessive force charges in the Toy/sheep dog case?

That its deputies have 'qualified immunity' because they 'acted reasonably, in good faith, without malice and within the scope of their duties as sworn peace officers.' That 'a public employee is not liable for injury caused by his instituting or prosecuting any judicial or administrative proceeding within the scope of his employment, even if he acts maliciously and without probable cause.'

And that 'any injury sustained by plaintiffs were self-inflicted.'

Hmmmm.Both sides are asking the judge to exclude stuff that might make them look bad. White’s lawyer doesn’t want the county mentioning that Toy White is currently unemployed; the county doesn’t want White’s lawyer mentioning the troubled history of some of the deputies, particularly former double-crash Deputy/suspected drug dealer Allan Waters. (The county settled another case involving former Deputy Waters for $32,000. And Waters is no longer a deputy; shortly after he turned in his uniform, he was arrested for DUI and on suspicion of being a drug dealer who traded fake drugs and cash in exchange for real prescription drugs.)

So what’s the fuss about?

Toy White’s Old English sheepdog nipped a trespasser on her Mission Viejo property in July 2007. Soon four OC sheriff’s deputies and a Mission Viejo animal control officer arrived at White’s home, demanding that the dog be surrendered for quarantine. White’s husband asked if there were any other options for quarantine besides seizing the dog; White asked if the officers had a search warrant; when they said no, White proceeded to try to close her front door. What happened next depends on which side of the door you were on:

White maintains that the animal control officer stuck his foot into the door stop her from closing it, one of the sheriff’s deputies shouted,  'She’s resisting,' [BL:  Hmmmm, where have we heard that before?"] and then three deputies collectively stormed White, slamming her head and left side into the limestone flooring.

The county maintains that White pushed the animal control officer in the upper torso, and that the deputies rushed in to 'prevent her from further assaulting' the animal control officer. White was combative and struggled with the deputies, who then restrained her and arrested her for obstructing a peace officer. She was later charged with assault and battery on a police officer, though criminal charges were dismissed.
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I have a feeling we will be covering a number of Bad Sheriff stories in the next day or so . . .

I remember looking far worse in a booking photo as a result of my "resisting" and "non-cooperation" with Sheriff McFoul's pepper-spraying deputies--aremd as I was with a briefcase and raincoat.

Hot Cleveland Steamer--McFaul Blames Clevelanders and the Media for Being a Crook

Former sheriff Gerald McFaul sentenced to house arrest

The sound in this video may be a little muffled, but what McFauls says is: "And that paper [the Plain Dealer  and] this town. It ruined my health, and my wife's health and my kids and family. And I am sorry."  He adds that if he had known how illegal and unethical his behavior was he "might not" have continued to be a crook and do the illegal and unethical acts that got him prosecuted.  Decades of bribery, theft, nepotism, cronyism and McFaul gets a year of house arrest and three years of probation. 

Oh by the way, McFaul has leftover campaign funds sufficient to cover his penalties although it's doubtful whether he can directly draw on these sums to pay his fine.  Cleveland-area colleagues tell me McFaul is set in terms of his pesnion-situation, also thanks to the taxpayers.

Cuyahoga County Sheriff McFaul, House Arrest

Long time Cuyahoga County Sheriff, Gerald McFaul (pic, center) was sentenced to a year of house arrest by a visiting Judge in Cleveland, Ohio yesterday, after admitting to the court that he is a crook and thief. 

McFaul who ran an old-style patronage and bribery business out of his county office in Cleveland, Ohio is the middle guy in the courtroom photo. His son stands to one side and Vice-President Joe Biden's pal, John Climaco, is on McFaul's right in the pic above.  McFaul, a former pipe fitter and Cleveland Councilman held an annual clam bake and birthday bash where bundles of cash were passed to him in thick envelopes.  His employees were forced to sell clam bake tickets even the Cuyahoga County Courthouse. McFaul was also a drunk and a sexual harasser.  He got away with it.  Because electoral politics in this old rust belt city was a name game he had life tenure. 

McFaul and his ilk represented the easier softer way into a lucrative law enforcement career:  know him, be related to him, be married to someone related to him, be related to another county official.  Cuyahoga County, like Cook County, Illinois, Wayne County, Michigan, and Maricopa County, AZ--has been going through an unwinding from the former era of corrupt politicians interested in enriching themselves and their pals.  Goodbye Sheriff McFaul.

At the link you will find Plain Dealer reporter Mark Puente's story and a list of the Plain Dealer's coverage of this unbelievable "law enforcement" career.  There's one further point that deserves to be made--the Plain Dealer coverage over the last 8 years or more is directly contributory to the reform of Cuyahoga County government.  But this estimable investigative coverage of current scandals in county government was preceded by decades of unquestioning, ignorant, and enabling jounalist malpractice by publishers and editors invested in the status quo.

Arizona Republic's In Depth Resource on Sheriff Joe

The Arizona Republic has posted its in-depth look at Sheriff Joe Arpaio.  This is a tremendous resource for anyone interested in a local law story that's gone global.  There are just so many facets to this man, his constituency, the rule of law, and now international migration and relations.  Bad Lawyer has been obsessed with this story since the inception of the blawg, and here in one place are the local mainstream accounts of Arpaio's reign. 

Another Whack-Job Sheriff

The Lake County, Colorado Sheriff, Ed Holte, has been feuding with the Leadville, Colo. Fire Department over who should be the first responder in the event of a medical emergency, according to a report in the Denver Post.  The Lake County Prosecutor's office has charged one of Sheriff Holte's deputies with three counts of interfering in a medical emergency for cuffing and jailing a fire captain who responded to an emergency call for a Leadville woman who complained of neck pain from a domestic relations assault.

Here's an excerpt from Mike McPhee's article:

Prosecutor Mark Hurlbert said he has charged Deputy Steven James with first-degree official misconduct, obstructing a medical person and trespassing on public property, which is defined as keeping a public official from doing their duty.  Each charge is a Class II misdemeanor . . . Additionally, Hurlbert chose to file no charges against Leadville Fire Capt. Dan Dailey. 

On the evening of March 27 a Leadville woman drove to the sheriff's office to file an abuse complaint against her husband. While talking to James and Deputy Arin Hart, she complained of a neck injury. James had the sheriff's dispatcher in the next room issued an emergency call for an ambulance.   But Fire Capt. Dailey was monitoring the radio and responded, as well as the ambulance. When he arrived with two other firefighters in the sheriff's office, James and Hart ordered the firefighters to leave. Dailey refused. So the deputies handcuffed him and put him in jail while the two other firefighters left. Police Chief Mike Leak arrived at the jail awhile later and removed Dailey from his cell.

Fire Chief Robert Harvey said later that Dailey had acted appropriately by responding to the emergency call. Leadville officials said there has been a two-year feud between the Sheriff Ed Holte and the fire department over who should be dispatched first to emergency calls. Holte believes the deputies should respond to most calls first to assess the situation, then call the fire department if needed.  However, Mayor Bud Elliott accuses Holte of violating an agreement between the city of Leadville and Lake County over the choice of first responders.

Hurlbert sent investigators to Leadville shortly after the jailing and released his conclusions on Wednesday.  'Our primary concern was the safety of the public,' Hurlbert said. 'We felt the deputy kept the EMT (Dailey) from treating the person and that the EMT was merely doing his duty.'

Hurlbert said his office is continuing to investigate another incident last week in which Deputy John Ortega used a Taser stun gun on 30 high school students during a career fair at the school. Ortega, who was immediately suspended for one week without pay, said the students had asked him to Taser them and had given him permission. School officials said the students did not give their permission.
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How are the citizens of Lake County, Colorado served by this sort of officially clownish conduct?