Is Maricopa County Nuts? Consider the Evidence

According to a report at AZCentral, Maricopa County, AZ's Board of Supervisors is considering allocating more dough to former County Attorney Andrew Thomas to defend himself over ethics allegations thus calling into question their collective sanity. 

Thomas, (Sheriff Joe Arpaio's legal water carrier) spent nearly all of the $100,000 previously budgeted to him to pay for his defense.  This astounding story is by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez (<---hmmmmm, new married name?) which follows in excerpt:

"Former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has spent a large portion of $100,000 in public funds earmarked for his defense against a State Bar of Arizona ethics complaint, prompting discussion among county officials about whether to allocate more. Public records show Thomas has spent about $86,000, and no hearing date has yet been set.

[Former County Attorney Thomas] was [ . . . ] charged with multiple ethics violations after a lengthy investigation into his political and legal fights with the county Board of Supervisors, judges and other officials. The state Bar, which licenses and polices attorneys, accused Thomas and two former deputies of having conflicts of interest and filing criminal and civil cases without probable cause or sufficient evidence.

Days after Thomas was charged, the county Board of Supervisors approved a $100,000 budget to defend him against the charges despite its sharp political and legal differences with him. [ . . . ]  Now that Thomas has nearly exhausted the amount set in the initial budget, the Board of Supervisors is unsure how to proceed.
[ . . . ] Don Wilson, Thomas' attorney, said his client 'is entitled to a meaningful defense, and we remain hopeful the board will do the right thing.'
'As one person that witnessed his offensive behavior so directly, it makes it hard to give him anything,' [according to the Board of Supervisor Chair.]  'I don't know how he can defend his actions. That being said, we defend the professional licenses of a number of people. You'll never be able to capture my disdain for doing this.'

County officials said it is unclear if the county is legally obligated to continue paying for Thomas' representation given the Bar investigation that found he acted unethically.  But Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for Montgomery, said the office has historically provided defense for attorneys facing disciplinary hearings."
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Completely outrageous!  This lawyer conceived and participated in the ransacking of Maricopa County's coffers to fund baseless political prosecutions at the behest of his dark master, Joe Arpaio.  Thomas' actions were so offensive that the notion that the taxpayers are on the hook to defend his license defiess common sense.  Thomas quit the Maricopa County post, ostensibly, to run for Arizona Attorney General.  He lost.

What a sweet deal, you the lawyer commit unethical acts prohibited by your profession and oath, but the taxpayers will pony up to defend you!  Is that nuts?

Prosecutions Worth Writing on Toilet Paper!

Former Maricopa County attorney, Andrew Thomas (pic), pursued prosecutions and lawsuits against the political opponents of his boss, um, Sheriff Joe Arpaio (pic), that senior prosecutors in his office said were worthy to have been written on toilet paper according to emails and memos obtained by the Arizona Republic.  Arpaio (America's toughest Sheriff) and his Boy Andy are currently under federal and state investigation following a reign of Stalinist terror targeting local public officials and judges--which certain Tea Party activists profess to want to take national, if Arpaio's popularity on the campaign circuits of various states is any indication.  Here's a short excerpt from Yvonne Wingett and Michael Kiefer's story at AZCentral, this AM:

"Top prosecutors in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office had repeatedly cautioned Andrew Thomas over the last year and a half against filing criminal charges and a racketeering suit against judges and county officials.  But according to detailed interviews and e-mails gathered for an administrative investigation of a prosecutor at the center of those cases, Thomas ignored the advice and instead bypassed experienced prosecutors to assign the cases to attorneys who would prosecute them.

Lawyers in and out of the County Attorney's Office told Thomas that he did not have sufficient evidence. One prosecutor later said he was shocked the agency had filed a complaint against a judge. Another told Thomas the racketeering suit was so bad, it should have been written on toilet paper. Supervising prosecutors warned Thomas that lawyers he assigned to handle the cases were too inexperienced.

Thomas pursued the cases in spite of the warnings; all were later withdrawn or dismissed."
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There are so many facets to this incredible tale of public abuse and private profiteering.  The story has been continuously featured on Bad Lawyer since the inception (read the archives) of the blawg--but, truth be told I have barely scratched the service of the sickness and depravity of these so-called "public officials." 

If you ever wondered if the satirical and prophetic cautionary notes of Orwell in Animal Farm and 1984 were overblown, witness Maricopa County, Arizona.  Arizona is just one of the places in the US where this sort of wholesale abuse of power and corruption in the name of "law and order," is taking place.  Thomas and Arpaio proved that you could rarely disappoint the voters by oppressing the dispossessed and immigrant classes.  Arpaio and Thomas got away with discarding individual constitutional rights, spending the tax payers' dime like drunken sailors on all manner of toys, travel and armament--but, they stepped over the line with the frivolous indictments and federal racketeering lawsuits of other elected public officials and Maricopa County judges.

As I said when Thomas filed the RICO lawsuit, ill-advisedly--Thomas and Arpaio's days are numbered.  You don't file frivolous lawsuits in federal court and rationally expect that you will get away unscathed.  The RICO action was summarily dismissed.  The arrogance of Arpaio and Thomas has proven to be their downfall.  Thomas lost his bid to win the Republican nomination for Arizona Attorney General to a Republican lawyer who was barred from the securites industry for ethics violations.  How bad must the voters think you are--to choose your opponent with this kind of history over you? 

Arpaio and Thomas Machinations Documented by Release of Grand Jury Transcripts and Other Original Documents

The Arizona Republic provides something you almost never see, the grand jury transcripts (links to the pdf of the original documents are at the link) from Sheriff Joe Arpaio and (former Maricopa County Attorney) Andrew Thosmas' tragi-comic attempt to have their political enemies indicted.  If you check the Bad Lawyer index you will see that Sheriff Joe and and his Boy Andy's machinations have been a special obsession of mine and the Bad Laywer blawg.

Anyone who cares about the law should care about this story--and with this report you see the smoking guns which were released by the interim Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley.  Romley formerly served in the position and came in after the disastrous tenure of Thomas who now thinks Arizonans should elect him Attorney General.  You can watch Romley's press conference at the link.

The story represents for me the sort of wholesale abuse of local power.  This sort of thing  happens in many places around the country but usually beneath the surface.  But not in Maricopa County where Sheriff Joe and Boy Andy operated a full reign of terror.  They trammeled the rights of criminal defendants, immigrants, the poor, their political opponents, lawyers, Judges, and other elected officials. The Maricopa grand jury transcripts which are linked to the story are amazing documents.  The final transcript in particular conclude with grand jurors "refusing" to act any further. 

These original documents provide a rarely seen window on how it is that prosecutors can "indict a ham sandwich." 

If you are at all interested in how folks get "indicted" and how little "indictment" bears on guilt in some situations, here's your proof.  You will rarely see anything like this.  Don't miss this story.  The Arizona Republic and the Phoenix New Times deserve Pulitzer Prizes for their coverage of this story.