The parents of a 10-year-old girl — who blamed their daughter for getting raped by a group of Liberian boys when she was only 8 — have been granted competency hearings in their child abuse cases.The Liberian girl’s brutal 2009 rape made national headlines — click here for all the…
About a year ago, Buckeye resident Lloyd Smithey fatally shot a 17-year-old kid after he saw him and his two friends burglarize a neighbor’s home. This morning, the two friends were each sentenced to some lengthy prison time for the boy’s death.Matthew Peters, 21, and Joseph Metcalf, 19, each were…
If you happen to be someone other than Mesa businessman Wil Cardon, you probably would beat Cardon in the GOP Senate primary, according to a recently released poll.Cardon, who is running to replace retiring Senator Jon Kyl — and subscribes to immigration policies similar to those of ousted Arizona Senate…
In honor of presidential candidate Herman Cain’s brain fart earlier this week, we’ve chosen the above photo of the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO — mid-brain-fart — for this week’s New Times You Write the Caption contest.If you missed Cain’s cranial flatulence when he was asked whether he agreed with the…
Oprah-approved “self-help” guru James Arthur Ray will be sentenced today after a jury found him responsible for the deaths of three people during a 2009 sweat lodge ceremony near Sedona.Ray, who in September was convicted of three counts of negligent homicide, faces anything from probation to nine years in prison…
There’s good news for Wall Street — the “occupiers” who have been protesting corporate greed (or whatever it is they’re protesting) for the past several months have a new target for their rage: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.That, of course, is according to the sheriff’s bloated ego.”The ‘Occupy Wall Street’…
A Mesa woman was kind enough to pay for her 41-year-old alcoholic nephew’s carton of cigarettes. He allegedly expressed his gratitude by brutally beating her to death with a stick.According to court records obtained by New Times, about 1 a.m. Tuesday, Mesa police were dispatched to a home at 5844…
Convicted sex criminal/alleged pimp Al Maurice O’Neal has some rules for his stable of underage “hoes.”For starters, they must earn for him $200 a day. Secondly, his girls are required to ask a would-be John to “show his dick or grab her tits” to make sure he’s not a cop…
Two people accused of giving their 2-year-old son methadone to relieve a toothache pleaded not guilty today to a collection of child abuse-related charges. Initially, the baby’s mother, Jennifer Campos, was booked on three counts of endangering the life of a minor, and four counts of child abuse. The boy’s…
The sentencing phase of the trial for convicted snake-oil salesman James Arthur Ray is coming to an end as prosecutors urge the judge in the case to sentence the Oprah-approved “self-help” guru to the maximum: nine years in prison.Ray was convicted in September on three counts of negligent homicide in…
Convicted “Baseline Killer” Mark Goudeau yesterday addressed the jury that will ultimately decide whether he lives or dies. The killer of nine — who terrorized Phoenix residents for nearly a year — asked for mercy.Goudeau was convicted of 67 felonies last month, including nine murders. He already is serving a…
Activists picketed in front of New Times’ Phoenix offices this afternoon in protest of our parent company, Village Voice Media’s, classified ad website Backpage.com. The activists feel the website facilitates sex trafficking. More on the protest here. VVM publications across the country have published articles disproving the myths surrounding sex-trafficking statistics –…
[jump] According to the group, VVM is “facilitating the commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of individuals.”One of the protesters — who previously protested Craigslist.com over similar “sexual-exploitation” complaints — admits that shutting down Backpage.com will not put an end to human trafficking. He goes on to say that VVM isn’t…
You can tack another $1 million on to the more than $50 million in legal settlements Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has cost county taxpayers — the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a settlement in a lawsuit filed by a man who died while in the…
Natalie Wisneski, the former chief operating officer for the Fiesta Bowl, has been indicted in federal court on charges that she tried to cover up illegal campaign contributions by bowl employees, and that she filed false financial records, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today.Wisneski is the first person to be…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s expensive inmate transport bus can finally be put to use, the counties Board of Supervisors ruled this morning.Arpaio and the BOS have been battling over the bus since Arpaio broke county rules to purchase it in 2009. In response to Arpaio’s unauthorized purchase, the BOS…
In what has become one of the dumber longer pissing matches in the ongoing spat between several of Maricopa County’s elected officials, the county’s Board of Supervisors is expected to make a decision today about whether to allow Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to use an expensive inmate transport bus…
Planned parenthood today formally filed paperwork to dismiss its lawsuit challenging several abortion laws that took effect in September. The laws, most of which were passed by the Arizona Legislature in 2009, place new restrictions on abortion procedures and make it far more difficult for women to end a pregnancy…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been given a proposal that would revamp the MCSO’s disciplinary policies after promising last summer to hire an outside consultant to examine the sheriff’s current disciplinary practices.The sheriff’s promise was in response to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation into the MCSO, which led…
U.S. Senate candidate Wil Cardon apparently didn’t get the message when ousted state Senate President Russell Pearce got a voter-assisted boot from office last week.Pearce’s historic downfall — combined with a recent poll showing that the vast majority of Arizonans support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants — seems…
Congratulations to the New Times reader who goes by the handle Andrew Thom Ass, you are the proud winner of this week’s New Times You Write the Caption contest.On Friday, we asked readers to provide what they think would be an appropriate caption for the above photo of ousted Arizona…
Presidential candidate Herman Cain is the latest politico to join the campaign brain-fart club thanks to comments made to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s editorial board — which include “[I] got all this stuff twirling around in my head” — when asked whether he agrees with how President Barack Obama handled the…
