We met Dan McAuliffe at a downtown Phoenix coffee shop about a month after deputies representing the malevolent interests of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andy Thomas arrested the owners of this paper for political reasons. Toothpick in mouth, Mr. McAuliffe (in the photo) wanted to chat about the…
Just read a pretty detailed piece in the American Bar Journal about the crazy goings-on in our county — you know, the Joe Arpaio/Andy Thomas vs. Everyone Else show. It’s called “The Maricopa Courthouse War — An Arizona Showdown Over Populist Politics, Abuse of Power, and Pink Boxer Shorts,” and here…
Then, word came yesterday that Phoenix’s public safety manager (Police Chief) Jack Harris has asked the FBI to do its own “independent” probe into the recent incident involving Johnson (pictured). The feds also are going to be asked to monitor the local agency’s internal investigation…
We broke the news last Friday of Phoenix city Councilman Michael Johnson’s unfortunate run-in with a Phoenix police officer at the scene of a residential fire in his neighborhood. It’s been the talk of the town, and the Phoenix City Council is meeting at this hour in closed session…
Phoenix police imminently are expected to discuss a recent incident outside the home of Councilman Michael Johnson in which the cops allegedly handcuffed the elected official and dragged him across the ground. Sources from both the Phoenix Police and Fire departments confirm the situation, which allegedly happened shortly after an accidental fire at the residence of one of…
David Barnes, a onetime homicide detective with the Phoenix Police Department who is now under criminal indictment on perjury charges, was fired this afternoon. Sergeant Trent Crump, a spokesperson for the city agency, said Barnes (in the photo) learned of his termination from a supervisor during an in-person visit to…
The Big Dance finally started an hour or so ago, with Florida and BYU going at it in Oklahoma City. We’re here at work, occasionally (really) checking the scores on the Internet, just like millions of other March Madness junkies. We already are rethinking our Final Four picks of…
ASU’s men’s basketball team went down in flames last night at the Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, losing to the Jacksonville Dolphins 67-66 after a bizarre finish that confirms a time-tested Yogi Berra adage–it ain’t over `til it’s over. A Devils’ season that once had been a pleasant surprise ended abruptly…
A fair question arose on Sunday as we were watching the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, a made-for-TV event where 65 teams get the good word that they have made it to the Big Dance: If you were a college player, would you rather be eliminated in the first round of the…
Remember the big news yesterday when Andy Thomas and Joe Arpaio claimed “victory” for convincing the U.S. Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section to investigate myriad claims they’ve been making about alleged “corruption” in Maricopa County? It should come as no shock that the spin, as manufactured by Joe and…
A loud cheer erupted a few minutes ago here at the Staples Center in sunny Los Angeles. It wasn’t in response to news that Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Peyton Thomas (and his master, Sheriff Joe Arpaio) gave up on a lame-brained (and costly) RICO case against the near world, i.e…
According to certain NCAA Bracketologists, Arizona State’s men’s basketball team pretty much has to win the Pac-10 tournament later this week in Los Angeles to make it to the Big Dance. Yes, cbssports.com has the Sun Devils as one of the last four teams out of the 65-team MCAA…
We went to Arizona State’s men’s basketball game against USC last night (love those early starting times), and were treated to an intense, if rarely artistic, battle between two evenly matched Pac-10 teams. The Trojans came into the Wells Fargo Arena with a three-game losing streak, and with nothing to…
Arizona State’s men’s basketball team will take the floor at 6:30 tonight against Southern Cal in a game with more at stake than immediately meets the eye. The Sun Devils probably need to beat the Trojans (and do the same to the UCLA Bruins in the regular season finale on…
We remember first hearing about Sally Wells when she was a line prosecutor working for former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley. We heard she was ethical, tough when necessary, always cordial, and fast on her feet in court. One criminal-defense attorney noted some years ago that Wells tended to “do the right thing,”…
One thing was clear during halftime of the tightly contested Arizona State-California men’s basketball game up in Berkeley on Saturday afternoon: The Sun Devils were up by one point, but it was about the shakiest lead you could imagine. ASU’s three-point shooters, Derek Glasser, Ty Abbott and Rihards Kuksiks, were…
We are fairly certain that the Mesa City Council didn’t choose Frank Milstead as its new police chief because of his well-honed sense of humor, but it’s sure to come in handy in the months to come. Onetime stand-up comic Milstead will be moving east from the city…
Arizona State’s surprising men’s basketball team finds itself in the biggest game of the Pac-10 men’s basketball season at 1 p.m. tomorrow when it plays the California Golden Bears for first-place in the conference. The road game will be televised on Channel 34 (FSAZ), and may even make it into…
It’s a pivotal weekend in Pac-10 men’s basketball, as the Arizona schools are up in the Bay Area to do battle with league-leading (by half a game) Cal and a competitive Stanford Cardinal team. Arizona State (9-5, 19-8) somehow finds themselves in a virtual tie for first with…
A stunning declaration filed in county court on Tuesday by one of the nation’s preeminent legal-ethics attorneys says County Attorney Andrew Thomas continues to take the law into his own self-serving hands and should be stopped. Philadelphia lawyer Lawrence J. Fox wrote to Cochise County Superior Court Judge Wallace Hoggatt…
What happened Tuesday morning during a routine hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Connie Contes’ courtroom was eerily similar to the now-infamous incident involving sheriff’s detention Officer Adam Stoddard. (That’s a photo from the Stoddard case — he’s the uniformed fellow standing to the left of the portly deputy.) Here’s what…
A Superior Court judge has ruled against several criminal defendants who wanted him to disqualify the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office from prosecuting their cases. Judge Wallace Hoggatt is the Cochise County jurist assigned to the sweeping case by a “special master” who is overseeing the myriad court cases stemming from…
