MAIA’s Michelle Dallacroce, the closest thing the nativists have to Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. Being that I’m both pro-inebriation and what the anti-illegals crowd likes to call a champion of “open borders,” I normally might feel conflicted over a catfight between MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) and MAIA (Mothers…
What outlandish legal maneuver will the Wily Wilenchik pull next? The presiding judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, Judge Barbara “Badass” Mundell has shot down an unprecedented bit of legal subterfuge by County Attorney Candy “Babyface” Thomas and his well-paid henchman, Demon Dog Dennis “the Menace” Wilenchik. Candy and…
Someone cue Gene Pitney: It ain’t pretty, a town without pity. And Phoenix has been that town for the family of Carol Gotbaum, the 45-year-old mother of three who recently pulled a Harry Houdini-like death dance in a police holding cell at Sky Harbor Airport after being popped for disorderly…
Rick Romley, coolest effin’ Republican I know of… I called former MCAO Rick Romley yesterday to get a quote about his endorsement of Dan Saban for Sheriff in ’08 over Nickel Bag Joe, and ended up discussing loads of stuff: the recent Wilenchik-Ryan donnybrook; current MCAO Candy “Babyface” Thomas; and…
PHX radio station KTAR 92.3 FM’s a real conundrum. As far as reporting local, breaking news, they do a pretty good job sometimes. And they have an increasingly solid Web site, with interesting stories that they’ve either cribbed from other sources or have done original reporting on. This, despite the…
Just got this press release from the Saban camp announcing that former Republican County Attorney Rick Romley is endorsing now-Democrat Dan Saban for Sheriff in ’08 over Sheriff Joe Arpaio. I’m on deadline right now and don’t have time to follow-up, but I’ll call Romley in the A.M. to confirm…
Round one of the Wilenchik-Ryan donnybrook. (We’ve improved the video a bit on these. Don’t know why Round 2 is so choppy, but at least the sound is better.) For fans of scintillating courtroom drama, here finally are highlights from last Wednesday’s legal rumble between PHX pit bull attorney Dennis…
Doesn’t the MCSO have something better to do than play with DMX’s dead pit bulls? Apparently not. Friday, I picked up a copy of the necropsies (doggy autopsies) done on the three dead canines found at rapper DMX’s Cave Creek residence in August. Fresh off the MCSO’s photocopier, whaddya think…
Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill just got back to me on the existence of further video of Carol Anne Gotbaum’s arrest last Friday. Bottom line: There is some. This was Hill’s response to my question about info. from a source of mine, a former security person at Sky Harbor,…
Sgt. Andy Hill of the PHX PD just released the following statement regarding the transcripts of phone calls made by Noah Gotbaum concerning his spouse Carol Anne Gotbaum. This was a mass e-mail sent out by Hill. I’m guessing the article on the front page of the Arizona Republic, which…
Carol Gotbaum with her three children Ella, Nathaniel and Tobias. Carol with husband Noah and their kids. Here’s the update on the police report I promised, along with some new photos released by the Gotbaum family. They show Noah and Carol Gotbaum with their kids: Ella, 8; Nathaniel, 6; and…
I made the PHX PD press conference today where Sgt. Andy Hill showed surveillance footage of Carol Anne Gotbaum’s arrest and gave details of the events leading up to her death. Above is a clip from the recordings the cops released. PHX PD also issued a full police report containing…
Pugnacious PHX barrister Dennis Wilenchik… Someone slipped me the video of the courtroom donnybrook that broke out yesterday between Superior Court Judge Timothy Ryan and demon law dawg Dennis Wilenchik, who came off looking like he eats bowls of rusty railroad nails for breakfast. I’m working on getting some clips…
For anyone who didn’t see Anderson Cooper 360 last night, Cooper interviewed two witnesses of Carol Anne Gotbaum’s Friday arrest at Sky Harbor Airport, and their accounts were, to say the least, highly disturbing. According to Cooper, Mel Pittel and Paige Harmon called CNN from Hawaii to explain what they…
Pathologist Cyril Wecht, who performed a “backup autopsy” on Carol Gotbaum’s corpse late today. Spoke with Gotbaum family attorney Mike Manning earlier this evening, around 6 p.m. He informed me that noted forensic pathologist Cyril H. Wecht had been flown in from Pittsburgh to do a “backup autopsy” of Carol…
Former Congressman Gary Condit loses again in court to the Sonoran News . Here’s an update to my July post “What a Condumbass! Linda Bentley, Gary Condit and the Sonoran News,” wherein I documented the gooberish legal maneuverings of former Congressman Gary Condit, who now lives in the Valley, like…
Not in the travel brochure: Come to lovely AZ and get chained and choked in the freakin’ airport. The autopsy of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the New York mother of three who died in Phoenix police custody Friday at Sky Harbor Airport, was ruled inconclusive this afternoon by county pathologist Dr…
Can we really buy this story that Carol Anne Gotbaum choked herself to death with her own handcuffs? The autopsy of the 45-year-old New York mother of three who died in PHX police custody Friday at Sky Harbor is under way at the moment, according to David Boyer, Director of…
Carol Anne Gotbaum, who died in the custody of the PHX PD Friday. Phoenix attorney Mike Manning, retained by the husband of deceased New Yorker Carol Anne Gotbaum, called the Phoenix PD’s actions in the Gothamite’s arrest, “at first blush, astounding.” Though he hastened to add that the Gotbaum family…
How in Hades did this poor lady choke herself? And was David Hans Schmidt involved? UPDATE: Seems PHX attorney Mike Manning, known for his many successful lawsuits against Sheriff Joe Arpaio, has been retained by Carol Gotbaum’s family to keep on eye on the inquiry into Gotbaum’s death. Gotbaum’s family…
Passed polishing the bishop? So speculates one former pal. (UPDATE: Since this was written, David Boyer, Director of the County Medical Examiner’s Office has announced the cause of death in the Schmidt case to be hanging. The manner, suicide. No surprise there. Further details are pending.) Did David Hans Schmidt…
From the DHS site Hansnews.com: Schmidt turning over filched photos of Jamie Foxx to the actor’s rep. I’ve gotta give up the journalistic kudos to Arizona Republic reporter Richard Ruelas, who’s obviously been working overtime on the DHS suicide story. In a winding piece that jumps from the front page…
