Friday Hearing Sets Stage for Latest Clash Between Maricopa Co. Sheriff and Judges
A deputy chief in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office is set to appear in court Friday to respond to allegations that he failed to transport inmates to court on time, or at all, nearly 200 times in a four-month period.
Deputy Chief Dave Trombi, who is in charge of transporting inmates, will respond to the orders to show cause why he should not be held in contempt, the Arizona Republic reports.
The contempt dispute has been simmering since Presiding Criminal Court Judge Gary Donahoe held Trombi in contempt in a September hearing that dealt with previous allegations of late-arriving defendants. Part of the contempt order was later overturned, according to the Phoenix New Times’ Valley Fever.
The 200 new alleged instances of delayed or never-arriving inmates have occurred since that September hearing.
Some judges may be called to testify in the contempt case on Friday, which will be handled by a new judge, the Arizona Republic says. More than half the contempt citations are for missed court dates on Dec. 2, when 19 court and transportation officers called in sick after an incident in Donahoe’s court in another case.
In that incident, Donahoe ordered a deputy sheriff to either apologize or report to jail on Dec. 1 for pulling two sheets of paper from a public defender’s court file during a sentencing hearing in November. The deputy did not apologize, and he went to jail, although it’s unclear if he was held in a cell.
About a week later, the county attorney charged Donahoe in a criminal complaint. It cited the Trombi ruling, according to the Phoenix New Times, as well as Donahoe’s rulings in a case involving the sheriff’s investigation into a court office tower. A judge in another county has temporarily put that prosecution on hold.
