Judge's Prosecution on Hold in Obstruction Case Based on His Rulings
In an unusual move intended to give the Arizona Supreme Court time to weigh in on the controversial bribery and obstruction prosecution of a state-court judge over his court rulings, a fellow jurist in another county has issued a stay that will put the case on hold until March.
As he issued the stay Tuesday concerning the prosecution of Maricopa County Presiding Judge Gary Donahoe, a Pinal County Superior Court judge said Donahoe appears to have a good chance of winning a motion seeking to dismiss the criminal case because of a conflict of interest on the part of the Maricopa County Attorney’s office, the Arizona Republic reports.
The Donahoe prosecution is controversial both because it apparently is at least largely based on his rulings on cases on his call and because it seemingly may be sparked by a vendetta being conducted by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joseph Arpaio against other county officials.
Although Thomas does not contend that Donahoe took any money, he has nonetheless filed felony charges against him, arguing that the judge’s rulings interfered with an investigation being being conducted by his office and Arpaio’s office of the controversial construction of a $340 million court office tower in downtown Phoenix.
Donahoe contends that he is being criminally prosecuted because he legitimately ruled against the county attorney. Among other contested decisions, he found that Thomas could not pursue the office-tower probe due to a conflict of interest, the newspaper notes.
Meanwhile, the State Bar of Arizona has dismissed several ethics complaints made against a private attorney concerning the manner in which he handled several matters for Thomas and Arpaio, the Republic reports in another article today.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Paper: War Over $340M Court Tower Threatens Rule of Law in Ariz. County”
ABAJournal.com: “Ex-Ariz. Justice to Referee Suits Against Phoenix Judges in ‘Christmas Truce’”
