RBB: State Sen. Don Shooter invades a school and buys a complete pass

Posted by Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings

From the Arizona Republic, written by Laurie Roberts –

Sen. Don Shooter dodged a bullet late last week. Or rather, he bought the ammo before it could be used to zap him.

Shooter is one of the more colorful characters at the state Capitol, a
two-term tea party patriot best known for his penchant for wearing
weird hats. Mention his name around the Legislature and you’ll be
regaled with the tale of the time he showed up in costume for a special
session held to extend unemployment benefits.

{snip}

Which is perhaps how he came to be barging into a Yuma high school
classroom in March, confronting a teacher and demanding that she stop
everything to answer his questions.

{snip}

In June, Shooter was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass,
disorderly conduct and interference with or disruption of an educational
institution. He hired Ed Novak, one of the state’s elite attorneys, a
lawyer whom I imagine doesn’t spend much time in municipal court.

Apparently, it was a good move because on Friday, the Yuma city
prosecutor dropped the charges. This, provided Shooter stays out of
trouble for a year, pays $1,500 in restitution to the school and forks
over a $1,000 “deferred prosecution fee” to the city of Yuma.

No admission of guilt and no penalty – other than the payoff required
in order to buy his way out of a prosecution and possible conviction.

Filed under "IOKIYARw/$".

For new readers: "IOKIYARw/$" means "It's OK If You're A Republican with money".

Court record:

"Destroy file"?  Say what?

It's
bad enough that Shooter bought his way out of this, but to scrub his
behavior from the official history, apparently because he is an
"important" (his word, not mine) public official?

That may be a crime that's worse that what Shooter did.

Full story on the dismissal from the Yuma Sun here.