The Andrew Thomas/Death Penalty Index

In case you weren’t aware, Andrew Thomas is the Maricopa County Attorney. He also ran for Arizona Attorney General against Terry Goddard and backed every immigrant-bashing initiative that has come down the pipe. He’s tried to divert county resources, in conjunction with Sheriff Arpaio, to arresting illegal aliens for the civil violation of remaining illegally in the U.S. He’s also done a fair job of overloading the defenders offices with new death penalty cases brought in order to enhance his reputation for being "tough on crime." More recently Thomas achieved some notoriety when he made allegations that Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard might have acted improperly in a plea agreement with disgraced Arizona State Treasurer David Petersen, which resulted in disgorgement of $1.9 million. As a result of Thomas’ and Arpaio’s probe, Goddard sent all cases involving Thomas’ and Arpaio’s offices to other offices, including a $145 million civil forfeiture, to avoid any appearance of improper influence, angering Arpaio that 20% of his lucre might go to undeserving parties in Pima County. Makes you proud to be an Arizonan, doesn’t it?

I found this gem in the Spring 2007 issue of The Defender being handed out at the Arizona Public Defender’s Association conference. Needless to say, Defenders haven’t much love for Andy. In the spirit of the Harper’s Index, here is the Andrew Thomas/Death Penalty Index:

Number of pending death cases in Maricopa County: 136

" " in Harris County, TX, the U.S. "death penalty capital: 17

" " in Los Angeles County, CA, the most populous county in the U.S.: 36

Per capita pending death cases in Maricopa County: 1 per 26K

Per capita pending death cases in Los Angeles County: 1 per 275K

Est. cost per execution: $24 million

Est. cost of life imprisonment: $1 million

Ranks of China, Iran and the U.S. in volume of executions: 1, 2, and 3

Number of death row inmates exonerated since 1973: 123

Average number of years between death sentence and exoneration: 9.2

Number of death row inmates acquitted on retrial or exonerated since 1973: 8

Days Arizona death row inmate Ray Krone spent in prison before exoneration: 3,769

Sum Maricopa County paid Krone’s trial attorney: $5,000

Sum Maricopa County paid to an expert who gave erroneous testimony to convict him: $50,000

Minimum sum Krone’s family spend to get him exonerated: $200,000

Sum taxpayers paid Krone in compensation for wrongful conviction: $4.4 million

Sum in county contract payments to Thomas’ former law firm May 2005-May 2006: $326,651

Sum in county contract payments to Thomas’ former law firm prior to his election: $0

Offices other than County Attorney that approve outside legal services contracts: 0

Pages of billable hours Thomas has disclosed for his 9-month tenure at the firm: 0

Year in which Thomas advocated displaying convicts in "open-air holding pens": 1994

Year in which Thomas wrote that prosecutors are "generally… of average ability": 1996

Number of TV announcements in which Thomas urges parents to spy on their children: 1

Number of times Thomas’ name appears on the Arizona execution witness lists: 3

Number of felony cases Thomas has tried in his career: 0

Finally, is it just me, or does Thomas’ official Illegal Immigration site seem a tad inappropriate as a use of public funds? Just where in his job description is "spreading anti-immigrant propaganda"? If I were paying taxes in Maricopa, I might be a bit annoyed by that…