Update: When law enforcement crosses the line into lawlessness in Maricopa County

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This is a belated update to an earlier post Maricopa County Detention Officer swipes a document from an attorney's file in court.

Maricopa County detention officer Adam Stoddard refused to comply with a lawful order from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe to publicly apologize to defense attorney Joanne Cuccia. Judge Donahoe ordered Officer Stoddard jailed for contempt of court on December 1. Officer Stoddard turned himself in and is being held in detention.

Anytime one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's officers is involved, you can bet crazy uncle Joe is going to be trouble, and he really crossed the line this time. On December 2, the Arizona Republic reported Sickout, bomb threat disrupt Superior Court proceedings

About 20 Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies and detention officers failed to show for work [a "brownout"] at the downtown Phoenix Superior Court Wednesday morning, disrupting an untold number of proceedings.

The courthouse was further thrown into disarray about 10 a.m. when a bomb threat was called in by someone who claimed to be disgruntled with the Maricopa County Public Defender's Office, a sheriff's spokesman said.

* * *

Traffic slowly began to trickle back in to the buildings about 1 p.m., but by then many cases and hearings had been disrupted.

Court administrators were in the process of determining the impact that the deputies and officers' absences had on the court when the buildings were evacuated.

Administrators were notified this morning that 19 deputies and detention officers would be taking sick leave and one additional officer would be out "due to unforeseen circumstances," said Criminal Court Administrator Bob James.

Inmate transports were affected and high-volume courts, such as early disposition courts were "definitely affected," he said.

"There are well over 100 in-custody inmates that affects," James said.

James was able to determine that an additional five to 10 criminal court divisions were impacted by the absences, but he had not contacted all the divisions before the buildings were evacuated.

A representative for the Maricopa County Association of Detention Officers, John Solano, said the high absenteeism was not a coordinated act of solidarity for detention officer Adam Stoddard, who turned himself in Tuesday night to serve a sentence for contempt. That sentence stemmed from an incident in which Stoddard removed documents from a defense attorney's during a defendant's sentencing hearing.

Solano said a number of sheriff's personnel have been out sick of late.

Solano and other detention officers refused to answer any questions about the "brownout" at a Tuesday afternoon press conference where more than 150 deputies and detention officers gathered outside the courthouse and reiterated their support of Stoddard.

The sheriff's personnel repeatedly said "they would not stand down" in their support of Stoddard, but could not elaborate on whether that support would include more press conferences or any other forms of protest. "We don't want to create a problem," Solano said, distancing the union from the decisions of sheriff's personnel who called in sick. "We don't have any protests. We don't plan for any protests. Our solidarity is for officer Stoddard."

Deputy Sean Pearce, a representative from the Deputies Law Enforcement Association, thought the high number of absences Wednesday showed how sheriff's personnel felt about Stoddard's situation. "I think it sends out a message that this officer has integrity…Why should he apologize for doing his job?" Pearce asked.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he had no indication that the sick-leave in the courts was related to Stoddard's situation.

"I do have a political prisoner in jail who happens to be my Detention Officer," Arpaio added.

Deputy Chief. Dave Trombi confirmed that a number of detention officers and deputies called in sick, but it's not immediately clear whether the personnel were detention officers who provide security in the courthouse or those who help transport inmates to and from court.

The bomb threat was the second in a week. On Monday, a caller who claimed he was upset with the Public Defender's Office said there was a bomb in the court complex, but security officers felt it was a vague threat and only stepped up screening of court patrons and staff.

Oh Joe, there you go again, always playing the passive-aggressive victim. A "political prisoner," seriously? Do you want me to call the International Red Cross and Human Rights Watch? And is this deputy Sean Pearce related in any way to Sheriff Joe's partner in crime, Sen. Russell Pearce? "Why should he apologize for doing his job?" Because a court of law after a hearing determined Officer Stoddard exceeded his authority and ordered him to apologize for his transgression. Compliance with lawful court orders is your duty, deputy.

The story doesn't end here. On December 8, Heatcity.org reported After officer is jailed, sheriff’s office abandons judge’s courtroom:

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has apparently stopped delivering inmates to the courtroom where a one of its detention officers was caught in an uproar that landed him in jail.

In a statement released late today, Superior Court Judge Lisa Flores said the sheriff’s office has flat-out stopped bringing inmates to her courtroom for their scheduled appearances.

None was delivered Monday or today, Flores said in the statement, causing major delays in ongoing criminal cases. That follows several days last week when the sheriff’s office either delivered inmates more than an hour late or not at all, she said.

The stonewalling comes after sheriff’s detention officer Adam Stoddard was thrown in jail for contempt in an incident where he was caught taking confidential documents from the file of a defense attorney in Flores’ court.

* * *

Since his jailing, Maricopa County’s justice system – one of the largest in the nation – has been thrown into a state of chaos, plagued by protests and a likely sickout by Stoddard’s coworkers, as well as bomb threats from a still-unknown source.

Stoddard’s boss, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, has described the detention officer as a “political prisoner”in his own jail. Arpaio’s supporters call Stoddard a victim of the ongoing disputes between the sheriff and other county leaders, including some judges.

On Wednesday, Sheriff Joe's other partner in crime, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, dropped a bombshell: Thomas filed criminal charges against the very same Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe. Thomas, Arpaio defend their war as judge is charged with obstructing justice | Heat City

Maricopa County’s top prosecutor, Andrew Thomas, looked at a wall of television cameras on Wednesday and asked reporters not to take his next statement the wrong way.

“Quite candidly, you’re not going to find many prosecutors with the guts to prosecute judges,” said the county attorney.

* * *

The task wasn’t easy. Thomas and his ally, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, painted themselves as the crime fighters trying to root out what they called “deep-seated corruption” in Maricopa County, the kind that supposedly has stood in the way of justice being served for the “people of a free republic.”

But both men face mounting questionsabout their own credibility and whether they are using their law enforcement powers to settle political scores. In a room full of reporters, the skepticism about the charges against Donahoe, who had recently jailed one of Arpaio’s officers and who was about to rule whether Thomas could hire special prosecutors from outside the state, was almost overbearing.

Those charges came just a day after Thomas and Arpaio announced criminal indictmentsagainst two more of their adversaries, Maricopa County supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox. Both have voted in recent months to curb the powers and spending of the county attorney and sheriff.

[See The Arizona Republic Stapley, Wilcox hit with charges and the East Valley Tribune Stapley indicted; Thomas to prosecute | Valleywide News | eastvalleytribune.com]

The charges filed Wednesday [PDF] accused the judge of three felonies: hindering a prosecution, obstructing justice and taking bribes.

All three were related to the construction of a new $340 million court tower, the most expensive capital project in Maricopa County history. The building was approved by the Board of Supervisors in a series of votes in 2007 and 2008 and it broke ground earlier this year. Since then, the sheriff’s and county attorney’s offices have begun to investigate its financing.

But Arpaio and Thomas alleged that Donahoe worked with private attorneys and other county officials to illegally block the investigation. In the complaint against him, prosecutors said Donahoe kicked the county attorney’s office off the case because it had a conflict of interest, and then refused to send the investigation to outside prosecutors.

The charges essentially accuse the judge of doing this so he and the Superior Court could benefit from the new tower, which will include state-of-the-art offices and dozens of new courtrooms.

Through a court spokeswoman, Donahoe declined to comment about the allegations. The charging papers require him to appear in court within 10 days as well as get his fingerprints and mugshot taken by the sheriff’s office.

In the past 10 days, Thomas and Arpaio have made accusations over and over through various outlets. From lawsuits to news releases to complaints filed with state agencies, the two men have launched a full assault on Donahoe and any other county official who has challenged them in the past year.

On Nov. 30, for example, the sheriff’s office sent a complaint about Donahoe to the state’s committee on judicial conduct. Much of the text used in what’s known as a “probable cause statement” for the criminal charges Wednesday appeared to be taken verbatim from the judicial complaint [PDF].

Additionally, Arpaio and Thomas made similar allegations in a wide-ranging federal lawsuit they filed on Dec. 1. In the suit, four judges, all five members of the Board of Supervisors, the county’s top two appointed officials, a leading attorney for the county and two private lawyers were accused of engaging in a massive conspiracy against the sheriff and county attorney.

In total, 14 people were sued by Arpaio and Thomas, and since then, three of them have also been charged with crimes by Thomas’ office.

At the news conference, Thomas hinted that charges may be pending for the other 11, saying all of them were under “active criminal investigation.”

“No one is above the law,” he said. “There may well be other cases.”

Oh, someone is above the law in the state of Arizona alright, and it is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, abusing the power of their elected offices to threaten, intimidate, harass and prosecute their political opponents for politically motivated retaliation. That is grounds for removal from office, and may constitute crimes. Law enforcement has crossed the line into lawlessness in Maricopa County.