One of three former karate instructors accused in the deadly arson fire at the Phoenix headquarters of Young Champions of America was sentenced today to 14 years in prison. In an emotional hearing before a packed courtroom, Judge Joseph Kreamer told Jonathan Antonucci that he was troubled by several aspects of the case. In particular,…
One member of an Arizona State University fraternity could be looking at a little more than double-secret probation after allegedly stabbing another member when he tried to throw him into a pool.Members of the Sigma Nu fraternity threatened to throw 21-year-old Samson Fivey into a pool at the fraternity house early…
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas forwarded the criminal cases of Mary Rose Wilcox and Don Stapley to Gila County today, ending his quest to hire a special prosecutor. Gila County Attorney Daisy Flores has agreed to accept the cases, Thomas wrote in a short news release, (see full text below).The…
In a blog post earlier this week, we referenced documents we’d obtained from the State Bar of Arizona’s investigation into “special prosecutor” Dennis Wilenchik’s handling of the New Times matter. Those documents also figure prominently in our column this week about Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.Some of our readers asked…
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has been pushing the Board of Supervisors to appoint a private attorney as independent special prosecutor on matters involving county officials — offering “ironclad” representations that the independent prosecutor will be “absolutely independent.”But newly released documents obtained by New Times show that the last time…
Someone call a shrink, stat!That was our thought after reading Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ revealing interview with the Arizona Republic over the weekend. Thomas was apparently giving the daily of record his first candid interview after a climactic week that saw a visiting judge remove him from prosecuting County…
An 82-year-old suspect in a 1987 murder is suffering from memory problems and requires a competency hearing, according to the man’s attorney. Recent paperwork filed in court also clears up confusion about the suspect’s name: His real name is Richard Earl Rodgers, but his fingerprints are the same as the…
A couple more turns of the screw to report this morning on the county front: 1. Former Arizona Chief Justice Ruth McGregor — a retiree who just returned from an out-of-country trip — ruled that a Yuma judge will decide last week’s squabble over the appointment of a special prosecutor in the…
Image: James King David Eisenberg and Victoria Toensing, at a news conference in October. The next step in Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ push to hire special prosecutors will likely be a request for an expedited ruling in a lawsuit that addresses the matter. Thomas wants the special prosecutors…
The animal-adoring group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is in a huff (what else is new?) over the treatment of animals in laboratories at Arizona State University and will be hosting a presentation on the university’s campus to basically rip the university a new one.The presentation is called…
One of the chief criticisms of Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas before he first won office in 2004 was his inexperience. Yet the Board of Supervisors is considering replacing Thomas with someone who has never prosecuted a single felon: Chandler Mayor Boyd Dunn. Thomas, who has formed an exploratory committee…
Cigarettes aint cheap, and Valley Circle K convenience stores learned that the hard way when a man took nearly $80,000 worth of cancer sticks during 31 robberies over the last several months.Smokers can inhale easy, though, because Tempe police caught the man they believe to be the cig bandit, and he is now…
Yesterday, Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo kicked Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas off the prosecution of Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox — saying Thomas had a series of conflicts of interest and dismissing the entire indictment against Wilcox for good measure.Which led us to wonder: Since Judge Leonardo believed…
A Kingman woman was arrested Tuesday after police received reports of a foul smell coming from one of her homes.That foul smell was a bunch of dead animals.Police began investigating 43-year-old Deanne Lynn Ray-Rike on February 10, when the smell was first reported.The smell was coming from a house where…
As expected, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors told County Attorney Andrew Thomas that he can stuff that request for a special meeting to talk about special prosecutors. Thomas “misinterpreted” today’s ruling by Pima County Judge John Leonardo’s ruling and is therefore applying it inappropriately, states Wade Swanson, the county’s general litigation services director, in a…
Maricopa County Andrew Thomas, following up today on a damning court ruling against him, moved to dismiss both the criminal complaint against Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe and the second indictment of County Supervisor Don Stapley. Thomas isn’t throwing in the towel, though. He’s launching an appeal of today’s…
Don’t believe the spin.And don’t believe everything you read. (Ahem, E.J. Montini loyalists.)In his ruling today, Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo did not just smack down Maricopa County Andrew Thomas and his ambitions of prosecuting the case against Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox.He smacked him down, he smoked him,…
A judge has tossed Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas off his criminal case against County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, more than agreeing with arguments presented by Wilcox’s attorney. Pima County Judge John Leonardo also dismissed the indictment against Wilcox, leaving the possibility open for a special prosecutor to bring charges in the future…
According to Phoenix police, these guys really suck. Using a van equipped with removable floorboards and a 450-gallon tank, the suspects cruised around town and siphoned up rivers of gasoline from underground fuel tanks. We have to give them an A for effort. For the plan’s execution, though, the crime-class…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio is holding a press conference today in which he will seek a home for a pit bull named Queenie, which has been living in the Sheriff’s Department’s MASH Unit for about seven years.Whenever we hear about America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff”s” soft spot for any animal that can’t…
Police in Austin, Texas arrested a man earlier this month wanted by the Phoenix Police Department for the January rape and assault of a woman at a Phoenix truck stop.On February 11, Austin police arrested 40-year-old Darryl Clark after he was identified by Phoenix police as a suspect in the…
In a press release issued last week, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office expressed “disappointment” with the fact that witnesses friendly to the sheriff, including Chief Deputy David Hendershott, hadn’t been called to testify at a Tuesday hearing.But if they were trying to blame the judge or defense attorneys, the Sheriff’s…
