Adam Stoddard
Maricopa County detention officer Adam Stoddard should have never been sent to jail for sneaking a document from the confidential files of a defense attorney, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled today.
A three-judge panel decided [PDF] that, while Stoddard’s actions did break rules of the court, forcing him to spend time behind bars because he refused to hold a news conference and publicly apologize for his actions was too harsh a penalty. The judges sent the case back to the lower court to find a new, lighter punishment for the detention officer.
“We’re happy,” said Stoddard’s attorney, Tom Liddy, after the decision was published. “Ordering a press conference was absurd. We knew it. They knew it.”
Stoddard’s case rose to national attention last year after he was caught on a courtroom security video taking a handwritten letter from the files of a defense attorney while her back was turned.
The attorney, Joanne Cuccia, cried foul, saying that the attorney-client privilege had been violated. But Stoddard said he saw the words “going to,” “steal” and “money” on the letter and believed a crime was about to take place.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe later determined the letter was harmless and found Stoddard in contempt of court for taking it. The judge ordered Stoddard to hold a news conference to apologize for the gaffe.
But Stoddard refused, saying he stood by his actions. In turn, Donahoe sent him to jail for 10 days in December for defying his order.
Tuesday’s ruling essentially said that Donahoe was right to dole out a punishment, but he was wrong to make Stoddard choose between apologizing and going to jail.
The appeals court recommended that Stoddard be forced to pay a fine or go through extra training in “courtroom decorum,” but it left that decision up to the superior court.
The attorney who first recommended that Stoddard be punished for his actions said he was “frustrated” by the court’s decision to throw out the tougher punishment.
“I still can’t understand why it is so horrible to require someone to say ‘I’m sorry,’” said Craig Mehrens, who was brought on to represent Cuccia, the original defense attorney in the case. “All he had to do was say, ‘I’m sorry. I made a mistake.’”
Mehrens pointed out that every judge who has heard the case has agreed Stoddard broke some serious rules of court conduct. “Yet what has happened?” he said. “Well, they have suggested maybe a fine.”
Mehrens also noted that any fine will likely be paid with taxpayer funds rather than out of the detention officer’s pocket. In numerous other cases where Maricopa County Sheriff’s employees have been fined, their employer has picked up the tab.
“I don’t see a lot of justice,” Mehrens said.
Still, Stoddard’s attorney said the detention officer has learned a serious lesson about court ethics.
“The fact of the matter is that Adam Stoddard is not going to make that mistake again,” said Liddy, “He knows about the attorney-client privilege and he understands the breadth of it.”
It’s not clear yet which judge will decide Stoddard’s new fate, but one thing is certain: It won’t be Donahoe. The longtime judge retired last week.
