Heat City

Maricopa County’s elected top prosecutor, Andrew Thomas, talked at a news conference Wednesday about the criminal charges he just brought against Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe.

While Thomas was referring to the alleged “corruption” Donahoe has engaged in, many have voiced concerns that the prosecutor and his ally, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, are using their law enforcement powers to target their critics such as the judge.

“This is an absolutely sad day for any person in a free republic,” Thomas told reporters. “We are not going to be thwarted. We are not going to let anybody obstruct justice in the community.”

Judge Mundell

Perhaps it is a sign of just how fearful the leadership in Maricopa County has become in recent weeks.

On Thursday night, the county’s highest-ranking judge, Barbara Rodriguez Mundell, convinced a higher court to block search warrants on her house and judicial chambers by the sheriff’s office.

The only problem? The search warrants didn’t exist. At least not yet, anyway. Essentially, the judge convinced another court to block what amounted to an apparition, and in doing so, revealed just how high tensions have risen as the county’s sheriff and chief prosecutor continue their assault on those who have criticized them.

Adam Stoddard

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled this morning that Maricopa County detention officer Adam Stoddard, who has been in jail for nearly 10 days for contempt of court, should be freed.

In the ruling, the three-judge panel granted Stoddard’s freedom but said it has not yet decided on the original order that put him there. That means Stoddard could be back in jail if the court decides to uphold the decision by the lower-court judge.

Stoddard went to jail on Dec. 1 after being found in contempt for taking a confidential document from the files of defense attorney Joanne Cuccia while her back was turned in court. The whole incident was caught on courtroom security video, which eventually made its way to YouTube and news outlets like CNN.

Gary Donahoe

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.

He was obviously frustrated at the questions he had been getting. For nearly an hour, Thomas sputtered and sighed as he tried to explain why he had just filed criminal charges against one of the most powerful judges in Maricopa County, Gary Donahoe.

Adam Stoddard

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.

A Maricopa County judge refused today to reveal the contents of a private letter at the center of the case involving jailed detention officer Adam Stoddard.

The letter was the one Stoddard took from the confidential files of defense attorney Joanne Cuccia in October, an incident that has drawn national attention and landed the young detention officer in jail for contempt of court.

Although Judge Gary Donahoe already determined the letter was a privileged communication between the attorney and her client, Stoddard’s own lawyers wanted it to be made public so they could use it to try to get him out of jail in their appeal to a higher court. Donahoe made no other comment in denying the request, publishing only a short minute entry [PDF] with the court.

A group of homeless San Diego residents filed a federal lawsuit last week, saying police and other agencies there have tried to drive them from the city and send them to Phoenix.

The suit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. district court in San Diego, alleges that police officers and other city workers have been going around the San Diego and conducting “raids” on groups of the homeless, taking their few possessions and throwing them away. The officers have then told the homeless to head to Arizona, according to the suit.