A Couple of Updates

 Posted on April 17, 2012 in Uncategorized

• I wrote more than two years ago about Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Last week he was disbarred.

I wrote:

Aside from the ethical question, there are practical considerations. These Maricopa County Assistant County Attorneys, casting their lot with Andrew Thomas, are lying down with dogs. If Arpaio and Thomas's fantastical castle in the sky comes crashing to the ground, those lawyers are going to be remembered as having helped Arpaio and Thomas try to destroy the American system of government in Maricopa County. If Arpaio and Thomas's delusions of grandeur are proven true-if the judiciary in Maricopa County becomes a lapdog or a nullity-those lawyers will be remembered as having helped Arpaio and Thomas succeed. Neither is a cheerful prognosis for their future outside of a totalitarian future; either way, Maricopa County's Assistant County Attorneys wake up with fleas.

Along with Andrew Thomas, his henchman Lisa Aubuchon was disbarred. She has filed a notice of appeal. Former Deputy County Attorney Rachel Alexander was suspended from the practice of law for six months.

Among the findings against the three was that they filed criminal charges against a judge without probable cause and filed an incompetent, improper and frivolous racketeering lawsuit in federal court against judges and county officials.

I call that "fleas."

• In connection with the contempt proceedings against two Harris County prosecutors and two court reporters arising out of the BAT van grand jury I predicted last November: "The contempt proceeding gets reset, and then reset again off-docket and quietly dropped." In March the contempt allegations were quietly dropped by special prosecutor Chris Tritico. Here is defense lawyer Bill Hawkins's motion to dismiss, which was written for an unknown audience (Hawkins didn't know what judge would be hearing the case) and so is a good broad summary of Texas contempt law.