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Monday, December 20, 2010

Maricopa Madness, Part I

When Andrew Thomas resigned as DA for Maricopa County last April so that he could run for Arizona attorney general, it ultimately set off a chain of events that has so exposed the practices of prosecutors in that place that Thomas and two of his ringleaders, Lisa Aubuchon and Rachel Alexander, now are facing disbarment, which in this day of the unaccountable prosecutor is an amazing thing.

Before going further, I will say that there is so much happening there, mostly bad, that I cannot cover it in this space. Furthermore, I am coming in on this story in the same way a vulture comes onto a carcass. As carrion goes, this is pretty good stuff, but as a latecomer to the utter madness that is Maricopa County "justice," I pretty much am limited to repeating what others have written.

I have written much on prosecutorial misconduct, but I must admit that I was not prepared for the brand of "justice" in the capital city of Arizona, as I figured that the city was too sophisticated and diverse to have a gang of Michael Nifongs running the show in the DA's office. Durham, North Carolina, where Nifong did his damage in the Duke Lacrosse Case, has the uneasy relationship between the city, which has a lot of relatively poor African-Americans, and Duke University, which draws a number of wealthy and white students from out of the area.

Nifong simply exploited the divide and the American mainstream media, which always tries to frame black-white issues as though it always were Birmingham in 1964 and that Reade Seligmann was the second coming of Sam Bowers. Had outside bloggers and writers not intervened in that case, it is likely that Nifong still would be the DA there today, given the complete support he had from Duke University, the Durham government, the local AND national MSM, and the local political establishment.

In the Tonya Craft case, we saw that the "justice" players in the LMJC were trying their best to play to the stereotypes that New Yorkers might have of rural Georgia justice, but I must admit that Andrew Thomas, Lisa Aubuchon, and Rachel Alexander all out do Buzz Franklin, Chris "Facebook-Cruisemaster" Arnt, Len "The Man/Racist" Gregor and "judge" brian outhouse, and that takes a monumental effort, believe me.

So, let us just say that the Terrible Trio of Thomas, Aubuchon, and Alexander are in some hot water, as even Arizona has its limits of outright criminal behavior by those who are sworn to uphold the law. Of course, these three legal stooges did not go quietly. No, they actually hired a private investigator to tail Colorado ethics investigator John Gleason, who investigated the officials for the state Bar of Arizona.

Yes, that's right. The Arizona State Bar hired Gleason, and then the Unholy Trinity actually tried to intimidate him by having him tailed. That alone should have been grounds for recommendation of disbarment, and I doubt it earned them brownie points with the very people who will sit in judgment over them when they have their hearings in 2011.

Bar hearings are not like regular criminal court proceedings, as they are administrative in nature. That means that the "innocent until proven guilty" standard for criminal cases does not hold.

Instead, the Unholy Trinity will be facing a group of people who will be inclined to disbar them, and it is up to Thomas, Aubuchon, and Alexander to try to do the impossible: convince their judges that they really don't deserve to be stripped of their law licenses.

In my next post on this subject, I will go into the outright criminal behavior of these three miscreants and demonstrate how they helped to set a standard -- make that sub-standard -- of justice in Maricopa County that meant prison for Courtney Bisbee and many other innocents.

20 comments:

KC Sprayberry said...

Not quite on topic but shows at least one sheriff is more interested in arresting real child molesters. Early last month, a group of writers I'm associated with went on the offensive against a book on sale at Amazon.com. Basically, it was a how to guide for pedophiles. Today, according to this link, the man who wrote that book is under arrest. http://ht.ly/3s9Je More amazingly was how the worldwide audience took care of Amazon's selling this particular book. Threats of lost income caused this bookseller to pull it from their stock rather than the content. Whatever it takes. And I do hope no one in the justice system messes up this case. I have no doubt this man is a child molester after reading an online interview he did after selling the book through Amazon.

Anonymous said...

Has our whole country gone Crazy..
What can we do, To get these elected people to do their job.. It's driving me crazy.

Carola said...

If you read Andrew Thomas interview with ABC;s Jim Avila, it becomes clear that the people at the Maricopa County Attorney's office are completely out of control. This was about a 16-year old teenager they accused of having child pornography on his computer. Andy Thomas' answers are jawdropping!!! But this is the same mentality that I am up against with my son. http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2791529&tqkw=&tqshow=2020&page=3

These people are morons but they are dangerous and no one should feel safe, it can happen to anyone.

liberranter said...

I figured that [Phoenix] was too sophisticated and diverse to have a gang of Michael Nifongs running the show in the DA's office.

It's obvious that you've never visited this state, but you really should. You'll be cleansed within an hour of your arrival of any naive impulse to associate the concepts of "sophistication" or "diversity" with the Grand Scamyon State. Believe me when I say that, compared to this place, Northwestern Georgia is Midtown Manhattan and its "legal system" a paragon of Common Law and Constitution-based justice, honesty, and integrity. brian outhouse would appear to be a reincarnation of Learned Hand if transplanted into a Phoenix courtroom.

Doc Ellis 124 said...

Greetings Dr Anderson,

Thank you for writing this

Doc Ellis 124

Kerwyn said...

KC

I must admit I was surprised that the local police cooperated with another state in order to arrest him.

Carola,

I warned Bill about Maricopa county when your case came to our attention. As I have alluded to previously, I have very personal knowledge of how they operate and I dislike the group out there intensely.

To everyone else;

This county has run roughshod over people for years. These guys are simply the tip of the iceberg. This type of behavior has been the standard for years, many many years. I simply grieve for the many innocent folks that Maricopa county has destroyed.

Anonymous said...

I would be very interested in hearing from the officials from the bar on this. Why now? What took so long? What is their reason why they (and other bars) are reluctant to take action against prosecutors. The rules apply to prosecutors too, but those on the civil side take the brunt of the complaint for things as trivial as giving the mere "appearance of impropriety" when nothing in fact was done wrong.

John Washburn said...

Defending the indefensible:

To KC Sprayberry and http://ht.ly/3s9Je about writing a book.

What exactly is the crime here?

Boycotting amazon.com is perfectly acceptable exercise of free association as would be my refusal to be the printer of the book.

But, what am I missing here? Why is writing a controversial book illegal? Would you advocate prosecuting any of the following authors as well?
Improvised Explosives By Seymore Lecker
The Complete Guide To Lock-Picking by Eddie the Wire
Homemade Guns and Homemade Ammo by Ron Brown
Physical Interrogation Techniques Richard Krousher (on Amazon now BTW)
A Do-It-Yourself Submachine by Gérard Métral
Disruptive Terrorism By Victor Santoro
Tabletop Methamphetamines by Uncle Fester (A Wisconsinite no less)

If describing how to commit a crime is a crime, then the first amendment has no import.

KC, defending human freedom is a messy, unpleasant business because you have to defend scoundrels. This is because oppression starts with scoundrels. It starts with scoundrels and foreign brown people BECAUSE they have so few defenders. But if oppression is to be stopped at all, it has to be stopped at the scoundrel/foreigner stage. Because if it not stopped at the scoundrel stage, oppression quickly migrates and engulfs the upstanding, but troublesome citizens filling the church pews or work cubicles next to you.

So, in single syllables for me, what is the crime in writing a vile book?

Remember the PURPOSE of Arnt's vilification of Tonya Craft as a child molester was specifically to isolate her from supporters.

Again defending freedom is messy and always will be messy. The State will always attack the isolated/vile/outcast first in order to establish the precedent used during its later persecution of you.

A historical reminder of this point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMqReTJkjjg

Anonymous said...

Indeed, publication of case law related to convicted criminals involves description of the vile crimes and how they committed them. Therefore, that is publication of how to commit vile crimes including, but not limited to, fraud, murder, rape, robbery, child molestation, privacy violations, drug crimes, and other sundry despicable acts. The difference obviously is the writer's state of mind, i.e., his or her thoughts. Thought police are exactly what the First Amendment was designed to protect against. If we all had happy thoughts, there would be no need for a First Amendment. I have said it before, if you are rushing to convict people because you are offended, you are part of the problem. Dont be part of the problem. It is easier to become a part of the problem than you think it is.

KC Sprayberry said...

John, it wasn't about writing a book. It was about writing a how to guide for pedophiles. The man's interview about the book glorified certain acts while explaining how it was impossible for a conviction if other acts didn't happen. Yes, we have freedom of speech in this country and I espouse it as much as anyone else. But a book about this subject goes beyond freedom of speech, and if you check local laws in addition to federal laws, you'll find any book that teaches others how to commit a criminal act is illegal - that includes the books you named in your response. Beyond that, the book was beyond disgusting in that anyone, including a child, could click on the link and purchase it. There was no age rating on Amazon. And yes, I did look but at the time I went to post my opinion at Amazon and close my account, they'd already pulled the book.

Rob said...

KC,

As incredibly reprehensible as the subject matter is, and as glad as I am that Amazon pulled it from their site, I have to agree with John. I'll address your points below.

First off, you wrote: "[I]t wasn't about writing a book. It was about writing a how to guide for pedophiles." A how-to guide is a book, right? So that would mean it is about a book -- contrary to what you state. It seems like John's point stands.

Second, you wrote: "[I]f you check local laws in addition to federal laws, you'll find any book that teaches others how to commit a criminal act is illegal - that includes the books you named in your response." If that's the case, why hasn't anyone been prosecuted (presumably) for writing any of those books? At least one of them is on Amazon, which would make Amazon itself an accessory to a crime, wouldn't it?

Even more importantly, while such a thing may be illegal right now, should it be? If someone uses such a book to commit a crime, then I think the author could be prosecuted as an accessory. That alone should give people pause when thinking about writing such a book.

However, to prosecute the author of such a book before any crime described in it has been subsequently committed is a dangerous precedent, IMHO. After all, how does such a book by itself hurt anyone?

John Washburn said...

KC as you yourself state:
The man's interview about the book glorified certain acts while explaining how it was impossible for a conviction if other acts didn't happen.

Again the crime is what exactly? Upsetting words? Bad legal advice? I believe your correct revulsion of child rape blinds you to the fact that you want cut down trees within the Rule of Law Forest in order to get to this devil. I again urge to see where such lumbering leads...

Is the book worse than the call by the federal agent, Hal Turner, to kill state judges?

I argue the call by federal agent Turner to kill specific judges and providing their addresses is an aggression against the named judges and thus a crime. This is a crime because of its specificity. Turner's directions were specific both in the act to be done and specific to which victims. Kill these state judges living at these addresses.

Where is the same specificity with this book? Which specific children did he call to be raped? Which specific acts did he direct be done?

As a complete aside, of the books I listed, a child can buy a book describing how to water board a person at amazon.com: Physical Interrogation Techniques right now. Shall this author be arrested because he correctly describes water boarding as torture and then proceeds to give step-by-step directions on how you too can be a Johnny Woo protected Inquisitor of the American Imperium?

I may need to order this book just to see if meets the specificity requirements to be a call to commit a crime.

Lacking such specificity, again, I ask: What, exactly, is the crime in writing this vile book?

John Washburn said...

Sorry, I thought the charge was for the death threats to Idaho judges, but I see the final conviction of Agent Turner was for death threats against 3 Federal judges in Illinois.

I apologize for the incorrect information on the charges of Agent Turner. I do stand by my point that for words to criminal there needs be a specific threat to specific persons.

I don't see how a book glorifying child rape and dispensing bad legal advice can possibly meet this threashold of specificity.

Lame said...

Guys, here's another story to follow, this time out of South Africa: A grandmother – one of the eight accused in the Pretoria North sex scandal – has challenged the State to place “one shred of evidence before court, other than the allegations against them by two small children”.



http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/prove-it-says-grandma-on-porn-rap-1.1003551

Lame said...

There's also this case from nearly two decades ago--a case similar in many ways to the Tonya Craft case (except that Craft isn't actually a lesbian).

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Did-these-women-molest-two-girls-908873.php

KC Sprayberry said...

Part I. John, first off, my wording might have been wrong. This is a self-published book, or in the vernacular of published authors such as myself, a vanity publisher put out this book. Why? Because no reputable (emphasis on reputable) publisher would have touched this book. The title alone gives one pause, The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A child-lover's guide to love and pleasure. Honestly, how can anyone think this book is about anything but committing a criminal action? Does it violate his free speech for Amazon and millions of people to demand its sales be stopped? According to you, yes. However, remember, the Supreme Court decided that yelling fire in a crowded theater was not free speech (http://tiny.cc/yc8ns). Granted this violation was specified as falsely yelling fire in a crowded theater. Using this as a metaphor, one might think a man selling a book titled as Phillip Greaves' was is the same as falsely yelling fire in a crowded theater. Also, Greaves, when asked in an interview if he had molested kids as the firestorm of protests heated up claimed 'he could have'. That's a direct quote available on approximately 200 sites. Greaves then waffled back and said he never had done such a thing. Whatever his intetions, which as of last night he claims he wrote this book as a guide for pedophiles to use as a way to 'cure' themselves, he is not a writer as I define writer. Why?
1. Has he taken writing classes and spent years perfecting his craft, much like other professionals do? No. By his own admission, Greaves decided to go back to the writing he gave up in 8th grade after an involuntary stint in a mental hospital.
2. Did Greaves use peer group critique to refine his manuscript and make is as saleable as possible to a mainstream publisher? We all know the answer to that, since Greaves elected to self-publish his e-book. In other words, he paid someone else to publish his book. Now, I don't know about you but I don't pay anyone to work for them and that's what vanity publishers are all about. I'd rather wait for a royalty/flat-rate payment than get my book out there faster by paying someone to do a shoddy job on it. That means more rejections and working harder to have smaller sales of articles and short stories in order to build up my credits but that's part of paying the price to break into publication.

KC Sprayberry said...

John, first off, my wording might have been wrong. This is a self-published book, or in the vernacular of published authors such as myself, a vanity publisher put out this book. Why? Because no reputable (emphasis on reputable) publisher would have touched this book. The title alone gives one pause, The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A child-lover's guide to love and pleasure. Honestly, how can anyone think this book is about anything but committing a criminal action? Does it violate his free speech for Amazon and millions of people to demand its sales be stopped? According to you, yes. However, remember, the Supreme Court decided that yelling fire in a crowded theater was not free speech (http://tiny.cc/yc8ns). Granted this violation was specified as falsely yelling fire in a crowded theater. Using this as a metaphor, one might think a man selling a book titled as Phillip Greaves' was is the same as falsely yelling fire in a crowded theater. Also, Greaves, when asked in an interview if he had molested kids as the firestorm of protests heated up claimed 'he could have'. That's a direct quote available on approximately 200 sites. Greaves then waffled back and said he never had done such a thing. Whatever his intetions, which as of last night he claims he wrote this book as a guide for pedophiles to use as a way to 'cure' themselves, he is not a writer as I define writer. Why?
1. Has he taken writing classes and spent years perfecting his craft, much like other professionals do? No. By his own admission, Greaves decided to go back to the writing he gave up in 8th grade after an involuntary stint in a mental hospital.
2. Did Greaves use peer group critique to refine his manuscript and make is as saleable as possible to a mainstream publisher? We all know the answer to that, since Greaves elected to self-publish his e-book. In other words, he paid someone else to publish his book. Now, I don't know about you but I don't pay anyone to work for them and that's what vanity publishers are all about. I'd rather wait for a royalty/flat-rate payment than get my book out there faster by paying someone to do a shoddy job on it. That means more rejections and working harder to have smaller sales of articles and short stories in order to build up my credits but that's part of paying the price to break into publication.

John Washburn said...

RE:Does it violate his free speech for Amazon and millions of people to demand its sales be stopped? According to you, yes

No, I did not say that. Do not misquote me especially when my words are only 6 inches away.

What I said was:
Boycotting amazon.com is perfectly acceptable exercise of free association as would be my refusal to be the printer of the book.

Yelling fire in a crowded theater is NOT a crime especially, if there is a fire or I smell smoke. Specificity again is the key: Did I specifically yell "fire" in order to create bodily harm?

Greaves said: Could have? So, because he exercised his right to silence he is guilty? Neither yes nor no helps him. Yes is to admit to a felony. To answer no is to ruin his book sales by being expose as a publicity seeking poser. So "could have" in legal parlance must be accepted as NO. Again even the Devil gets the benefit of Law and its Presumption of Innocence. The important fact here is that Greaves did not say yes.

I am confused. Is the crime you are accusing Greaves of that he is a piss poor writer? or is the crime that he is a self-taught writer? Or is the crime that he is an untrained writer? Or is the crime that he writes and publishes without benefit of an editor? Or is the crime that he sullies the good name of professional writers by insiting that he is a writer because he is self-published and did not properly "pay his dues" to break into publishing.

By that standard every blogger on the planet should be arrested. All of them are self-published. Nearly all of them are not writers by general profession. Very few if any have their blogs peer reviewed.

Again I ask unless the book directs that specific children be raped and in specific ways: What is the crime in writing this vile book? . Or is the real crime the thought crime? Child Molestation is so bad that thinking about it is a crime.

Anonymous said...

This author and his topic are slime, but i'm against thought policing, so I must agree with John and his thought above. This was put in to the free market of ideas and it is being rejected, but that doesn't take away his right to be vile and disgusting...

John Washburn said...

I agree with the assessment of vile and disgusting.

That is why defending human freedom is so difficult. The sharp point to the spear of oppression is always cutting the vilest and most isolated individuals long before the wide edges begin to cut us or ours. The best time to blunt or break the spear oppression though is when only the tip of the spear is in play.


Defending Greaves here and the triple jeopardy of FBI agent, Hal Turner, at Boots and Sabers though has left me in need of a shower.

Blacks, Indians, Chinese, homosexuals, communists, anti war people, child molestors people who oppose TS sexual assaults. It's always somebody impaled the sharp point of Tyranny's Spear. The tragic irony of history is that in most cases the State wheels round turns that spear on the very same people who cheered its forging.