Wednesday, September 25, 2019

BREAKING, UPDATE: Supreme Court Appoints Independent Counsel To Handle Ethics Complaints Against Fellow Justice Bill Montgomery, and Prosecutor Juan Martinez

Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel today appointed Independent Bar Counsel to investigate and handle an ethics complaint filed against now-fellow Justice Bill Montgomery. The order also grants the State Bar's request to hand the complaint against Maricopa County prosecutor Juan Martinez to the independent counsel.

The State Bar of Arizona's Chief Bar Counsel is permitted to request such a handoff if the office believes it "may be compromised by a specified conflict of interest or may reasonably be questioned." AZ Law has requested more information from the State Bar as to the basis for the request.

The ethics complaints against former Maricopa County Attorney Montgomery and one of his most visible prosecutors were filed on September 3. The attorneys currently representing convicted killer Jodi Arias filed the complaints, parts of which relate to the Arias case.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey named Montgomery as a Supreme Court Justice the following day. Yesterday, Acting Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell confirmed that Martinez has been reassigned from trying homicide cases, due to the ethics complaint.

Brutinel's Order (below) grants the State Bar's Chief Bar Counsel's request and assigns it to the IBC "to provide review and disposition" of the complaints. The Independent Bar Counsel's office was set up by the Supreme Court last year, and it operates from the Commission on Judicial Conduct.



* * * * *

"AZ Law" airs on non-profit Sun Sounds of Arizona, a statewide reading service that provides audio access to printed material for people who cannot hold or read print material due to a disability. 

If you know someone who could benefit from this 24/7 service, please let them know about member-supported Sun Sounds. And, YOU can donate or listen here.

"AZ Law" can also be downloaded and subscribed to in all major podcast stores - iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Podbean, etc. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

BREAKING: Kyrsten Sinema's Final Deal (For Now)?; Biden's Last Confirmed Judge May Be Arizona's New Judge Desai

The last Biden judicial pick to get approved for the U.S. District Court bench may well be Arizona's Sharad Desai, we learned today. Dur...