The ice has not yet broken on the Santa Cruz, but it is mighty thin. And, that is where attorney-self-proclaimed-civil-rights-activist Ryan Heath finds himself today, after filing Bar Complaints against colleagues who are defending Kari Lake's Election Contest. (Attorneys for Maricopa County, the Secretary of State's Office, and now-Governor Katie Hobbs)
Heath claims they violated ethics rules about candor to the court by not citing a 1997 Court of Appeals opinion apparently setting aside election results for a Yuma County Board of Supervisors' election because mail-in ballots were not properly handled.
Besides the inherent issues of alleging that attorneys failed to cite a case that an opposing counsel - Heath has attempted to ally himself with Lake's side of the case - there is even legitimate question as to whether or not the Reyes v Cuming opinion was vacated by the Court of Appeals judges.
Arizona's Law has been working with both Heath and the courts to attempt to verify whether or not the opinion was vacated, and will update this article with any new information.
We have also asked Heath to send us a copy of his Complaint, and will also update with that. For now, here is his tweet and cover letter.
Bar complaints against defense attorneys in @KariLake v. @katiehobbs have been filed.@AbrahamHamadeh @JenWEsq @Rach_IC @AbeWarRoom @KariLakeWarRoom
— Ryan (@Ryan_L_Heath) April 7, 2023
See https://t.co/oa9w0yS6yV for more on this case. pic.twitter.com/jVyH9pdmpZ
Bar complaints have previously been filed against attorneys who have represented Lake and others in what the complainants say are "seeking to overturn legitimate elections".
well, it appears that a new election was held in Yuma County in March 1998.... https://newspaperarchive.com/yuma-sun-mar-10-1998-p-1/ (this is a link to a newspaper service, so the article is not actually clear)
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