FINALLY FINAL! All Parties In Hamadeh Election Contest Cooperate To Help Trial Judge Resolve Remaining Issues, Send Case To Appeals Court (READ Stip, Order)

UPDATE, 9/7, 7:30am: "FINALLY FINAL! All Parties In Hamadeh Election Contest Cooperate To Help Trial Judge Resolve Remaining Issues, Send Case To Appeals Court"

Attorneys for Abe Hamadeh and all the (key) Defendants in the long-languishing Election Contest finally got Judge Lee Jantzen to sign a final Final Judgment, and sent the case back to the Court of Appeals for good.

After last week's final order dismissing the case left open the issue of compensation for the ballot inspectors, Hamadeh's legal team were concerned that the appellate judges would again tell them the appeal was premature. So, attorneys for all of the parties presented Judge Jantzen yesterday with an agreement on the compensation AND a form of judgment for him to sign (both, below).

And, lo and behold, he did sign it. Hamadeh quickly filed their Notice of Appeal, confident that it would not be again kicked out. (Unfortunately, unless there is an agreement to expedite, the briefing schedule will be reset for farther in the future. Hamadeh has indicated that they will ask for the appeal to be expedited.)

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE, 9/1: "CELEBRATE! Judge Signs Order DISMISSING Hamadeh Election Contest, Clears Way (Finally) For APPEAL; DENIES Sanctions (READ Order)"

The long-awaited final order dismissing Abe Hamadeh's Election Contest for the ultra-close 2022 Attorney General race has been signed. This clears the way for Hamadeh to finally appeal the determination.

Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen has been hanging on to the case since late December, and he finally DENIED the defendants' requests for sanctions and cleared up the other outstanding motions.

Within the past week, the Arizona Supreme Court and Court of Appeals have dismissed two efforts by Hamadeh's attorneys to begin the appellate process (and the former sanctioned Hamadeh for misleading the court about the lower court status). Hamadeh can begin again today.

Judge Jantzen did offer a bit of a reason for his long delay, claiming the (January 4) Motion for a New Trial kept him from signing the original denial. His reason for not ruling on the Motion for a New Trial back in February was that supplemental filings kept resetting his 60-day (maximum) limit for ruling. 

This article was reported by AZ Law founder Paul Weich. 

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