Update, 6/10, 4pm: "UPDATE: Hamadeh and Attorney Ready To Post $209,000 Cash Bond, Court of Appeals Dismisses (First) Appeal"
Abe Hamadeh, attorney Ryan Heath and the other Plaintiffs indicated that they are ready to post a $209,000 cash bond on Friday while they appeal the dismissal of their election-related case and the sanctions imposed. However, the Court of Appeals today REJECTED their first appeal.
Chief Judge David Gass explained that the appeal from the initial dismissal of the case was premature because the sanctions issue had not been decided, and that the Superior Court's order should not have included language saying it was an appealable final judgment (Rule 54(b)).
As it turns out, Superior Court Judge Susanna Pineda signed the Order prepared by Heath, and that the Defendants (Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Attorney General Kris Mayes, and Maricopa County) had objected to the Order including the 54(b) language.
Hamadeh/Heath/Crosby/Mast filed a second Notice of Appeal last week after the sanctions were levied (see below). (Hypothetically, the Court of Appeals could have seen that the 2nd Notice of Appeal was coming and could have waited or combined them. They did not do that - although it was apparently in the record they received from Superior Court.)
Separately, Heath filed a Stipulation (agreed to by all of the defendants) on Friday to allow them to post a cash bond of (approximately) $209,000 to prevent any garnishments or actions.
Update, 5/30, 9am: "BREAKING, SANCTIONS SCOREBOARD UPDATE: Hamadeh, Heath, etc Hit With $210,000 In Sanctions For Dismissed Cases"
(Correction and clarification: Only attorney Heath is (jointly and severally) liable for all $209,796 in sanctions. Hamadeh is (jointly and severally) liable for $96,350 of it. And, Tom Crosby and David Mast are each (jointly and severally) liable for $113,446. Jointly and severally liable means that the judgment creditors - Maricopa County, the Arizona Secretary of State and Attorney General - can collect all of the money from any one of the liable persons, or it can be split among them.)
Candidate Abe Hamadeh, his co-plaintiffs and their attorney, have been hit with $210,000 in sanctions for two dismissed lawsuits they filed in an effort to overturn the 2022 election results and make him Attorney General.
Superior Court Judge Susanna Pineda signed the judgment this morning specifying how much they have to pay to Maricopa County, the Attorney General and the Governor for forcing them to defend the lawsuits. Hamadeh and attorney Ryan Heath are each responsible for the $96,350 racked up in one case, while Heath and Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby and David Mast - who were only co-plaintiffs in one case - are each responsible for $113,446.
Hamadeh, Crosby, Mast and Heath appealed the dismissals last month, and also tried to get the Supreme Court to consider it as a Special Action. The Supreme Court quickly declined, and the Court of Appeals appeal is still in its early stages.
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Original article, 5/22: "BREAKING: Abe Hamadeh and Attorney Again Try Double-Barreled Approach To Reversing 2022 Election, File Appeal and Special Action"
Abe Hamadeh is campaigning for a Congressional seat, while he is still legally campaigning to have (multiple) courts reverse the 2022 election and make him Attorney General.
Both Hamadeh and his attorney in this effort, Ryan Heath, have previously filed unsuccessful Special Action Petitions with the Arizona Supreme Court. And, the new one filed yesterday appears headed for a similar fate.
This one follows the April dismissal of the Hamadeh/Heath joint effort (sanctions still pending). Heath immediately filed the Notice of Appeal to go to the intermediate Court of Appeals, and yesterday filed with the Arizona Supreme Court.
The Justices rejected Heath's Petition last year, although that was slightly different - Heath was trying to skip both the Superior and Appeals courts. In Hamadeh's actual Election Contest, his attorneys filed an unsucccssful Special Action Petition at the Supreme Court to try to unstick a final dismissal from the Superior Court judge.
Heath tells Arizona's Law that he is more optimistic about this Petition's fate, and that he addressed the Special Action rules about only going to the Supreme Court in a footnote.
Substantively, the Petition is again claiming that Maricopa County
This article was reported by AZ Law founder Paul Weich.
"AZ Law" includes articles, commentaries and updates about opinions from the Arizona Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court, as well as trial and appellate courts, etc. AZ Law is founded by Phoenix attorney Paul Weich, and joins Arizona's Politics on the internet.
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