SANCTIONS SCOREBOARD UPDATE: BREAKING: Mark Finchem hit with MORE sanctions in failed 2022 Election Contest

For the second time this week, the Court of Appeals has rejected 2022 Election Contest appeals from statewide Republican candidates. Today, they added more sanctions to the totals incurred by Mark Finchem.

In a unanimous Opinion, the judges affirmed the $47,706.50 in sanctions levied by the trial court, and added a (yet-undetermined) portion of Secretary of State Adrian Fontes's attorneys' fees in the groundless appeal.

Judge Samuel Thumma wrote the 11-page opinion for the three judge panel. explaining how the twists and turns of this long case resulted in today's decision. Finchem's prior counsel, Dan McCauley, withdrew part of the way through this (second) appeal, due to his agreement with the State Bar about his violations of ethical rules in the trial court portion.

However, the briefs had already been filed, and neither Finchem nor replacement attorney Dennis Wilenchik sought to amend them. The court today found that Finchem  had waived arguments that they wanted to assert by not mentioning them in the briefs, and had tried to withdraw some of the arguments that were presented in the briefs (at oral argument).

The Opinion is not clear about what portion of the Secretary of State's appellate fees will be awarded, and as to who will be responsible for them. Given the rest of the Opinion, it is possible that McCauley will be held partially responsible, even though he withdrew.

This article was reported by AZ Law founder Paul Weich. 

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