Thursday, July 18, 2024

UPDATE: Richer and Lake Attorneys Agree To Extend Discovery In Defamation Case For 3-4 Months; Battle Over Whether Lake Attorney Jen Wright Can Leave Case

Interesting battles are continuing in Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer's defamation case against Kari Lake, and the judge has promised a quick ruling on whether Lake, her husband and her entities have disclosed all of the relevant individuals.

Superior Court Judge Randall Warner also indicated that he would soon be ruling on whether Lake attorney Jennifer Wright can withdraw from the case - a move that Richer's attorneys oppose.

A brief status conference was held this morning on the discovery matters. Last week, the judge ruled that Richer can pursue broad discovery to help them prepare for the hearing later this year on the amount of damages caused by Lake's defamatory statements about Richer's handling of the 2022 elections. (Judge Warner reiterated that Lake admitted the falsity of Lake's anti-Richer campaign when she voluntarily defaulted on the Complaint.)

Representing Richer, Janine Lopez told the court that Lake should have disclosed not only the names of people who helped Lake with her social media, financial consultants who may have discussed with her the money-raising aspects of the attacks, and persons in Lake's life who "may have pushed back" against the strategy, but also substance of what knowledge those people could be expected to testify about.

Today's conference also disclosed that the parties see Lake's husband, Jeffrey Halperin, as a possible key to the damages issue. Lopez singled him out, and Halperin's attorney (William Fishbach) acknowledged that there is a "minor schism" between Lake's and Halperin's defenses.

Because Arizona is a community property state, spouses are routinely named as defendants in these types of cases.

Richer's attorneys promised to get a list of Lake's alleged disclosure deficiencies by the end of the day. They also have a deadline for tomorrow to tell the judge what documents they believe Lake must disclose. 

Judge Warner indicated that he will likely do a private (in camera) inspection of the documents before issuing an order. Warner also told the parties that he sees the required disclosure process "as a dialogue", and that parties should first communicate with each other about perceived deficiencies before coming to him.

The parties did meet and confer yesterday about how long the discovery process should last in light of last week's decision. Lopez said "the parties agreed to a 3-4 month extension of the discovery schedule."

A pre-trial conference was slated for September 10, so the agreement indicates that the damages hearing will likely slide beyond the November election (in which Lake is expected to be on the ballot for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Kyrsten Sinema).

Other bubbling disputes between the parties were not the subject of today's status conference, but loom on the horizon.

Judge Warner indicated that he is aware of Jen Wright's contested Motion to Withdraw as counsel for the "Kari Lake for Arizona" 2022 campaign committee, and will rule shortly.

Wright contends that since Lake was the chair/officer/director of the now-terminated committee, she cannot bill her client for her involvement. She explained to Arizona's Law:

"As you know, I am an elections attorney, not defamation. I helped recruit my replacement to ensure someone with the relevant background could represent Kari, and I was pleased that we found good counsel. Now that I only represent KLA, I realized I have no entity to bill, and because I respect Kari, I think it is outrageous to make her pay for me when she is adequately represented by Wilenchik & Bartness."

Richer's team opposes her withdrawal, noting that the entity is still an active corporate entity even though it cannot file campaign finance reports, that it still has its own discovery obligations, and that Wright can be compensated by others (such as Lake).

Arizona's Law reviewed campaign finance filings from both Lake's 2022 committee and her current senatorial campaign committee. No payments to Wright were found in either 2023 or 2024.

The filings in the Wright withdrawal dispute also show that a deposition for a representative of "Kari Lake for Arizona" is set for next Thursday. Lake is the only listed Officer and Director. (The corporation is also listed as active and in good standing although the Corporation Commission website shows that it is more than one year delinquent in filing the required annual report.)

(Later: Wright correctly points out that the ACC website notes under a separate tab that Lake last week filed to dissolve the corporation. The filing is "pending".)

Halperin's attorney also told the court that there is an outstanding (documents) subpoena to Maricopa County to learn more about its "taxpayer-funded" real time tracking of social media. "We were really shocked this was not disclosed to us previously," Fishbach told the judge.

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. 

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. 

Previous episodes of AZ Law can be streamed or downloaded here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Friday, July 12, 2024

BREAKING: People Are Voting "Kari Lake" for Senate; Today, She Is Asking the AZ Supreme Court To Declare Her Governor

Thousands of people have already voted in the July 30 primary, and presumably, many have voted for Kari Lake to be the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. Today, Lake is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to declare her to be the Governor by reversing the 2022 election.

As promised to Arizona's Law one month ago, Lake filed her Petition for Review last night, waiting the full 30 days allowed by law to appeal the lower courts' rulings against her. 

In it, they argue that the Superior Court and the Court of Appeals judges should have reinstated her case because of "new" evidence that Maricopa County did not conduct the necessary logic and accuracy testing on the vote tabulators. Her new evidence is a declaration by Clay Parikh and her belief that Maricopa County Elections Director later contradicted himself about the testing. 

(Those new evidence claims have been rejected by multiple federal courts in Lake's separate effort to throw out electronic voting machines, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider the matter.)

Lake's Petition also renews claims that Maricopa County did not properly verify signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes. The Petition asks the Justices to either order a new 2022 gubernatorial election, or "proportionally strike 275,000 ballots".

"Because Hobbs eclipsed Lake by more than 10% of Maricopa’s early voting, under Grounds, Lake would win."

The Petition was filed by Lake attorneys Kurt Olsen and Jennifer Wright (subbing in for the temporarily suspended Bryan Blehm).

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. 

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. 

Previous episodes of AZ Law can be streamed or downloaded here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thursday, July 11, 2024

BREAKING: Stephen Richer Can Push Forward With Broad Discovery Against Kari Lake For Punitive Damages, Judge Sets 4-week Schedule For Parties To Work On It; Also, Mike Lindell and Merissa Hamilton Subpoenaed

Stephen Richer can pursue broad discovery against Kari Lake in his defamation case, a judge ruled today. But, Richer must first come up with a specific list of documents he wants her to to turn over about both punitive damages and general damages.

Meanwhile, Richer has subpoenaed both Mike ("My Pillow Guy") Lindell and Merissa Hamilton for information, and has filed a Motion to Compel against the latter.

The defamation case has rotated to Judge Randall Warner, and he issued a Minute Entry today (below) on Richer's Motion to Compel (also below). Warner suggested that Richer "has not shown that evidence he needs to prove special damages is within Defendant Lake's control", and denied that part of the Motion.

Judge Warner also acknowledged that Lake is correct that Richer is not entitled to discovery on punitive damages until he has made a basic case for punitive damages. "But, Richer met this prima facie burden WHEN LAKE ADMITTED THE ALLEGATIONS IN THE COMPLAINT." (emphasis added) Richer is thus entitled to discovery about Lake's (and her committee's) wealth "and the degree of culpability".

(Lake defaulted rather than contest the merits of the defamation case.)

Richer has until July 19 to make a "reasonably tailored... specific list of documents sought", noting that there is no limit to that list, within the bounds of the previous requests. Lake then has two weeks to respond, and the parties must update the court by August 9.

Earlier in the week, Richer also filed a Motion to Compel Merissa Hamilton to comply with a subpoena for documents. Hamilton has assisted Lake and her "Save Arizona" committee (also a defendant). (LATER: Hamilton informs Arizona's Law that she attempted to comply with the subpoena, but that Richer's attorneys did not accept her offered documents.)

And today, Richer sent a subpoena for documents to national election denier Mike Lindell. Given today's Minute Entries, those actions might end up waiting until after the Lake discovery is sorted out.

Also worth noting is that Lake added Dennis Wilenchik to her legal team. Wilenchik is now representing her, as Tim LaSota and Jen Wright slid over to represent "Save Arizona Fund" and "Kari Lake for Arizona", respectively.

A pre-trial conference is on the calendar for August 21.

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. 

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. 

Previous episodes of AZ Law can be streamed or downloaded here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

BREAKING: Abortion Rights Proponents Sue To Stop "Legislative Mischief" By Calling a Fetus an "Unborn Human Being" In Ballot Summary

UPDATE, 7/11, 11:45am: The initial Order to Show Cause return hearing has been set for 2:30 on Friday (7/12).

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Original article, 7/10, 4:20pm: "BREAKING: Abortion Rights Proponents Sue To Stop "Legislative Mischief" By Calling a Fetus an "Unborn Human Being" In Ballot Summary"

On Monday, the Arizona Legislature's Legislative Council decided to summarize the citizens' abortion rights ballot measure as dealing with an "unborn human being" instead of a "fetus". On Wednesday, the initiative's proponents filed suit to overturn the "legislative mischief".

In addition to filing the Complaint, Arizona for Abortion Access filed for a Preliminary and Permanent Injunction (and for a Writ of Mandamus ordering the Republican-controlled Leg Council to produce "an impartial analysis" for the November ballot.

Republicans in the Legislature had considered placing their own competing measures on the ballot, but never produced the votes to do so. Providing a slanted analysis for the AAA measure seems to be have become their backup plan.

The suit claims that using the term "fetus", as is done in the proposed constitutional language, is the scientifically-accepted way, and points out that the Legislature has used the word "fetus" many times in their statutes regulating abortions.

It also highlights some of the Republicans' comments at Monday's meeting. 

So how did the Council’s members respond? In a word, poorly. Speaker Ben Toma conceded that the term “unborn human being” is “charged,” while also declaring – in a moment of rare and welcome candor – that he is “not a doctor” and didn’t “care what the medically accurate term is.” Senator Sonny Borrelli – in one of the more bizarre moments in recent Arizona Legislature history – asked the Committee’s counsel whether an “unborn horse” is a “fetus or . . . an unborn horse.” And Representative Teresa Martinez – as a preface to a strange assertion that she is, in fact, a legislator – opined that using the term “fetus” is an “insult to an unborn baby.” Never mind the scores of Arizona statutes and public health resources that use the term “fetus,” and never mind the indisputable fact that the phrase “unborn human being” and similar formulations are the fundamental watchwords of the anti-abortion movement.

Andy Gaona is representing the Plaintiffs. The case has initially been assigned to Judge Christopher Whitten. 

Disclosure: This article was reported by AZ Law founder Paul Weich. Paul has been actively supporting the abortion rights initiative.

"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. 

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. 

Previous episodes of AZ Law can be streamed or downloaded here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

FINALLY: After Multiple Reversals, U.S. Supreme Court Majority Gives A Thumbs-Up To Arizona Supreme Court Justices On A Murder Case Sentencing

On the last day of their session, a 6-3 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear (or reverse) a 2023 Arizona Supreme Court Opinion upholding a life without parole sentence for a juvenile murderer.

Petitions for Review from convicted murderers are routinely rejected by the (U.S.) Supreme Court. But, what makes this noteworthy is that the U.S. Supreme Court has made a mini-practice of reversing Arizona death penalty sentences due to former laws.

The three liberal justices "respectfully" dissented and thought the highest court should accept Lonnie Bassett's appeal. Bassett killed two friends 20 years ago, when he was 16. At the time, he was sentenced to life without parole. Between 1994 and 2014, Arizona had prohibited the option of parole for 1st degree murders.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court found that "mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles violate the Eighth Amendment." (Arizona was one of 28 states that had to change its laws due to that decision.)

Last year, the Arizona Supreme Court reviewed Bassett's sentence and found that "Bassett’s natural life sentence was not mandatory within the meaning of Miller, and he was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing." (Miller was the U.S. Supreme Court's 2012 Opinion forbidding mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles.)

Justice Sotomayor (writing for the dissenters) stated that the three arguments urged by Attorney General Kris Mayes' office "each run(s) contrary to Miller's clear command." 

In February 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court scolded Arizona and overturned John Montenegro's death sentence for killing a Tucson police officer. Writing for the 5-4 majority, Justice Sotomayor stated bluntly that Arizona's Justices had repeated mistakes they had previously been rebuked about by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Former Acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal represented the petitioners in both last year's and this year's cases.

"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. 


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. 

Previous episodes of AZ Law can be streamed or downloaded here, or wherever you get your podcasts.