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Thanks, Joe

April 12, 2012, 3:21 pm

Maricopa County will likely settle three suits against Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas for about $2 million.  This is on top of nearly $1.5 million in defense costs the County has already incurred in the cases.   Apparently, they consider themselves lucky to be getting off that cheap.

Tags: ,
Category: Government, Police and Prosecutorial Abuse
  • mahtso

    In “Workers Comp. and Unemployment” the blogger writes that because he did not want to defend a lawsuit he “wimped out and withdrew my testimony and let the taxpayers pay her rather than farting around with a lawsuit.”

    Isn’t that essentially what the County is doing here? I did not read the Newtimes, but the AzRep reported that the mediator advised the parties that County’s the cost to defend (win or lose) would be more than these settlements. This does not mean that the suits have merit and, to the contrary, I’d say it is a sign that they are non-meritorious (or the plaintiffs, who are or were former County officials, would not settle so cheaply.)

    Are they “lucky” to settle? I don’t know, but it sounds like a smart decision.

  • Che is dead

    "Even if the three plaintiffs lost their case, the county could end up responsible for $2 million to $4 million in fees to its own defense attorneys, the county figures."

    But it's all Joe Arpaios fault.

  • me

    Well, you could argue that the electorate in Maricopa county must be happy with the service they are getting from old Joe, given that they like shelling out 2-4M/year for his services.

  • chuck martel

    http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2012/04/12/20120412maricopa-county-claims-settlement-deal.html

    Yeah, it's a great deal. Can ordinary, non-political miscreants like speeders and DUI offenders get multi-million dollar settlements if they prove the cops were out to get them?

  • MJ

    The cost of hubris is becoming more explicit.

  • mahtso

    I posted a comment that either did not work or is caught in the spam filter because it has a link to an opinion piece by Laurie Roberts. One can find the opinion on Azcentral.com. It provides an interesting take on this. (In sum, Ms. Roberts believes that the Sheriff has committed abuses here, but the politicians who are now cashing in are engaging in bad behavior.)

  • mahtso

    An editorial in today’s AzRep (4/18/12) is showing that the County’s treasurer has requested a legal opinion relating to payment of at least one of these claims. The editorial writer(s) make clear that for some of the claims, it has not been demonstrated that all the alleged injuries occurred.