by Corinne Murdock | Sep 1, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Republican attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh may now file his appeal, after months of waiting for a superior court judge to sign his orders.
On Thursday morning, the district court informed AZ Free News that Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen signed the orders in the case, Kentch v. Mayes (CV-2022-01468). The notification followed the Arizona Court of Appeals’ denial of Hamadeh’s appeal on Wednesday due to lack of timeliness. Vice Chief Judge Randall Howe issued the order.
“The notice of appeal is premature and a nullity because it was filed while the motion for attorney fees was pending and before a final judgment was entered,” stated Howe.
Hamadeh claimed on X that the government has withheld evidence and therefore a new trial is warranted.
“The government’s withholding of evidence in our December trial is unacceptable and warrants a new trial where we will offer evidence showing that Abe Hamadeh, not Kris Mayes received the most votes for the office of Attorney General,” stated Hamadeh.
Earlier this month, Hamadeh petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court for special action. In an order dismissing Hamadeh’s petition, the Arizona Supreme Court directed Jantzen to sign his orders from July and last December. Chief Justice Robert Brutinel issued the order.
“[A]t this point there is no apparent impediment to entering a final judgment, and the trial court should enter a final appealable judgment forthwith,” stated Brutinel.
Brutinel also criticized Hamadeh’s counsel for misrepresenting their efforts made to obtain final judgment; Hamadeh’s counsel has contested that the misrepresentation was unintentional. For that reason, Brutinel wrote that Jantzen couldn’t be fully culpable for failing to exercise discretion in his duty to carry out his responsibilities, and Hamadeh’s team was to cover the attorney fees incurred by the respondents, Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.
In closing, Brutinel advised the parties on both sides of the case to avoid engaging in emotional language and verbal attacks of the opposition. Brutinel suggested a review of the conduct book, “A Lawyer’s and Legal Paraprofessional’s Creed of Professionalism of the State Bar of Arizona,” specifically the section on treatment of opposing parties and counsel.
“[T]he Court is mindful of the difficulties presented in this extraordinarily close election,” said Brutinel. “Notwithstanding these difficulties, the Court advises both sides to focus on the important legal and factual issues presented here and refrain from disparaging their opponents.”
Yet, after the Arizona Supreme Court advisement, Fontes accused Hamadeh and his team of conducting a misinformation campaign and intending to deceive the public in an interview with The Arizona Republic.
“This decision is a rejection of a misinformation campaign designed to deceive the public and sow distrust in our election officials,” stated Fontes.
One of Jantzen’s unsigned orders was his mid-July ruling denying Hamadeh’s motion for a new trial. The other was his December order putting the ballot exhibits under seal, admitting several exhibits into evidence, and denying any recount of ballots.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Aug 23, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona’s top Republican legislators are coming to the aid of Abraham Hamadeh’s legal bid at the state Supreme Court.
Last week, Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma filed an amicus brief in support of Hamadeh’s latest endeavor to have the top court in Arizona’s judicial branch adjudicate the aftermath of his 2022 election for Arizona Attorney General. Hamadeh, the Republican nominee, ran against Democrat Kris Mayes, who won the contest by 280 votes after a mandatory recount.
In their brief, Petersen and Toma made three arguments for the state’s high court to consider. First, that “the Legislature has designed a robust process to uncover and correct material mistakes in election administration.” Second, that “the trial court abused its discretion by denying the contestants sufficient time to inspect all ballots and conduct discovery.” Finally, that “the petition presents questions of statewide importance requiring an expeditious resolution.”
Hamadeh issued a statement after the filing, thanking the lawmakers for their brief, saying, “I want to thank…the Arizona Legislature with the leadership of House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen for filing amicus briefs in support of our efforts to ensure the will of the people is honored. I made a promise to the people of Arizona to ensure that every legal vote is counted – I intend to keep it.”
The lawmakers’ brief answers Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ opposition to the contestants’ efforts, accusing the Democrat election chief of “escalating rhetorical histrionics to fevered heights.” The outlined “histrionics” were “traducing the Contestants with charges of ‘weaponiz[ing] our Courts, sow[ing] unfounded distrust in our election processes, malign[ing] our public servants, and undermin[ing] our democracy – all for the purpose of trying to overturn the People’s will and topple an election.”
Petersen and Toma present two reasons why the Court should be bothered in their attempt to dissect Fontes’ “ad hominem incentive.”
The first reason given is that the Secretary’s attack is “unfounded.” The second is that “the Secretary’s rhetorical assault is gratuitous and abusive.” The brief highlights that “the churlish imperiousness with which the Secretary reflexively greets even responsible and narrow questions surrounding the administration of the 2022 general election suggests he has forgotten that he serves all Arizona electors, including Mr. Hamadeh and his supporters.”
Hamadeh’s efforts to bring transparency to his razor-thin election result have continued long after his Democrat opponent, Kris Mayes, took office in January. Mayes has continued to show little public interest in the case, allowing her attorneys to handle matters in the courtroom while she continues to revamp the Arizona Attorney General’s Office from the policies of her predecessor, Republican Mark Brnovich.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 5, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Republican Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh has taken his appeal for a new trial to the Arizona Supreme Court.
In the petition filed on Thursday, Hamadeh’s team argued that the state’s judicial branch had thus far failed to provide timely decisions in such a time-sensitive case. The trial court took 161 days to issue its order denying Hamadeh’s motion since the initial January filing, which included over 60 days for the judge to set oral argument, and another 60 days for the judge to issue his denial.
“Pointedly, the parties’ rights to speedy decisions have been grossly and repeatedly violated,” stated the petition. “Given the urgency to resolve all of these matters and the lack of a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy, a special action to this Court is warranted.”
Hamadeh declared that the public had the right to a full, unfettered review of the evidence. According to his petition, that amounts to “hundreds, if not thousands” of uncounted votes that would heavily weigh in his favor and, ultimately, determine him the rightful winner of this past election.
“Our justice system cannot tolerate the government withholding evidence,” tweeted Hamadeh. “Count the votes.”
This evidence, according to Thursday’s petition, indicates critical vote count discrepancies that undermine the integrity of the recount result’s 280-vote lead that declared Democratic opponent Kris Mayes the victor. This included the allegation that machine tabulators misread valid votes as undervotes.
Last month, the trial court rejected Hamadeh’s bid to further undertake the process and exploration of alleged vote count discrepancies uncovered through the recount.
Hamadeh filed a motion for a new trial in January based on alleged evidence of uncounted votes discovered through the recount process. In Thursday’s petition, Hamadeh counsel explained it wasn’t possible to obtain this evidence warranting a new trial until after the late-December evidentiary hearing.
“[T]he newly discovered evidence was information and data that government bodies not only failed to disclose but that they also wrongfully withheld,” stated the petition. “[S]tate and county officials used the power and purse of the government to take a substantive position in an election contest and to actively tip the scales of justice by withholding public records and concealing information that validated the vote count issues Petitioners raised at trial.”
The petition further argued that the trial court’s denial was due to a lack of procedural clarity in election contests, not lack of evidence.
“If elections in Arizona are to truly be free and equal, Arizonans must be assured that government bodies cannot use resource and information asymmetry to favor one candidate over another with impunity,” concluded the petition.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jun 29, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Republican attorney general challenger Abe Hamadeh has yet to receive a ruling, a month after Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen promised one. The delay aligns with the judge’s history of tardiness on issuing rulings.
Hamadeh argued for a new trial in mid-May. At the time, Jantzen said he had a specific date in mind to issue a ruling, which he didn’t disclose, but promised to issue a ruling in several weeks’ time. That would’ve meant a ruling at some point near the end of May, possibly early June. It’s nearly July now.
Jantzen has been disciplined twice for failing to issue rulings on time.
In 2018, Jantzen was censured for violating the Code of Judicial Conduct, after failing to rule on an individual’s petition for post-conviction relief for over two years. Over those two years, Jantzen falsely certified on multiple payroll statements that he had no matters under submission that were pending and undetermined for over 60 days.
At some point prior to that punishment, Jantzen received a warning from the Commission on Judicial Conduct for similar misconduct involving a delayed ruling.
In 2021, Jantzen was again publicly reprimanded for failing to issue a ruling within 30 days as promised. He ended up issuing the ruling after 79 days. During that time, Jantzen again signed a payroll certification falsely claiming that he had no tardy matters under submission pending and undetermined.
Hamadeh trails Attorney General Kris Mayes by 280 votes: a fraction of the original 511 vote lead Mayes had prior to the recount. During oral arguments for a new trial in May, Hamadeh argued for the favorable existence of hundreds of “lost” uncounted votes — or, undervotes — and provisional ballots.
There were over 9,000 provisional votes that weren’t included in the final count. About 70 percent of Election Day voters were in favor of Hamadeh. Based on that scale, Hamadeh could have more than enough votes to surpass Mayes.
Provisional vote totals took as long as they did to discover due to a delay in response from the counties, according to Hamadeh. The disjunctive information flow between the government and the public is one of the warranting factors for a new trial, per Hamadeh.
“We have to get information from 15 different government agencies, and it’s complicated,” said Hamadeh. “I wish we had access to the information that the government has. That’s why we’re asking for a new trial.”
During the oral arguments, Mayes’ team focused on the amount of time that has passed since last fall’s election and her swearing in. Hamadeh has dismissed that claim. He argues that the Arizona Constitution’s absolute statement that the candidate with the most votes wins the election trumps any statutory timelines set by legislatures.
Of note, Mayes’ counsel never staked the claim that Mayes obtained the most votes. Conversely, Hamadeh’s team took every opportunity to present samples of evidence of uncounted, existing votes. The merits of these claims went uncontested by Mayes’ team.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Jun 10, 2023 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
We all know it’s been a rough start for Governor Katie Hobbs as Arizona’s Chief Executive. Along with high-profile staff exits and breaking the veto record after killing the bipartisan “Tamale Bill,” Hobbs alienated many Democrats when she signed the budget sent to her by the Republican-led legislature.
Not to be outdone, Attorney General Kris Mayes has come along since taking office with one clear message to Hobbs: “Hold my Bud Light.”
Mayes has been occupying the AG office for a couple of months, and she has already figured out a way to abuse her power and violate her attorney client obligations. All driven by her desire for headlines and trying to claim the mantle as top Democrat demagogue in the state.
Her antics began in April when she decided it was a good idea to threaten action against the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR)…
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