George
@BehizyTweets
BREAKING: Judge gives Kari Lake a massive court win by denying Maricopa County's motion to dismiss her mail-in ballot signature verification request
“I’m inclined to think that there might be the need to take some evidence here,” the Judge
She has been granted access to the actual ballot signatures for verification
This is HUGE!
https://twitter.com/BehizyTweets/status/1674447067736055809
https://arizonaslaw.blogspot.com/2023/06/?m=1
2) In one of Kari Lake's (and allies') public records request lawsuits against Maricopa County*, Superior Court Judge John Hannah this week dismissed nearly all of the County defendants, deciding that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer was the only proper party, as the custodian of the early voting affidavit envelopes Lake seeks.
The judge said at the hearing that he believes there needs to be an opportunity to develop and present evidence regarding the privacy and best interests of the state as grounds for withholding the voters' signatures on the envelopes under the public records law.
Earlier, Judge Hannah agreed to seal the exhibits Lake's attorneys had presented in their Response to the County's Motion to Dismiss. The County moved to seal the Democrat's signatures, in part, to protect Lake and her attorneys from possible prosecution. Lake protested, but the judge sealed it.
Lake's allies also have a public records suit active against the Secretary of State's Office.
1) Kari Lake, contesting the Governor race:
Although we hesitate to put this idea in the universe, but the grease needs to be applied to Lake's attorneys, Bryan Blehm and Kurt Olsen. Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson quickly ruled in the 2nd trial last month. Lake filed a Notice of Appeal on May 31, but has FAILED to file anything since then to move it along.
The Notice of Appeal indicated that they might try to transfer it to the Arizona Supreme Court or otherwise try to move it along; they have done neither. In fact, they have ignored their obligations under Rule 11 of ARCAP (the Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure). They were required to order transcripts by June 14 and then were required to notify the parties by June 16.
The Clerk of the Superior Court has until the end of this week to transmit the record to the Court of Appeals.
2) Abe Hamadeh, contesting the Attorney General race:
Unlike the other two cases, this one has not yet made it from the Superior Court level to the appellate level. We need an 18-wheeler of grease, because it needs to be spread around. Judge Lee Jantzen has had Hamadeh's Motion for a New Trial pending since February. When pressure was mounting in April, he set it for an oral argument… a month away. It has now been five weeks since he listened to the parties re-hash their January arguments.
We published an article back in April talking about the apparent confusion about when the election contests require immediate attention and when they do not. Combined with the optional nature of the court rule for election cases and the lack of transparent enforcement for the (Arizona) constitutional requirement that matters be decided within 60 days, we have a wreck that was waiting to happen. The wreck has occurred in this case, and Hamadeh's (expanded) legal team tried the nudge the judge move last week. (Hamadeh's steady stream of "supplemental authority" filings have been a minor contributing factor, giving the judge a bit of cover for the stagnant case.)
https://arizonaslaw.blogspot.com/2023/06/?m=1
3) Mark Finchem, contesting the Secretary of State race:
Finchem's case - the one hampered by a combination of bad facts, bad theories and interesting lawyering - is also stuck somewhere in the murky world between trial court and Court of Appeals. It has been a "Zombie Appeal" for the past several months, as explained in this February article. (I am not sure what impact grease could have on a zombie, but….)
Rather than trying to push the appellate process after being given 2nd chance, Finchem's attorney asked for it to be put on hold while he waited to be sanctioned by the now-not-in-a-rush trial court judge. Those sanctions eventually did happen ($48,000), but now attorney McCauley has apparently filed a second appeal and the Court of Appeals is asking him to merge the two.
Neither the Court of Appeals nor the Superior Court Clerk seems to know how to handle this odd move, and they appear to be wary of again breathing life into Finchem's moribund appeal. (Like Lake's counsel, Finchem's seems to have blown through the Rule 11 deadlines, too. So, the Clerks' hesitance is understandable.)
https://arizonaslaw.blogspot.com/2023/06/?m=1
Dutchsinse today mentioned that people in the Midwest and in Montana report a smell like sulfur and tar. He thinks it’s venting out of the earth and the train derailment and wildfire smoke are cover stories