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New Times’ suit against county attorney tossed
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office by executives of the New Times newspaper.
Thomas cites 'immunity' in New Times lawsuit
The suit accused County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his office of negligence, conspiracy and racketeering, and violating the constitutional rights of two journalists by arresting them for publishing details of a grand jury subpoena.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton additionally ruled that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and private attorney Dennis Wilenchik did not violate the free speech or First Amendment rights of editor Mike Lacey and publisher Jim Larkin.
New Times was the subject of a criminal investigation last year by Wilenchik, who was hired by the county attorney’s office as an independent prosecutor. He was asked to secretly explore whether the newspaper broke an obscure state law by posting Arpaio’s home address on its Web site.
The story landed the editors in jail for illegally revealing a secret grand jury investigation, but it also caused Thomas to fire Wilenchik and end the investigation.
The investigation ended in October 2007, when the newspaper published a story revealing Wilenchik had obtained a subpoena seeking Internet records for all users of the paper’s Web site. In a statement, Thomas said, “I am grateful that Judge Bolton has dismissed … the county attorney’s office from this frivolous lawsuit.”
Neither Lacey nor Larkin could be immediately reached for comment.
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