Parker Live The Parker area, online.
A judge has dismissed the case against a man who admitted to murder in Apache County after the court found the Apache County Attorney’s office infringed the man’s constitutional rights by talking with him without his attorney present. Former La Paz County Attorney Martin Brannan was the lead prosecutor in the case and is now being subjected to a Bar probe.
“The Court is appalled by the outrageous and unethical behavior of the Apache County Attorney’s office,” wrote Superior Court Judge Donna Grimsley in a January 18th ruling. The ruling dismissed all charges against 23-year-old Joseph Douglas Roberts.
Roberts walked free on Wednesday night, after confessing to participating in the murder of one 72-year-old man and helping to burn the body of another murder victim. He was charged with first degree murder, conspiracy, auto theft, mutilating a human body, concealment of a dead body, tampering with evidence and five counts of hindering prosecution.
County Attorney’s office investigator Brian Hounshell visited Roberts in jail and made references to accepting an offer of 25 years, avoiding possible life in prison or the death penalty. The judge said the meeting was approved by Apache County Attorney Micheal Whiting and the prosecutor in the case, former La Paz County Attorney Martin Brannan. They did not notify Roberts’ lawyer of the meeting.
In her ruling, Judge Grimsley said, “Mr. Hounshell knew that the Defendant had an appointed lawyer and the prosecutors who authorized the visit knew that the defendant had a lawyer. None of the three made any attempt to contact the Defendant’s lawyer.”
Bar complaints were filed against Whiting and Brannan. Arizona Bar Association spokesman Rick DeBruhl is quoted as saying that the complaints were deemed to be supported by sufficient evidence to warrant an investigation, which is ongoing.
The charges against Roberts cannot be re-filed.
M, sorry for the prose again. I’ll break it down again. Roth seems to be the first one to point fingers at other peoples indiscretions, but does not recognize his own.
R.R. If your idea of crimes is exercising your right to free speech, and speaking out against corrupt cops, I’m guilty as charged. With people like you and your friends around no wonder America and La Paz County is in the shape it’s in! Sad!!! At least I can look myself in the mirror knowing I tried to do the right thing for my fellow human beings.
Roth, as I said I did my checking with people that really know what takes place with the courts. They all said Sam Vederman is doing good as DA and I am not just saying this to argue with you. They said he has done everything he said he would do when he ran for office and that includes starting the first drug court this county has ever had. Apparently he has turned the DA office around from being a bad office to a good office and they are impressed the way things have been turned around quickly. The things you say do not match up with the facts.
lapazarizona,
That’s a very vague non-answer to my question above “what statements were verified and who verified them”. You didn’t verify anything and only responded with fluff about how you heard from people who you believe know what’s going on. What people? Who? What do they do here? Are they part of the La Paz County Justice System?
I’m not arguing with you either, but what’s worse is how you guys accept tyranny by limiting free speech in the most sacred of places, Town Hall, and you also allow the tyranny to be enforced by those who swore to uphold and protect the Supreme Law Of The Land.
In another era, limiting speech and having the police and courts doing the enforcement was called Nazi. Now that’s is cool to not think we forget about history.
NO, Sam Vederman is not doing what he promised to do. Did he swear an Oath when he took office? Does that Oath mean anything nowadays? What
happened to the Bill of Rights in this country? Or, is that selectively allowed like laws are selectively enforced for members of The La Paz Plunderers Club. Sam Vederamn is the most political of animals. He has already gone over to the dark side, probably a long time ago.
Sam also promised me when he was campaigning he would fight bad checks, but when I followed through on our discussion he did not! I had one vendor here in Quartzsite commit felony check writing and Sam Vederam and his office did absolutely nothing. What’s the point of spending taxpayer dollars on newspaper ads promoting the wonderful County Attorney Bad Check program, then when a citizen gets screwed by bad checks, you do nothing?? WTH! It makes perfect sense when you realize the Club Members ruining this county don’t want ordinary citizens to speak up, or have the “Justice System” work for them, not against them like it is now. The plunder that happens here is too lucrative for them to give a damn about you and your worthless rights.
Instead of doing his job as he said he would, Sam chose to spend taxpayer dollars on cases like mine. And have you noticed A LOT OF THESE
CASES ARE ENDING IN MISDEMEANORS. Makes those stats mentioned by someone else here about Sams productivity worthless when you consider the end results!
Also, a little birdie (OK a lawyer with 20+ years experience) recently told me something that proves “Honest Sam” Vederman was ALWAYS like this. Apparently he had some “Ethical Challenges” when he was a public defender. Do some research for yourself OUTSIDE of the little click down at the courthouse.
What La Paz County needs is Critical Thinking, NOT Group Think!
P.S. The war on drugs is a joke man, wake up! That’s just a gimmick to appease the non-thinking masses! That’s why the Drug Court was instituted, to make you think your local government was doing something
productive. But do you ever stop and think if what the government is doing is the right thing? Prohibition doesn’t work. We’ve already proven that in this country. Just because people with fancy sounding
titles tell you it’s the right thing doesn’t mean you should stop thinking.
Peace to all of you!
Roth said many “cases are ending in misdemeanors.” Including his. Sounds to me like he should be thanking Sam instead of blasting him.
I conducted research outside of this courthouse click you speak of. I don’t know the technical term, but the term I use is Arizona Bar Complaints. I checked a couple of different ways for complaints againt Vederman. Guess what I found? Nada. Zero. Zilch. There was not a single complaint filed against Vederman. If your little birdie knows of ethical issues against Vederman and failed to report them, then maybe it’s not Vederman who has the ethical issues. Bottom line, your little birdie sucks. And you complain about other peoples sources and lack of critical thinking. Please refer to previous comment about stones and mirrors. It yet again applies.
If you were exercising your rights legally there would be no issue. By the way, I have yet to see your YouTube video you claim vindicates you. I wonder why? You are not a revolutionary. You do not speak for your fellow human beings. You speak for yourself and on behalf of your three Quartzsite friends.
I’ll tell this little birdie what you said. He knows more about La Paz County “Justice System” than you do. And who are my 3 quartzsite friends? You don’t know anything about me except what others have told you. Good luck with that
Not too worry fellas this story is gonna be old news in the morning when the supes show up to their offices to hear that the US Marshall’s have executed 8 Writs of Garnishment on various County financial institutions Friday pertaining to a court Mandate to pay Yakima. Thought that Dan Field said the residents of the County would feel no effects of this case. hmmm. Wonder if they gonna make payroll with IOU’s?
Roth, you will not change your mind and that is your right. That is really what makes this country great. You criticize with cryptic statements. A 20 year plus attorney told you Vederman had ethical challenges? What does that mean? Why dont you just say what the ethical challenges are? You just throw mud and hope some sticks. At least now we know its more than the case against you its also about him not processing a bad check case for you. You have something against him and that is a fact but you should admit it.
I submit that anybody who has knowledge of the crap that happened to Roth would agree he has ample reason to have issues with Vederman. He was truly screwed over on the taxpayers dime. The Q site gubment is completely corrupt.
Lost – C’mon…Roth had his day in court and he had the best lawyer in this county according to the people here. Of course he even got to tell the jury his side of things because I am sure he could not have sat there without speaking. They did not buy his bill of goods. The people in Salome know what happened. We know people in Quartzsite to. They all 100% voted to convict him thats the only way he could have been found guilty. I also doubt the claims of money. I have been to board meetings many times over the years to speak out about Salome issues and I have heard all the issues and the facts is people are on salary the judge prosecutors defense attorneys clerks cops and the trials take place when the court is open anyway. Everyone is getting paid the same whether they deal with Roth or not. Dont be fooled by Roth who was already caught and exposed previously.
Billy Billy Billy. Common sense isn’t one of your better traits is it?
Uh, ok lapazarizona, I DID admit it.
R.R., you think that if the bar association doesn’t cover it, it doesn’t happen. Nothing could be further from the truth and you know it. Nice attempt at spin though. Your wife or the average voter buys what you are saying. Keep it up, you could be the next Sam Vederman
Thanks Lost In La Paz. Finally some common sense in a sea of moronity
Roth, if Sam Vederman lies and is corrupt and abuses his powers and a 20 plus year attorney told you he has ethical challenges it should be very easy for you to file a complaint against him with the state bar. Instead of the mud you throw write a bar complaint against Sam Vederman.
Unlike you lapazarizona I have dealt with the Arizona State Bar. I really don’t want to do it again. Life is really too short for that kind of a fight. A lawsuit is one thing, proving and prevailing that an attorney needs to get spanked by their own is quite another. Sam Vederman is not worth my time. I just think he is a terrible County Attorney and an even worse human being
So I take it you won’t be voting for him in ’12? Why is it that you always have an excuse for why you don’t do something or why it was someone else’s fault when something was done to you. You throw out baseless accusations and tell us to prove you wrong, when it’s you who needs to back up your statements. It’s no surprise that you haven’t filed a bar complaint because you believe it’s…another conspiracy. Next time you’re looking in the mirror after saving all of humanity, try looking for some personal responsibility. You want to make change, but won’t with your empty, angry dialogue. Still haven’t seen that YouTube video posted….
If you want to see video of corruption in action just go to youtube and search for Quartzsite Chief Of Police. That’s the excrement you are defending. Good luck with that!!! We either have our rights or we have masters.
I’m not going to file a bar complaint because it’s an exercise in futility. (Like talking common sense into you) The AZ Bar is a Club just like the La Paz Plunderers Club you wholeheartedly endorse.
Tell me RR, is it still a conspiracy if it’s true?
The only empty thing I see is you and your buddies here that hide behind handles (“M” even hides behind a skirt) because you somehow have a vested interest in the scam called La Paz County Government.
Didn’t see you out during the last campaigns warning the people about electing tools like John Drum and Holly Irwin. Thank goodness they got elected though or we wouldn’t have Dan Field around to totally bankrupt the County.