John Wright

A former La Paz County Attorney, hired by the town of Quartzsite council and now serving as its Town Attorney, has been formally reprimanded by the Arizona Supreme Court.

Martin Brannan’s reprimand stems from an incident that occurred while he was serving as Chief Deputy Apache County Attorney several months ago:

[Brannan and Whiting,]… in their capacity as county attorney and chief deputy county attorney, authorized county investigators to interview a criminal defendant (who was incarcerated and represented by counsel) to ascertain whether or not the defendant had been advised by his attorney of the pending plea offer. Respondent Brannan erroneously believed that pursuant to Montejo v. Louisiana, 129 S.Ct. 2079 (Louisiana 2009), it would be permissible to interview the defendant regarding the plea as long as the investigators “Mirandized” the defendant and he waived his right to have his counsel present. The defendant’s attorney did not receive advanced notice of the visit and was not present during the visit.

The judge in the case released the murder suspect saying his rights had been violated by Brannan and Whiting.

Respondent Brannon’s misconduct as described above constituted grounds for the imposition of discipline pursuant to the Rules of the Supreme Court of Arizona and violated Rule 42, ER 4.2 (communications with person represented by counsel).

Respondents’ negligent misconduct caused actual harm to the legal system.

The following factors were found in aggravation: 9.22(i) (substantial experience in the practice of law).

The following factors were found in mitigation: 9.32(a) (absence of prior disciplinary offenses), 9.32(b) (absence of selfish or dishonest motive), and 9.32(e) (full and free disclosure to a disciplinary board or cooperative attitude).

The judgment can be found here.

When disasters stretch from days into weeks, local resources are quickly depleted and emergency responders can no longer holdup under the demanding strain of protecting life, property and environment. This is exactly what happened when the Wallow Fire in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest area grew into the largest fire in Arizona’s history.

On June 14th, the Apache County Emergency Operation Center (EOC) issued a request for assistance in staffing their EOC. This call reached all the way to La Paz County. “I was prepping for a deployment a few days ahead of time, hoping to be of assistance,” said Greg Bachmann, Emergency Preparedness and Response Coordinator for the La Paz County Health Department. “I reported for duty June, 17th.”

For 5 days Bachmann worked 12 hour shifts with the Apache County Emergency Operation Center as a liaison between state and local agencies, ensuring that important information reached the right person. As with any emergency, communications are a priority function and a key piece to a successful response. “I gathered information from the local emergency operation center and incident command center and made sure the state agencies were in the loop. I might not have been in the middle, fighting the fire but I am glad I was able to fill a critical role.”

In addition to his liaison duties Bachmann attended the daily incident briefings, toured the extensive area damaged by the fire and assisted with press releases. Bachmann also took notes for future emergency planning. “Every emergency or exercise, whether in our county or another, is an opportunity to learn and make improvements to our own emergency operations plan.”

The Wallow Fire burned for 41 days, consuming 538,049 acres total in Arizona and New Mexico, and destroying 36 buildings. As of July 8, 2011 the Wallow Fire was listed as 100 percent contained.

The Arizona Independent is reporting that the Chief of Police in Quartzsite is asking the Council to declare a State of Emergency due to the publicity the town has been receiving after the arrest of Jennifer ‘Jade’ Jones at a public meeting:

Quartzsite Police Chief Jeff Gilbert has asked the town council to declare a “state of emergency” due to all of the publicity the town has received over the arrest of a reporter at an open meeting in June.

The town council voted 5-0 in favor of the action; Mayor Ed Foster did not attend the emergency meeting Sunday afternoon. Gilbert reportedly said the action was needed because Jennifer Jones was “inciting riots” after videos of her arrest at the meeting sprung up across the Internet.

It was not immediately clear what outside assistance, if any, Gilbert seeks to enforce the state of emergency.

No further information is confirmed.

Route between Parker and Lake Havasu City will be affected

The Arizona Department of Transportation is nearing completion of a project to add a left turn lane on State Route 95 in the Holiday Harbour area of Parker. Workers will begin paving the roadway along SR 95 Monday (July 11). Paving will take place between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Work should be completed by 6 p.m. Friday (July 15).

During paving, drivers should expect delays of at least 10 minutes as workers direct traffic through the work zone.

Message boards are in place to inform drivers of restrictions. Law enforcement will be on-site to monitor speeds.

The project is expected to be completed in August 2011. Local residents and motorists can look forward to enhanced access, safety and better drainage.

ADOT advises drivers to proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down and be alert for construction equipment and personnel.

ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but there is a possibility that unscheduled closures or restrictions may occur. Weather can also affect a project schedule. To stay up-to-date with the latest highway conditions around the state, visit the ADOT Traveler Information Center at www.az511.gov or call 5-1-1.