Thomas Watch: which will come first - resignation or indictment?

It's kind of like the great question of drunken bar debate fame - "what came first, the chicken or the egg?"

Only without the booze and pretzels. :)

From AZCentral.com -

Andrew Thomas disqualified from Wilcox case; charges against 2 others dropped

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas filed court motions Wednesday afternoon to dismiss an indictment against County Supervisor Don Stapley and a criminal complaint against Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe.

{snip}

...in the wake of a judge's ruling Wednesday morning to dismiss disqualify Thomas from prosecuting Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and dismissing a 42-count indictment against her, Thomas felt he had no choice but to dismiss charges against Stapley since the indictments were obtained from a grand jury under similar circumstances.

Some may argue that the last part of the judge's ruling makes this setback a win for Thomas (the part about allowing the appointment of an independent prosecutor), but given the amount of effort put into and the PR reaped from the persecution of the Board of Supervisors (and the County's judiciary) by Thomas and Arpaio, this is not only a total smackdown of the County Attorney professionally, it also puts a serious crimp in his plans politically.

Even (most) Republicans won't support a candidate for Attorney General who has been found to be misusing his office's power for satiating personal and political grudges.

Well, at least they won't support one who has been caught at it. :)

The text of the judge's decision is here, courtesy AZCentral.com.

Phoenix New Times coverage here, here, and here.

Some of the folks lining up to replace Thomas, whether he leaves to run for a higher office or to fight charges of his own:


Boyd Dunn, mayor of Chandler (other names are mentioned in the article)

Jay Beckstead, a Scottsdale Attorney

Bill Montgomery, one of Thomas' Deputy CAs


Look for more names to emerge in the next few days and weeks as the Thomas Watch continues...