 Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the storyPHOENIX -- It's the largest construction project in Maricopa County history, but the new-state-of- the-art court tower is shrouded in secrecy. "And why is any of this secret? What does the county have to hide?" said Clint Bolick, an attorney with the Goldwater Institute. "This is not a matter of national security. It is not some sort of tense lawsuit that the county has. This is a run of the mill project." The $347 million dollar taxpayer-funded project is already under criminal investigation by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. But it's the secrecy and the apparent conflict of interest that has Bolick outraged. READ THE ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION: Taxpayers irate over $347 million Arizona court tower "This is a flagrant abuse of public trust," said Bolick, a former attorney with the United States Department of Justice.
Documents obtained exclusively by the ABC15 Investigators reveal attorney Thomas K. Irvine and his firm are representing both the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, who are funding the project, and the Maricopa County Superior Court, that will occupy the building. "It is a blatant conflict of interest, one of the first kinds of conflicts you learn about in law school," Bolick said. "It's a matter of the fox guarding the hen house." Bolick said representing both sides in a financial transaction "creates the situation of potential self-enrichment and undue influence." "It's wrong because you can not be objective in giving legal advice when you have a personal stake in the outcome of the project," said Bolick.
Click here to watch extended clips of Bolick's interviewWhen asked if this is a conflict of interest, Maricopa County Supervisor Andy Kunasek told ABC15, "I really don't, not at this time. I think he's (Irvine) done a really good job for the board." Over the last three years, the Maricopa County Superior Court has paid Irvine and his law firm more than $800,000. For what? The taxpayer would have no idea, because the Superior Court is refusing to say. ABC15 requested copies of all billing information, invoices and receipts regarding Irvine's contract with the courts.
We received 74 pages where a significant portion of the records are covered with black lines. There are columns where you can see the date of services performed, the attorney's name, hours billed and the amount Irvine and his firm have been paid. However, the column that lists exactly what Irvine and his firm are being paid for has been completely redacted by the courts. Review the records for yourselfWhen asked by ABC15 if the taxpayers can tell anything about what they're getting for their money, Bolick said, "Absolutely not. You would not even have the slightest idea of what project the attorney was involved in, much less what the attorney was actually doing for the county on the taxpayers dime."
"Well they received hand delivery of ... we don't know. They met with ... we don't know," said Bolick who reviewed the records released by the court. "The county has no basis to hide anything. This is a public works project, not Guantanamo Bay," Bolick said. Additionally, ABC15 has learned Irvine's contract with the courts was not put out for public bid. Instead, the courts are taking advantage of an accepted practice referred to as "piggybacking" off Irvine's contracts with the City of Phoenix and the Office of the Arizona Attorney General, where Irvine's wife works on Attorney General Terry Goddard's executive staff. Review copies of Irvine's Contract(s) and emails regarding the court tower
Part One Part Two Part Three Part FourWhen asked if he's ever seen anything like this, Bolick laughed and said, "This is more like Cook County, Illinois, than Maricopa County, Arizona." "The more I see, the more worried I am that there is a serious serious issue going on here," Bolick said. Both Attorney General Terry Goddard and Maricopa County Presiding Judge Barbara Mundell have refused ABC15's repeated requests for comment. "We've done things the right way," said Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. When asked if she is concerned about the ongoing criminal investigation by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Wilcox said, "Considering we have no idea what he's investigating, I really don't."
Meanwhile, the county is still refusing ABC15 and the taxpayers access to thousands of records regarding the court tower project that are being kept behind a locked door on the third floor of the county administration building in downtown Phoenix. A note on the door reads, "NO ADMITTANCE. KEEP LOCKED AT ALL TIMES." When asked why we were not able to review the records, a county spokesperson told ABC15, "Our lawyers have not had a chance to screen the records for privileged information." ABC15 first requested access to those records five months ago. This morning, Friday June 5, 2009, the Maricopa County Superior Court responded to our investigation by emailing ABC15 the following statement: Hi Josh, Just read your online court story about the criminal court project. Your station is currently on the media planning committee for the project and has been since we began the media planning sessions more than a year ago. You may want to see if this is a conflict before our next meeting. Your organization has provided lots of great input into the building design and the courtroom design. Karen Arra Public Information Officer Judicial Branch of Arizona602.506.7570 "Committed to the Timely, Fair and Impartial Administration of Justice."________________________________________________________ Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
Click here to review a copy of the email
It is important to note that ABC15 along with several other media outlets have been involved with offering input on how to make the new court tower as accessible as possible for the media.
During an exclusive interview with ABC15 iNVESTIGATOR Josh Bernstein, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said, "I really do want to commend Channel 15 for having the courage to go forward in the face of all this opposition." Click here to watch Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas talk about the ABC15 investigationThomas, who has been removed from the criminal investigation into the new court tower project, also said, "It is a shame that duly elected law enforcement leaders in this community are being obstructed in our ability to get to the bottom of this situation when there are all the classic signs of graft and potential fraud." The courts recently ruled the Maricopa County Attorney's Office could not be involved with the criminal investigation into the court tower project. The court argued that it would be a conflict of interest since members of the County Attorney's staff attended meetings where the $347-million-dollar project was discussed. Thomas claims his office was "improperly removed from the case."
| 
