Former Maricopa County Prosecutor Andrew Thomas and two of his colleagues are at the center of an ethics investigation - the Arizona Supreme Court determined yesterday that it has probable cause to issue a complaint with the state bar association to revoke the attorneys' licenses to practice law.

Ironically, Thomas and two other prosecutors, Lisa Aubuchon and Rachel Alexander, used to investigate public corruption as part of a public corruption task force. The task force investigated county supervisors, judges and county employees to ferret out corruption, fraud and excess. Unfortunately, Thomas's investigations allegedly devolved into witch hunts.

Two of his victims were county supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox. Upon news of the complaints against Thomas, Wilcox noted "what goes around comes around" in a statement to KPHO. The targeted county employees seemed relieved to hear that Thomas might pay for his actions.

Independent Counsel Finds Prosecutor's Actions Were Politically Motivated

To avoid a conflict of interest, the Arizona Supreme Court turned over investigation of complaints against Thomas and his team to an independent counsel last year. The independent counsel found that Thomas had committed abuses of power and ethical violations that intentionally damaged the reputations of judges, county supervisors and employees. Thomas attempted to influence his targets through intimidation for political gain.

According to reports in AZcentral.com, Thomas's prosecutions were also reviewed by U.S. Attorney David Burke and Navaho County Attorney Brad Carlyon to determine if the prosecutions had any merit. Burke and Carlyon both condemned Thomas's efforts to prosecute many individuals. Burke could find no instances in which actual federal crimes had been committed and he noted that the evidence was so lacking in some cases that Thomas's prosecutions were "nearly incomprehensible." For his part, Carylon reviewed Thomas's prosecutions to confirm whether any state crimes occurred. Carylon could find no evidence of state crimes articulated in Thomas's charging documents.

Thankfully, after the reviews by Burke and Carylon, charges can be dropped against the numerous employees facing frivolous prosecution by Thomas.

Thomas, Aubuchon and Alexander will likely appear before the state bar association to defend their licenses next summer, and if the allegations against them are proven, they will lose their licenses to practice law. Disbarment should close the door on the sorry tale of a prosecutor that went too far and abused his power.

At Plattner Verderame, PC, we fight for all victims against abuses of power and other injuries. No one is above the law. Contact us for help with your legal fight.

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Joe Arpaio, Andrew Thomas investigation unjustified according to prosecutor's review, AZCentral.com