New Times on the attack!

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Montini's Columns & Blog
'Ancora imparo'
New Times going on attack against Thomas, Arpaio, Wilenchik
Phoenix attorney Michael Manning, who has successfully sued the sheriff's office for abuses in the jails and currently is representing the family of the woman who died at Sky Harbor airport, said that he has been retained by Phoenix New Times officials to look into the recent grand jury investigation into the weekly newspaper and the subsequent arrest of two executives.

Will a lawsuit follow?

The original case began in 2004 when an article in New Times about Sheriff Joe Arpaio's real-estate holdings also included Arpaio's address. When the story was published online, it violated state law intended to protect law-enforcement officers. Special Prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik was appointed to look into the case. After New Times published an article outlining the broad subpoenas requested by Wilenchik, which included information on everyone who had visited New Times web site, two of the papers executives were arrested.

That move drew such negative publicity that the case was dropped by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

Now it looks as if New Times has gone on the offensive. Manning said that he has sent a letter to the county attorney, the special prosecutor and the sheriff letting them know that he is looking into the matter and warning them not to destroy anything that may be pertinent to the case.

According to Manning, "This is going to be a fascinating case. I've been meeting with some witnesses. Wait until you see some of the stuff that is going to come out of this."