U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in what may be the biggest class action in U.S. History; Arizona's Clean Elections Act may be ruled un-constitutional; Arizona's judicial merit selection system is in jeopardy; Clarence Thomas has gone for 3 years and one month without saying a word in Court; and a Canadian judge thinks he is writing pulp fiction.
3/30/2011 - Supreme Court in Session
3/23/2011 - Guest, Glenn Hamer
Dennis talks to the CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce about the effect of SB1070 on business; the Arizona Senate votes down five new anti-immigration bills. Also, are other states backing down from passing anti-immigration bills? And the Goldwater Institute's "Tea Party T-Shirt" case.
3/16/2011 - Jared Loughner and Mental Health in Arizona
Loughner ordered to undergo mental exam—could somebody have committed him before he shot 18 people? Also, what happens when you get committed and the problem with homelessness in downtown Phoenix. Special guest Mark Holleran, director at Central Arizona Shelter Services.
Becky Bartness named to the Board at MentorKids USA
Becky Ann Bartness was named to the Board at MentorKids USA, an organization that serves at-risk youth in the Phoenix area.
Wilenchik & Bartness wins jury trial and appeal defending Sheriff Joe
Dennis I. Wilenchik and Lawrence J. Felder won a complete defense verdict for Sheriff Joe Arpaio against an inmate who slipped on a plastic bag in a Maricopa County jail cell, then sued the Sheriff for negligence. The jury awarded the Plaintiff, Lonny Mitchell, no damages, and the Court awarded attorney's fees to the Sheriff. Mr. Mitchell appealed the award of attorney’s fees, and Wilenchik & Bartness won the appeal.
Wilenchik & Bartness wins 6-day jury trial defending the Sheriff and appeal
Dennis I. Wilenchik and Lawrence J. Felder won a complete defense verdict for Sheriff Joe Arpaio in a lawsuit against him by a former inmate, Christina Jimenez. Ms. Jimenez claimed that the Sheriff was responsible for her being attacked while waiting for her husband after her release from jail. Wilenchik & Bartness produced evidence at trial that the drug “Librium” was found in her system immediately after the assault. Ms. Jimenez tested negative for the drug before being released, but had telephoned her husband to bring the drug with him when he came to pick her up. Wilenchik & Bartness argued that Ms. Jimenez's husband brought the drug to her and was responsible for the assault. The jury found the Sheriff not responsible, and Ms. Jimenez appealed the verdict. Wilenchik & Bartness again won on appeal.
Wilenchik & Bartness wins bench trial representing Arizona Counties
Dennis Wilenchik and Kathleen Rapp, representing the Elections Officials from 12 of the 15 Arizona Counties, worked hand-in-hand with the Arizona Attorney General's Office to defeat a challenge to the Arizona Voter ID and Proof of Citizenship laws. The complex litigation included three consolidated cases brought by individuals and special interests groups seeking to overturn Arizona's election integrity laws. After more than two years of litigation driven by MALDEF and other out-of-state Plaintiff's organizations, Judge Silver of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona issued a 49-page order finding that the State and Counties had properly upheld the will of the people, rejecting all constitutional challenges to the laws.
Wilenchik & Bartness wins three week jury trial against Dan Saban.
Dennis I. Wilenchik, William P. French, Tyler Q. Swensen, and M. Rob Somers, representing Defendants Maricopa County, Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, Chief David Hendershott, Steve Bailey, and Ray Jones, recently won a three week jury trial on all claims by Dan Saban. This case involved an allegation by Saban, a candidate for Sheriff of Maricopa County in 2004, that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his Chief Deputy, David Hendershott, abused their positions by beginning an investigation into whether Saban raped his adoptive mother, Ruby Norman, approximately 32 years earlier. Saban sued the Sheriff and several deputies alleging that they conspired to violate several laws and, in the process, defamed Saban and invaded his privacy.
Dennis I. Wilenchik has been named in Marquis Who's Who in American Law for 2007-2008.
Dennis I. Wilenchik was recently included in the 2007 list of Super Lawyers. Only 5 percent of the total lawyers in the state are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers. Over 800,000 lawyers were asked to nominate attorneys in the candidate screening process. After the initial screening, a committee considered several factors including Dennis Wilenchik's verdicts and settlements, transactions, representative clients, and experience. Next, Dennis Wilenchik was grouped by his practice area and evaluated by his peers. Finally, Dennis Wilenchik was screened according to firm size, and selected to this prestigious list based upon his points in the aforementioned categories. For more information, see www.superlawyers.com.
On June 19, 2007, the La Paz County Attorney appointed Dennis I.
Wilenchik as a Special Deputy County Attorney to serve as a public prosecutor for La Paz County concerning allegations relating to public offenses, if any, concerning Tricia Lynn Groe within La Paz County.
AZ Supreme Court accepts unprecedented Amicus Brief relating to judicial conduct.
Wilenchik and Bartness has had the pleasure of assisting the Maricopa County Justice Courts on a variety of issues, including helping them create professional standards to clarify and illuminate the Code of Judicial Conduct for the Justice Court Bench. At the same time that the Bench as a whole was undertaking this monumental effort, the Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Arizona Supreme Court began investigating the actions of a single Maricopa County Justice of the Peace. After the Commission made its recommendation to the Court, the Bench as a whole felt the need to present the Supreme Court with the direction in which the Justice Court Bench was trying to move, including the professional standards that it was creating. As such, the Bench requested that Wilenchik and Bartness assist them in writing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on the topic of the Commission's recommendation of discipline. This unprecedented brief was accepted by the Supreme Court and, in the following opinion, the Supreme Court ultimately remanded the case back to the Commission on Judicial Conduct with instructions to change the manner in which they analyzed the case. The Supreme Court's opinion can be found at http://www.supreme.state.az.us/opin/pdf2007/JC060002.pdf
3/9/2011 - Westboro Ruling
Supreme Court rules that Westboro Church can picket military funerals; sweat lodge trial continues; Loughner indicted; text message auto-correction leads to murder.
3/2/2011 - Sweat Lodge Trial Begins
First show! U.S. Supreme Court rules corporations don’t have privacy rights (Skinner v. Switzer); sweat lodge trial begins; girl loses suit for emotional distress after being forced to watch Brokeback Mountain.
