Day 20. Sheila Polk recused once. Will she do it again?

I always try to give credit where credit is due, even if disagree with someone. So kudos to Sheila Polk, Yavapai County Attorney and member of the Commission on Judicial Conduct for recusing herself from the Judge Hinson matter at the Commission level. Now, will so do it again at the criminal level?

I'm still upset with her though over her decision to let State Senator Bennett's kid off the hook. I wrote her about that years ago. Why didn't she recuse herself from that matter? Hmmm???

But I guess most of you weren't as upset as I still am, since you re-elected her again in 2008.

I think this is one of those interesting Providential "coincidences." See, I posted an entry on March 11, titled Will Judge Hinson's friends recuse? How will you know? In late April, a Prescott e-newspaper reported that Sheila Polk had recused herself from the Commission, but the editor, when asked, would not provide me a second source to confirm the report. The interesting coincidence is, now that we have the Commission's full report on Judge Hinson, in its Notice of Appointment of Hearing Panel it says, Sheila Polk and Catherine Stewart, attorney members, disqualified themselves from this matter.

The date of the document? March 11, 2009! The same day as my post!

I'm not taking credit for her decision. I just find the timing Providential.

So Sheila Polk did the right thing then. The question is, has she done, or will she do, the right thing now?

See, whenever there's a conflict of interest (and in theory, whenever there's even the "appearance" of conflict of interest) prosecutors are supposed to step aside and ask another independent prosecutor to investigate a case. This is happening as we speak, as Sheila Polk has been asked to take over a matter from Maricopa County, where there was a conflict of interest.

Now, it's a given that Judge Hinson falsified his salary certifications. Those are Class 3 misdemeanors, which, by the time anyone gets around to it, will probably be stale, beyond the one year statute of limitations. Already Terry Goddard's office has told me they can't be bothered with Class 3 misdemeanors. He suggested taking it to the local sheriff. More on his letter in a future post.

But I allege that by falsifying his Certs, taking money not due him, he defrauded the State of Arizona. Further, by structuring his certifications so that he closed out his overdue cases during the clerk's Quarterly Audit, so as to not get caught, he engaged in "fraudulent schemes." These are serious felonies. With lots of counts still outstanding.

Has Sheila Polk turned this matter over to another Prosecutor in another County? Certainly she must be aware of the charges against Judge Hinson, since she saw them from the Commission and recused herself then. Or is she sitting on this, waiting for you all to forget again? It appears the Press isn't going to press her.

Those of you in Yavapai County have more standing than I to ask her. (Or maybe Steve Waugh, your Sheriff?) Especially those of you who were direct victims of Judge Hinson's schemes.

Please let me know what she says.