The firm was paid more than $32,000 in the Mason case. To challenge the disqualification, MCAO hired outside attorneys from the firm Sanders and Park. Mason’s attorneys discovered that Otis had previously presided over a settlement conference and change of plea hearing for a co-defendant in the case. Mason were the first to file a disqualification motion. When she rejoined MCAO in 2020, the office assigned her to the capital unit, which prosecutes death penalty cases and murders.ĭefense attorneys in the case State v. She joined the bench as a commissioner in 2012 and was appointed as a judge in 2016. The following is MCAO’s written response regarding the Hernandez case.īefore becoming a judge, Erin Otis was a Maricopa County prosecutor specializing in sex crime cases. So far, MCAO officials and Otis have declined to be interviewed for ABC15’s “(dis)Honorable” investigation. “At an absolute minimum, if you’re not going to disqualify yourself, you have a duty to disclose to everyone in the courtroom, saying ‘Listen I’m in the process of negotiating employment here and if you want to move for my disqualification, do it,’” Geyh said. “That’s not something we would expect judges to do and something that the ethics codes prohibit.”Įxperts said the fact that Otis and MCAO didn’t declare a conflict and notify the defense team is troubling. “That’s a real problem,” said Ben Edwards, a law professor at UNLV. Hernandez’s defense attorneys declined to comment.īut ABC15 learned the conflict will likely be raised as part of Hernandez’s future appeals and post conviction relief application. The timing is notable because an ABC15 investigation discovered Otis was placed under a judicial misconduct probe in mid-2019.Ī courtroom clerk reported that Otis and her staff had been exchanging cruel and obscene jokes and memes to mock people in court during hearings and trials.įor her last six months as a judge, Otis was transferred off criminal cases to preside over family court matters. ![]() Some of Otis’s messages and office calendar entries also show lunch dates with Rachel Mitchell and other MCAO employees in 2019. The emails show that Otis had repeated contact with top executives via email, phone, and text. ![]() She also ruled on other significant motions in the months between trial and the sentencing hearing, court records show.ĪBC15 obtained multiple messages between Otis and MCAO officials in the weeks leading up to the sentencing that show the judge seeking out employment as a prosecutor. In November 2019, Otis sentenced Victor Hernandez, who was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder months earlier. The conflicts cost taxpayers more than $58,000 in outside legal fees after defense attorneys filed disqualification motions. “If you’re worried about being impartial and fair, how hard it would be to be fair if your prospective employer is there in front of you,” said Charles Geyh, a law professor with Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law.ĪBC15 discovered multiple conflicts in murder prosecutions due to failures by Otis and MCAO officials to effectively screen and disclose conflicts before and after her hiring.Īfter Otis was hired in early 2020 as a prosecutor, the office assigned her to two capital cases in which she played a role as a judge. It’s a stunning conflict and lack of disclosure, according to legal ethics experts. ![]() It was a sentencing hearing for a man convicted of first-degree murder.īut what defense attorneys in the case didn’t know: Otis had been seeking and negotiating employment with the county attorney’s office to become a prosecutor for weeks - possibly longer.Įmails show the judge was in contact with the highest officials at MCAO, including County Attorney Allister Adel, Chief Deputy Ken Vick, and division chief Rachel Mitchell. PHOENIX - On November 15, 2019, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Erin Otis kept a secret.
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