Judge accused of abuse of power in Martinez case
The presiding disciplinary judge appointed by Arizona Supreme Court is being accused of abusing his power after he ruled that a well-known Maricopa County prosecutor would not face ethics charges for allegations that he harassed coworkers.
The State Bar of Arizona filed a petition with the Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday asking it to take special action after Disciplinary Judge William J.
O’Neil granted a preliminary summary judgment addressing allegations against prosecutor Juan Martinez in August and then issued a formal ruling last month.
Martinez is well-known for prosecuting the Jodi Arias murder trial.
Allegations of misconduct
In March 2019, the bar filed a formal misconduct complaint against Martinez. The complaint claimed Martinez harassed several women who worked at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Maricopa County Superior Court. It also accused Martinez of having a relationship with a blogger.
Martinez has denied the allegations.
O’Neil stated in his ruling that Martinez didn’t dispute the allegations concerning County Attorney’s Office employees, but that they shouldn’t be addressed in the hearing because they “did not occur during the practice of
law” and needed to be addressed by Martinez’s employer.
“When someone creates a hostile working environment and makes a coworker feel uncomfortable, a complaint should be reported,” O’Neil stated in the ruling. “Mr. Martinez was reported and was properly reprimanded for the MCAO allegations.”
Former Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery wrote in a letter in April that Martinez received a written reprimand in his file and mandatory training.
However, the State Bar claimed in its petition that O’Neil’s findings were “erroneous.”
The State Bar pointed out that the County Attorney’s Office isn’t able to regulate the legal profession or impose sanctions against a lawyer’s license. Those are the responsibilities of the State Bar.
“In the age of #MeToo, sexual harassment in the workplace is no longer accepted,” the State Bar stated in its petition. “Absent this Court’s declaration that sexual harassment in the workplace by lawyers is unethical and unprofessional, neither lawyers nor the public can have any confidence that the practice of law will be free from such abhorrent behavior.”
The bar is asking the state Supreme Court to vacate O’Neil’s order, accept jurisdiction over the matter and allow it to prosecute the case against Martinez for “unprofessional conduct directed at the women he odiously offended.”
“Sexual harassment by anyone under any circumstances is unacceptable, but for lawyers, it is especially odious,” the State Bar stated in its petition. “It is essential for this Court to proclaim to the public and the legal profession that sexual harassment is not only abhorrent but also unethical.”
The allegations from coworkers
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office investigated allegations of sexual harassment against Martinez in 2017. The investigation included interviewing 30 employees.
“The allegations included making inappropriate comments, primarily to law clerks, which were of a sexual nature, engaging in unwanted touching and making persistent unwelcome invitations to go to lunch or on a date,” the State Bar’s formal complaint stated.
According to the State Bar, Martinez took a law clerk to lunch and asked if she had a boyfriend.
He made a comment about “putting a hit on the boyfriend” in order to have her to himself. The clerk claimed she felt he was looking at her “like he was taking her clothes off with his eyes,” which made her hide in the bathroom at work to avoid him.
Another clerk accused Martinez of telling her about nude photographs he received during the Arias trial, according to court records.
According to the complaint, a clerk said Martinez told her “he wanted to climb her like a statute, or words to that effect.” The complaint stated Martinez invited her to Las Vegas and said he could guess the color of her underwear.
Other allegations advance
Even though O’Neil ruled that Martinez would not face ethics charges for the allegations of sexual harassment inside the County Attorney’s Office, the prosecutor is waiting for a hearing in April for the remaining allegations.
According to the State Bar formal complaint, Martinez stared and commented on a female court reporter’s appearance while she was working during hearings in the Arias case. She also claimed he would make inappropriate comments.
“I like the person that’s in the skirt,” and “I would like to see what is inside that skirt” or “I’d really like to see what’s inside,” were among the comments, according to court records.
The court reporter said after the Arias case, Martinez told her, “I really miss those skirts,” according to documents.