State Glance
Man finds congressman’s documents in abandoned storage unit
PHOENIX — An Arizona man stumbled upon a trove of historical documents possibly worth thousands of dollars after purchasing an abandoned storage unit for $20 in a Phoenix suburb.
The Arizona Republic reports Don Smith discovered a collection of about 200 letters belonging to Henry Ellsworth Barbour, a Republican congressman from California from 1919 to 1933.
The collection includes two letters signed by President Herbert Hoover, White House invitations from President Warren Harding and an invitation to groundbreaking ceremonies for the Golden Gate Bridge.
He also found a congressional gavel that a 1933 letter says is made from wood used at the U.S. Capitol after it was partially destroyed when the British set fire in 1814.
The items will be sold at auction Friday.
Defense in NAU shooting case cleared in State Bar probe
FLAGSTAFF — The State Bar of Arizona has dismissed a conflict-of-interest allegation against attorneys for a man charged in a fatal shooting at Northern Arizona University.
A retrial for Steven Jones was postponed while the State Bar investigated the allegation against Ryan Stevens and Bruce Griffen.
The mother of one of the shooting victims argued the two had a conflict of interest because they met with her family early on in the case.
The State Bar says it did not find clear and convincing evidence of an ethical violation.
The decision this week means the retrial likely will happen as scheduled in March. The next hearing in the case is Friday.
Jones says he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Colin Brough and wounded three other students in 2015.
Prosecutors maintain Jones was the aggressor.
Phoenix police: Homicide suspect arrested in Tucson
PHOENIX — A woman sought in a Phoenix homicide last month has been arrested in Tucson.
Phoenix police say 22-year-old Ashley Rios was arrested Wednesday in the Sept. 14 fatal shooting of William Jones at an apartment complex parking lot where Rios and Jones had arranged to meet.
According to police, a U.S. Marshals Service violent-offender task force arrested Rios without incident after Phoenix police detectives learned Rios was in Tucson, where she is now jailed.
Court records say Rios is accused of first-degree murder and drive-by shooting but don’t list a defense attorney who could comment on the allegations.
A Phoenix Police Department spokesman, Sgt. Tommy Thompson, says Rios and Jones reportedly had had some sort of disagreement or dispute but that he didn’t have specifics.