Cochise County Supervisor prepared for the electoral interference trial

The Cochise County Supervisor, Tom Crosby, will probably face a trial for electoral interference charges after the Arizona Supreme Court declined to review his case.
Crosby is accused of delaying the certification of the electoral results of 2022 based on unfounded claims of irregularities of the voting machine.
While his coacked, Peggy Judd, declared himself guilty of a minor crime, Crosby maintains his innocence and rejected a guilt.

The Cochise County Supervisor, Tom Crosby, seems to be aimed at trial after the State Superior Court rejected its last effort to avoid prosecution in a case of electoral interference ongoing.

Arizona’s Supreme Court said it would not review the procedures or grant a stay in the case little well on Monday. The document did not offer any explanation about how the Court arrived that decision, but pointed out that “in Banco” was made.

That means that all the judges, with the exception of Judge María Elena Cruz, to whom the order says that it did not participate in the deliberations, analyzed the application of Crosby.

The lawyer Dennis Wilanchik, who represents Crosby in the case, said he intends to “prove the case for a jury and, hopefully, win.”

“Ultimately, we will appeal through the Courts of Appeal if for some reason there is a guilt verdict,” he said.

Crosby faces serious crimes of conspiracy and interference with an electoral officer after choose to delay vote certification in 2022. He and Supervisora Peggy Judd, both Republicans, voted to do it after The electoral conspiring convinced them falselyaccording to the documents of the Great Jury.

The two wanted a meeting to listen to evidence on machines called tabulators. For that moment, they had ignored Repeated legal advice of the Board’s lawyers that their actions were illegal.

They were rapidly sued, even by the then Secretary of the State Katie Hobbs. A claim resulted in a court order to certify the result, which Supervisors finally gathered to do, although Crosby did not appear. They sent their canvas of electoral results to state officials on December 1, three days after the deadline of November 28.

Judd He declared himself guilty in the case last yearReceive probation for 90 days after admitting a minor crime of failure or refusing to fulfill the duty by an electoral officer as part of an agreement with state prosecutors.

But Crosby adopted a different approach. He confirmed in court on Wednesday that he rejected a guilt agreement that would have reduced his positions to a minor crime and did not guarantee jail time.

He would also have assured that he was not withdrawn from office and did not have to lose his government pension, sanctions that he could face if they condemned by the current charges against him.

Instead, Crosby continued to fight against the case. A State Court of Appeals Discarded his commitment to dismiss the charges earlier this month. His request before the Supreme Court of Arizona argued that the Court of Appeals made a “incorrect” decision on issues of “state importance.”

“I’m not guilty, and I don’t know what else to tell you in addition to that,” he said in court on Wednesday.

What follows?

The Crosby trial will currently begin on April 21 at the Superior Court of Maricopa County. That date that could change depending on the court schedule.

Initially, prosecutors hoped to hold the trial as of February 12, but the court decided to delay that timeline due to programming conflicts. Crosby’s request to stop the prosecution in the case also receded the task timeline.

If the case reaches the trial, lawyers and prosecutors predict that these procedures could take six to seven days to complete, according to judicial documents. Prosecutors described him as a “conservative” estimate while they were in court last week.

Sasha Hupka covers the Government of County and the Electoral Administration for the Republic of Arizona. Get to [email protected]. Follow her in X: @Sashahupka. Follow her on Instagram or threads: @Sashahupkasnaps. Follow her in bluesky: @sashahupka.bsky.social.