Two quick updates on Kari Lake’s Election Contest appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court tonight:
1) Lake is asking the Court for permission to file a “short” Reply in order to correct “Respondents (sic) factual misrepresentations on the chain-of-custody issue”. Lake’s attorneys note that attorneys for the Secretary of State’s Office do not object to the filing of the unscheduled Reply, that Governor Katie Hobbs does object and that Maricopa County did not respond.
Lake’s request is likely prompted by the Response filed earlier this week by the County, as that is the one which focused most specifically on what it called “Lake’s misleading new factual theory about chain-of-custody documents.”
If the County and/or Hobbs is going to object to Lake’s proposed Reply filing, they had better file it quickly. The Supreme Court indicated last week that it intended to privately conference on whether or not to consider Lake’s appeal of her earlier losses this coming Tuesday. (However, the Court has not yet added it to its public-facing calendar.)
2) Self-proclaimed “civil rights activist” Ryan Heath has asked the Court for permission to file a friend-of-the-court (“amicus”) brief to explain why the Court of Appeals misinterpreted previous case law. Heath has been unsuccessful in several previous attempts to place his arguments before the court – including filing his own Special Action petition/appeal with the Supreme Court.
However, in light of the Supreme Court’s warning earlier this month that it would carefully review proposed amicus briefs to make sure they followed the guidelines, Heath’s proposed brief is more than twice as wordy as permitted by the court’s rules. Heath counts 8,422 words in his brief, significantly higher than the 3,500 words permitted.
(Because it is likely very similar to Heath’s previous filings *and* because it is probable that the Supreme Court will reject it, Arizona’s Law is not publishing it tonight. If you wish to review it prior to the Court’s decision, please contact us at [email protected])
“AZ Law” includes articles, commentaries and updates about opinions from the Arizona Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court, as well as trial and appellate courts, etc. AZ Law is founded by Phoenix attorney Paul Weich, and joins Arizona’s Politics on the internet.
