PHOENIX — The attorneys who handled the sex harassment investigation that resulted in the ouster of Rep. Don Shooter are balking at his bid to get the full report and all the documents used to prepare it.
Letters obtained by Capitol Media Services show Gregory Falls, who represents the legal team that prepared the investigative report, contends anything that hasn't already been made public is not subject to disclosure. Falls contends the documents Shooter wants are protected, whether by attorney-client privilege with the House of Representatives that hired his law firm, or by the idea that the papers represent "work product.''
But Falls said there are other reasons to keep Shooter and his attorney, Kraig Marton, from getting their hands on the documents.
He is accusing Shooter of going on a "fishing expedition'' to get information that goes far beyond what the former Yuma lawmaker says he needs to defend himself in a civil lawsuit filed against him by Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita. She is one of his alleged victims cited in the investigative report that eventually resulted in the House vote in January to eject him.
There is some basis for that claim that what Shooter wants is designed, at least in part, to clear his name as he seeks to re-enter politics with a bid this year for the state Senate.
Shooter told Capitol Media Services he believes House Speaker J.D. Mesnard gave other House members "only a partial and modified version'' of the report, the one they used in his ouster. He said Mesnard, who has refused to comment, "removed exculpatory evidence and took out derogatory evidence about my accusers.''
And Shooter said release of the full report and all the notes and documents made in preparing it will paint quite a different pictures.
"I think there's going to be a tremendous amount of information that will damage the credibility of my accuser and, in addition, will bolster my view of the facts,'' he said.
It ultimately will be up to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen if Shooter gets what he has demanded and, by extension, the public also gets a look.
House Speaker J.D. Mesnard sought an investigation late last year after Ugenti-Rita and others made accusations of unwanted harassment by Shooter. Shooter, in turn, claimed that Ugenti-Rita had acted improperly in actions with others.
The report provided to lawmakers by Craig Morgan, who is at the same firm as Falls, concluded there was "credible evidence'' Shooter had violated the House policy on sexual harassment, a policy that Shooter said was not enacted until after the allegations against him were made. He was ejected by colleagues in January on a 56-3 vote.
That same report said that former House staffer Brian Townsend, to whom Ugenti-Rita was engaged, sent "unsolicited, sexually explicit communications'' to someone else who was not identified. But it exonerated Ugenti-Rita of any wrongdoing.
In June, Ugenti-Rita filed a civil lawsuit against Shooter, charging him with slander, libel, battery and negligence. Shooter, in turn, has filed a counterclaim accusing Ugenti-Rita of defamation.
Marton, as Shooter's attorney, said that opens the door for him to subpoena the full report and all the related documents, all records he says are necessary for Shooter to defend himself.
Falls disagrees, saying Shooter is free to seek out the information he needs — elsewhere.
