PHOENIX β Former state Rep. Don Shooter has no legal right to the notes and interviews of investigators whose report led his colleagues to eject him from the House of Representatives, a judge says.
In an extensive ruling Monday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen said the work of the two attorneys hired by House Speaker J.D. Mesnard is protected by attorney-client privilege. Cohen said Mesnard did not waive that privilege when he released the final 82-page report or when he provided the public with some additional documents.
But Cohen said thereβs also another problem with the subpoenas that Kraig Marton, the attorney for the ousted Republican lawmaker from Yuma, has issued for the materials.
He pointed out that Shooter wants the documents to defend himself in a civil lawsuit filed by state Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, who was listed in the report as one of the victims of Shooterβs sexual harassment.
Her lawsuit charges that Shooter is guilty of slander, libel, battery and negligence.
He, in turn, has filed a counterclaim accusing her of defamation. Shooter contends the notes and interviews of about 40 witnesses conducted by the investigators for the House are material to the outcome of this lawsuit.
But Cohen pointed out that Shooter is not seeking documents from Ugenti-Rita related to the lawsuit, but instead documents from the House report.
Neither Mesnard nor the House are parties to the lawsuit. That presents a legal barrier to Shooter using this lawsuit to go after documents that are House property, Cohen said.
βThe actions taken by the House of Representatives (and the) speaker of the House surely have common facts to the claims now before this court,β the judge wrote. βBut one did not cause the other.β
Cohen quashed the subpoenas issued by Marton.
The House report found βcredible evidenceβ Shooter violated anti-harassment policies several times with Ugenti-Rita, including making sexual comments and suggestions. It also found harassment and improper conduct or comments by Shooter involving others.
Shooter, in a prepared statement Monday, indicated he is not ready to give up on gaining access to the documents.
He contends they will help him in his lawsuit by showing that Ugenti-Rita has sexually harassed others. He contends such evidence was deliberately left out of the reportβs final version.
The final report says investigators sought to determine if Ugenti-Rita was complicit in sending βunsolicited, sexually explicit communicationsβ to someone believed to be a former staffer. The report described these as βegregious and potentially unlawful acts.β
But the report also says that Brian Townsend, a former House staffer to whom Ugenti-Rita was previously engaged, accepted sole responsibility for sending these communications out, and the matter was not pursued.
Calls to Ugenti-Rita and her attorney seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Mesnard said he will not comment while there is litigation pending.
In addition to this lawsuit, Shooter has filed a $1.3 million claim against the House β the legal precursor to a lawsuit β related to his ouster.
