{"id":1940594,"date":"2023-05-30T06:44:25","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T10:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-rejects-maricopa-countys-efforts-to-sanction-kari-lake-her-suit-was-not-groundless\/"},"modified":"2023-05-30T06:48:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T10:48:00","slug":"judge-rejects-maricopa-countys-efforts-to-sanction-kari-lake-her-suit-was-not-groundless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-rejects-maricopa-countys-efforts-to-sanction-kari-lake-her-suit-was-not-groundless\/","title":{"rendered":"Kari Lake&#8217;s lawsuit not &#8216;groundless&#8217;, Maricopa County&#8217;s sanction efforts rejected by judge."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjudge-rejects-maricopa-countys-efforts-to-sanction-kari-lake-her-suit-was-not-groundless%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1940594&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Judge Rejects Maricopa County&#8217;s Efforts to Sanction Kari Lake: Her Suit Was Not &#8216;Groundless&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>Maricopa County, Arizona, Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson denied on Friday Maricopa County\u2019s request for Republican Kari Lake to be sanctioned for her lawsuit challenging Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs win in November\u2019s election.<\/p>\n<p>In their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov\/home\/showpublisheddocument\/5195\/638205417457213929\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">motion for sanctions<\/a>, the county, Hobbs and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had sought both legal fees and for Lake to be \u201cseverely sanctioned\u201d with fines for her suit.<\/p>\n<p>Thompson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/kari-lake-learns-fate-final-election-challenge-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruled<\/a> last Monday following a three-day trial, that Lake\u2019s legal team did not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-asks-olympics-committee-to-explain-deals-with-chinese-slave-companies\/\" title=\"Congress Asks Olympics Committee to Explain Deals with Chinese Slave Companies\">provide sufficient evidence<\/a> to conclude that Maricopa County had not followed Arizona law during its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kari-lakes-case-going-back-to-trial-judge-rejects-maricopa-countys-motion-to-dismiss\/\" title=\"Kari Lake's case will proceed to trial after Maricopa County's dismissal motion is denied by the judge.\">signature review process<\/a> for mail-in ballots in the general election.<\/p>\n<h3>Frivolous Claims<\/h3>\n<p>In its motion for sanctions, Maricopa County said Lake\u2019s counsel \u201cbrought frivolous arguments and frivolous claims before the Court. This conduct warrants meaningful sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The county\u2019s lawyer, Thomas Liddy, pointed to Lake\u2019s counsel stating during the trial that \u201cthis election was rigged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLake and her counsel then failed to introduce any evidence during the three day trial to support this wrongful statement. Wrongfully and publicly asserting that the election was \u2018rigged\u2019 is heinous and profoundly harmful,\u201d Liddy argued in his motion.<\/p>\n<h3>Thompson&#8217;s Ruling<\/h3>\n<p>In his sanctions ruling, Thompson first laid out the standard for imposing sanctions under Arizona law. A judge can sanction an attorney \u201cwho brings or defends a claim without substantial justification or primarily for delay or harassment,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe statute defines \u2018without substantial justification\u2019 as \u2018groundless\u2019 and \u2018not made in good faith.\u2019 A.R.S. \u00a7 12-349(F). A claim is \u2018groundless\u2019 if its proponent can present no rational argument based on the evidence or law to support it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thompson then summarized Maricopa County\u2019s view of Lake\u2019s argument, writing, \u201cShe proceeded to trial on a claim she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-rejects-maricopa-countys-efforts-to-sanction-kari-lake-her-suit-was-not-groundless\/\" title=\"Kari Lake's lawsuit not 'groundless', Maricopa County's sanction efforts rejected by judge.\">knew lacked factual merit based<\/a> on her own witness\u2019s statements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the judge wrote, \u201cThis view mistakenly looks beyond trial to the ultimate resolution of the merits and does not allow for presentation of evidence to prove a disputed claim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rather, the whole point of the trial was to give Lake\u2019s legal team the opportunity to prove its claim that \u201cMaricopa County officials, instead of attempting to cure ballots, systematically pushed mismatched ballots through for tabulation without following the required procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though Thompson concluded that Lake did not prove her claim with \u201cclear and convincing\u201d evidence to his satisfaction, that \u201cdoes not equate to bringing a claim \u2018without substantial justification\u2019 as \u2018groundless\u2019 and \u2018not made in good faith.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if her argument did not prevail, Lake, through her witness, presented facts consistent with and in support of her legal argument,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Thompson went on to note it is natural during trial for parties\u2019 rhetoric to get fiery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOpposing litigants in a heated dispute will naturally view the same evidence differently,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe inferences one draws will be anathema to the other, and they may question each other\u2019s good faith motivated simply by their conviction of their own cause and incomprehension at the conclusions of the other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thompson concluded, \u201cThe proceedings in which the statements were made were Lake\u2019s and the Defendants\u2019 opportunity to argue their cases and present their evidence. They did so, and the Court ruled. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED denying Defendants\u2019 Motion for Sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Celebration and Appeal<\/h3>\n<p>Lake\u2019s campaign celebrated Thompson\u2019s ruling tweeting Friday, \u201cThe Judge has DENIED requests by Maricopa County &#038; Katie Hobbs for sanctions against [Kari Lake.] We knew the Fake News narrative would collapse. Now it has. Kari Lake will NEVER stop fighting to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/battleground-states-look-to-restore-election-integrity\/\" title=\"Battleground states look to restore election integrity\">restore election integrity<\/a> to the people of Arizona!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lake stated last week that she plans to appeal Thompson\u2019s ruling concerning her overall election challenge suit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maricopa County&#8217;s request for sanctions against Republican Kari Lake, who challenged Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs&#8217; win in November&#8217;s election, has been denied by Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson. The county, Hobbs, and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had requested legal fees and Lake&#8217;s disbarment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":1940595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[20816,8208,5564,5387,8210,9326,4585,3661,7298,5223],"class_list":["post-1940594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily","tag-groundless","tag-countys","tag-efforts","tag-judge","tag-kari","tag-lakes","tag-lawsuit","tag-maricopa","tag-rejected","tag-sanction"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1940594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1940595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1940594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1940594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1940594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}