Remember that letter from the Arizona Attorney General to the Town Attorney of Quarzsite? Well, there are alleged problems with the Town Attorney, as well.

Parker Live wrote 13 January 2012, Attorney refuses to work with Town of Quartzsite,

Local attorney Matt Newman is apparently refusing to do further business with the Town of Quartzsite, “at any hourly rate”, calling the current administration “tainted.”

This comes after Public Defender Michael Frame refused to work on cases involving the Town’s Attorney Martin Brannan, citing conflicts of interest and what he believes are politically-motivated actions against his clients by Brannan and the Town.

Newman adds his voice to this dissent in a Refusal of Appointment, saying:

It is my belief that the current administration of the Town has created an inherent conflict of interest by appointing the Town Prosecutor as the Town Attorney and Town Parliamentarian. It is also my belief that the current administration is specifically targeting certain individuals for prosecution due to their political views.

His letter continues, elaborating on why he doesn’t want to do business with the town. This wasn’t just a personal letter or a letter from his law firm, by the way, it was a court motion.

So a Council can manage to get such a bad reputation that a lawyer won’t do business with it.

-jsq