/Photo courtesy Maricopa County
By Jeremy Duda | Arizona Mirror
A hearing to determine whether the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors would rescind its suspension of indicted assessor Paul Petersen ended early after his lawyer said an adversarial attitude by an attorney for the county made it pointless to continue.
Kory Langhofer, who represents Petersen, repeatedly objected to the lines of questioning pursued by attorney John Doran, who is advising the supervisors in the matter, suggesting that Doran was acting more like a prosecutor than as a legal advisor to an ostensibly neutral body.
Prior to Wednesday’s hearing, Langhofer had referred to the proceeding as a “farce” and a “show trial.” He said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the supervisors’ conduct during the hearing, but was disappointed in Doran.
“We wanted to suspend disbelief about whether a proceeding like this would be productive. And I do not believe the participation of someone in a role like Mr. Doran makes further witnesses a productive use of our time,” Langhofer said after his final witness stepped down.
