Court decision comes a day after attorneys on both sides of the lawsuit made their arguments on whether a request for nearly $700,000 in attorney fees and other expenses sought by Hobbs and Maricopa County officials had merit. || Deposit Photo
By Mary Jo Pitzl || Arizona Republic
The judge in Kari Lake’s election challenge on Tuesday rejected requests for sanctions and nearly $700,000 in attorney fees but granted $33,000 to pay for expert witnesses hired by Katie Hobbs.
In his ruling, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson wrote that although Lake didn’t provide the “clear and convincing evidence” needed to prevail in her case, that was not the same thing as saying her lawsuit over the results of the Arizona governor’s race was “groundless and presented in bad faith.”
His decision comes a day after attorneys on both sides of the lawsuit made their arguments on whether a request for nearly $700,000 in attorney fees and other expenses sought by Hobbs and Maricopa County officials had merit.
The arguments came in a flurry of holiday-weekend filings after Thompson on Saturday rejected Lake’s challenge of the outcome of the governor’s race and declared Katie Hobbs the winner of the governor’s race.
