Opinion ID: 1199745
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Did the Judge have a legitimate need or purpose in defending his order?

Text: The dissent focuses on standing  arguing that the Judge had no need to retain counsel to litigate because he had no standing to do so. However, this narrow issue is now precluded. In all six court appearances, the county never raised lack of standing as a defense in either the underlying case or in this action for legal fees. Moreover, in the present context, standing does not refer to either in personam or subject matter jurisdiction. Rather, it refers to the ethical propriety of the Judge appearing as a litigant. See Hurles v. Superior Court, 174 Ariz. 331, 849 P.2d 1 (1993). The county could have properly raised this issue in Judd; arguably, the appellate court in Judd could have raised it sua sponte. See id. at 332, 849 P.2d at 2 (although not raised by the parties, the appellate court dismissed the case, holding that the trial court lacked standing to litigate). Neither the county nor the appellate court raised the issue. The case was not dismissed for lack of standing; it was decided on its merits, and the decision is final. It is simply too late now to use the present case, a dispute over the county's liability for fees, to make a collateral attack on the Judge's standing in the previous case. The standing issue, of course, is inextricably intertwined with the broader question of the Judge's need to litigate. In a special action contesting the validity of a judicial order, the trial court must be named as a respondent. See Id. at 332, 849 P.2d at 2 (1993). This is normally only a formality, with the actual litigant named as real party in interest. Ariz.R.P.Spec.Act. 2(a)(1). In most cases, the trial court's interest is nominal, therefore, and provides the judge no valid reason to respond to the special action. Id. at 332, 849 P.2d at 2. However, in certain circumstances a trial judge should respond. For instance, a judge should explain or defend an administrative practice, policy, or local rule. Id. at 333, 849 P.2d at 3. In this case the facts show that the Judge was not merely defending a case-specific ruling. By the time the issues between the Judge and the Sheriff were tried, the defendant had completed his sentence at Bisbee and was not even named as a party to the special action. Thus, for him the issues were moot. Therefore, in attempting to uphold the validity of the order imposing a form of community punishment on a defendant convicted of misdemeanor reckless driving and sentenced to thirty days in jail, the Judge obviously litigated issues important to the administration of his court. Judd centered on a conflict between a sheriff's right to decide where to confine prisoners and a trial court's pragmatic ability to apply A.R.S. § 28-693(D) in a rural county. Thus, under Hurles, and particularly in light of the mootness of the sentence, the Judge's actions were defense-of-policy rather than an attempt to defend a single ruling. Id.; see also Dunn v. Superior Court, 160 Ariz. 311, 772 P.2d 1164 (Ct.App. 1989) (superior court judge responded by letter to a special action challenging his refusal to grant a motion for a change of judge; the ruling defended a court's common administrative practice). In the present case, the Judge attempted to defend and clarify his statutory right to assign prisoners to a work release program under A.R.S. 28-693(D). A favorable appellate ruling would establish the Judge's ability to apply A.R.S. § 28-693(D), while the Sheriff's policy, if unchallenged, would destroy that ability. That must have been the Judge's sole concern, as the defendant had served his sentence, was not a party, and the issue no longer had case-specific importance. The fact that the Judge lost on appeal has no bearing on his right to defend his position. The court of appeals declined to hold the appeal frivolous. Judd, 166 Ariz. at 420, 803 P.2d at 141. We also conclude that the Judge was not simply trying to justify himself but, rather, was defending the court's future power to use the community punishment statute. Assuming, arguendo, that Hurles articulates a correct test, the Judge needed legal representation. Before leaving Hurles, and in light of Justice Corcoran's dissent, further comment is needed. We would never invite warfare between judges and public officials. Nor do we encourage battling judges to enter the trenches as litigants. Post at 19, 864 P.2d at 1051. As noted, the Sheriff's suit against the Judge questioned whether statutory discretion could survive when the Sheriff, without explanation, refused to accept the defendant in the local jail. Although the Judge lost, it is difficult to ascertain why his efforts to defend his jurisdiction to impose community punishment on hardship prisoners should incite such rhetoric. Nor was this judge-initiated litigation. Post at 19, 864 P.2d at 1051. The Sheriff filed the special action against the Judge, alleging that the Judge either had no jurisdiction or exceeded it in directing the Sheriff to incarcerate the defendant in Willcox. Judd, 166 Ariz. at 418, 803 P.2d at 139. We now turn to the Judge's method for obtaining representation.