A Cochise County couple are set to be released from state prison later this month after pleading guilty to abusing four of their adoptive children between 2016 and 2018. Yet a lawsuit filed by those abused children against their parents and others is nowhere near getting to a trial.
Brian C. Campbell and Monica L. Campbell were sentenced in January 2021 to serve three years following their convictions on four counts of domestic violence child abuse – one count for each of the named victims.
The Arizona Department of Corrections website show both are due to be released Aug. 18 to begin a term of community supervision, commonly known as parole.
It is possible they will know before their release whether a federal judge grants their motion $26,000 in attorney fees for what the parents argue was the inclusion in the children’s lawsuit of several federal constitutional claims the Campbells contend qualify as “frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.”
The lawsuit included claims on behalf of the four children under both federal law and Arizona law. U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash ruled in February 2022 that it would be best for the state law claims to be considered separately.
As a result, he sent the rest of the lawsuit’s claims to a state court for consideration.
Rash then dismissed the State of Arizona and the director of the Department of Child Safety from the federal lawsuit in June 2022. This left Brian and Monica Campbell as well as Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, one of his former deputies, and Cochise County as the defendants in the federal case.
The Campbells were dismissed in February of this year, while some claims against the Cochise County defendants were also dismissed. On March 31, the children’s attorneys asked Rash to dismiss the outstanding federal claims.
The same day, attorneys for the Campbells filed a motion seeking to have the children reimburse $26,075 the parents contend it cost them to defend against the federal claims. They argue those claims were “without merit.”
Court records show no such requests from the State or Cochise County.
Rash has yet to rule on the Campbells’ motion. Even though the parents prevailed against the federal claims, the judge has discretion on awarding all or part of the request.
In the meantime, the state claims contained in the lawsuit are assigned to Judge Danielle Viola of the Maricopa County Superior Court. No hearings are currently scheduled in the case, but attorneys for the State and for Cochise County are expected to soon file a motion to dismiss the case.
Their legal argument, as in the federal court, will center on government immunity for any potentially actionable conduct or decisions.
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