Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen has finally signed the orders in Abe Hamadeh’s case, according to court sources. After months of waiting on the court system to fulfill a simple procedural task, the attorney general candidate may now exercise his right to appeal.
Jantzen was moved to sign his orders within a day after the Arizona Court of Appeals issued its denial of Hamadeh’s appeal due to prematurity on Wednesday.
Jantzen’s signing comes after months of inaction and several requests from Hamadeh’s team for action dating back to December, as well as urging from the Arizona Supreme Court urging last week. Although the arguably more difficult task of giving out orders was executed, the task of signing those orders to finalize them took months to accomplish.
“The notice of appeal is premature and a nullity because it was filed while the motion for attorney fees was pending and before a final judgment was entered,” stated the appeals court order. “Nothing precludes the appellant from filing a timely notice of appeal after a final judgment is entered.”
In response to the appeals court denial, Hamadeh shared a statement from his grassroots’ support pledging his commitment to continuing the appeal process.
“This was about process. Not merit,” stated the account.
This was about process. Not merit.@AbrahamHamadeh's case will almost certainly go to the Court of Appeals next.
"Arizona Court Rejects Hamadeh’s Appeal As “Premature” Despite Trial Judge Failing To Sign Order." https://t.co/eXbUXVsLgm
— Abe Hamadeh War Room (@AbeWarRoom) August 31, 2023
The delays have caused the case to drag on since February, when final pleadings were issued according to Hamadeh’s team; the Supreme Court in its order determined that the 60-day clock was reset on final pleadings with subsequent filings, which meant Jantzen’s order issued last month met the statutory deadline.
The court system lagging has caused this election contest to go on for nearly 10 months.
The Arizona Daily Independent covered the appeal denial on Wednesday, in which we noted that the Arizona Supreme Court said that Jantzen should sign his orders “forthwith.” No appeal can be pursued with an unsigned order.
Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel also encouraged both parties to behave better in his closing remarks.
“As a final matter, the Court is mindful of the difficulties presented in this extraordinarily close election,” concluded Brutinel. “Notwithstanding these difficulties, the Court advises both sides to focus on the important legal and factual issues presented here and refrain from disparaging their opponents.”
It appears that Brutinel’s remarks apply more heavily to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, based on his taxpayer-funded attorneys’ recent response.
“Petitioners continue to recklessly perpetuate the tired but dangerous narrative that our elections are unreliable and our democracy is withering on the vine,” read the filing. “After the 2022 general election, Arizona is exhausted. We all are.”
Another delay in ensuring a swift contesting of the election results was due to someone with direct oversight of the election.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, while still secretary of state, claimed in the December superior court hearing that the issues raised by Hamadeh’s team had no factual basis. Yet, the Hamadeh legal team was vindicated in its claims when it was discovered shortly afterward that Pinal County miscounted the undervotes — something Hobbs knew and withheld from the record at the time of her testimony.
It was Pinal County’s recount that significantly slashed Mayes’ lead over Hamadeh, nearly in half.
Hobbs claimed that she wasn’t able to divulge Pinal County’s mistake at the time due to a court order, but the order only applied to counties discussing their recount totals.