Maggio’s court gets asphalt theft case

— The theft-of-property case of Faulkner County Administrator Jeff Johnston has been assigned to Circuit Judge Michael Maggio.

The random assignment came at the request of defense attorneys Jeff Rosenzweig and Joe Don Winningham, who argued that the case had been inappropriately taken by then-Circuit Judge Rhonda Wood, who handled mostly cases involving minors.

Wood’s tenure as a circuit judge ended Tuesday, when she joined the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Gov. Mike Beebe appointed former District Judge Amy Brazil as her successor.

Johnston, 37, is accused of paying for a 2008 asphalt project on his private driveway with county money. He has pleaded innocent. He is scheduled for a Jan. 16 pretrial hearing.

Maggio had appeared to be smiling as he sat in a jury gallery and watched an Oct. 10 pretrial hearing in which Wood sanctioned Winningham over an argument he made in the Johnston case. Maggio later said he was not smiling and had his hand over his mouth at the time.

Rosenzweig said Thursday that he and Winningham have “no plans” to ask Maggio to recuse at this time.

“I don’t know what Judge Maggio’s position is going to be” as to whether he will hear the case or decide to recuse, Rosenzweig said.

Prosecuting AttorneyCody Hiland’s office took an arrest warrant to Wood after another judge, Charles E. Clawson Jr., declined to sign it, apparently because Clawson deals with Johnston on budget issues.

Winningham argued at the time that the prosecution should have then taken the warrant to another judge assigned to hear such cases under the 20th Judicial District’s administrative plan, rather than to Wood. Winningham contended that the prosecutor’s office had “handpicked” Wood’s division.

Late last month, however, Wood vacated the sanctions against Winningham and complied with a defense request to order the circuit clerk’s office to make a random assignment to another judge.

The circuit clerk’s office confirmed Thursday that the case had been given to Maggio.

In November, the Arkansas Supreme Court denied a defense request that Johnston’s case be randomly assigned to a judge other than Wood.

Wood said in her order late last month that she still believed her court had jurisdiction in Johnston’s case. She said, however, that she couldnot realistically hear the case before she left for her new role.

Hiland on Thursday repeated previous comments that his office’s focus in the Johnston case is the prosecution of what the state says is theft of property from the county by its county administrator.

Theft of property is a felony that carries a maximum penalty of five to 20 years in prison.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 01/04/2013

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