Appeals Court tosses Santa Cruz County's appeal in Brakey election records case
The Arizona Court of Appeals in Tucson upheld a lower court’s ruling to toss out a lawsuit that Santa Cruz County filed several years ago against a man who requested election records.
In forming a decision, a three-judge appeals panel considered two main items: the county’s appeal after a Pima County Superior Court judge upheld the dismissal of the county’s lawsuit, and a cross-appeal in which John Brakey and his nonprofit organization Audit USA requested that the county cover additional legal fees spent on the case.
The court's opinion, authored by Judge Peter Eckerstrom, states that the county did not bring forward actual controversy or a ripe claim for the case against Brakey and Audit USA. Under Arizona law, a case without those elements is deemed non-justiciable, meaning the matter cannot be decided by a court.
“You have a possibility or a conceivable controversy in the future. And isn’t that just the classic nature of things that courts don’t get involved in?” Eckerstrom said, referring to the county’s suit.
https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/102325_brakey_santa_cruz/appeals-court-tosses-santa-cruz-countys-appeal-brakey-election-records-case/