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Bundgaard hearing an unethical waste of time

Bundgaard hearing an unethical waste of time

There is no need to hold today’s scheduled ethics hearing into the conduct of state Sen. Scott Bundgaard, who last year got into a scuffle with his then-girlfriend on the side of the road.

The “ethics," or lack of them, is clear.

Unless you're a politician.

Politics is the processs by which politicians take something that is simple and transform it into something too complex for ordinary people (as well as other politicians) to understand.

For example, the ethics hearing involving state Bundgaard.

Last February, Bundgaard got into a physical altercation with then-girlfrien Aubry Ballard on the side of State Route 51.

It seemed at first like a typical he said she said incident. At least until investigators spoke to witnesses and decided that Ballard was a victim.

Before that occured the chivalrous Bundgaard watched as Ballard was hauled off to jail while he asserted his get-out-of-jail card as a member of the legislature that was in session.

According to the police who investigated the incident, Bundgaard was the aggressor in the incident, something that he denies.

Still, he later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor endangerment charge in order to avoid prosecution on reckless assault and endangerment.

The Arizona State Senate has its own standards for ethical behavior, however…

(I know. I was shocked by this revelation as well. Who would have thunk it?)

Because of that, Bundgaard will face what amounts to a political trial in front of a senate ethics committee that could recommend his removal from office.

Bundgaard tried to get a court to prevent the hearing from happening, but he lost.

So beginning this morning a hearing will be convened and there will be witnesses and experts and arguments and testimonials and so on.

The process will provide plenty of material for hacks like me, while wasting plenty of time among lawmakers and costing taxpayers a bunch of money.

And for what?

It's completely unnecessary.

When the Bundgaard mess first came to light, one of senator’s Republican colleagues, the ethics committee chairman Sen. Ron Gould, stated the case against Bundgaard in the most simple, convincing and succinct terms.

He said: "Getting in a fistfight with your girlfriend on the side of the freeway is behavior unbecoming a senator.”

Done.

Case closed.

In a world where common sense mattered, that would be the end of it.

But we don't live in that world.

Where we live there will be a hearing with lawyers and politicians during which a fairly simple offense – getting in a fistfight with your girlfriend – will become a ridiculously complicated matter in which Bundgaard tries to keep his office and elected officials on both sides try to score points.

The only person who will suffer from the process is the one person who deserves it least:

Aubry Ballard.

From the very beginning she has wanted nothing more than to put the ugly incident behind her.

That's what she told me shortly after the charges against her were dropped and she was released from jail.

The scrapes and bruises she'd received in the altercation were still fresh.

“I wish I had a remote control so that I could fast-forward six months," Ballard told me back then. "If I ever get past this and reach a point where I can date again, it will really be tough. He'll have to get past my dad. There will be background checks."

Those six months have stretched into nearly a year and it's still not over for her. Ballard never wanted to be a public figure. She got dragged into it. Literally, according to some of the witnesses.

Her boss told me last year, "It's important for people to know that this is a wonderful person. That's why we find what happened to her so shocking. Knowing Aubry and working with her every day. She is just a really nice, really classy woman."

Bundgaard tried to paint Ballard as the aggressor. It's his only defense. Blame the woman.

In the end, however, the “ethics” of this is simple.

Getting into a fistfight with your girlfriend on the side of the freeway is behavior unbecoming a senator.

Bundgaard hearing not going so well (for Bundgaard)

Bundgaard hearing not going so well (for Bundgaard)

Attending the Scott Bundgaard ethics trial this morning and it's almost surreal. Five eyewitnesses have testified, including an off-duty Phoenix police officer, and every one has nailed the senator as the agressor.

Said one: "He looked like he was trying to drag the person out of the vehicle. All i saw was his arms flailing, just swinging at whoever was in the car."

Said another: "He turned her around and started shaking her violently."

And yet another: "He reached in and he grabbed the woman and he aggressively was pulling her out of the car."

Bundgaard's attorney: "Define aggressive."

Team Bundgaard had better mount a stronger defense than what we have so far seen.

Meanwhile, the recommendation put before the committee is to expel the guy. If that happens (which would take a two-thirds majority of the Senate), he would be the first legislator given the boot since the early 1990s, when Sen. Carolyn Walker of Azscam fame got the old heave ho.

Bundgaard hearing: 4 officers say they smelled alcohol

Bundgaard hearing: 4 officers say they smelled alcohol

by Alia Beard Rau - Jan. 5, 2012 04:09 PM

Arizona Republic

Four law enforcement officers on Thursday testified that they smelled alcohol on Sen. Scott Bundgaard's breath at the scene of a February altercation alongside a Phoenix freeway.

The two Phoenix police officers and a sergeant kicked off the afternoon of testimony during the Senate Ethics Committee hearing for Bundgaard, who faces allegations of unethical conduct related to the incident.

All three Phoenix officers said Bundgaard, R-Peoria, claimed legislative immunity. If he hadn't, the officers said they would have arrested him on suspicion of domestic violence assault. One of the officers and the sergeant said they also could have arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence.

"If Bundgaard hadn't evoked legislative immunity, he would have been taken into custody," Officer Terry Graber said. "He would have been charged with domestic violence assault and possibly DUI."

Graber said there was suspicion of DUI based on the smell of alcohol on Bundgaard's breath, parking his vehicle in an unsafe location on the freeway and becoming "progressively more angry during the investigation."

An officer with the Department of Public Safety also testified earlier Thursday that he had smelled alcohol on Bundgaard after the Feb. 25 altercation with Bundgaard's then-girlfriend Aubry Ballard.

The hearing, which attorneys on both sides have described as a trial, will likely go into Friday. More than 20 witnesses may be called, and 77 separate pieces of evidence have been introduced.

Michael Liburdi, an independent counsel for the committee, said in his opening arguments that prosecutors will recommend that Bundgaard be expelled from the Senate. Such a decision would have to be voted on by the full chamber.

Liburdi alleged that Bundgaard not only assaulted Ballard, but put her, himself, law enforcement and other vehicles in danger by pulling over on the left side of the freeway too close to the HOV lane. He alleged that Bundgaard declared legislative immunity, which he has the right to do, but then later lied about doing so to media and members of the Legislature.

"The committee will have no other choice but to conclude that Sen. Bundgaard failed to accept responsibility for his actions and that Sen. Bundgaard failed to maintain the integrity of the Arizona state Senate," Liburdi said. "Sen. Bundgaard has blamed others. He has blamed the victim, he has blamed police, and he has even blamed this committee. The time has come for this committee and the Arizona state Senate to uphold the integrity of this institution and hold Sen. Bundgard accountable."

Librudi said it's not right for anyone, not even a state senator to "assault another person in the middle of a busy freeway ... to endanger the lives of public servants ... to manipulate and spin the facts for their own personal gain while destroying the reputations of others."

Bundgaard's attorney Andre Merrett in his opening remarks reminded the committee that there are two sides to every story and asked the five senators to consider the evidence fairly and impartially.

"Sen. Bundgaard does not dispute that an unfortunate event happened, and those events gave rise to these proceedings. Sen. Bundgaard clearly made a mistake," Merrett said. "He regrets trying to physically remove Ms. Ballard from his vehicle and that Ms. Ballard suffered some lacerations and bruising from his effort."

But Merrett said the committee must consider Bundgaard's mental state, which only Bundgaard knows and which he will testify to.

"He will explain what he was thinking and why he didn't intentionally harm Ms. Ballard, why he didn't recklessly harm Ms. Ballard, why he didn't knowingly harm Ms. Ballard," he said. "Sen. Bundgaard is not guilty of a violation of state law and therefore is not subject to disciplinary action."

During the afternoon testimony, Officer Randall Patterson said Bundgaard told him that he and Ballard had gotten into an argument because Ballard was jealous that Bundgaard had danced with another woman at the charity event they had left. He said that Ballard had thrown some items out of the car and he had stopped to pick them up. Patterson said Bundgaard told him that Ballard had gotten out of the car, and he was trying to put her back in the car.

"He said he was trying to keep her from jumping out of the car while it was moving," Patterson said.

Patterson said Bundgaard was asked as standard procedure if he had a weapon in the car. Bundgaard said he did, and police secured the weapon. Graber said the gun was found on the back seat floorboard under some clothing. All three officers said Bundgaard never reported that Ballard had touched or reached for the weapon in any way during their altercation.

"If he had said that, that would be the sort of detail we would note," Patterson said. "That's a very serious crime."

Sgt. Robert Rodarme said Bundgaard had asked the DPS officer if he could speak with a supervisor and so Rodarme went over to speak with him.

"He immediately said, 'I demand you take these handcuffs off. I'm state Senator Scott Bundgaard. Under Article 4 of the Constitution you can't detain me. When the Legislature's in session I'm immune from arrest, which it currently is,'" Rodarme said.

Rodarme said he was positive that Bundgaard used the word "demand" but said he was not belligerent about it. Rodarme said at that point he contacted the department's on-duty attorney and was told Bundgaard did have immunity from arrest.

Rodarme also said he smelled alcohol on Bundgaard's breath and asked him how much he had to drink that night. He said Bundgaard told him he had nothing at all to drink. He said Bundgaaard refused to take a field sobriety or a portable breath test. He testified that the only thing that stopped Bundgaard from being arrested on suspicion of DUI that night was his declaration of immunity.

During the morning testimony, DPS Officer Robert Olshaskie said he had arrived at the scene after both Ballard and Bundgaard had been put in handcuffs. Olshaskie said he put Bundgaard into the back of his patrol vehicle and drove him to a nearby park for further questioning.

"I could smell an odor of alcoholic beverage coming from his person," Olshaskie said, later describing it as a "moderate odor" but saying he didn't know if Bundgaard was impaired by the alcohol.

Merrett asked Olshaskie why, if he smelled alcohol, he did not mention that in his original police report. Olshaskie said he did fail to include that in the report, but he is sure he smelled it. Olshaskie said Bundgaard did not identify himself as a state senator while on the side of the freeway or in the patrol car, but did once they got to the second location.

"He said 'I'm an Arizona state senator and per the Arizona state Constitution, you can no longer detain me,'" he said.

He also said Bundgaard had a red mark on the right side of his face near his eye.

Thursday morning's witness testimony focused on several individuals who saw parts of the altercation while driving northbound along State Road 51 near Shea Boulevard.

Witness Carol Carpenter said she saw a man believed to be Bundgaard pull off the left side of the freeway and park partially in the HOV lane. She said she saw him fling open the passenger side door, grab a woman and aggressively pull her out of the car.

"The car was pulled over on a very unsafe place on the freeway," Carpenter said. "Traffic was speeding by. The passenger door was open. Any car coming in that lane could have struck the door, the car, the man standing outside the door."

Carpenter did not call 911 immediately, but contacted police about what she saw about a month later.

Witness Linda Ann Calleja said she saw a man believed to be Bundgaard standing outside the car on the passenger side "trying to pull whoever was in the passenger seat out."

"He looked like he was trying to drag the person out of the vehicle. I saw his arms swinging at whoever was in the car," Calleja said. "It looked like he was beating the living crap out of whoever was in the car."

Calleja said she called police three or four days later, after her mom saw a TV report that Silent Witness was looking for witnesses.

Merrett asked her if she was sure she saw what she said she did, considering that not even Ballard contends there were punches thrown. Calleja said she stands by what she saw.

Off-duty Phoenix Police Department Sgt. Rich Maiocco was driving by with his family. He said he saw what was believed to be Bundgaard standing next to the passenger side door, his arms "moving quickly." He said he saw what looked like punches or pulling and then saw a woman come out of the car and land on the ground on her hands and knees.

"It looked like someone was getting their ass kicked," Maiocco said.

He said he called 911 right away but did not stop for various reasons, including that he did not have his uniform, weapon or emergency lights and his family was in the car with him.

Witness Victoria Babbitt testified that as she drove by on the freeway, she saw a man believed to be Bundgaard standing outside the vehicle reach in and pull a woman out of the car.

"He had her kind of by the bicep or tricep area on each of her arms and started shaking her violently," Babbitt said.

She said she saw Bundgaard pull Ballard through the car on the driver's side.

"He turned her around so her back was to the concrete median and was shaking and shaking and shaking her," she said. "I saw her hit the median. That's when I grabbed my phone. I called 911. I was concerned for her safety. I was freaking out."

Bundgaard attorney Shawn Aiken questioned Babbitt about whether she really saw Ballard being pulled out of the driver's side. Previous witnesses reported seeing her pulled out of the passenger side. Babbitt said she was sure of what she saw.

Independent counsel Kory Langhofer said they will show that "Bundgaard pulled (Ballard) from the passenger side and threw her into the HOV lane, then later on came back and pulled her from the driver side and threw her into the median."

Senator Scott Bundgaard sounds like a real jerk!!!!!

Bundgaard hearing: Ex-girlfriend recounts roadside fight, calls for expulsion

by Alia Beard Rau - Jan. 5, 2012 10:00 PM

Arizona Republic

Aubry Ballard says that while lawmakers will ultimately decide Sen. Scott Bundgaard's fate, she thinks they should expel the Peoria Republican from the Arizona Senate.

Bundgaard faces allegations of unethical conduct related to his actions during and after an altercation with Ballard, his girlfriend at the time, alongside an Arizona freeway.

The Senate Ethics Committee's hearing into those actions got under way Thursday and will continue today.

Thursday's testimony included Ballard, witnesses to the Feb. 25 altercation and officers who responded to the scene.

Bundgaard is expected to testify today.

Michael Liburdi, an independent counsel for the committee, said he will recommend that the five- member panel move to expel Bundgaard from the Senate. The full chamber would have to vote on such a decision.

Liburdi alleged that Bundgaard not only assaulted Ballard, but put her, himself, law enforcement and other drivers in danger by pulling over on the freeway partly in the HOV lane.

He alleged that Bundgaard declared legislative immunity, which he has the right to do, but then later lied about doing so to media and lawmakers.

"The committee will have no other choice but to conclude that Senator Bundgaard failed to accept responsibility for his actions and that Senator Bundgaard failed to maintain the integrity of the Arizona state Senate," Liburdi said.

Bundgaard's attorney, Andre Merrett, said Bundgaard does not dispute "that an unfortunate event happened," but asked the committee to consider Bundgaard's mental state.

"He will explain what he was thinking and why he didn't intentionally harm Ms. Ballard, why he didn't recklessly harm Ms. Ballard, why he didn't knowingly harm Ms. Ballard," Merrett said. "Senator Bundgaard is not guilty of a violation of state law and therefore is not subject to disciplinary action."

Police testified that Bundgaard smelled of alcohol the night of Feb. 25 and refused sobriety tests.

He told police he had not had anything to drink. Both an officer and a sergeant said the only reason they did not arrest Bundgaard was because he claimed legislative immunity.

"He would have been charged with domestic violence assault and possibly DUI," Phoenix Officer Terry Graber said.

Witnesses testified to seeing Bundgaard shaking Ballard, throwing her to the ground in the HOV lane of Arizona 51 and possibly hitting her.

"He looked like he was trying to drag the person out of the vehicle. I saw his arms swinging at whoever was in the car," Linda Ann Calleja said. "It looked like he was beating the living crap out of whoever was in the car."

Bundgaard had previously told media that Ballard had attacked him and he was just trying to stop her.

Ballard told her side of the story Thursday afternoon.

She described two separate incidents in which she claimed Bundgaard hit her during their seven-month relationship, the first on New Year's Eve 2010 and the second on Feb. 25.

Ballard said she first met Bundgaard at a legislative media conference in early 2010.

Following a New Year's Eve party where they both were drinking, Ballard said the couple got into an argument at his home. During that disagreement, she said, he grabbed her throat and pushed her against a wall, and then picked her up and threw her out the door.

"He kind of flipped," Ballard said. "I was afraid."

After the incident, Bundgaard promised to get counseling. She blamed the alcohol. Ballard never reported the incident to police. They stayed together. He never got counseling, she said.

"At the time I made an excuse for it," Ballard said. "I look back now and think, 'What was I thinking?'"

On Feb. 25, Ballard went to a fundraiser with Bundgaard and his family. On the way home, Ballard and Bundgaard got into another argument.

"He flipped out and said f-word, f-word and hit me twice in the chest," Ballard said, demonstrating a closed-fist hit.

Ballard said she slapped him in the face with the back of her open hand. She said she reached for her cellphone to call for help and Bundgaard threw it out the window. She said he slammed on his brakes and stopped in the middle of the HOV lane to look for her phone. She said Bundgaard pulled her out of the car and threw her on the ground.

"All I could think of was we're going to die out here on this freeway," she said. "He was so angry. I remember praying, saying, 'God, please help me.'"

She said he later shook her, bent her fingers back and shoved her against the freeway median.

Bundgaard had a gun in his car, which he typically carried. Several days after the incident, Bundgaard told lawmakers that Ballard had reached for the gun during the incident.

On Thursday, Ballard said she never touched it and never brandished it at Bundgaard.

When police arrived at the scene, they put both Bundgaard and Ballard in handcuffs and took custody of Bundgaard's gun. Both Ballard and Bundgaard had bruises and marks on their bodies.

Ballard's testimony Thursday differed at several points from what she told police at the time of the incident -- such as the extent of the physical confrontation. She said she didn't want to tell police everything then because "I was worrying about Scott's image."

Phoenix Sgt. Robert Rodarme testified that Bundgaard demanded to talk to a supervisor at the scene, and then told Rodarme, "I demand you take these handcuffs off. I'm state Senator Scott Bundgaard. Under Article 4 of the Constitution, you can't detain me. When the Legislature's in session I'm immune from arrest, which it currently is."

Police conferred with their attorneys, who told them that was the case. They released Bundgaaard.

Police arrested Ballard, and she spent 17 hours in jail. She was later released, and prosecutors did not file charges against her.

Prosecutors did charge Bundgaard with misdemeanor assault and reckless endangerment, and he later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor endangerment.

State Sen. Scott Bundgaard resigns from Legislature

State Sen. Scott Bundgaard resigns from Legislature

by Alia Beard Rau, Mary Jo Pitzl and Mary K. Reinhart

Jan. 6, 2012 04:05 PM

The Arizona Republic

Peoria Sen. Scott Bundgaard abruptly resigned from the Arizona Senate on Friday, shortly before he would have been called before the Senate Ethics Committee to defend his actions in a Feb. 25 altercation with a then-girlfriend.

The resignation came as a surprise to the committee as well as to Bundgaard's attorneys. Bundgaard delivered the resignation letter to the office of Senate President-elect Steve Pierce during the five-member committee's lunch break.

Bundgaard left the Capitol before the news was announced, but in his letter to Pierce, he said, "It has been my honor and pleasure to serve the people of Legislative District Four for the past year ... My years of service in the Arizona State Legislature have been some of the most profoundly satisfying of my life."

The short letter gives no indication as to why Bundgaard chose to resign abruptly.

Pierce issued a statement saying he is accepting Bundgaard's resignation.

"I believe Scott did what was best for himself and his family, and for the state Senate as well," Pierce said. "I appreciate his service to the Arizona State Legislature and respect what I know was a difficult decision for him. I am hopeful we can put this distraction to rest and start the upcoming legislative session with our full focus on working for the people of this great state."

The session starts Monday.

The ethics committee on Thursday heard testimony from Bundgaard's former girlfriend Aubry Ballard as well as several witnesses and law enforcement who responded to the altercation alongside a Phoenix freeway.

Their combined testimony painted a picture of a possibly intoxicated Bundgaard getting into an argument in his car that night and parking dangerously on the side of State Route 51, partly in the HOV lane. During the argument, witnesses said he hit Ballard, yanked her from the car into the HOV lane and shook her.

Ballard testified to hitting Bundgaard once that night. Ballard also testified that Bundgaard had choked and thrown her during an argument two months before the Feb. 25 incident, after both had been drinking New Year's Eve. She did not report that incident to police.

Ballard issued a statement following news of Bundgaard's resignation, saying she was eager to put "this unfortunate assault in the past and get on with my life."

She thanked Phoenix police, the ethics committee, witnesses and attorneys "for their diligence and their compassion."

"Together with my family and friends, I believe it's now truly possible to move forward in a positive direction," Ballard said.

Phoenix attorney Michael Manning, who is representing Ballard, said she has no plans to pursue a lawsuit against Bundgaard "if he stops saying things about her that aren't true."

"A lot depends on whether now-ex-Sen. Bundgaard intends to slander her or damage her reputation in the media," he said. "If that happens, there surely will be a lawsuit."

On Friday, two Arizona State University professors offered expert testimony as to the typical behaviors of a domestic violence abuser.

Bundgaard had consistently said he was looking forward to his chance to tell his side of the story, but weeks before the hearing was to begin, he filed an unsuccessful lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court to stop it.

Ethics committee member Sen. David Schapira, D-Tempe, said it was unfortunate the matter had to take so much of the Senate's time over the past year.

"Before he was subject to sitting on the stand and taking our questions, he chose to resign," Schapira said.

He said it was a shame the events distracted the Senate from doing the more important jobs of bringing Arizona jobs and revitalizing the state's economy.

"It's unfortunate it had to go this far," he said.

Sen. Ron Gould, the ethics committee chairman, said he's relieved the issue is resolved and called it a good day for Arizona.

"I'm glad that Sen. Bundgaard did the right thing," said Gould, R-Lake Havasu City.

Like others, Gould said it's good the matter has been resolved before Monday's start of the session.

"I think he's done all of us a favor," Gould said.

If the committee had been permitted to consider the ethics complaint, they could have voted to dismiss it or asked the full Senate to consider punishment that ranged from a letter of reprimand to expulsion.

Bundgaard's attorney Shawn Aiken said Bundgaard made the decision over the lunch break, but couldn't say why.

"We didn't have a chance to put our case on," Aiken said. "We had other witnesses, other testimony. There would ave been important points of disagreement in his own testimony."

But Aiken said the writing was on the wall, and they felt that the committee would have sought expulsion regardless of the defense's testimony or Bundgaard's comments.

"Three members already expressed their desire to have him resign," Aiken said. "It would have been at least a 3-2 vote, maybe worse."

Senate leaders on Friday polled members on whether they would vote to expel Bundgaard; reportedly, there was support to do so.

Kory Langhofer, the independent counsel representing the ethics committee, agreed with Aiken's assertion, but said the outcome would have been because of the evidence.

"The result would have been clear," Langhofer said. "Resignation was a great decision."

He theorized that Bundgaard may have waited until the last minute to resign so he could see how strong the evidence against him was.

"Mr. Bundgaard had a strategy to discredit the victim, but he couldn't do that with all these independent witnesses," Langhofer said. "His defense collapsed."

During Friday's testimony, ASU law professor Sarah Buel, a clinical professor with an expertise in domestic violence, told the committee she had reviewed the police reports, photographs and attorney interviews of witnesses in the Bundgaard case.

"These offenses were extremely serious," Buel said. "I'm very pleased to see our elected officials taking it seriously and holding this hearing."

She said there are several factors in this case that implicate the reputation of the Arizona Legislature.

"Over and over again in reviewing incident reports, subsequent interviews and statements from Sen. Bundgaard, there was such a great discrepancy that I could not come to any conclusion other than that he was not truthful with law enforcement," she said. "That cannot be a position that is justified by this great Legislature. That does implicate the integrity and honesty of this institution."

She said she was also troubled by Bundgaard's willingness to evoke his legislative immunity to avoid arrest, and then his lying about it later. Bundgaard has denied evoking immunity. Three law enforcement witnesses testified Thursday that he had done so.

The replacement process is triggered when a lawmaker officially resigns. After that, Republican precinct committee members in Bundgaard's District 4 must meet to recommend three possible replacements to serve out the remainder of his term.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will choose his replacement from their recommendations.

State Rep. Judy Burges, R-Sun City West, is likely to be one of the candidates to replace Bundgaard for the 2012 session. She represents the district and has indicated she would run for the Senate seat this summer.

Bundgaard has resigned

Bundgaard has resigned

Update: Just mnutes before he was to take the stand, Sen. Scott Bundgaard has resigned.

Lots of DPS officers around all of the sudden. Not sure what that's about.

Update: Hearing's been halted. Looks like Bundgaard may have resigned. Stay tuned.

Day two of Scott Bundgaard's Senate ethics hearing. The senator is expected to testify this afternoon.

Given the events of yesterday -- five eyewitnesses who testified that he was the aggressor, four police officers who said he invoked immunity and then Aubry Ballard's stunner, that he put his hands on her throat, shoved her up against a wall and then threw her out of his house during a date on New Year's Eve 2010 -- I am wondering if there is anything he can say to avoid the political equivalent of the death penalty.

I posed the question on my Facebook page, in case anybody wanted to offer the beleaguered senator some advice.

"Let's face it, he should lie under oath, I honestly don't know what else he can do," Terri said.

David suggested that he offer just two words: "I quit."

"Russell Pearce made me do it," offered DJ.

Then there's my favorite, from Stephen.... "He meant blah?"

What do you think...any ideas forhow Bundgaard saves himself?

Bundgaard did the right thing -- finally

Bundgaard did the right thing -- finally

It will go down as one of the political curiosities of our time.

In the end, Scott Bundgaard's political career was killed by his own big mouth and his abject refusal to take a detour into reality and accept the consequencies of his actions.

Had he done so 10 months ago, he would still be a senator.

Instead his steadfast refusat to bow to the facts led to a hearing at which testimomy was just too damming to overcome. The Arizona Senate would have had no choice but to expel him and so finally -- just moments before he was to take the stand -- he did the decent thing and resigned.

Now I hope he takes one more step and gets himself some help. I really do.

RIP: Scott Bundgaard (and get help)

RIP: Scott Bundgaard (and get help)

The Bundgaard Chronicles, Chapter 315: In which we observe a moment of silence for the passing of a political career.

Sen. Scott Bundgaard, done in by arrogance, self-inflicted stupidity and a bizarre delusional detour from reality – one that threatened to put his colleagues in an uncomfortably snug box.

The dearly departed had been on life support for 315 days, ever since the fight in the middle of a freeway in the middle of a February night. On Friday, Bundgaard finally pulled the plug, resigning just minutes before he was to take the stand to correct the “parade of misinformation” that he has long claimed has followed the freeway fracas.

Ten months ago, he might have survived with a spanking had he just owned up and gone to rehab like any other self respecting public figure who finds himself in hot water. Instead, Bundgaard unleased the instrument of his own destruction: his big mouth. That, and his apparent inability to see himself as anything but the victim in this tawdry tale.

And so he proceeded on with the old it's-all her-fault defense, followed by the media’s-out-get-me defense capped off by the I-can’t-get-a-fair-shake defense, digging his grave ever deeper.

We witnessed Bundgaard's last gasps this week as no fewer than five eye witnesses testified that he was the aggressor once the Feb. 25 fight spilled out onto the freeway. This, despite his self portrayed gallantry, the innocent guy out to protect his drunk girlfriend from herself.

Then came four police officers who testified that he invoked immunity, despite his insistence that that he had done no such thing. Among them was Sgt. Robert Rodarme, who recounted for the TV cameras Bundgaard's words that night: "He immediately said, 'I demand you take these handcuffs off. I'm state Sen. Scott Bundgaard and under Article 4 of the state Constitution you cannot detain me."

Whatever happened, that was going to leave a mark.

But then came the final nail in the senator’s coffin: Aubry Ballard took the stand. She was precise, she was credible and she delivered a bombshell: Bundgaard had knocked her around nearly two months before the freeway fight, during the wee hours of their New Year’s 2011 celebration.

"At some point, I remember him kind of flipping. It got to the point where he had put his hand on my throat and pushed me up against a wall.... and then he proceeded to throw me out the door. I landed on my back and my head."

Once she spoke, Scott Bundgaard's political career flatlined. It just took another day for the body to stop twitching.

It will be one of the enduring political curiosities of our time that Bundgaard allowed this week’s hearing to go forward, knowing what the evidence would show. Why put yourself through this ordeal, knowing what would come out? Unless, of course, you believed that your colleagues had your back.

I’d like to believe the hearing served as an intervention of sorts for Bundgaard, that he has seen the light and will get the help that he clearly needs.

I’d like to but I don’t. For one thing, he’s presumably already gone through counseling because his misdemeanor endangerment conviction is due to be expunged from his record next month. And already there was talk Friday from his legal team that he quit because knew the Ethics Committee was stacked against him.

More likely, he resigned because somebody served as the Goldwater to his Nixon and advised him that it was over.

To believe Bundgaard, you would have to believe that five witnesses – strangers who had never even heard of Scott Bundgaard -- lied. And that four police officers from two agencies lied. You would have to believe that not only did Ballard lie but so did her friend who testified that Ballard had called her shortly after the New Year's 2011 attack. A friend who happens to be a Phoenix vice cop, by the way.

By allowing this hearing to go forward, Bundgaard put his colleagues into a box. Surely the Senate would have expelled him, given Thursday’s damming testimony. Some things, after all, transcend politics.

It is or should be an inviolate axiom of Arizona politics: The hand that wraps around a woman’s throat cannot be the hand the writes laws for the rest of us to follow.

Our leaders would have expelled him, wouldn’t they?

Bundgaard resigns from Senate amid ethics hearings

Bundgaard resigns from Senate amid ethics hearings

Posted: Friday, January 6, 2012 2:16 pm

Associated Press

PHOENIX - Sen. Scott Bundgaard resigned from the Arizona Legislature on Friday, stepping down shortly before he would have testified to the Senate Ethics Committee on whether he should be disciplined for a February domestic incident involving a former girlfriend.

The resignation ends an ethics case that could have resulted in a recommendation that the full Senate issue a letter of reprimand, formally censure Bundgaard or expel him.

Bundgaard's ex-girlfriend, Aubry Ballard, testified Thursday that he struck her twice and threw her cellphone out the window while they drove and then stopped on a Phoenix freeway and pulled her out of his car.

Ballard said she reacted to being hit in the chest by slapping Bundgaard in the face. Both had cuts and bruises after the Feb. 25 confrontation, she said.

Ballard testified that the confrontation followed an argument over his decision to take dancing lessons while failing to take the time to get counseling for a previous physical altercation.

Bundgaard wasn't arrested at the scene because he claimed legislative immunity, which bars arrests of lawmakers for most charges while the Legislature is in session.

Phoenix police officers testified Thursday that he demanded to be released from handcuffs after they detained him and reeked of alcohol but refused field sobriety tests. He also bluntly denied drinking, a sergeant testified - a statement the sergeant said he "absolutely" didn't believe.

Bundgaard would have been arrested on possible domestic violence charges and suspicion of DUI if not for the immunity law, the sergeant and an officer testified.

Bundgaard has denied assaulting Ballard. He later pleaded no contest Aug. 16 to a misdemeanor endangerment charge under a plea agreement. It included dismissal of an assault charge and a requirement that he get domestic violence counseling.

The incident prompted fellow Senate Republicans to replace Bundgaard as Senate majority leader in March.

Bundgaard, a Peoria Republican, wrote Friday in his brief letter to the Senate president that he was resigning "with deep regret." He didn't specifically mention the ethics proceeding or the confrontation with Ballard.

Senate Majority Leader Andy Biggs, a retired attorney and an Ethics Committee member, said evidence presented during the hearing was "pretty damaging." Bundgaard clearly wanted to tell his side of the story but he seemed to have concluded he couldn't recover politically, Biggs said.

Bundgaard attorney Andre Merrett told the committee on Thursday that his client regretted his role in the altercation but shouldn't be punished by the Senate because he never intended to harm Ballard or put her at risk.

But the lawyers serving as the committee's independent counsels said expulsion would be warranted because Bundgaard assaulted Ballard and lied to police and others about his actions and claimed legislative immunity.

"In this case, you not only have domestic violence, you've got obstruction of justice," attorney Cory Langhofer said Friday, following Bundgaard's resignation. "Expulsion would have been the only appropriate remedy."

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will appoint a replacement to fill the Senate vacancy. The replacement must be a Republican.

Bundgaard was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1994 and the state Senate in 1996, serving there for six years before staging an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House in 2002.

Following the congressional campaign, then-President George W. Bush appointed him to the White House Commission for Presidential Scholars and the Presidential Scholars Foundation Board. Bundgaard returned to the Senate in 2011.

Bundgaard didn't immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment on Friday. He was to have testified in the afternoon, but the hearing was halted after a lunch break when Merrett told the committee that further proceedings weren't necessary.

Another Bundgaard attorney, Shawn Aiken, later said his client decided during the break to resign. Aiken said he believed the hearings were going well considering the defense hadn't yet put on its case.

Ballard said she hoped Bundgaard's resignation would allow her to put the "unfortunate assault in the past and to get on" with her life. A statement she issued through a publicist thanked law enforcement officials and the committee.

Bundgaard's resignation was the best move for him, his family and the Senate, said Senate President-designate Steve Pierce. It eliminated what would have been a distraction at the beginning of the Legislature's 2012 session, he said.

The resignation also shows that the Senate holds its members to account, said Sen. Steve Gallardo, a Phoenix Democrat.

"No one is above the law," he added.

Scott Bundgaard files $10 million claim against Phoenix

Scott Bundgaard files $10 million claim against Phoenix

by Mary Jo Pitzl - Jun. 29, 2012 10:25 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

Former state Sen. Scott Bundgaard is seeking $10 million in damages from the city of Phoenix, alleging the city bungled his arrest and investigation stemming from a freeway fight with his ex-girlfriend 16 months ago.

In a notice of claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, Bundgaard, a Peoria Republican, alleges Phoenix police withheld reports of the February 2011 event and colluded with the state Senate's Ethics Committee as it examined a complaint against him. That left him with little choice but to resign rather than be expelled from the Legislature, Bundgaard said in an interview Friday.

He also disputed police reports that stated he claimed legislative immunity from arrest. Rather, he said, he noted his status as a state senator when he couldn't immediate locate his driver's license after police started investigating the scene along the Piestewa Freeway.

"I did not assert that I was immune from arrest," Bundgaard wrote in the 29-page notice. "On the night of Feb. 25, 2011, I was clear-headed and compliant, patiently enduring the chaos, waiting for all of these officers to realize that I was the one who was assaulted by an irrational, intoxicated woman."

City of Phoenix spokesman Jon Brodsky said the city had no comment, adding that the notice arrived late Friday and that the city's Law Department had not had time to review it.

In the complaint, Bundgaard alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of his civil rights, gross negligence, negligent supervision and violations of public-records law.

Bundgaard alleges the police flipped their narrative of the event, turning him from a victim to a perpetrator. He blamed this on "selective and biased after-the-fact internal reporting" fueledby a bias that females are al- ways the victims in domestic-violence cases.

A recent audit of the Police Department's Family Investigations Bureau showed "serious violations" of case-management policy and procedures, his attorney, Suzanne Dallimore, said in the complaint. That added to concerns that police were biased in their handling of the case, she wrote.

In the interview, Bundgaard said his suspicions that he was being set up crystallized this January when he saw the police investigator who handled the case sitting next to the prosecutors at his ethics hearing.

"She was acting out of the scope of her job duties," he said of Phoenix Police Detective Bryn Ray. "She was orchestrating (the ethics prosecution) from the bench."

Bundgaard resigned his Senate seat on Jan. 6, saying it was clear "the fix was in" and he would not get a fair shake from the panel. Earlier, Senate GOP leaders told him his colleagues had lost faith in him and indicated he would likely be expelled if it came to a vote of the full Senate.

It was better to leave on his own terms, Bundgaard said, than to be expelled.

He added that he's seeking significant damages to compensate for his significant losses, saying he was destroyed personally and professionally.

"My political career is over, ruined," he said. He said he lost three jobs, counting his legislative job, as a result.

The complaint includes 11 pages of Bundgaard's account of the events of the freeway fight.

The complaint names former Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, former Police Chief Jack Harris, Detective Ray and other police officers, as well as publicist David Leibowitz, who worked on a contract basis for Gordon.

Bundgaard just doesn't know when to quit

Bundgaard just doesn't know when to quit

Ex-Senate Majority Leader Scott Bundgaard has filed a $10 million notice of claim with the city of Phoenix. It seems he's a victim, set up by the Phoenix Police Department after his now-infamous freeway fight with his now-ex girlfriend one Friday night in February 2011.

The notice of claim is a sight to behold, 40 pages of grievances -- for violating his civil rights, for negligence, for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress and all manner of insult. One would think this guy was Mary Rose Wilcox. (Though, to be fair, she really was a victim and even then, she didn't ask for $10 mil.)

Bundgaard is sticking to his previous insistence that he never invoked legislative immunity on the night his girlfriend was taken away in handcuffs while he went home to his comfy bed. He also says that the police department altered its reports and generally conspired to make him out to be "the perpetrator, rather than the victim, of domestic violence.":

This:

1. Because he had tangled with then-Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon over an issue involving public contracts.

And. 2. Because he's a man. "There was an assumption made by Det. (Byrn) Ray and other officers that even a falling -down drunk woman is to be believed over a sober man," the claim says.

Bundgaard has long portrayed himself as the gallant boyfriend, the innocent guy who was simply trying to protect his drunken girlfriend from herself that night. Strange how no fewer than five eye witnesses testified during Bundgaard's ethics hearing in January that he was the aggressor once the fight spilled out onto Piestewa Parkway.

Meanwhile, four police officers testified that Bundgaard invoked immunity. Among them was Sgt. Robert Rodarme. It was Rodarme who, in his police report, provided the quote that wil live in infamy: "I demand you take these handcuffs off. I'm state Senator Scott Bundgaard, and according to Article 4 of the Constitution, you cannot detain me. I'm immune from arrest when the Legislature is in session, in which it currently is."

Poor grammar aside, it continues -- 16 months after the fight -- to boil down to this:

Either Bundgaard's lying or five eyewitnesses and four police officers are lying. And that's before we even get to his claims that he was "stone-cold sober" that night. (Not, according to several cops.)

Can't wait to see how this one turns out.

Scott Bundgaard: brutalized and victimized by evil city

Scott Bundgaard: brutalized and victimized by evil city

The Bundgaard Chronicles, Chapter 1,241: In which the long suffering ex senator is still stewing over his free(way) fall from the glories of public service.

Brutalized by his girlfriend, framed by the cops and vilified because he’s a man, Scott Bundgaard is a victim, he tells us.

And so we owe him $10 million.

“There was an assumption made by Det. (Bryn) Ray and other officers that even a falling down drunk woman is to be believed over a sober man, and that all facts are to be construed against the male involved in the event,” Bundgaard’s attorney wrote, in a legal claim filed with the city of Phoenix on Friday.

Apparently, all that domestic violence counseling, offered to Bundgaard in exchange for avoiding a criminal conviction, didn’t quite take.

Our epic story began just before midnight on a Friday in February 2011. The then-Senate majority leader was still basking in the glow of his Dancing with the Stars charity rumba when hostilities broke out between him and his girlfriend. This, as they were headed north on State Route 51.

There’s no way to know what happened inside Bundgaard’s Mercedes that night. He says she started it. She says he started it. At some point, Bundgaard pulled into the median and the fight spilled onto the freeway.

In his claim, Bundgaard says he was initially treated as the victim, as befitting his role as a gentleman who was simply trying to keep his drunken wreck of a girlfriend from hurting herself. This, he explains, is why he was sent home while she was sent to the pokey.

As for those four police officers who later told the Senate Ethics Committee that he invoked legislative immunity from arrest that night? Set-up job.

And the five witnesses who testified that he was the aggressor? Tainted by media coverage.

Two “had consumed alcohol prior to calling the PPD” (Phoenix Police Department) and one later embellished her story, telling police that the aggressor had Bundgaard’s hair color -- something she hadn’t mentioned when she called 911.

Bundgaard, in his claim, says police conspired against him because he had clashed with then-Mayor Phil Gordon over a political issue.

Among the police department’s many transgressions: lying to the media, releasing the police reports to the public, conspiring with the Senate Ethics Committee and “fraudulent concealment of records that would have vindicated the senator”.

Near as I can tell, he’s referring to a one-page report by a Phoenix motorcycle officer who wrote that Bundgaard wasn’t impaired that night. Several other officers had said they detected alcohol on the senator’s breath. The motorcycle officer’s report was released in June 2011, but Bundgaard’s biggest (only?) friend – Jeanette Dubreil, now running for a seat in the Legislature – didn’t get it, despite several public records requests.

Clearly, there is only one explanation: the cops hid it from her. But they didn’t stop there in their conspiracy to ruin Bundgaard.

The ex-senator says that Detective Ray, then-Police Chief Jack Harris and Gordon decided to “rig” the Senate Ethics hearing, working with Sen. Ron Gould and blindsiding Bundgaard with testimony about a New Year’s Eve assault, two months before the freeway fight.

A Phoenix vice detective testified that Bundgaard’s girlfriend had called her shortly after the New Year’s attack, but that she didn’t want to press charges. Bundgaard says the detective never disclosed that she was a friend of his girlfriend’s.

That’s wasn't much of a deep dark secret. It was mentioned by somebody during the ethics hearing becuase I wrote about it at the time.

Bundgaard, in his claim, lists 40 pages worth of grievances -- for violating his civil rights, for negligence, for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress and all manner of insult.

“Several events mishandled by the PPD caused the senator to lose his reputation as a gentleman of the highest moral caliber, (a) non-violent and non-confrontational individual dedicated to achieving sound public policy decisions by working cooperatively with individuals of any political point of view.”

OK, that last part’s just funny. When, in this century, have Republicans in the Legislature worked cooperatively with Democrats to achieve sound public anything? But more on that another day.

To recap, either:

A. Bundgaard is lying.

Or B. His ex-girlfriend is lying and at least five police officers are lying and five witnesses are either lying or so brainwashed they don’t know what they saw. All part of some built-in bias against men and a dastardly plot by the city to bury Scott Bundgaard.

And so we owe him $10 million.

Suddenly, Mary Rose Wilcox is looking downright reasonable.

More articles on Arizona Senator Scott Bundgaard

More articles on Arizona Senator Scott Bundgaard.