The Nation : Mecham to Ask U.S. Court to Halt Trial

Two days before the scheduled start of his Senate impeachment trial, Gov. Evan Mecham of Arizona said he was preparing to ask a federal court to halt it, saying he feared his constitutional rights would be trampled in “a lynch-mob atmosphere.” Mecham, at a news conference in Phoenix, said: “As governor of this state I ask nothing more than is accorded to any garden variety criminal.” The Senate is scheduled to begin its proceedings Monday, and Mecham said he and his two new attorneys were prepared to be there if no court ordered the trial halted before then. The state Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant a temporary stay and said it would decide Tuesday whether the impeachment trial should be delayed until after the Republican governor’s March 22 criminal trial on charges of concealing a $350,000 campaign loan. Mecham also faces a May 17 recall election.