U.S. Probes Tampering Charges in Mecham Case

Federal authorities Tuesday were looking into charges that Arizona state police attempted to intimidate defense witnesses in the impeachment trial of Gov. Evan Mecham.

The Phoenix branch of the FBI confirmed that the allegations by defense counsel Fred Craft were forwarded to the U.S. Justice Department for consideration.

The state Senate meanwhile is expected to decide Wednesday whether to declare a mistrial in the third week of the historic proceeding.

‘Runaway Police State’

Craft outlined four cases of alleged witness-tampering by the Department of Public Safety, whose director is the star prosecution witness. “We’ve got a runaway police state,” he told the 30-member Senate, which is sitting as judge and jury in the trial.

The Department of Public Safety last week arrested one witness the day after she testified on a 10-month-old warrant for disobeying a court order to attend Alcoholics Anonymous.

Department of Public Safety Director Ralph Milstead is considered the key witness against Mecham on one of the three impeachment charges--obstruction of justice. He alleges that Mecham ordered him not to cooperate with an attorney general’s investigation of a Mecham aide and top fund-raiser accused of threatening the life of a former Mecham aide. The former aide at the time was testifying before the state grand jury about alleged misconduct by Mecham.

Sgt. Allan Schmidt, a Department of Public Safety spokesman, dismissed Craft’s accusation as “absurd” and prosecutor William French called it “nothing but a smoke screen.”

Mecham, a first-term Republican, has been suspended pending the trial’s outcome. He is accused of obstructing justice, concealing a $350,000 campaign loan and misappropriating $80,000 from the governor’s protocol fund.

He also faces a criminal trial April 21 on charges of concealing the loan and could draw up to 22 years in prison if convicted. In addition, a recall election is scheduled for May 17.

Mecham has denied any wrongdoing. He has not yet attended the trial but is expected to take the stand soon.