Arpaio won’t take blame for failed case against Flake’s son
PHOENIX — The sheriff of metropolitan Phoenix refused during a recent deposition to accept responsibility for bringing a failed animal cruelty case against the college-age son of a U.S. senator over the heat-exhaustion deaths of 21 dogs at a kennel operated by his in-laws.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio gave the pretrial testimony in a lawsuit by Sen. Jeff Flake’s son, who alleges the lawman injured his reputation by repeatedly publicizing trumped-up accusations over the 2014 animal deaths. A copy of the July 14 depositions was publicly released this week by Flake’s lawyer, despite objections from the sheriff.
Austin Flake and his then-wife, Logan, were in charge of the dogs while his in-laws were out of town. The in-laws initially said the animals died after a dog chewed through an air conditioning wire.
But prosecutors dismissed the felony animal cruelty charges against the couple after an expert determined the kennel’s AC unit failed because it wasn’t properly maintained. Prosecutors have said the case presented to grand jurors didn’t take into account the potential for problems with the air conditioner. The in-laws have since pleaded guilty to an animal cruelty charge.