PHOENIX — The State Bar of Arizona has disciplined a high-level prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office who’s been the focus of ABC15’s ongoing “(dis)Honorable investigation.
Erin Otis, who was previously a Maricopa County Superior Court judge, received an admonishment from the State Bar on October 20, 2022 for her misconduct on the bench.
“(Otis) is admonished for contacting the Maricopa County Attorneys’ Office regarding potential employment while employed as a judge,” according to the State Bar’s order. “Respondent is also admonished for her conduct relating to her failure to supervise court staff and for unprofessional communications with court staff.”
RELATED: ABC15 exposes ‘astonishing and horrific’ conduct by judge, staff in major cases
An admonishment is the lowest level of Bar discipline. Read the State Bar’s file below:
The Bar also recommended probation but a disciplinary committee decided against it.
The absence of probation means the disciplinary action is not publicly listed under Otis’s profile on the Bar’s website.
Earlier this year, ABC15 launched its “(dis)Honorable” series, which examined Otis’s “astonishing and horrific” conduct as a Maricopa County Superior Court judge and the secrecy surrounding the way Arizona investigates and disciplines judges.
While under investigation by the state judicial conduct commission, Otis left the bench and took a job in the capital case unit at MCAO.
ABC15 discovered multiple conflicts in murder prosecutions due to failures by Otis and MCAO officials to effectively screen and disclose conflicts before and after her hiring.
After Otis was hired in early 2020 as a prosecutor, the office assigned her to two capital cases in which she played the role as a judge.
The conflicts cost taxpayers more than $58,000 in outside legal fees after defense attorneys filed disqualification motions. MCAO also paid more than $25,000 for outside attorneys to defend Otis in the Bar investigation.
Internal emails and text messages show that County Attorney Rachel Mitchell was directly involved in recruiting Otis back to MCAO while she was still presiding over a death penalty case.
Mitchell and Otis did not respond to multiple requests for comment following the Bar’s admonition so ABC15 questioned Mitchell at a press briefing on November 30.
The full exchange between ABC15 and Mitchell can be seen in the video below.
Mitchell denied any impropriety in texting Otis, a sitting judge presiding over an MCAO death penalty prosecution, about job opportunities without checking for conflicts or ethical concerns.
She also defended Otis.
“(Otis) has taken full responsibility for her actions. What I will say about Erin is that she’s an excellent prosecutor who’s dedicated her career to public service,” Mitchell said.
The county attorney added, “Nobody’s perfect. And when somebody does make a mistake, I expect then to take responsibility for it. I expect them to be held accountable for it. And I expect them to do better.”
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
