State Senator Justine Wadsack (R-Tucson) is filing a lawsuit against Tucson after its police department after city prosecutors pursued criminal charges against her relating to a traffic stop in March.
Wadsack did not receive a speeding ticket during the stop and denied to the police officer that she was traveling 71 on Speedway Blvd in the city. Although the officer told her he caught her on the radar driving that fast, the Tucson Police Department (TPD) admitted later there was no radar evidence.
Wadsack’s attorney, Brad Miller, appeared on Garret Lewis’s KFYI talk show Afternoon Addiction last week to discuss the prosecution and lawsuit, where he said that “a lot of things came out in the media that just were not true.”
“From the very beginning, we smelled something funny about how Tucson Police acted in this matter,” he said.
Four months after Wadsack (pictured above) was pulled over, Tucson prosecutors filed criminal speeding charges against her and issued a speeding ticket. She said she believes the media coverage and attention amplified by her more moderate primary opponent, Vince Leach, immediately prior to the July 31 primary election caused her loss to him. Prior to the publicity, the lifelong Tucson native said another state senator told her that she was ahead of him by 13 points.
Wadsack, who received perfect scores from the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and Turning Point USA Action, told The Arizona Sun Times that she believes she was targeted by the establishment that controls much of Tucson. Elected to office in the Democratic-leaning city in 2022 as a team with two other young new conservatives in the State House, Rachel Jones and Cory McGarr, she soon attracted the ire of Democrats by joining the legislature’s Freedom Caucus and refusing to vote for bills from lobbyists.
She said $8.75 million was spent in earned media against her before the election due to assistance from the left-leaning media. She lost to Leach by fewer than 2,000 votes.
Miller told Lewis on his show that filing a criminal complaint against Wadsack was wrong when there was no radar evidence.
“Someone put this officer up to signing the complaint knowing they didn’t have the evidence,” he said. “They filled out a criminal complaint form, knowing that there is no radar evidence at all. … And so they plan on moving forward with this criminal complaint, even though they know they have no radar evidence.”
Miller said TPD has turned over no evidence at all. He said the police report doesn’t state that the officer paced Wadsack, so he would have had to estimate her speed. Lewis added that the officer “lied” when he told her he had her speed caught on radar.
During the accusation, the media said Wadsack told the officer that she was a senator. However, Wadsack said that for most of the past two years, when she is asked her name, she automatically says, “Senator Justine Wadsack.” Her license plate had a frame around it that said “Arizona State Senator,” so she said the police were already aware. The officer declined to issue a speeding ticket due to her status as a senator.
After the media reported on the criminal complaint against her, the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police dropped its endorsement of Wadsack. She has no criminal record. Wadsack said she believes Tucson officials leaked news of the summons and complaint against her to the media before serving it on her because the articles came out so quickly. She said her opponent released a “polished video produced with voiceover within 24 hours of the summons.”
Wadsack said the police called her on July 19 and asked her to come down to the station and sign a speeding ticket they were issuing her four months after the traffic stop.
She responded, “Do you give all the legislators you pull over after session these tickets?”
Wadsack said Lieutenant Lauren Pettey, who has since been promoted to captain, responded, “Just you.” Wadsack said Petty told her she was recording the phone call, but TPD has refused to turn the recording over to Wadsack and Miller.
Wadsack told The Sun Times that, unlike many other defendants at her criminal arraignment, she was not offered a diversion or plea agreement, such as traffic school, at her criminal arraignment. Nor did the judge decide to dismiss the case.
Wadsack said things started changing once she announced her lawsuit. The prosecutors suddenly changed their minds, offering her a plea deal of taking traffic school. However, they required her to admit guilt, so she refused to take it.
The judge assigned to the case, Tucson Magistrate Geraldine Hale, recused herself but didn’t provide a reason. Miller said judges typically recuse themselves due to a conflict of interest or if they believe they cannot be fair. “This judge clearly recused herself sua sponte — that means by herself — without any request from either myself or the state, basically saying she couldn’t be fair in this case,” he told Lewis. “That tells you, unfortunately, maybe some of the biases we may be dealing with.”
Although the City Magistrate Merit Selection Commission made a rare recommendation not to reappoint Hale to another term in 2021, the Democratic-dominated city leadership disagreed, with the city council voting unanimously to keep her on the bench.
Wadsack told The Sun Times that opponents are now trying to get her fired from her job at Turning Point USA. The state senator said she believes much of the effort is in retaliation for two bills she ran in the legislature. One would have changed voting from large vote centers back to precinct-level voting, which she said she believes would have allowed Republicans to pick up three seats on the Tucson City Council.
The other bill would have removed Tucson’s status as a charter city, which would remove its control over many progressive actions, such as special treatment for illegal immigrants.
She said this isn’t the first time Democrats came after her. In 2023, they unsuccessfully attempted to conduct a recall. Two people behind it then filed complaints with the Arizona Association of Realtors against her. Since she pointed out during the hearing that the complaints had nothing to do with the realtor business, she said the complaints were dismissed.
Wadsack said private investigators have been following her for months. Sometimes a constituent will tell her about a vehicle trailing her, and Wadsack will respond and recognize the car and detective from previous trailing. Since the media publicity, she’s had multiple people tell her that they were pulled over for criminal speeding and were not given a ticket.
Miller said on Lewis’s show that he believes the prosecution has conflicts of interest that will be coming out related to the production of evidence.
When Lewis commended him for taking on the situation, Miller responded, “Republicans back down. They capitulate, they don’t fight. Well, those days are done.”
Miller is representing former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward and her husband in the prosecution by Attorney General Kris Mayes for being alternate electors in the 2020 election.
Wadsack expects to file the Notice of Claim beginning the lawsuit within a week. A status conference has been set for October 28.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Justine Wadsack” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 3.0. Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Wars. CC BY-SA 3.0.
