SEN. JOHN HUPPENTHAL

The Scottsdale city prosecutor’s office has an interesting dilemma in the case of Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, 78-year-old Democratic volunteer Ruth Levin and the campaign sign removed on election day.

Republican activists believe precedents have been set that would relieve Huppenthal of any wrongdoing. They include the not-guilty verdict for then-state Sen. (and now congressman) Harry Mitchell after he admitted taking signs put up by his election opponent in 2000, and a recent decision by the Tempe city prosecutor’s office not to press charges against a student at Arizona State University for taking down signs that had painted some Democratic lawmakers in a bad light.

But Democrat activists believe there are clear differences in Huppenthal’s case. First, Huppenthal is an elected official and should be held to higher standards than a young, misguided volunteer. Secondly, unlike the Mitchell case, the sign that Huppenthal removed clearly was election-related and thus protected by state law. Third, Levin claims she got into some kind of shoving match with Huppenthal, which raises the potential of a misdemeanor assault charge along with stealing a campaign sign.

On the other hand, Huppenthal says he had permission from the property manager to remove the sign and he never touched Levin. Perhaps Huppenthal’s best answer would be to hire former state Attorney General Grant Woods as his attorney. Woods caught the Mesa city prosecutor’s office completely unprepared in the Mitchell trial before a justice of the peace. It’d be interesting to see how the veteran trial lawyer handled what’s basically a “he said, she said” case.

If you want to gauge Levin’s credibility as a potential witness against Huppenthal, watch her interview with the Tribune on the video below.

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