More appeals: Arizona Supreme Court pauses defamation lawsuit against Kari Lake
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The Arizona Supreme Court will briefly pause a defamation lawsuit against former gubernatorial and current U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake.
In a Tuesday order, the court granted Lake a temporary stay in the case while it considers whether to accept her appeal challenging Maricopa County Judge Jay Adleman's decision last month to allow the suit to go forward.
It will put a temporary halt to discovery, the formal process of exchanging information between attorneys about witnesses and evidence that could be presented before a jury at trial. Lake's lawyers sought to avoid that step during a December appearance in Maricopa County Superior Court.
The news comes shortly after the Arizona Court of Appeals said it would not consider a special action petition from Lake. That appeal also challenged Adleman's decision to allow the case to proceed.
Days later, Lake submitted another appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court.
The initial lawsuit, filed in June by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, accuses Lake and her affiliates of spreading false information about Richer following the November 2022 election. He alleges Lake knew, or should have known, the statements were false. Lake and Richer are both Republicans.
But Lake says Richer, who is running for reelection, is seeking to silence her and other election integrity critics. She has repeatedly condemned his defamation suit against her.
Attorney Timothy LaSota, who is representing Lake, said he was “pleased” that the court “wasted no time in issuing a stay of these proceedings.” Attorneys for Richer declined to comment.
What's next?
Richer has until Feb. 6 to respond to Lake's appeal before the Arizona Supreme Court. The pause on the case only applies for "the limited purpose of obtaining a response to the petition," according to the court order.
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The stay is directly tied to Richer’s response deadline. If he files a reply early, the court could opt to unpause the case while it considers Lake’s appeal.
The court will then determine if it will hear Lake's appeal — and if so, where it stands on whether the case should proceed.
If the case goes forward, it could go to trial during a contentious election year in which both Richer and Lake will be running for elected offices.
Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip to share on elections or voting? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Supreme Court pauses defamation lawsuit against Kari Lake
