Border Ruffian
Registered
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/l...21ruelas21.html
Dan Saban was at the Fraternal Order of Police lodge, holding a fund-raiser for his campaign to be Maricopa County sheriff, when he found out that his mother had formally accused him of raping her 30 years ago. Saban's mother had given a statement to a pair of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's detectives two nights before, and a report was already in the hands of a television reporter who showed it to Saban during an on-camera interview at the lodge. Startled, Saban declared the interview over. But he knew the topic wasn
#39;t dead. That his painful, broken family life was now going to be a campaign issue.
Saban denies that he raped his adoptive mother, and he remains incredulous that he is being forced to even addre
ss such a vile charge. Saban gets visibly and audibly frustrated wh
en talking about the rape allegation. But as he speaks, it's clear his ire is not aimed at his adoptive mother. He sees her actions as just another chapter in their broken relationship. Instead, Saban directs his anger at Arpaio, who he believes conducted a politically motivated investigation. "He sends his (detectives) out to interview her and then all of a sudden, it's leaked to the press," Saban said. "It's such an abuse of power, it's scary."
The story about the rape allegation topped the 10 p.m. newscast on Channel 15 (KNXV) on April 30. It also appeared in the May 2 edition of the suburban East Valley Tribune. The headline read: "Sheriff's hopeful accused of rape."
Saban
wrestled with how to respond. He initially wanted to call a news conference to issue a public denial, but thought better of it. No other media outlets picked up the story, and he hoped it would wither. B
ut it occasionally comes up at campaign events, and he knows it still gets whispered about. People bring it up to hi
m obliquely. For instance, one voter asked him if there was a chance he would be arrested soon. "It had a ripple effect," Saban said.
Case closed
The rape case is closed. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, citing conflict of interest, sent the report to the Pima County Sheriff's Department. That office, after getting opinions from the Pima County attorney and the Arizona attorney general, determined the case was too old to pursue and closed it without further investigation.
Saban, who retired in February from the Mesa Police Department after 24 years, said the allegation should have been dismissed immediately. Any lawman could have seen that ther
e was no chance of prosecution. Not only did the statute of limitations expire, but also there was also no physical evidence. It was one word against another. There would never be proof of a rape. Th
e only reason to investigate, Saban believes, was to discredit him.
Saban had a feeling this allegation was coming. His adoptive mother, Ruby
Norman, sent an e-mail to his campaign Web address telling him that she was going to send a letter to Arpaio if Saban did not admit to his brothers that he raped her in 1972. "If you don't make things right Dan, tell your brother John and Travis the truth I will expose you to the public and I mean it," the e-mail read. Norman wrote that she had already sent an e-mail to the Tribune detailing the story. "You will not make Sheriff in this county thats for sure."
Saban did not respond to her e-mail. He hasn't responded to her in almost 30 years. He left home in 1974 and hasn't had contact with her since. His brothers, both of whom a
re also in law enforcement, have also severed ties with the woman who raised them.
Transcript of interview
Although the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office provided Channel
15 with an initial report less than 48 hours after interviewing Norman, it didn't provide that report to The Arizona Republic for more than a month, despite repeated requests. At first, Sgt.
Paul Chagolla, a department spokesman, said Jack MacIntyre, director of intergovernmental relations for the Sheriff's Office, would "decide whether this is something we're going to release or not." MacIntyre, reached a few weeks later, at first seemed unsure there was a report at all. Then he said he was waiting for materials to be returned from Pima County. The Republic was allowed to inspect the report, including a transcript of Norman's interview, on Thursday.
Norman's letter to Arpaio's office said, "I am the mother of one of your running mates that's not so honorable. I do no
t want to see him make sheriff for the simple reason of things he has done."
On April 28, a detective named Jeffrey Gentry called Norman and set up an interview. When he went to
talk with her, he was accompanied by Sgt. Steven Bailey, who works on Arpaio's threat assessment squad. It's not known why Bailey went along, given that there was no threat to Arpaio or any other public official.
Norman told the men
that on the night in question, she had taken two sleeping pills and gone to bed. She slept naked, as was her custom. "Dan came into the room while I was asleep and when I come to he was on top of me and he was rapping (sic) me," Norman said, according to the interview transcript. "And I pushed him off and I said, 'What are you doing?' "
Norman said her son told her she was too pretty to be a mother. "You turn me on, is what he told me," Norman said, according to the transcript. She said at the time she was 28 and wore "jet skirts
and the go-go boots and I had a good shape."
In the e-mail Norman had initially sent to Saban, she said the rape occurred in 1972. Saban would have been 16 or 17 at the time.
However, in the interview with Arpaio's detectives, she said the assault occurred in July 1973. That was the month Saban turned 18 years old and became subject to the adult justice system.
'Possible conflict'
After the interview, Bailey advised "that this case should be forwarded to
an appropriate law enforcement agency for further investigation due to a possible conflict of interest, as Daniel Saban is currently a candidate running for sheriff."
When I asked MacIntyre why the case was sent to another agency, he said it was to avoid political overtones. "Any village idiot could see that," he said.
But if that's the case, it's unclear why Arpaio's detectives talked to Norman at all. Both the report and the transcript of the interview make it clea
r that the detectives knew they were going to hear Norman allege that Saban raped her, that they were going to investigate a supposed crime committed by a political opponent of Arpaio
.
Gentry's report begins with him writing that he was informed "that Ruby Norman had contacted the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office via e-mail and wanted to report that she had been sexually assaulted in 1973." It's unclear how he knew that before he interviewed Norman, since supposedly he was the first person to make contact with her.
And a
t one point in the transcript, Norman sounds as if she had previously discussed the focus of the formal interview. As she starts to drift into other stories about Saban, she pauses and says, " . . . uh, of course, you just wanted me to talk about the rape part and that's all."
Norman did not respond to phone calls or an e-mail requesting comment.
Arpaio, in an odd twist for the usually media-hungry lawman, also denied my requests
to clear up questions about the handling of the case.
Saban faces Arpaio in the Republican primary Sept. 7. But no matter what happens, Saban is not content to let this is
sue drop.
"Even if I lose this election," Saban said, "this man has to be challenged."
http://www.sabanforsheriff.com/ His campaign site
Dan Saban was at the Fraternal Order of Police lodge, holding a fund-raiser for his campaign to be Maricopa County sheriff, when he found out that his mother had formally accused him of raping her 30 years ago. Saban's mother had given a statement to a pair of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's detectives two nights before, and a report was already in the hands of a television reporter who showed it to Saban during an on-camera interview at the lodge. Startled, Saban declared the interview over. But he knew the topic wasn
#39;t dead. That his painful, broken family life was now going to be a campaign issue.
Saban denies that he raped his adoptive mother, and he remains incredulous that he is being forced to even addre
ss such a vile charge. Saban gets visibly and audibly frustrated wh
en talking about the rape allegation. But as he speaks, it's clear his ire is not aimed at his adoptive mother. He sees her actions as just another chapter in their broken relationship. Instead, Saban directs his anger at Arpaio, who he believes conducted a politically motivated investigation. "He sends his (detectives) out to interview her and then all of a sudden, it's leaked to the press," Saban said. "It's such an abuse of power, it's scary."
The story about the rape allegation topped the 10 p.m. newscast on Channel 15 (KNXV) on April 30. It also appeared in the May 2 edition of the suburban East Valley Tribune. The headline read: "Sheriff's hopeful accused of rape."
Saban
wrestled with how to respond. He initially wanted to call a news conference to issue a public denial, but thought better of it. No other media outlets picked up the story, and he hoped it would wither. B
ut it occasionally comes up at campaign events, and he knows it still gets whispered about. People bring it up to hi
m obliquely. For instance, one voter asked him if there was a chance he would be arrested soon. "It had a ripple effect," Saban said.
Case closed
The rape case is closed. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, citing conflict of interest, sent the report to the Pima County Sheriff's Department. That office, after getting opinions from the Pima County attorney and the Arizona attorney general, determined the case was too old to pursue and closed it without further investigation.
Saban, who retired in February from the Mesa Police Department after 24 years, said the allegation should have been dismissed immediately. Any lawman could have seen that ther
e was no chance of prosecution. Not only did the statute of limitations expire, but also there was also no physical evidence. It was one word against another. There would never be proof of a rape. Th
e only reason to investigate, Saban believes, was to discredit him.
Saban had a feeling this allegation was coming. His adoptive mother, Ruby
Norman, sent an e-mail to his campaign Web address telling him that she was going to send a letter to Arpaio if Saban did not admit to his brothers that he raped her in 1972. "If you don't make things right Dan, tell your brother John and Travis the truth I will expose you to the public and I mean it," the e-mail read. Norman wrote that she had already sent an e-mail to the Tribune detailing the story. "You will not make Sheriff in this county thats for sure."
Saban did not respond to her e-mail. He hasn't responded to her in almost 30 years. He left home in 1974 and hasn't had contact with her since. His brothers, both of whom a
re also in law enforcement, have also severed ties with the woman who raised them.
Transcript of interview
Although the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office provided Channel
15 with an initial report less than 48 hours after interviewing Norman, it didn't provide that report to The Arizona Republic for more than a month, despite repeated requests. At first, Sgt.
Paul Chagolla, a department spokesman, said Jack MacIntyre, director of intergovernmental relations for the Sheriff's Office, would "decide whether this is something we're going to release or not." MacIntyre, reached a few weeks later, at first seemed unsure there was a report at all. Then he said he was waiting for materials to be returned from Pima County. The Republic was allowed to inspect the report, including a transcript of Norman's interview, on Thursday.
Norman's letter to Arpaio's office said, "I am the mother of one of your running mates that's not so honorable. I do no
t want to see him make sheriff for the simple reason of things he has done."
On April 28, a detective named Jeffrey Gentry called Norman and set up an interview. When he went to
talk with her, he was accompanied by Sgt. Steven Bailey, who works on Arpaio's threat assessment squad. It's not known why Bailey went along, given that there was no threat to Arpaio or any other public official.
Norman told the men
that on the night in question, she had taken two sleeping pills and gone to bed. She slept naked, as was her custom. "Dan came into the room while I was asleep and when I come to he was on top of me and he was rapping (sic) me," Norman said, according to the interview transcript. "And I pushed him off and I said, 'What are you doing?' "
Norman said her son told her she was too pretty to be a mother. "You turn me on, is what he told me," Norman said, according to the transcript. She said at the time she was 28 and wore "jet skirts
and the go-go boots and I had a good shape."
In the e-mail Norman had initially sent to Saban, she said the rape occurred in 1972. Saban would have been 16 or 17 at the time.
However, in the interview with Arpaio's detectives, she said the assault occurred in July 1973. That was the month Saban turned 18 years old and became subject to the adult justice system.
'Possible conflict'
After the interview, Bailey advised "that this case should be forwarded to
an appropriate law enforcement agency for further investigation due to a possible conflict of interest, as Daniel Saban is currently a candidate running for sheriff."
When I asked MacIntyre why the case was sent to another agency, he said it was to avoid political overtones. "Any village idiot could see that," he said.
But if that's the case, it's unclear why Arpaio's detectives talked to Norman at all. Both the report and the transcript of the interview make it clea
r that the detectives knew they were going to hear Norman allege that Saban raped her, that they were going to investigate a supposed crime committed by a political opponent of Arpaio
.
Gentry's report begins with him writing that he was informed "that Ruby Norman had contacted the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office via e-mail and wanted to report that she had been sexually assaulted in 1973." It's unclear how he knew that before he interviewed Norman, since supposedly he was the first person to make contact with her.
And a
t one point in the transcript, Norman sounds as if she had previously discussed the focus of the formal interview. As she starts to drift into other stories about Saban, she pauses and says, " . . . uh, of course, you just wanted me to talk about the rape part and that's all."
Norman did not respond to phone calls or an e-mail requesting comment.
Arpaio, in an odd twist for the usually media-hungry lawman, also denied my requests
to clear up questions about the handling of the case.
Saban faces Arpaio in the Republican primary Sept. 7. But no matter what happens, Saban is not content to let this is
sue drop.
"Even if I lose this election," Saban said, "this man has to be challenged."
http://www.sabanforsheriff.com/ His campaign site
