MCAO: Juan Martinez placed on paid administrative leave

Juan Martinez (From Archive)

Officials with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office say Juan Martinez has been placed on paid administrative leave.

In a brief statement, Jennifer Liewer said Martinez was placed on paid administrative leave on Friday, February 7.

Liewer did not provide any further information surrounding the decision, saying it is a personnel matter.

Martinez gained national notoriety after getting a guilty verdict in the Jodi Arias trial and sending her away to prison for life for the gruesome killing of boyfriend, Travis Alexander, but in 2019, FOX 10 reported on ethics complaints and misconduct allegations against Martinez.

March 2019 complaints

In July, it was reported that Martinez was scheduled for a disciplinary hearing, over an ethics complaint filed in March 2019 that accused him of lying about leaking information to a blogger he was having an affair with, communicating with a dismissed juror, and sexually harassing several female co-workers.

According to the complaint, several of Martinez's co-workers compiled a "JM List" of Martinez's sexually predatory conduct. An investigation by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office reportedly found that clerks would hide from Martinez in the bathroom, and that he often made inappropriate comments.

The comments reportedly included Martinez telling one woman he could guess the color of her underwear, and telling another that he wanted to "climb her like a statue."

In August 2019, a presiding disciplinary judge dismissed accusations that Martinez made sexually inappropriate comments to female law clerks in his office, and had inappropriate contact with a woman who had been dismissed from Arias’ jury and later texted nude photos of herself to Martinez.

September 2019 complaints

In September, a law firm that represents Arias filed ethics complaints against Martinez and then Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery.

The complaints made against Martinez stem from a book on the Arias trial that he wrote. The book, titled "Conviction: The Untold Story of Putting Jodi Arias Behind Bars", was published in 2016, and Martinez is accused of going on a speaking circuit, making money and gaining fame off his role as the case's prosecutor while the case is still pending.

According to a February 2016 report by FOX 10, Martinez detailed how he went after Arias for the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, and revealed his personal thoughts about the killer in the book.

"Arias always struck me as the 'bad waitress' type. She would probably be looking down at customers, smiling at them with a fake happy look and giving them bad service," Martinez wrote. "In a bad waitress-type, they bring the food cold, but it isn't their fault, but the coffee isn't right, but she didn't make it. That's sort of how I saw her."

Arias' former attorney, Jennifer Wilmott, released a statement on Martinez when his book was released.

"I am concerned that prosecutors are allowed to personally profit from their own cases. It makes you question the fairness and motives a prosecutor has when his own personal financial profit is at stake. Maricopa County has specific rules to prevent this from happening," Wilmott said at the time.

Reassignment

In late September, FOX 10 reported that Martinez was reassigned from the Capital Litigation Bureau to the Auto theft Bureau.

"Given the Arizona Bar proceedings involving Mr. Martinez, I felt it was important to assign him a caseload that would be more flexible and allow him to take time when needed to focus on resolving these complaints," wrote Chief Deputy County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.

According to officials at the time, cases assigned to Martinez that were then in trial or pending remain will remain with him as the lead prosecutor.