State

Former assessor files claim

Thursday, January 24, 2008 8:28 PM CST

PHOENIX (AP) - Former Maricopa County Assessor Kevin Ross has filed an $8 million malicious-prosecution claim against the state and county, saying charges brought against him by Attorney General Terry Goddard were politically motivated and based on inaccurate information.

Ross was convicted of a felony conflict-of-interest charge in 2004, but an appeals court overturned it last year. He was prosecuted for using his position ‘‘to obtain a valuable benefit'' by giving a mortgage broker the names and addresses of elderly property owners who qualified for valuation freezes while planning to split commissions from the sale of reverse mortgages with the broker.

The mortgages were never sold, and Ross' claim says the information he shared is public record available on the county Web site.

The claim names Goddard, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and County Attorney's Office, and Keith Russell, the current county assessor. Claims are required to be filed and rejected before a lawsuit can be filed against a public agency or official.

Ross attorney Michael Kitchen said a suit will likely be filed later this year.

A statement from Goddard said he believes the claim is without merit.

‘‘Mr. Ross was tried and convicted by a jury of his peers,'' Goddard's statement said. ‘‘Though the Court of Appeals came to a different conclusion, I remain convinced that the prosecution was warranted.''