AZ House to speed up ethics case against Patterson

April 03, 2012

The Arizona House has voted to speed up its ethics committee process, to deal with a complaint filed against Tucson Democrat Daniel Patterson.

That, after House Democratic leaders tried to get the chamber to expel Patterson this morning. Minority Leader Chad Campbell says the house should accept the findings of the ethics committee investigative report, which recommended Patterson be removed from the house for alleged abusive and unethical behavior.

"There is no political agenda taking place on this floor today. There is no personal agenda taking place on this floor today," said Campbell. "What we are doing is trying to make sure that this body is doing what it needs to do to serve the people of this state, and honor the decorum and really respect the process and the rules of this house."

However, instead of voting on whether to expel Patterson, the house voted to speed up the ethics committee hearings. Patterson will now have until next Tuesday to respond to the report. He has denied wrongdoing.