PHOENIX, AZ – A Gateway Pundit contributor, Jordan Conradson, wound up being seemingly secretly convicted of domestic violence out of the Phoenix Municipal Court in October of 2022, following an April 2022 arrest that was moderately covered by the local press but little public information was afforded following the Gateway Pundit journalist’s arrest.
Furthermore, despite Conradson pleading guilty to assault & criminal damage, his case currently renders a return of “completely dismissed by the court” when accessed publicly through Arizona’s online database of criminal cases – an outcome that came as a result of a clever plea deal in Conradson’s favor.
Background
On April 3rd, 2022, Conradson, a Gateway Pundit contributor (and somewhat of a attaché/acolyte of former Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake) wound up being arrested after Phoenix Police responded to an address off of West Coolidge Street regarding a domestic disturbance.
According to an AZCentral report written by Angela Cordoba Perez in April 2022, authorities asserted that “Conradson pushed his girlfriend to the ground and shoved some items off desks, breaking a printer,” and, “also began upturning furniture and broke a bed frame,” at approximately 1:00 a.m. on April 3rd, 2022.
The incident reportedly took place at the residence of Conradson’s girlfriend, Kaelynn Starrs, and records suggest Starrs shares the residence with her mother, Erin Starrs, as court records list there being two victims in the case with Kaelynn being the physically assaulted party and Erin being the party who suffered losses as a result of the criminal damage.
Conradson also allegedly, “pulled away from,” officers during his arrest, “and refused commands,” during the ordeal with Phoenix Police, according to the AZCentral report from April 2022.
In a criminal complaint report dated April 3rd, 2022, Conradson was booked into jail at approximately 1:33 a.m., with his initial charges being listed as intentional assault resulting in minor injury (domestic violence) and criminal damage ranging from $250-$1,000.
But the odd thing regarding this case was the lack of updates available via Arizona’s open records information available to the general public.
The Seemingly Odd Special Treatment Afforded to This Case
In terms of available court-related information – be it orders of protection, arrests, traffic court, criminal & felony offenses, and convictions – Arizona does a bang up job keeping things front and center for the general public who either are simply curious or have a vested interest in a matter.
Yet, Conradson’s arrest from April of last year was devoid of any kind of update for over 14 months, at least from a public-facing perspective. Journalists amid the Tucson and Phoenix area couldn’t even manage to get their hands on a booking photo of Conradson for their reports of his arrest, a feat which is typically easy to accomplish for just about any other notable news story.
And come June 22nd, 2023, the general public would be coaxed into believing that Conradson’s criminal case was “completely dismissed by the court,” per the Arizona Judicial Branch’s public website.
But that narrative is far from the truth. Rather, Conradson’s case wasn’t fully dismissed at all, per se, he actually pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage in October of 2022.
However, the general public were completely oblivious to this matter as the public-facing Arizona Judicial Branch’s website implied – up until the June 2023 update – that nothing had come from Conradson’s criminal case. Even after Conradson pleaded guilty to two charges, one involving domestic violence, on October 24th, 2023, the Arizona Judicial Branch presented a narrative on their user interface that suggested the case was still working its way through the courts.
Upon signing his plea, Conradson agreed to undergo 12 months of probation, serve five days in jail with a five-day suspended sentence, and pay over $4,000 in restitution to his girlfriend’s mother. Per the court’s judgement, this isn’t the typical sentence for such a case, but rather an appealing deal offered in exchange for Conradson entering into some ambiguous “Domestic Violence Diversion Program” so that he could avoid the run-of-the-mill 365 days in jail or on probation.
While appealing plea deals are nothing new, this particular plea deal was extremely generous when considering that Conradson was given a bonafide clean slate. Despite there being internal court records showing that Conradson admitted to committing domestic violence, all readily accessible public-facing records signify that the courts simply dropped all the charges against him.
It likely goes without saying that such a generous plea deal for a litany of other first-time violent offenders in Arizona (especially those who’d admit to their offenses before the court) aren’t so lucky when it comes to plea deals to the point where their criminal case is presented to the public as being completely dismissed.
In short, this is a picture perfect case of a secret conviction, one where the general public would be oblivious to an admitted perpetrator of domestic violence, something potential future romantic partners of such an individual would likely want to know about prior to getting involved with said person.
Getting to the Truth
Of course, this information was only retrieved by The Breakdown News via some intuitive poking around of the Phoenix Municipal Courts where inquiries on the case were eventually directed to the outfit’s “Closed Records” division, thus cementing the notion of Conradson’s case being shrouded by what some might consider to be a secret conviction.
A source with direct knowledge of the April 2022 incident, who requested to remain anonymous, was also perplexed by how, “while [Conradson] was still in jail, his mugshot was taken down and the court records on Maricopa County’s court records website has never shown up even while the court proceedings were still active.”
The aforementioned source also mentioned to The Breakdown News the existence of police bodycam footage from the originating incident, inquiring whether said footage was obtained yet and that it, “may hold a big key,” to understanding the gravity of the incident that led to Conradson’s arrest and eventual plea deal.
However, while Phoenix Police have acknowledged the receipt of a formal request for the bodycam footage from the April 2022 incident, Phoenix Police have yet to furnish said footage, only rendering an ambiguous “On Hold” status for the request.
Merissa Hamilton, a former Republican mayoral candidate for the city of Phoenix, commented on the case at hand when records were released detailing the ostensible secret conviction of Conradson, coming to Conradson’s defense on the matter with an assertion that, “Jordan [Conradson] was having a medical episode and the police misunderstood the situation.”
Hi @GregHoytLET,
I know @ConradsonJordan and his girlfriend personally
He helped on my campaign for Phoenix Mayor in 2020
In fact I was just at an event with both of them a few days ago
Jordan was actually having a medical episode and the police misunderstood the situation
— Merissa Hamilton 🗳 ⛽ 🗽🔥 (@merissahamilton) July 14, 2023
While Hamilton asserted a sort of intimate knowledge of the case at hand, the former mayoral candidate didn’t proclaim to have directly witnessed the incident nor did she offer insight as to what specific type of “medical episode” Conradson was under the influence of at the time of the original incident. Furthermore, Hamilton didn’t afford any comment or speculation as to why Conradson’s case resulted in a secret guilty plea of assault and criminal damage if the whole ordeal could be chalked up to a sort of police misunderstanding.
Why This Case Matters
The most concerning issues regarding this particular case don’t necessarily pertain to the offenses committed by Conradson, but rather how the handling of this case presents concerns regarding transparency in the outcomes of the criminal justice system and what could be construed as disparate applications of justice.
With studies showcasing a wavering sense of trust in the criminal justice system, the likes of secret convictions – and erasure of said convictions – is hardly a means to restore that very trust in the court system. In order to eradicate the growing sentiment of a two-tiered justice system, it’s critical that the courts cease operating in such a fashion that gives off the impression of (or genuinely operates as) a two-tiered system.
Gregory Hoyt is a former contributor to outlets such as Law Enforcement Today and Red Voice Media, and current host of The Breakdown with Greg Hoyt. Based out of Sierra Vista, Arizona, Hoyt is a staunch and outspoken advocate of law enforcement and first responders, while also harboring the unique experience of having spent nearly 5 years in prison. Since then, he's used his unique perspective to offer support and commentary about the criminal justice system. When not working or combating bad ideas, Hoyt also leisurely studies economics, history, and law.