Flakes file $8M claim against Arpaio, MCSO in Green Acre case

Austin and Logan Flake are seeking $8 million in damages from Maricopa County on claims that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his agency "constructed a conspiracy" to indict them and harm their reputations during an investigation into the June 2014 deaths of more than 20 dogs in their care.

Attorneys for the Flakes say they filed a notice of claim, or a precursor to a lawsuit, with Maricopa County on Thursday. According to the document, the Flakes suffered "indescribable mental anguish and distress, and irreparable injury to their good names and reputations and future prospects" as a result of the Green Acre Dog Boarding investigation.

The Flakes say they have a case against Arpaio and members of his Animal Crimes Investigation Unit on grounds of malicious prosecution; conspiracy; abuse of process; negligence/gross negligence; defamation; false light invasion of privacy; and intentional and/or negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Authorities said the dogs died from overheating and suffocation caused by sweltering conditions in a cramped 9-by-12 room they were kept in overnight. At the time, the Flakes, who live in Utah, were running the facility while the owners, Logan Flake's parents, Jesse Todd and MaLeisa Hughes, were out of town. Austin Flake is the son of U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona.

The Flakes were indicted and each faced 21 felony and seven misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. The Hugheses each faced 22 felony counts and seven misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and one count of fraud.

County Attorney Bill Montgomery dropped all charges but the count of fraud against the Hugheses in December. New evidence that defense attorneys brought to prosecutors' attention after the case was presented to a grand jury showed the kennel's air-conditioning unit had stopped working because of a dirty air filter.

The indictment returned in October blamed the dogs' deaths on neglect by the defendants.

The Flakes' notice of claim said they watched the Hugheses put more than 20 dogs inside the overnight room without incident multiple times and had been instructed to do the same.

"There is only one series of laws governing crimes against animals, ... and they require that a person 'intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly' inflict unnecessary physical injury on an animal," the claim said. " ...There was never probable cause to believe that the Flakes intended for these animals to die, or that the Flakes had actual awareness that they were going to cause the animals to die and then decided to go ahead and do it anyway.

"...The Flakes had no way of predicting that the air conditioning was going to shut down unexpectedly in the middle of the night, apparently due to lack of maintenance on the air filters by the homeowners. They were merely guests in the home, and had no knowledge whatsoever of whether the air filters were being cleaned."