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On Day Arkansas AG Was To Testify In Lawsuit, Case Moved To Federal Court

2015 File photo of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R).
Michael Hibblen
/
KUAR News
2015 File photo of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R).

Hear KUAR's Michael Hibblen talking with Arkansas Public Media's Bobby Ampezzan.

2015 File photo of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R).
Credit Michael Hibblen / KUAR News
/
KUAR News
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge was expected to testify Friday morning in a lawsuit accusing her of obstructing ballot initiatives in her role of approving the language of items being placed on the ballot. But as the hearing was getting underway, it was announced that the trail was being moved from state court to federal court.

It comes just days after Pulaski County Circuit Judge Griffen issued a strongly worded opinion ordering Mr. Rutledge to testify and not allowing her to defer it to a lower level staffer.

Arkansas Public Media’s Bobby Ampezzan was among reporters assembled at the Pulaski County Courthouse Friday morning and spoke with KUAR's Michael Hibblen about what happened. You can hear the full segment above. 

Copyright 2018 KUAR

As News Director, Michael Hibblen oversees daily news coverage for KUAR. He handles assignments for the news staff, helps develop story ideas and edits copy. Michael isresponsible for starting a news-sharing partnership between public radio stations in Arkansas in 2009 which laid the foundation for what became Arkansas Public Media. He is also a regular panelist and fill-in host on AETN's Arkansas Week, where journalists discuss issues in the news.
Bobby Ampezzan is a native of Detroit who holds degrees from Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA) and the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville). He's written for The Guardian newspaper and Oxford American magazine and was a longtime staff writer fortheArkansas Democrat-Gazette. The best dimestore nugget he's lately discovered comes from James Altucher's Choose Yourself(actually, the Times' profile on Altucher, which quotes the book): "I lose at least 20 percent of my intelligence when I am resentful." Meanwhile, his faith in public radio and television stems from the unifying philosophy that not everything be serious, but curiosity should follow every thing, and that we be serious about curiosity.