Rick Romley

Early life

A veteran of the Vietnam War, serving in the United States Marine Corps, he received numerous commendations for his service in that war, including the Purple Heart medal. He was severely wounded by a land mine, losing both legs above the knee and suffering other injuries. Following the war, Romley went to Arizona State University in Tempe as a business management student, and graduated in 1974. He later attended ASU's law school and attained his Juris Doctor degree in 1981.

Career highlights

In 1989, Romley was elected county attorney (the equivalent of a district attorney) of Maricopa County, currently the fourth most populous in the United States, with approximately 3.4 million people. The office, the fifth largest in the country, is responsible for more than 40,000 cases a year. One of his highest publicized cases was when he was the prosecutor of the infamous AzScam scandal of the early 1990s, the largest public corruption scandal in Arizona history. In 2002, he initiated an investigation of the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix and their part in the pedophile priest scandals, that led to an admission of wrongdoing by the then Bishop Thomas O'Brien. Romley also prosecuted Ray Krone for the murder of Kim Ancona. Krone, who had no prior criminal record, was convicted and sentenced to death. After spending ten years in prison, four on Death Row, Krone was freed after DNA conclusively proved that he was innocent. Romley defended his prosecution of Ray Krone by saying there was "strong circumstantial evidence" of his guilt. In response to the conclusive proof that an innocent Ray Krone spent 10-1/2 years in prison, four of which was spent on Arizona's death row, Prosecutor Romley said, "we will try to do better." He neglected to mention that the prosecution's concealment of the odontologist's report that cast doubt on Ray's guilt prior to his first trial indicates they may have knowingly prosecuted an innocent man. (see: "Twice Wrongly Convicted of Murder - Ray Krone Is Set Free After 10 Years", By Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied Magazine, Vol. 2, Issue 9

In 2001, he received the Disabled American Veterans' (DAV) Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year.

After leaving the county attorney's post, Romley served as a special advisor to the Arizona Attorney General for six months. In August 2007, he became a personal advisor to James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in Washington, D.C. In April 2010 the Board of Supervisors appointed him as Interim Maricopa County Attorney when Andrew Thomas resigned amid ethics investigations from that position to run for the office of Attorney General of Arizona, making Romley only the 3rd interim ever since 1912 following Donald Harris in 1976 and Phil MacDonnell (Andrew Thomas' Chief Deputy) in 2010.

Romley's success as the interim county attorney came to an end on August 24, 2010 when Bill Montgomery beat Romley in the Republican Primary. Rick Romley ended his appointed term on November 3, 2010.