Cast of Bad Actors
Every documented offense in FC2012-070854 and FC2017-002028 has a name attached to it. These are not accusations — they are the record.
What follows is a documented register of every individual whose conduct materially advanced the fraud in FC2012-070854 and its companion case FC2017-002028. Attorneys are identified with their Arizona State Bar admission data. Judges are identified with their appointment history and court biography. Convicted individuals are identified by case number and public court docket. Private individuals are identified by their role in the proceedings and the specific admissions or docket events that constitute their offense.
All citations are to publicly available court records, State Bar of Arizona public data, Maricopa Superior Court judicial biographies, and sworn testimony in the record of these proceedings.
The Bench
FC2012-070854 — Presiding Judges
Lisa Ann Vandenberg
Judge, FC2012 — 2019–2020
Documented Offense
Entered and enforced orders downstream from a fraud-contaminated instrument (May 8, 2012 false OOP, perjury per se Chavez hearing) without vacatur. No finding entered on admitted perjury of record.
Background
- Appointed: January 3, 2018 — Gov. Doug Ducey
- Court: Maricopa County Superior Court
- Education: B.A. History, Lyon College; J.D. Widener University
- Prior: SC Commissioner; Maricopa County Prosecutor; Staff Attorney, AZ Corporation Commission
- Retention: Nov. 2020 (won); Nov. 2024 (won)
- Status: Left bench 2025; succeeded by Brian Palmer
Case Context
- FC2012 Assignment: 2019–2020
- Successor: Judge Kiefer (2021)
- Orders entered on contaminated record; no correction on judicial notice of prior perjury.
Joseph Kiefer
Judge, FC2012 — 2021–2022
Documented Offense
Presided over the April 22, 2021 trial in which Robyn Schudel admitted perjury on the record (Tr. 3329–3395; Tr. 3641–3758). No finding of perjury. No vacatur of orders premised on the contaminated instrument. Carry-forward of fraud-derived record.
Background
- Appointed: 2019, Superior Court of Arizona
- Assignment: Family Court, Northwest Regional Court Center (Surprise); Family Court Associate Presiding Judge from May 2021
- Current: Criminal Department, Phoenix
- Education: B.S. Economics & Political Science, U.S. Naval Academy; J.D. William & Mary Law School; M.B.A. Chaminade University
- Military: USAF JAG, Retired Colonel (1990–2020); AF Court of Criminal Appeals; AF Trial Judiciary
- Prior: Snell & Wilmer (Partner); Steptoe & Johnson; Maricopa County Attorney's Office (Senior Counsel)
Key Hearing — April 22, 2021
Trial at which Schudel admitted the original perjury and identified Sommer Kinnan as the directing co-conspirator. No judicial finding entered.
"I would say, yes, I did." — Robyn Schudel (Tr. 3329–3395)
"Through my boss at the time." — Robyn Schudel re: Kinnan (Tr. 3641–3758)
Jillian Francis
Judge, FC2012 — 2024
Documented Offense
Issued IOR 645 enforcing parenting-time restrictions derived from the original fraud-contaminated record without correction for the companion case adjudication (CR2020-118164; JD39289). Continued carry-forward of vacated fraud into active orders.
Background
- Appointed: 2022, Superior Court of Arizona
- Assignment: Family Court, Northwest Regional Court Center (Surprise, 11/2022); LCA Presiding Judge (2/2026)
- Education: B.S. Marketing 2009, Arizona State University; J.D. 2012, California Western School of Law
- Prior: AZ AG Office — Criminal Appeals Section (2015–2022); Protective Services Section (2014–2015); Law Clerk, AZ Court of Appeals Div. 1 (2012–2014)
- Bar: AZ State Bar Appellate Practice Section Executive Council
IOR 645
IOR 645 issued in 2024 enforcing parenting-time restrictions under Judge Francis without addressing the fraud-contamination established in the companion proceeding. The companion case had already adjudicated the same fraud pattern as criminal (CR2020-118164) and dependency (JD39289 vacated).
Counsel of Record
Licensed Attorneys — AZ State Bar
Marc Roger Grant Jr.
Attorney for Opposing Party — FC2012
Documented Offense
Admitted to Buckeye Police Department (BPD 200930062) his own awareness that the conduct constituted custodial interference, then provided a legal justification for it. Officer of court citing "best interest of the child" to justify a crime he named as such.
"I know it's custodial interference… but it's in the best interest of the child." — Marc Grant, BPD 200930062
AZ State Bar
- Bar No.: 201332
- Status: Active
- Admitted: August 1, 2017
- Discipline: None on record
- Firm: Strong Law Legal Group
- Phone: 602-492-6080
Background
- Law School: Arizona Summit Law School, Summa Cum Laude
- CALI Awards: Family Law, Constitutional Law, Property, Tort, Antitrust
- Origin: Law clerk at Rader, Sheldon & Stoutner, PLLC from 2015 — same firm as Nicole Stoutner (Schudel's early FC2012 attorney)
- In legal field: Since 2011
- Self-described: "most comfortable in the courtroom"
Claudia D. Work
Best Interests Attorney (BIA) — FC2012, Court-Appointed
Documented Offense
Coached Keegan's refusal to attend court-ordered parenting time (BPD 200927030; BPD 200930062). Then testified at trial that Keegan's refusal was his own initiative, unprompted. As a court-appointed officer, this is fraud upon the court. The BIA is the court's agent — suborning the refusal and then misrepresenting its origin to the court is an abuse of that appointment.
AZ State Bar
- Bar No.: 43836
- Status: Active
- Admitted: October 18, 1997
- Discipline: None on record
- Firm: Scottsdale Family Law, PLLC
- Address: 6501 E Greenway Pkwy #103-631, Scottsdale AZ 85254
- Phone: 602-279-1900
- Rate: $400/hr
Background
- Law School: University of New Mexico
- Languages: French
- Self-described: "I regularly serve as a court appointed Best Interests Attorney in family/civil court, and as a Court Appointed Advisor in family law cases."
- AZ Bar Sections: Family Law Section
Nicole Siqueiros-Stoutner
Attorney for Robyn Schudel — FC2012 (Early)
Documented Offense
Cross-case coordination with Lindsay Bautista (Kovacs's FC2017 attorney), documented in RT1322-8SD. Stoutner was Schudel's attorney of record in the originating FC2012 proceeding during the period the foundational fraud instruments were filed.
AZ State Bar
- Bar No.: 163425
- Full Name: Nicole Dawn Marie Siqueiros-Stoutner
- Status: Active
- Admitted: April 27, 2007
- Discipline: None on record
- Firm: Sheldon-Siqueiros-Stoutner (formerly Rader, Sheldon & Stoutner, PLLC)
- Address: 11111 N Scottsdale Rd Ste 245, Scottsdale AZ 85254
- Phone: 480-531-1740
Background & Connections
- Law School: Arizona State University (ASU Law)
- Languages: Italian, Spanish
- AZ Bar Sections: Alternative Dispute Resolution; Family Law; World Peace Through Law
- Cross-case link: Marc Grant Jr. began his legal career as law clerk at the same firm (Rader, Sheldon & Stoutner) in 2015 — two years before Grant's admission, when the firm still bore Stoutner's name. Grant became associate at the firm upon Bar admission in 2017.
Lindsay Sue Bautista
Attorney for Demetrius Kovacs — FC2017
Documented Offense
Cross-case coordination with Nicole Stoutner (Schudel's FC2012 attorney), documented in RT1322-8SD. As Kovacs's attorney in FC2017, Bautista's coordination with counsel in the companion FC2012 proceeding established a documented nexus between the two fraud schemes.
AZ State Bar
- Bar No.: 198520
- Full Name: Lindsay Sue Bautista
- Status: Active
- Admitted: June 1, 2016
- Discipline: None on record
- Firm: Bautista Law Group, PLLC
- Address: 565 W Chandler Blvd Ste 215, Chandler AZ 85225
- Phone: 480-399-6302
Background
- Law School: Arizona Summit Law School (same institution as Marc Grant Jr.)
- Listed Practice: Personal Injury — despite serving as family court attorney of record in FC2017
- Languages: Spanish
- AZ Bar Sections: Family Law Section
Court-Appointed Advisor
Non-Attorney Court Officer — FC2012
Lisa Dodd
Court Appointed Advisor (CAA) — FC2012
Documented Offense
Suppressed DCS case 408934 UNSUBSTANTIATED finding. Refused to produce the case determination to the court or to opposing counsel, in violation of A.R.S. §8-807(M), which mandates disclosure of DCS records in custody proceedings where the child's welfare is at issue.
Role & Context
Court Appointed Advisors in Maricopa Superior Court are non-attorney officers appointed by the court to investigate and advise on child welfare matters in family law proceedings. They are not licensed attorneys and do not appear in the AZ State Bar directory.
DCS case 408934 was investigated and returned an UNSUBSTANTIATED finding — meaning the allegations against Joel Hanger were found to lack merit. Dodd did not produce this finding to the court or to counsel of record. A.R.S. §8-807(M) requires that DCS records be made available in custody proceedings upon proper request.
Suppression of an exculpatory DCS determination by a court-appointed officer is a material omission that affected the evidentiary record before the court.
Case Participants
Private Individuals — Documented by Court Record & Sworn Testimony
Robyn Schudel
Petitioner — FC2012-070854
Documented Offense
Perjury per se at the May 8, 2012 Chavez hearing — false paternity allegation in the Order of Protection (OOP) instrument, a sworn document. At the August 2012 deposition, the perjury was admitted on the record. At the April 22, 2021 trial, the admission was made again under oath in open court, and the identity of the co-conspirator who directed it was named.
"I would say, yes, I did." — Robyn Schudel re: perjury (Tr. 3329–3395, April 22, 2021)
"Through my boss at the time." — Robyn Schudel, naming Sommer Kinnan as director of the false paternity allegation (Tr. 3641–3758, April 22, 2021)
"Threatening her boss is domestic violence… which seems to be a pattern." — Chavez hearing, May 8, 2012
Timeline of Admitted Perjury
- May 8, 2012 — Chavez hearing: Schudel swore to false paternity allegation in OOP instrument. This constitutes perjury per se — false statement in a sworn document filed with the court.
- August 2012 — Deposition: Admitted on the record that the allegation was false. Buried by counsel; not produced to the court.
- April 22, 2021 — Trial (Judge Kiefer): Second on-record admission under oath. Named Sommer Kinnan as the person who directed the false allegation. Judge made no finding.
Source: Transcript references Tr. 3329–3395; Tr. 3641–3758; Maricopa Superior Court FC2012-070854
Sommer Kinnan
Co-Conspirator — False Paternity Allegation, FC2012
Documented Offense
Named by Robyn Schudel under oath as the person who directed the false paternity allegation in the 2012 OOP. As Schudel's employer, Kinnan directed Schudel to file a sworn allegation both Schudel and Kinnan knew to be false. This constitutes suborning perjury — directing another to commit perjury in a sworn judicial instrument.
"Through my boss at the time." — Robyn Schudel (Tr. 3641–3758)
Context
Sommer Kinnan was Robyn Schudel's employer at the time the 2012 OOP was filed. Schudel's April 22, 2021 trial testimony (Tr. 3641–3758) identified Kinnan as the person who directed the inclusion of the false paternity allegation.
Kinnan is not a party to FC2012-070854 and is not a licensed attorney. Her involvement is established solely by Schudel's sworn testimony under cross-examination in open court. The Chavez hearing record (May 8, 2012) contains a reference to Schudel's conduct toward her employer, which contextualizes the relationship further.
Source: Tr. 3641–3758, April 22, 2021; Chavez hearing May 8, 2012; FC2012-070854
Demetrius Joseph Kovacs
Respondent — FC2017-002028 | Convicted Felon — CR2020-118164
Documented Offense — Felony Conviction on Public Record
Pled guilty as charged to Child Abduction — Takes/Keeps (A.R.S. §13-1310A1, Class 3 Felony), Maricopa Superior Court CR2020-118164. Crime date: April 10, 2020. Sentenced to probation August 19, 2020. Violated probation — sentenced to imprisonment, Arizona Department of Corrections (ADOC), August 23, 2021.
The FC2017 companion case was built on the same fraud architecture deployed in FC2012: false allegations, coached child statements, and cross-attorney coordination. Kovacs's criminal conviction in the parallel criminal proceeding established the fraud as a matter of public record — while FC2012 has made no correction.
"According to them he forcefully grabbed him under the shoulders with his arms up in the Saas ripped him out the window." — RT1296-8SD (Kovacs filing re: arms allegation, not neck/throat)
Criminal Case CR2020-118164
- Case: CR2020-118164-001
- Court: Maricopa Superior Court, Downtown
- Charge: ABDUCT CHILD STATE — TAKES/KEEPS (A.R.S. §13-1310A1 F3)
- Crime Date: April 10, 2020
- Plea: Pled Guilty As Charged (June 11, 2020)
- Initial Sentence: Probation (August 19, 2020)
- Probation Violated: Petition to Revoke filed January 6, 2021
- Final Sentence: Imprisonment — ADOC (August 23, 2021)
- Judge: Gottfried
- Defense Attorney: Bailey, Leanne
FC2017 Companion Context
FC2017-002028 (Stephens v. Kovacs) was designated a companion case to FC2012-070854 by court order in 2019. The fraud tools deployed in FC2017 — false injury allegations, coached child statements, cross-attorney coordination — mirror those in FC2012.
FC2017 outcomes: Criminal conviction (CR2020-118164), juvenile dependency vacatur (JD39289), civil appellate wins. The fraud architecture was adjudicated and destroyed in the companion case. FC2012 has made no corresponding correction.
All information on this page is drawn from publicly available court records, Arizona State Bar public data, Maricopa Superior Court judicial biographies, and sworn testimony in FC2012-070854 and FC2017-002028. Nothing on this page is asserted as fact beyond what the public record supports.
← Read the full documented case history