Ex-San Diegan Christina Bobb is First in Arizona Fake-Electors Case to Lawyer Up

Former San Diegan Christina Bobb is the first defendant in the Arizona fake-electors case to report a lawyer. And her defender once won at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bobb, 41, is represented in the criminal case by Thomas Jacobs as noted in Maricopa County court records.

Thomas Frank Jacobs of Tucson, a veteran litigator, confirmed his role Tuesday night, telling Times of San Diego via email that he took Bobb as a client because “I am a criminal defense attorney with 34 years experience in Arizona trial and appellate work.  Ms. Bobb needed criminal defense services.”

He declined to say when Bobb — herself a licensed lawyer since 2008 — hired him but said he’s never worked with her before. He added:  “I am a Democrat, if that matters.”

Jacobs notes on his website that in 2008-2009, he argued and won the “landmark U.S. Supreme Court search and seizure case of Arizona v. Gant, reshaping the rules for police vehicle searches that occur every day in America.”

Bobb — the former One America News correspondent who earned an MBA at San Diego State University — is so far the only defendant to report having a lawyer.

Seventeen other defendants — including fellow lawyers John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn and Jenna Ellis — are listed as “To Be Determined.”

Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s last White House chief of staff, also faces felony charges in the case.

Arraignments have been set for May 17 (one defendant) and May 21 (the rest). It wasn’t clear from the court record who would go first.

Native Tucsonan Jacobs, 58, represented Rodney Joseph Gant in the milestone Supreme Court case. Gant was arrested in Tucson on an outstanding warrant for driving with a suspended driver’s license.

“Police arrested Gant in a friend’s yard after he had parked his vehicle and was walking away,” Wikipedia summarized. “Gant and all other suspects on the scene were then secured in police patrol cars.

“After the officers searched Gant’s vehicle and found a weapon and a bag of cocaine, they also charged him with possession of a narcotic drug for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia.”

But in an April 21, 2009, decision, the high court said the arrest violated the Fourth Amendment.

“The Supreme Court held that police may search the vehicle of its recent occupant after his arrest only if it is reasonable to believe that the arrestee might access the vehicle at the time of the search or that the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of the arrest,” said oyez.org.

Jacobs, who earned his law degree in 1990, has a long history as a public defender, representing hundreds of defendants in federal court.

His social media footprint is small, but in a 450-word Facebook post on June 27, he roasted the Supreme Court decision reversing Roe v. Wade.

“The decision in Dobbs is hundreds of pages long, and I have not read it all,” Jacobs wrote. “Suffice to say however that I regard this as a reckless and imprudent decision overturning 50 years of precedent that afforded women a 4A protection against what will now certainly be demonstrated to be arbitrary and capricious, religious based laws seeking to force women to carry a pregnancy to term.”

He also said:

“The fallout from this decision will be decades long as Arizona is a ‘trigger law’ state, which means its medieval, anti-choice laws are already in effect.”

In a June 2021 post, Jacobs crowed: “Good news! It’s official: You can request expungement of misdemeanor or felony marijuana convictions involving smaller amounts of marijuana or paraphernalia!”

In October 21, Jacobs took part in an online survey on a single question: “Why might an innocent person choose to plead guilty to a crime they did not commit? Have you seen this occur first-hand?”

He concluded:

“I have practiced as a criminal defense attorney for over 30 years. In that time, I have seen clients plead guilty to crimes they say they did not commit. Usually, however, I will not permit this since pleading guilty requires admission of a ‘factual basis’ that supports the conclusion that the person committed the crime.

“If the client is not able to truthfully admit those facts, the guilty plea is not possible. In those instances where I have permitted clients to enter such pleas after they privately denied liability, the facts have been so overwhelming as to render the client’s story disclaiming liability incredible. Therefore, I regarded the admission as truthful.”

It’s not yet known how Bobb — hired in March by the Republican National Committee as “special counsel for election integrity” — will plead in Maricopa County.