Schenkat was found guilty of one count of violating a court order and fined $336.
She unsuccessfully appealed to Maricopa County Superior Court.
Shortly before the trial, Schenkat decided she would need to sell her condominium, even in the midst of a nationwide real estate depression. The HOA board could allege violations of association rules and put a lien on her property. That, coupled with the fear that hostile board members could enlist the Scottsdale police to have her arrested whenever she was in the complex, made owning there untenable.
"I was in fear of any type of ownership," said Schenkat, who by then was renting out her second-floor condominium because she'd had knee surgery. "I couldn't go back there and look at my property. I couldn't go on the property, period, at that point. If I had gone back there and I had seen (the HOA secretary), she would have called police immediately, and I would have been in jail again."
Schenkat arranged a short sale of her home, meaning it was sold for less than what was owed. By then she had invested about $65,000 in the property, all of which she lost. She now lives in a patio home owned by her brother.
But rather than walking away quietly, Schenkat's sour experience in Scottsdale city court turned her into a community activist and self-described watchdog. She successfully petitioned to have her conviction set aside, and became active in Scottsdale city affairs.
In 2013 she was appointed to the city's Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (JAAB), which screens and reviews applicants for city judgeships. Now in her second term, Schenkat has publicly warned that the city court judges are too close to city prosecutors, and that makes it difficult for people to get a fair hearing.
Most of the other JAAB members are connected to the legal profession in some way, being current or retired judges or lawyers, Schenkat said. Having come through the city court system the way she did gives her a different perspective.
"I have observed things probably that these judges or even these lawyers haven't seen, because I've been on all levels of it as a defendant," she said. "I think I bring a lot broader perspective to what judges do and how they treat people.
"What rules the day, as far as I'm concerned, in the court is that you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. The opposite is not true, which it is supposed to be according to our Constitution."
*Article published by the Goldwater Institute, "a leading free-market public policy research and litigation organization that is dedicated to empowering all Americans to live freer, happier lives. We accomplish real results for liberty by working in state courts, legislatures, and communities nationwide to advance, defend, and strengthen the freedom guaranteed by the constitutions of the United States and the fifty states."--https://goldwaterinstitute.org/about/
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