Arizona county attorney’s office drops 180 criminal charges because of missed deadline

The Maricopa County Lawyer’s Workplace was pressured to drop 180 prison instances as a result of expenses weren’t filed earlier than the statute of limitation expired.

Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone provided no excuses, whereas saying he felt for the victims of the instances not prosecuted by the lawyer’s workplace. Penzone spoke on behalf of Arizona Division of Public Security Director Col. Heston Silbert.

“The colonel and I acknowledge the difficulties in managing advanced organizations and the corresponding challenges, however we discovered nothing to mitigate or exonerate the breadth of this deficiency,” Penzone mentioned in an announcement to Glendale’s KTAR-FM.

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“We emphasised to” County Lawyer Allister Adel “our expectation there should be integrity and transparency in communication with the victims impacted by this challenge,” Penzone added. “We additionally requested instant suggestions upon MCAO’s answer to this downside to make sure it is not going to be repeated.”

An investigation by the Arizona Republic discovered the lawyer’s workplace was pressured to drop 180 misdemeanor instances, together with drunk driving, home assault, and prison harm incidents that occurred in 2020 – as a result of prosecutors forgot to file expenses earlier than the deadline handed. 

The Maricopa County Lawyer’s Workplace in Phoenix, Arizona
(Google maps)

“The Maricopa County Lawyer’s Workplace did not assessment roughly 180 misdemeanor instances from 2020 previous to the expiration of the statute of limitations. The Workplace took steps to inform legislation enforcement companies and victims of this error,” wrote the lawyer’s workplace in an announcement, in line with FOX 10 Phoenix. “The Workplace has additionally redirected sources to make sure this error doesn’t happen sooner or later.”

Underneath Arizona legislation, misdemeanor instances are required to be filed inside a 12 months that the alleged crime occurred, reviews mentioned. 

Maricopa County Lawyer Allister Adel
(Maricopa County Lawyer’s Workplace)

Sheriff Penzone famous the very best precedence proper now’s for the victims, who “resulting from these circumstances, is not going to obtain justice.”

Adel didn’t reply to a Fox 10 Phoenix request for remark.