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I have said all along that I thought Leslie Allen Merritt Jr was being framed by the Arizona DPS.
Roberts: Montgomery needs to explain botched freeway shooting case Laurie Roberts, The Republic | azcentral.com 7:10 p.m. MST April 22, 2016 Late Friday afternoon, when most people’s thoughts turned to the weekend, Maricopa County prosecutors slipped in a motion to dismiss charges against the guy they’ve been telling us for seven months was responsible for a string of shootings along Valley freeways. What? Never mind? Really? For seven months, 21-year-old Leslie Allen Merritt Jr., has been locked away in jail – often in solitary confinement. Who can forget Gov. Doug Ducey’s triumphant tweet, just minutes after Merritt’s arrest last September: “We got him!” he proclaimed. Well, we don’t got him any longer. And apparently we never did have him – if by him Ducey meant the guy who was using the freeways for target practice. Or if Merritt is the guy, police and prosecutors don’t have the evidence to prove it which is just as scary. And, no doubt, will be just as expensive for taxpayers. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville freed Merritt from jail earlier this week based upon ballistics findings by the prosecution’s own expert, Lucian Haag. Longtime criminal justice experts will tell you that Haag is among the nation’s most respected ballistics and firearms experts. If Haag says you don’t have the goods, then you probably don’t have the goods. The question is, how long have prosecutors known that they didn’t have the evidence to justify leaving this 21-year-old father behind bars? Prosecutors’ motion to dismiss the case against Merritt was made without prejudice, meaning it could be refiled. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that. This thing has the smell of a total botch job. Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery owe us answers as to what happened here. More importantly, they owe the answers to Leslie Allen Merritt. More articles about how Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is framing Leslie Allen Merritt Jr.
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