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Sadly most politicians are not "public servants" who work for us. They are sell serving blowhards who work for themselves and the special interest groups who help get them elected.
In the case of Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery that is the cops and police unions who support him and shovel cash to him to help him get elected. And you can bet that Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is going to do everything he can to keep the pigs who falsely arrested and jailed Leslie Allen Merritt Jr. for 7 months from getting punished. About the only thing Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is good at doing is arresting medical marijuana patients and medical marijuana caregivers on bogus charges and railroading them.
Montini: Is Montgomery being prudent on freeway shooting case, or is he embarrassed? EJ MONTINIEJ Montini, The Republic | azcentral.com 2:54 p.m. MST April 27, 2016 Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery presented a firm, reasoned, smarter-than-anyone-in-the-room demeanor at his press conference Wednesday, but I suspect that deep down he really was feeling … embarrassed. Last week Montgomery’s office asked a judge to dismiss all the charges against Leslie Allen Merritt Jr., the alleged freeway shooter who had spent seven months in jail. The case was dismissed without prejudice, so the county attorney could refile charges if new evidence comes into play. Better proof, apparently, than the ballistic evidence used to pin down charges on Merritt, evidence that a state-funded expert had called into question. Merritt's out now. And no one has been charged with any of the 11 incidents that had the entire Valley on edge last summer. Merritt’s attorneys are asking the judge to release court documents that are still under seal. In their request defense attorneys Jason Lamm and Ulises Ferragut said the “veil of secrecy behind which the State has hidden must be pierced by this Court,” adding, “… it must be pierced so as to prohibit the prosecution from disingenuously infecting the public record with false statements about the demise of its case.” Montgomery isn’t going for it. He said at his news conference, "I am not going to waive that privilege in answering questions today or any other day, while the case is pending. It’s unfair to my deputy county attorneys who are handling those cases because it unnecessarily hampers their ability to do their job." Like I said: Firm. Reasoned. Smarter-than-anyone-in-the-room. But is secrecy really necessary now that charges have been dismissed? Or is Montgomery just a little, teeny tiny bit…embarrassed. And maybe even a little concerned. After all, given the turn of events in the case Merritt and his attorneys have gone from playing defense to playing offense. Merritt is asking for $2.5 million apiece from the state of Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey, Maricopa County and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery for what his attorneys say was a rush to judgment in response to "intense political and financial pressure." The governor is on the hook for having taken to social media just after Merritt was arrested. He posted on Twitter: "BREAKING: We got him! DPS SWAT team is in custody of the individual suspected of I-10 shootings. Apprehended moments ago." Merritt’s attorneys say that the court documents should be released because there is no longer a danger of tainting a jury pool, as there might have been previously. They wrote, “But those concerns are now moot that this case has been dismissed,” the motion states. They’re feeling pretty confident, apparently. And there’s a very simple way to find out if that confidence is justified or false. Montgomery says that his office will continue to fight against such a release, arguing in part that there remains an ongoing investigation. I certainly hope so. Even after Merritt was picked up the head of the Department of Public Safety, Frank Milstead, said, "The weapon and man we believe was responsible for starting this spree is in custody … Are there others out there? Are there copycats? That is possible.” Who knows? Information in the court documents might spur the memory of someone in the public and help move the investigation along. Montgomery disagrees. He would call that being prudent. Others might call it…embarrassed. More articles about how Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is framing Leslie Allen Merritt Jr.
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