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Sadly when your read cases like that of Leslie Merritt Jr. you discover that frequently the police and prosecutors are crooked, mean spirited *ssholes who are just as bad as the criminals they pretend to protect us from.
Leslie Merritt Jr.'s attorneys fight to dismiss Phoenix freeway-shootings case for good Megan Cassidy, The Republic | azcentral.com 3:32 p.m. MST May 5, 2016 At the prosecutors' request, Leslie Merritt Jr.’s charges were dismissed last week without prejudice, meaning the state could level a similar case against him in the future. Defense attorneys in Phoenix’s dismissed freeway-shooting case have asked a judge to bar prosecutors from ever refiling charges against their client. In a motion filed Wednesday evening, attorneys Ulises Ferragut and Jason Lamm argued that the prosecutors’ proposal was a disingenuous ploy to buy more time to make their case. This violates Arizona law, which guarantees a defendant the right to a speedy trial, they argued. “Allowing the State’s request for a dismissal without prejudice to stand … is an insult to justice and fundamental fairness,” the motion stated. “Here, the proceeding against Defendant has been dismissed without prejudice,” prosecutor Edward Leiter argued in a motion also filed Wednesday. “(This) means that while this portion of the investigation into the I-10 freeway shootings has come to an end, it is not a final end.”Meanwhile, prosecutors are fighting to keep the documents in the dead case sealed, arguing that their release to the public could taint a potential jury in a potential case. Defense attorneys last week filed a motion to release the currently sealed documents, which include the state Department of Public Safety’s departmental report, the FBI’s cellphone analysis and a ballistics report that served as the catalyst for the case’s dismissal. Both Wednesday motions were predictable. The two sides struck decidedly opposing stances after last week’s dismissal of Merritt’s case. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery continued to withhold details from reporters at a news conference April 27, saying the case was still under investigation. Defense attorneys responded by airing their portion of a mock trial on April 28. In a meeting with reporters, attorneys Lamm and Ferragut showcased findings from state and defense experts that they said absolved Merritt from the crimes. Merritt was arrested Sept. 18 after a string of Phoenix-area freeway shootings that rattled drivers last summer. DPS investigators said they had linked Merritt’s gun to four of the incidents through bullets and fragments found at the crime scenes. Late last month, it was revealed that a state-funded expert had called DPS’ ballistics into question. The report, issued by firearms examiner Lucien Haag, found that the bullets could “neither be excluded nor identified” as being fired from Merritt’s gun. Merritt was subsequently released from jail and his 15 felony charges dismissed. More articles about how Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is framing Leslie Allen Merritt Jr.
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