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Every passing day brings us new news that Leslie Merritt Jr. was railroaded by corrupt cops in the Arizona DPS and corrupt prosecutors in the Maricopa County Attorneys office.
A friend in New York state made a comment about a similar case in Arizona the the prosecutor should be charged with malicious prosecution. That may be allowed in New York state, but I think in Arizona prosecutors can f*ck anybody over they want and have almost NO liability when they use their office to destroy people lives of innocent people. Phoenix freeway shootings case: Judge lifts gag order, OKs unsealing of documents Megan Cassidy, The Republic | azcentral.com 4:09 p.m. MST May 10, 2016 A judge has lifted the gag order in the Phoenix freeway-shooting case involving Leslie Merritt Jr. and ordered key documents be released to the public. However, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville denied Merritt's defense attorneys' motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, leaving open the opportunity for prosecutors to refile charges against him at a later date. Merritt, 21, was arrested Sept. 18 in relation to a string of Phoenix-area freeway shootings last summer. Granville dismissed the charges last month after a state-funded expert called into question key evidence implicating Merritt. At a hearing Tuesday, defense attorneys and prosecutors debated the case’s loose ends: Whether sealed case documents should be released to the public and whether prosecutors should be barred from ever refiling charges related to the freeway shootings against Merritt. In the defense’s bid to dismiss the case with prejudice, attorney Ulises Ferragut said the prosecutor’s motion to dismiss the case without prejudice was disingenuous. Rather, Ferragut said, the move was intended to buy the state more time to investigate. Such would be a violation of state laws that guarantee the right to a fair trial, he said. “Mr. Merritt should not have to continue to go through the worries and the concerns and the torment, quite frankly, of wondering if he’s going to be charged,” he said. Prosecutor Edward Leiter said the defense’s position was “pure speculation” and reiterated that the state’s motion to dismiss was in the interest of justice. The case for unsealing documents In the second part of the hearing, defense attorney Jason Lamm and media attorney Craig Hoffman argued that the case’s sealed documents should be made public. Phoenix freeway-shootings case In an earlier motion, Merritt's attorneys argued that any concern that the documents would taint a jury pool were moot now that the case was dismissed. They also offered a preview of this evidence in a news conference, including a snippet of a ballistic expert’s report that called into question the findings from the Department of Public Safety. Lamm on Tuesday said the documents helped prove the innocence of his client, and said the state had no legal justification to keep them under lock and key. “The state cannot create a de facto stay to hide the ball,” he said. “All (Merritt) wants is his good name back.” Maricopa County prosecutor Vanessa Losicco said it was premature to do so, given the ongoing investigation. There was compelling reason, she said, to “ensure that whoever is brought forward on these charges … that their rights are protected.” The documents in question 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. The judge's ruling In ordering the documents' release, Granville ruled both prosecutors and defense attorneys would first have a chance to redact sensitive information over the next 14 days. However, Granville upheld prosecutors' right to submit another case against Merritt. The judge said a better time to consider such a motion to dismiss with prejudice would be if and when prosecutors decided to refile charges. Granville additionally ordered another June 17 hearing on whether to release Merritt’s car, gun, and other property back to him. After the hearing, Lamm dismissed the suggestion that the judge maintaining the opening for refiling charges was a loss to his client. "Here's the reality," he said, addressing reporters. "You can get a hot fudge sundae for dessert. And even if it doesn't have a cherry on top, you've still got a nice hot fudge sundae." More articles about how Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is framing Leslie Allen Merritt Jr.
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