Of course, even her own notice of claim against the office doesn't speak well of her character..
First, from ABC15 -
Prosecutor: Allister Adel, Phoenix chiefs approved of protest gang charges
Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel personally knew about the plan to charge a group of police protesters as a criminal street gang and falsely blamed the case’s prosecutor for going rogue after public backlash, according to a recently-filed notice of claim.
The claim was filed last week by April Sponsel, a 17-year prosecutor with the office who was specifically assigned to handle protest cases.
Note: the claim was attached to the end of the ABC15 story. I can't/don't how to link to that directly, but will be quoting from it later. I recommend reading it in its entirety, if only for its entertainment value.
If you are entertained by being horrified.
Then, from KJZZ, on the same subject (emphasis added by me in the third quoted paragraph) -
Lead Prosecutor From Gang Charges Case Sues Maricopa County Attorney's Office For Defamation
In late May and early June of last year, thousands of Arizonans took to the streets in cities throughout the state, joining others around the country to protest the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
In Phoenix, protests stretched for five weeks with demonstrators clashing with Phoenix police on multiple occasions. Many of these clashes culminated in arrests, and a group of 15 protesters were charged with an added “gang designation” — upping the sentencing potential.
[snip]
April Sponsel was the lead prosecutor for Maricopa County in these cases, and she claims that when Adel’s office reversed course on the gang charges, her work had been undermined. When she tried to protest the reversal of charges, she was placed on administrative leave, with pay.
From page 7 of Sponsel's notice of claim (emphasis added by me) -
The following people attended (virtually) the October 30, 2020, Meeting: Division Chief Vince Goddard, Bureau Chief Sherry Leckrone, Division Chief of Training and Appeals Ryan Green, Bureau Chief of Gangs Heather Livingston, Chief Deputy Ken Vick, MCAO Det. Karl Martin, Information Officer Jennifer Liewer, Chief of Investigations William Long, Director of Investigations Tom Van Dorn, and Ms. Sponsel. In the meeting, Mr. Goddard, Ms. Leckrone and Ms. Sponsel explained the October 27, 2020 Charges and why they were appropriate. The only person in the meeting who objected to the charges was Mr. Green. To Ms. Sponsel’s knowledge, no one else objected to the charges, and no one suggested a formal incident review that she can recall. Further, no one, including Mr. Green, stated or suggested that the MCAO should dismiss any of the charges against any of the defendants.
Even in her own filing, she admits to having no objection to the prosecutions.
I'm obviously not a fan of the MCAO or abuse of authority, but they come off looking better in this than Sponsel.
Of course, the only folks in all of this who come off looking good are the victims of Phoenix PD and the MCAO. Which may be a reason that they are suing the agencies and the City of Phoenix.
From the AZMirror -
Lawsuits mount against Phoenix, county for ‘outrageous’ criminal cases against protesters
A lawsuit claims the City of Phoenix, the Phoenix Police Department and leadership at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office conspired to falsely arrest and maliciously prosecute people who rallied last year to protest the deaths of George Floyd, Dion Johnson and other Black people.
The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit include 20 people who were arrested between July and October 2020 following demonstrations, and they claim their constitutional rights were violated and they were deprived of their civil rights.
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