Death Penalty Cases in Maricopa County Rarely End in a Death Sentence — ProPublica

In 2010, Vikki Valencia’s 24-year-old brother, Triny Rey Lozano, died in an nearly unimaginably brutal manner. He was shot within the head a number of occasions, dumped on a distant street exterior Phoenix and set on fireplace.

Valencia noticed just one manner prosecutors might deliver her household justice: The killer ought to get the demise penalty.

Maricopa County prosecutors constructed a capital homicide case towards the person they are saying killed Lozano, Victor Hernandez.

Valencia knew it might take a very long time however believed it might be value it. Over almost 10 years, she visited the courthouse a whole lot of occasions, incessantly lacking work to attend hearings the place she revisited traumatic photographs of the crime scene.

“The demise penalty was the factor that we needed most as a result of we thought it was going to provide us justice,” she mentioned in a current interview.

Throughout jury choice, the case stalled due to a possible battle of curiosity involving a prosecutor who had beforehand represented Hernandez. Years later, a second trial adopted. As that jury was deliberating, prosecutors dropped the demise penalty. 9 years after he was charged with killing Lozano, Hernandez was discovered responsible and sentenced to life in jail.

Though the Maricopa County Legal professional’s Workplace has traditionally pursued the demise penalty at excessive charges, its efforts not often end in a demise sentence.

ProPublica and ABC15 Arizona reviewed almost 350 instances over a 20-year interval by which Maricopa County prosecutors determined the crimes warranted the demise penalty, and located that 13% led to a demise sentence. In a lot of the instances, defendants both pleaded responsible and acquired a lesser sentence or prosecutors modified course, ending their pursuit of the demise penalty.

In 76 trials by which Maricopa County juries deliberated a demise sentence, 41, or 54%, yielded one.

By comparability, an evaluation of demise penalty instances initiated in Harris County, Texas, from 2004 by 2023, discovered prosecutors took fewer instances, 24, to trial and have been extra profitable, acquiring a demise sentence 75% of the time, based on figures offered by an area advocacy group. Knowledge over an extended time interval additionally reveals that federal prosecutors nationwide have obtained demise sentences at a better fee than in Maricopa County, based on the Federal Dying Penalty Useful resource Counsel Undertaking.

Pursuing the demise penalty is among the many most consequential selections that prosecutors make. Every case will be litigated throughout the tenures of a number of county attorneys and may price greater than one million {dollars}. Within the a whole lot of Maricopa County demise penalty instances that prosecutors have pursued since 2007, the price of furnishing the accused with an satisfactory protection has totaled $289 million. However the outcomes within the county elevate questions in regards to the workplace’s judgment in its pursuit of the last word punishment, based on courtroom data and interviews with greater than three dozen individuals together with legal professionals, former prosecutors, members of the family of victims and defendants, jurors and specialists.

Former County Legal professional Rick Romley mentioned there needs to be a evaluation of capital charging selections after ProPublica and ABC15 shared the newsrooms’ findings with him. Romley puzzled whether or not prosecutors are in search of demise “within the acceptable instances.”

“The jury is form of a barometer of whether or not or not you’re doing an excellent job,” he mentioned. “And fairly frankly … if it was a college grade, that’s referred to as an F.”

The workplace, now headed by Rachel Mitchell, a Republican, declined our request for an interview. A spokesperson responded to written questions, emphasizing that “just one” individual in Maricopa County — Mitchell — makes the choice to hunt the demise penalty and that every case is reviewed all through the method, as info modifications.

Maricopa County’s and the state of Arizona’s dealing with of the demise penalty have been questioned for years. A 2016 report by the now-defunct Truthful Punishment Undertaking, a authorized and academic analysis group at Harvard College, cited the county, amongst different locations, as having a historical past of “overzealous prosecutors, insufficient protection and a sample of racial bias and exclusion.”

As well as, protection attorneys for a demise row prisoner in 2018 petitioned unsuccessfully to the U.S. Supreme Courtroom, claiming that Arizona’s statute was overly broad as a result of nearly each homicide will be charged as a capital case. And two former prosecutors and appeals courtroom judges wrote in a 2022 law journal article that state officers, quite than particular person counties, ought to make all demise penalty selections to make sure the method is “much less arbitrary.”

Maricopa County prosecutors’ dealing with of demise penalty instances is newly related as Arizona has resumed executions after a two-year pause. The state, which has 111 people on death row, halted executions in 2014, after Joseph Wooden was injected repeatedly over two hours, gasping greater than 600 occasions earlier than dying, based on a reporter’s account. The state executed three individuals in 2022 however paused after the newly elected Gov. Katie Hobbs ordered a evaluation of the deadly injection course of. Hobbs dismissed the retired federal Justice of the Peace she had appointed to conduct the evaluation after he concluded there is no such thing as a humane solution to execute individuals.

Valencia and her household felt the case had put their lives on maintain. Trying again, she mentioned it appeared odd that the prosecution, which had pursued demise for therefore lengthy, determined to not as soon as the end result was shut. (Prosecutors declined to touch upon the case.)

However as Valencia discovered, there’s little transparency across the course of in Maricopa County. Though the ultimate choice to hunt demise is made by the county lawyer, every case is vetted by a bit identified panel, the Capital Assessment Committee. The county lawyer’s workplace refused to speak in confidence to ProPublica and ABC15 who sits on the panel, how they vote on the instances being thought of for the demise penalty and even which instances they evaluation.

The workplace mentioned in a press release that the method ends not with the county lawyer’s workplace however with a trial, which is “all completed in public, in an open courtroom.” The workplace additionally mentioned that it’s profitable in prosecuting capital instances and comparisons to Harris County may very well be deceptive as a result of they ignore the “particulars and intricacies of particular person instances.”

Establishing a committee is mostly higher than particular person judgments, however the high quality of the selections will depend on the people concerned, mentioned Robert Dunham, director of the Dying Penalty Coverage Undertaking, which conducts analysis and evaluation on demise penalty points.

“Anybody who says that they’ve a good course of and is unwilling to say what that course of is, is someone who doesn’t have a good course of,” Dunham mentioned.

“I Should Run It by The Man”

When Romley, a Republican, was first elected Maricopa County lawyer in 1989, deputy prosecutors in one of many nation’s largest counties determined whether or not to hunt the demise penalty on their very own.

Among the many first modifications Romley made was to foster extra deliberation. He created the Capital Assessment Committee to judge instances and advocate whether or not to pursue the demise penalty. He nonetheless had the ultimate say, however he believed {that a} group of veteran prosecutors would apply the legislation extra persistently and advocate solely instances that warranted the last word punishment.

“Searching for the demise penalty is a momentous choice that you just’ve received to make,” Romley mentioned. “I needed to be sure that we have been ferreting out all of the information, that we made certain that judgment wasn’t being skewed by private biases.”

Romley served 4 phrases and determined to not search a fifth, leaving workplace in 2004. His successor was Andrew Thomas, a Republican lawyer and creator, who ran as a law-and-order conservative vowing to crack down on unlawful immigration and impose more durable sentences. After two years, Thomas had nearly doubled the variety of demise penalty prosecutions, incomes Maricopa County the excellence of in search of demise greater than nearly some other jurisdiction within the nation.

Critics mentioned Thomas sought the demise penalty for crimes that didn’t warrant it — together with a case of vehicular murder. The defendant in that case, David Szymanski, had a blood-alcohol content material almost twice the authorized restrict and cocaine in his system when he drove the unsuitable manner on a freeway and killed a 22-year-old man.

A police evaluation discovered that officers had violated division coverage whereas pursuing Szymanski. Thomas relented greater than a 12 months later, and the Capital Assessment Committee really helpful the capital cost be withdrawn. Szymanski pleaded responsible to second-degree homicide and was sentenced to 22 years in jail.

The sufferer’s mom informed the Arizona Republic, “We’ve by no means needed the demise penalty.”

Kenneth Everett, who was a protection lawyer on capital instances for the Maricopa County Workplace of the Authorized Advocate throughout Thomas’ tenure, told the American Bar Association’s ABA Journal in 2010 that it was clear selections on the instances have been made solely by Thomas. “After I begged for a deal, the entire prosecutors would say, ‘I’ve to run it by the person,’” he mentioned. “Thomas definitely had the last word energy. And if he mentioned no, you have been going to trial. And he normally mentioned no.”

The Arizona Supreme Courtroom convened a task force to handle case delays amid a scarcity of certified capital protection attorneys.

Thomas responded to criticism of the delays by blaming protection attorneys for drawing out proceedings and the courts for failing to implement speedy trial guidelines. He wrote in an Arizona Republic opinion piece, “I’ve sought the demise penalty in acceptable instances figuring out juries make the last word choice and believing they need to have this selection.”

Thomas received a second time period however resigned in 2010 to pursue an unsuccessful bid for state lawyer normal. He was later disbarred for misconduct and political prosecutions of county officers. Thomas, who didn’t reply to requests for remark, said at the time that he was “working to battle corruption.”

After Thomas’ resignation, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed Romley to serve out the time period. Again in his outdated job, Romley reviewed the 120 capital instances the workplace was pursuing on the time. He determined to not search the demise penalty in 11 of them, together with a case by which a 4-month-old little one was discovered lifeless at an in-home day care. The medical expert had concluded the kid died of blunt pressure trauma, however Romley mentioned he introduced in medical specialists who disputed that and located the accidents the kid suffered might have been attributable to an sickness.

In court minutes of a listening to to drop the demise penalty within the case, the Capital Assessment Committee is famous as having voted 8-0 to dismiss the case, which was by no means refiled. However the weight of the cost on the defendant, Lisa Randall, is obvious in courtroom paperwork. Over the three years she was out and in of jail, her marriage fell aside and he or she misplaced her home, based on courtroom paperwork. Randall couldn’t be reached for remark.

“When you allege demise, the entire recreation modifications,” Romley mentioned. “So many extra sources go into that exact case.”

“They Ought to Present Among the Bravery That They Count on Us to Present”

As soon as a prosecutor decides to hunt the demise penalty, the stakes rise. The courts and victims’ households face a lengthier course of, and jurors can face intense scrutiny.

The courtroom appoints two protection legal professionals, together with an investigator and a mitigation specialist. (In different instances, defendants have just one lawyer.) The protection can be given extra time to arrange, to permit for an examination of the defendant’s background to search out sympathetic components that would mitigate a demise sentence.

Capital trials devour extra time as a result of they include three elements: A jury first decides if the defendant is responsible; then jurors take into account aggravating circumstances that would make the defendant eligible or ineligible for a demise sentence. Lastly, the jury decides if the sentence needs to be demise or life in jail.

It’s unclear how a lot the Maricopa County Legal professional’s Workplace spends prosecuting capital instances. When ProPublica and ABC15 requested the workplace for a breakdown, a spokesperson mentioned that the workplace doesn’t monitor spending on demise penalty instances.

However since 2007, the county has spent almost $289 million on protection for capital instances. Final 12 months, the county spent $26 million, greater than any 12 months since 2007, based on the Maricopa County Workplace of Public Protection Companies.

In Oklahoma, a study launched in 2017 discovered that capital instances price, on common, 3 times greater than noncapital instances.

Jodi Arias made headlines in 2013 when she was convicted of killing her ex-boyfriend. Prosecutors sought the demise penalty twice, and jurors deadlocked each occasions. Arias was finally sentenced to life in jail. The 2 trials price $3.2 million, together with the protection and prosecution, based on officers on the time.

Through the 20 years examined by ProPublica and ABC15, juries in 35 instances both voted for all times, deadlocked, decided the instances didn’t qualify for demise or discovered the defendant not responsible. In 41 instances, jurors really helpful the demise penalty.

Frank Baumgartner, a College of North Carolina political science professor, was stunned Maricopa County juries disagreed with prosecutors 46% of the time in capital instances. Prosecutors would save taxpayers cash by exercising extra discretion over which instances they pursue, Baumgartner mentioned. Additionally they look like out of step with public opinion within the county, provided that juries disagree with them so incessantly on the demise penalty. “They’re not in sync with their area people,” he mentioned.

Individuals who served on capital juries within the county informed ProPublica and ABC15 that that they had traumatic experiences. Through the choice course of, potential jurors are requested private questions in open courtroom, making them really feel susceptible. Some have had their identities revealed by jurors who disagree with them.

A juror in a high-profile Maricopa County homicide case who requested to not be named due to security issues referred to as the expertise “one of many worst of my life.” As soon as the juror discovered it was a demise penalty case, the stress triggered intense abdomen ache. “It’s the best penalty within the land, and I don’t suppose that it needs to be utilized calmly,” the previous juror mentioned.

Given what jurors undergo, prosecutors needs to be clear about their decision-making, the juror mentioned.

“They need to present a few of the bravery that they count on us to indicate,” the previous juror mentioned of the secretive committee. “You ask us to do that, to place our life on maintain, to undergo this, not share it with anyone. Then present a few of the bravery that you just maintain us to, and be accountable like we’d be accountable if we have been caught not following any of the foundations.”

In 2019, Myla Fairchild served as a juror in a case towards the person accused of murdering Gilbert police Lt. Eric Shuhandler, who was killed after pulling over a pickup truck. Christopher Redondo, a passenger within the truck, shot Shuhandler within the face, setting off a 50-mile chase, prosecutors mentioned. Fairchild mentioned she voted towards the demise penalty due to Redondo’s psychological capability and lengthy historical past of psychological sickness. Redondo was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in jail. Afterwards, annoyed jurors informed the media Fairchild’s title.

She wasn’t afforded the identical privateness because the prosecutors on the evaluation committee who really helpful the demise penalty within the first place, she mentioned.

“You’re not protected,” she mentioned.

“A Complete Disservice”

ProPublica and ABC15 requested the biggest prosecutorial workplaces in Arizona and throughout the nation how they resolve whether or not to hunt the demise penalty. The newsrooms discovered that no two counties deal with decision-making the identical manner, however Maricopa County is an outlier for obscuring almost each side of its committee’s work.

The ACLU sued the Maricopa County Legal professional’s Workplace in 2019 for entry to the committee’s membership and different data. Jared Keenan, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona’s authorized director, mentioned the group thought of the data vital to the general public’s understanding of the demise penalty.

“Prosecuting businesses have an unbelievable quantity of energy, and that energy is at its peak after they make life-and-death selections,” Keenan mentioned. “The general public must know who’s concerned in making these selections to have the ability to be sure that these selections are made responsibly, constitutionally, ethically.”

The county opposed releasing the knowledge. “They have been combating to maintain this particular info from the general public for years and years,” Keenan mentioned. A decide didn’t order the county to launch the committee data to the general public.

At ProPublica and ABC15’s request, the county lawyer’s workplace shared a coverage doc itemizing the composition of the Capital Assessment Committee however mentioned the doc is “considerably old-fashioned.” It listed as committee members: the deputy chief of the Legal Division; the division chiefs from the Capital Litigation Bureau, Main Offenders Division and Particular Victims Division; and the Neighborhood Based mostly Prosecution Division chiefs. The coverage permits the county lawyer to designate different committee members.

In a press release, the county lawyer’s workplace reiterated that Mitchell makes the ultimate choice after contemplating a variety of knowledge.

Nonetheless, the choice can really feel opaque to victims’ members of the family.

When prosecutors sought the demise penalty towards Octavia Rogers within the killing of her three younger kids in the summertime of 2016, they went towards the household’s needs, based on Rogers’ aunt, Sherry Spooney. Spooney and her household had misplaced three younger family members within the killing and didn’t wish to lose Rogers to the demise penalty, too. “What wouldn’t it clear up? How wouldn’t it assist the scenario?” she mentioned.

Prosecutors by no means spoke to the household about how they arrived at their choice, Spooney mentioned.

The Maricopa County Legal professional’s Workplace mentioned it reached out to the household.

Spooney referred to as their secrecy “disheartening” and mentioned it induced her to marvel if the workplace had its personal agenda in pursuing the demise penalty. “It’s a complete disservice, to not simply the household, however the victims of the household. And on this case, we’re each, we’re one and the identical, and in the event that they’re going to make selections for another person, it needs to be identified.”

Final 12 months, after Rogers was discovered incompetent to face trial, she pleaded “responsible besides insane,” that means she didn’t know on the time of her crime that the act was unsuitable. Rogers is being held on the Arizona State Hospital.

Valencia recalled that when the case towards her brother’s killer was delayed, she initially blamed protection attorneys for dragging out the proceedings, however the committee’s secrecy was additionally contributing to the delay. Attorneys for Hernandez, the defendant, had found a member of the Capital Assessment Committee had a possible battle of curiosity: A former protection lawyer for Hernandez in an unrelated case had since turn into a prosecutor and was on the committee that voted to reject a plea deal for Hernandez. (The plea deal included the noncapital case as effectively.)

Prosecutors fought for almost three years to maintain the committee’s membership and its votes secret in a case that reached the Arizona Supreme Court. A decide ultimately decided there was no battle of curiosity within the Hernandez case.

Years later, when prosecutors withdrew the demise penalty cost towards Hernandez, Valencia mentioned she agreed with the choice though she’d as soon as thought it might be the one simply end result.

“It took such a toll on our household, at that time, I used to be simply prepared for it to be completed,” she mentioned.