Tag: Prosecutor

Bar Disciplinary Trial Wraps Up Against Former Maricopa County Prosecutor Who Charged Antifa Demonstrators at Violent Protest in Phoenix

Rachel Alexander

The disciplinary court of the State Bar of Arizona wrapped up a trial a few days ago against April Sponsel, a former longtime prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO), related to gang charges she brought against Antifa and others arrested in October 2020 for rioting in downtown Phoenix. Bar prosecutors claimed she overcharged the rioters by using gang statutes, including bringing charges against a man who claimed he was just an observer taking photos, Ryder Collins. The Arizona bar seeks to suspend her license to practice law for two years. 

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Hennepin County DA Moriarty Faces Criticism for Dismissing Rape Case During First Week in Office

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Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is facing criticism after she dropped a rape charge involving a 14-year-old victim during her first week in office.

Moriarty was sworn in Jan. 3, replacing longtime county attorney Mike Freeman. She ran on a progressive platform of “restorative justice programs” and “alternatives to incarceration.”

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Judge Sides with DeSantis, Says Governor Won’t Have to Testify in Lawsuit Brought by Former Prosecutor

Just the News

A federal judge this week ruled that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will not have to testify in a lawsuit brought against him by a prosecutor he dismissed over the summer.

DeSantis made headlines in August when he fired State Attorney Andrew Warren after the latter indicated he would not enforce laws prohibiting sex-change operations for minors. “State Attorneys have a duty to prosecute crimes as defined in Florida law, not to pick and choose which laws to enforce based on his personal agenda,” DeSantis said at the time.

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Commentary: A Trump-Hating Backer of Biden’s Supreme Court Nominee Is Married to the Top January 6th Prosecutor

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Fatima Goss Graves and Matthew Graves

Confirmation hearings for D.C. Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Joe Biden’s first U.S. Supreme Court nominee, began Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. During an event in Washington, D.C. on Monday morning, activists gathered to rally on behalf of the nominee who could be the first black woman seated on the nation’s highest court.

“It’s also, for so many of us, a moment that is personal,” Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, told the crowd. “It is personal if you have ever been the only person sitting in a room. It is personal if you have ever wondered, ‘Is that for me?’” Over the past several weeks, Graves, a graduate of Yale Law school, has given dozens of interviews in support of Jackson’s nomination.

In a January column for CNN, Graves denounced “the current homogeneity of the legal profession and judicial system” and claimed “the perspective of White men has been treated as the default” in court proceedings.

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China Made an Artificial Intelligence ‘Prosecutor’ That Can Charge People with Crimes

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Chinese scientists reportedly developed an artificial intelligence (AI) program capable of filing criminal charges.

The AI “prosecutor” is given a verbal definition of a case and then decides whether to file charges, according to the South China Morning Post, citing researchers involved in developing the program. The prosecutor files charges with a 97% accuracy rate, and is intended to reduce prosecutors’ workload.

“The system can replace prosecutors in the decision-making process to a certain extent,” said Shi Yong, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ big data and knowledge management laboratory that developed the program.

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Court No-Shows by Soros-Backed Prosecutor Lead to Release of Murder Suspect

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Kimberly Gardner

One of the early local-level prosecutors bankrolled by liberal mega-donor George Soros since 2016 is facing questions after her office failed to show up for court hearings and turn over evidence in a murder case.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner’s office initially told KSDK that suspect Brandon Antione Campbell was in custody, with charges refiled against him after a court order last week dismissing his case.

The office backtracked Tuesday night, admitting Campbell, who is black and allegedly killed another black male, was still at large.

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