#WeekInJustice: Week 135
It’s been another big week in the hot desert and busy at The People’s Office.
- Civil Deputies Cindy Nguyen and Bobby Yu were elected as officers to the Young Lawyer’s Division of the Pima County Bar Association
- Mark Hotchkiss and Laura taught an ethics session at the welcome orientation for the UA Law School
- We’d like to share with you a particular trial win this week:
The Pima County Attorney’s Office made clear again that those making our streets dangerous will be fully held accountable.
It took little time for our prosecutors to convince a Pima County jury to hand down a murder conviction for a man who fled sheriff’s deputies attempting to stop him for highly reckless driving and crashing into another vehicle, killing a 24-year-old woman, and severely injuring her 22-year-old sister in February of 2021.
After three days of trial in Pima County Superior Court, the jurors found the man guilty of murder, aggravated assault, felony fleeing, criminal damage and extreme DUI.
Video footage of the incident recorded by a Sheriff’s Department airplane crew, helped prosecutors demonstrate how the defendant fled from deputies at high speeds. Even after he crashed, the defendant behaved as though he may try to flee on foot, causing the Deputy to divide his time between detaining the driver and assisting the victims in the car he crashed into.
There’s something more. Rising star Erica Lynch handles serious vehicular cases, but this homicide case was a true test, and victory, in her third year. We are grateful to her steadfast search for justice, and to Mark Hotchkiss for trying the case alongside her.
To be continued….
Laura
