Dismissal of two
The 11-month law targets immigrant smugglers, and a prosecutor has said that those who paid to be sneaked into the country also can be charged as conspirators to the crime.
A judge threw out cases Tuesday against two of the first 48 illegal immigrants to be charged as conspirators, saying prosecutors didn't provide substantial evidence that two or more immigrants had agreed to be smuggled.
The decision was based on the facts of that individual case and wouldn't set a precedent because evidence varies from case to case, one defense attorney said.
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"It's not a global ruling," said Timothy Agan, a lawyer whose client is among the 48 immigrants and was scheduled to go to trial next month. "It's a very specific factual ruling."
Meanwhile Wednesday, a Maricopa County Superior Court jury convicted 33-year-old Javier Ruiz of human smuggling. He was the person accused of smuggling the two men whose cases were thrown out.
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, whose office prosecuted the cases, said he won't back down in pushing smuggling cases and he was troubled by Tuesday's dismissals.
"Just because a burglar beats the rap in one case doesn't mean we stop prosecuting burglary cases," Thomas said.
Of the 48 immigrants, a handful await trial, nearly 30 have pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and cases against a dozen were dismissed before going to trial.
The dismissals before trial came at the request of prosecutors, who said they had questions about their likelihood of winning convictions at trial.
Defense attorneys for the immigrants awaiting trial said Tuesday's ruling was a promising sign for their clients, because much of the evidence in their cases is similar.
In Tuesday's dismissal, the judge said no evidence had been shown on whether a conspiracy violation had occurred. That prevented prosecutors from introducing statements that the two immigrants had made to authorities about crossing the desert.
Thomas has been criticized for using the smuggling law against the customers of human traffickers.
Immigrant advocates have said the law was never meant to be used against the customers of smugglers. Thomas has said his approach was needed for holding rank-and-file illegal immigrants accountable.
The law was upheld a month ago, and a lawyer was expected to appeal the ruling.
Corwin Townsend, a defense attorney whose client's case was dismissed Tuesday, said sheriff's deputies didn't have the necessary training to handle immigration cases and failed to ask his client about his nationality, a key element in proving the crime.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose office investigated the cases, said he has established a special Spanish-speaking smuggling squad to handle such investigations and his office is getting better at making those cases.
"(The judge) cuts two people loose - so what," Arpaio said of Tuesday's dismissals. "I'm going still going to go out and enforce the law."
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