Maricopa County Accused of Threatening Defendants Into Waiving Due Process Rights
The class says the county is pressuring criminal defendants to waive their rights to a preliminary hearing in order to clear a case backlog.
(CN) — Arizona's Maricopa County Early Disposition Courts process more than 32,000 criminal complaints each year. And according to a class action filed Wednesday, in order to process more cases faster the county attorney’s office threatens criminal defendants with more severe sentences to coerce them into waiving their right to a preliminary hearing.
“Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has sabotaged the intended purpose of the Early Disposition Courts and has used it to their advantage to secure quick convictions without regard for the constitutional rights of people who are accused of crimes,” said Jared Keenan, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Arizona in a statement.