Maricopa County Attorney shares monthly public-safety update

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell (R) joins “Arizona Horizon” for her monthly update on major legal and public-safety issues affecting Valley residents.

Mitchell’s first topic of discussion was a law aimed at preventing the suppression of First Amendment rights. Her concerns about the Anti-SLAPP law stem from incidents related to the pro-Palestinian protests at Arizona State University. Some former protesters are now facing prosecution, prompting them to invoke this law. Mitchell argues that her primary concern is not about the First Amendment as it is commonly portrayed, but rather about issues of power separation.

Mitchell argues that the prosecutions are not political rather they are occurring because the protests were not conducted in a legal manner.

Another state law that Mitchell is concerned about is a law that mandates the sale of weapons seized by law enforcement to the public. This law, enacted in 2013, prohibits the destruction of these weapons. Rachel Mitchell cited the case of Officer Erfle as an example of a situation that likely wasn’t taken into account when the law was passed.

Officer Erfle was shot and killed in the line of duty, and the gun used in the incident was seized as part of the investigation. Julie Erfle, his widow, expressed her opposition to the gun being released back into the public. Consequently, she since has filed a lawsuit against the City of Phoenix to prevent the sale of the gun and secure an exception to the relevant law.

“If a gun is used to murder someone or possibly harm someone… that would be an exception if the victim or next of kin wanted that gun destroyed,” Mitchell said. “I mean if you could imagine a loved one being killed by a gun and then that gun just being sold… That’s just a travesty as far as I’m concerned.”