Last year, a Lake Havasu man was charged with the attempted murder of an Arizona law enforcement officer. Lawyers for the defense have sought to destroy evidence in the case, and prosecutors are expected to challenge the allegations at a hearing next week.
In the case of 48-year-old Juan Rodriguez, attorney Gregory McPhillips, himself a former Mojave County prosecutor, said in a May 3 complaint that Rodriguez’s Fourth Amendment rights were granted to Arizona state police last year. It claimed to have been breached by Bureau Detective Donald Shedd. He tried to stop the car. A number of shootouts ensued, in which Shed and Rodriguez were ultimately wounded. McPhillips said all evidence in the case was collected by law enforcement through a warrantless search and seizure.
McPhillips said earlier this month that during Shedd’s initial drug trafficking investigation, Arizona law prohibited Shedd from stopping Rodriguez without a warrant. However, according to Mojave County Deputy Attorney Cameron Patt, McPhillips did not mention specific statutes in his motion to support the statement.
In his May 12 rebuttal, Mr. Pat said, “The law is well-established that a reasonable doubt is sufficient to support an investigation-initiated traffic stop.” “Security officials may stop and detain a person if reasonably necessary to investigate a suspected actual violation.”
Last April, the Public Security Bureau’s Criminal Division monitored the Kingman residence in connection with reported drug activity. Detectives saw the two suspects leave the house in a white BMW, according to the Mojave County Prosecutor’s Office. Shed tracked the vehicle in an unmarked cruiser in anticipation of a traffic violation that might justify stopping the vehicle’s driver.
According to Pat, Shed was legally authorized to stop Rodriguez’s car after he allegedly witnessed the defendant failing to stop at a stop sign. And Shed was further allowed to pursue Rodriguez when the defendant attempted to flee from him, Pat said.
Pat said McPhillips’ allegations were ultimately overruled by one fact in the incident. Shed never successfully stopped traffic in this incident. According to the Mojave County Sheriff’s Office last April, Rodriguez continued to flee Shedd through Kingman and then tried to ram the car. detective car. As Shed ordered Rodriguez and his companion, Tabitha Lubash, 19, out of the car, one of the passengers fired an automatic rifle at Shed.
Shed was injured and Rodriguez fled the scene. Pat said Shedd’s attempt to stop Rodriguez without a warrant last year could not have been illegal or unconstitutional, and that this was a traffic stop Shed never had the chance to do.
Pat goes on to say that the fact that Rodriguez may have been a person of interest in Shedd’s DPS drug trafficking investigation does not prevent Shed from stopping Rodriguez’s car for the witnessed traffic violation. claimed. Citing federal precedent, Pat said a police officer’s ability to enforce a traffic stop was not related to the officer’s motives and that the temporary detention of a suspect during a traffic stop did not violate his constitutional rights. .
Rodriguez, then a wanted felon in Mojave County, allegedly fled to the campus of Mojave Community College in Kingman. There law enforcement officials believed he had fled into the nearby desert. The Mojave County Sheriff’s Deputy found Rodriguez after a brief search, where he sparked another shootout before being wounded and taken into custody.
Law enforcement later recovered evidence in the incident, including five firearms, several cell phones, a ledger, drug paraphernalia, about $30,000 in cash, and a bag believed to contain methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Lawyers are scheduled to discuss McPhillips’ allegation to cover up that evidence at a hearing on May 24.
