One case involves Freddie Calderon. arrested in March After the death of his three-month-old child. Court records show Calderón has been charged with first-degree murder, along with multiple child abuse charges.

The second case concerns Fantasia Chambers, the child’s mother and an employee of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the time of the alleged crime. Court records show Chambers has been charged with her two charges of child abuse.

The third case is not recent. In the fall of 2020, Rancher Lowell Robinson Arrested After firing a firearm at a sheriff’s deputy. He is currently facing two counts of kidnapping, as well as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Attorney Susie Charvel, who was the deputy attorney for Maricopa County, is now in charge of prosecuting Calderon, Chambers, and Robinson.

Silva, who was contacted by NI on Tuesday, cited a lack of available manpower as the reason for hiring Charbel.

“We had a lot of incidents in a very short period of time, and the office didn’t have the people to handle them,” Silva said. “So we are doing the next best thing to keep these cases going.”

The county attorney’s office currently employs eight deputy county attorneys, according to an office directory obtained through a public records request.

Silva said his office currently has one deputy county attorney position vacant, but new hires are expected to fill the gap in May. started, but refrained from providing problem cases, according to Silva, due to its complex nature.

“He works in the office,” he said.

In addition, Silva cited medical issues among his staff. I admit that there is. These factors contributed to the decision to hire an outside attorney, he said.

Silva, who also has a background as a prosecutor himself, said he could “jump in” and handle cases on his own if something came up. It’s a choice whether or not to bring charges in each case that reaches us, he added.

“I have piles of files on my desk waiting to be reviewed for charging,” he said. “So the focus of what I do from a prosecution’s perspective is making that tough decision.”

According to official documents, the county will pay Charvel a flat $20,000 to prosecute the lawsuit against Calderon and Chambers. In addition, the county will pay her $160 per day for her food and lodging expenses.

While working for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Charbel served as prosecutor in the 2016 high-profile murder trial of a Mesa police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man, Daniel Shaver. She also worked on the case of Cleophus Cooksey Jr., who was charged with the murder of her mother and her stepfather, according to a previous Associated Press report.

Silva cites the case of Calderon and Chambers as an atypical and complex case.

“So when you start thinking, ‘OK, how much time and effort can I really put into this case,’ maybe it’s better to look for a former prosecutor who has a lot of experience prosecuting these types of cases. For the best,” he added.

Unlike the Robinson case, which has been in Superior Court since October 2020 and has already begun trial, Charvel plans to take over the Calderon and Chambers prosecutions early on. Both cases are still in the Nogales Court of Justice and are at peace to determine if they have good cause to proceed to trial.

In the Santa Cruz County Superior Court, criminal cases are generally settled through plea bargaining, and few trials have taken place as the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed further constraints on the judicial process.

One trial took place in early 2020, before the pandemic hit, according to the Courts Office. In 2021, he had two jurors summoned, one dismissed when both parties reached a last-minute plea bargain, and another his trial ended abruptly because the defendants abstained. bottom. As of 2022, there have been no criminal trials in the High Court.

Silva stressed that there was “no need to worry,” but pointed out that there were several problems, both locally and nationally, with lawyers moving away from the prosecution scene.

“I don’t know if it’s because of the climate, the climate of the country, what’s happened to law enforcement in the past,” he said. It’s the way you look.”

Nationally, the district attorney’s office cite a shortage of prosecutors. In a report released last week, Reuters reported that he spoke with more than a dozen district attorney’s offices and five prosecutor’s associations, whose experts cited shortfalls.

Carla Navarrete Contreras, a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, told NI on Thursday.

Data provided by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office show that decline. In November 2021, the office had 49 vacancies for criminal prosecutors. By April 2022, there were 58 vacancies.

The Reuters article and Silva himself discussed the possibility that the racial justice movement was playing a role in the decline in the number of prosecutors.

But George Damon, a Nogales-based criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, expressed doubt that such a political climate is affecting local lawyers.

“I don’t think there is any negative connotation for someone being an Arizona prosecutor,” he added.

After working for the county attorney’s office himself, Damon added that he was “surprised” by the county’s move to hire outside counsel in the three high-profile cases.

“In my memory, outsourcing was very limited,” says Damon.

Silva said the situation was “not at the point where we’re struggling,” but noted that, in general, it’s hard to fill vacancies in Santa Cruz County. He said he is looking at retention tactics such as programs.

Still, Silva pointed out that nearby counties like Pima and Maricopa can offer higher wages.

“We have a budget meeting next month and that’s what I’ll be dealing with, paying the lawyers,” he added.