PHOENIX — The State Bar of Arizona believes that the fired MCAO prosecutor who led the case to falsely charge protesters as gang members should lose her law license because she’s a danger to the public and the legal system.
In written closing arguments filed after a seven-day disciplinary trial last month, the Bar asked the judge to suspend April Sponsel for at least two years.
“The evidence adduced at trial, along with the stipulated facts and exhibits, reflect a disturbing pattern of Respondent’s ‘ready fire, aim,’ approach when prosecuting protesters engaged in the exercise of their First Amendment rights,” according to the Bar’s closing argument.
It also stated, “Equally troubling is Respondent’s pattern of presenting factually inaccurate and incomplete grand jury presentations.”
In response, April Sponsel’s ethics attorney, Ernest Calderon, argued that she was “honest, diligent, and did her best to pursue justice.”
He wrote, “The State Bar should not be permitted the use the power of perfect hindsight to punish Respondent. The public will not be served by imposing a lengthy suspension, as Respondent is no longer a prosecutor. Rather, it only serves to make Respondent a convenient scapegoat for her office’s inadvertent missteps.”
Sponsel was fired from MCAO after an ABC15 investigation exposed how she worked with Phoenix officers to invent a fake gang and then charge protesters as members.
The State Bar also accused her of overcharging several other demonstrators throughout 2020 and mishandling a previous prosecutions earlier in her career.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
