Conover sues feds, claiming continued obstruction of Pima County’s homicide case vs. carjacker

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said she filed a lawsuit the Trump administration on Friday, demanding access to Julio Cesar Aguirre — a Mexican man whose prosecution has been at the center of an expanding rift between Conover and federal prosecutors.

Conover said she sued “high-ranking” members of the Trump administration in federal court demanding access to Aguirre, 42, who allegedly shot and killed 69-year-old Ricky E. Miller Sr. while attempting
to steal a Toyota Tundra. The incident was part of a string of crimes reported on June 30.

After Aguirre was arrested by Tucson police, he was taken into custody by federal officials and since then Pima County officials and the federal government have been at loggerheads over Aguirre’s case.

On July 3, federal prosecutors trumpeted Aguirre’s arrest as part of
larger effort which “marshals the full resources” of Justice Department
to “repel the
invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of
cartels” and “protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent
crime.”

Meanwhile, Conover demanded access to Aguirre to pursue
the county’s case on behalf of the other victims, who have been
“inexplicably ignored” by federal officials, she said on Friday.

Aguirre now faces more than a dozen charges split between Pima County and the federal court system.

Conover criticized the federal government on Friday and said “so far, federal authorities have not given Pima County prosecutors access to Aguirre for court proceedings brought forward by the state.”

“For six weeks now, the federal government and its newly appointed U.S. Attorney for Arizona have inexplicably ignored six local victims and denied them justice for the egregious harms they suffered on June 30th,” she said.

PCAO did not detail the specific claims being made in the lawsuit.

Tucson Sentinel requested a copy of the court document, but Conover declined to provide it until it is posted by the U.S. District Court in its PACER system. That publicly accessible docket website is widely known as buggy and slow.

PCAO representatives said the lawsuit may not be available until Monday, despite them choosing to make a public announcement about it on Friday afternoon.

Aguirre was arrested by Tucson police following a string of crimes that began in the early morning hours of June 30 when he allegedly broke into bathroom and later brandished a pistol at a witness. Later, Aguirre threatened Miller, and then shot him in the chest before fleeing. Tucson officers found him hiding in a storage shed with a 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol close at hand.

Aguirre was taken to a hospital for
treatment for his injuries, including a bite from a police dog. However,
while Aguirre was in custody at the hospital — and as the Pima
County Attorney’s Office began to build a first-degree murder case against him —
federal officials took him into custody and moved him to a facility in
Pinal County.

On July 3,  the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona said they were
filing charges against Aguirre, including attempted carjacking, use and
discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, and being an “alien
in possession of a firearm.”

In a prepared statement, federal
officials said Aguirre is a Mexican citizen and has been illegally
present in the United States. He has been arrested more than 10 times
from 2007 to 2013 for “immigration-related crimes,” and was last removed
from the country in 2013 under a court order.

Days later, Conover said the federal government’s choice to move Aguirre “gutted” the county’s case, and she accused federal officials of obstructing the county’s efforts.

She said she would “continue to exhaust all legal options to move the case forward for all of the victims involved.”

“Those
victims include six other individuals who are not part of the federal
case. Three of the surviving victims are in their 70s, making early
preservation of their testimony especially important,” Conover said in July.

“Our case has seven local victims, several more traumatized witnesses, and those who rendered aid,” Conover said

Federal prosecutors told Tucson Sentinel they took Aguirre into custody because they had “a significant federal interest” in this case, adding Conover’s
statements “mischaracterize the situation.”

Meanwhile, Conover’s office secured a grand jury indictment against Aguirre for first-degree murder on July 25, along with 12 other counts—including an attempt to commit armed robbery, burglary,
possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited possessor, and multiple
counts of aggravated assault.

However, just a day after Conover announced the indictment, federal prosecutors said Aguirre had been indicted for five additional federal counts, including two which carry life in prison or the death penalty—attempted carjacking resulting in death and use of a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death.

“The focus in this case should be on the senseless loss of the victim and the pain that loss creates for his family and friends,” said United States Attorney Timothy Courchaine in a statement. “Our criminal laws exist to protect our community, and the United States has an obligation to enforce those laws.” 

“The alleged series of crimes in the indictment, starting with illegal immigration, escalating to prohibited possession of a firearm, and culminating in the death of an innocent individual, is why the United States Attorney’s Office takes this matter so seriously,” he said in a prepared statement on July 30.

A Trump appointee, Courchaine has served as the U.S. Attorney for Arizona since May, weeks after predecessor Gary Restaino was terminated by the Trump administration.

“That’s not the way the justice system has ever, or should ever, work in our community,” Conover said. “And so as promised, today we have filed a lawsuit in federal court. We are simply asking for access to defendant Julio Cesar Aguirre so we can prosecute him for the crimes the federal government has no apparent intention to prosecute.” 

“Justice is for all of us, not just some. We are hopeful the court will agree,” Conover said. She added Aguirre is still being held by federal officials, however, she said they have “not revealed Aguirre’s location.”

Esther J. Winne, the executive Assistant U.S. Attorney for Arizona, said Friday that Aguirre is “currently in federal custody awaiting trial.” 

“We don’t have any comment beyond what is in the public record and what we have already provided via our press releases,” she said by email. She included the two previous statements sent by the U.S. Attorney for Arizona.

Federal officials have not provided information to the Sentinel about where Aguirre is being held. He is likely in custody with the U.S. Marshals’ Service, but was not listed in a database for federal prisoners, nor ICE. 

A request for comment from Aguirre’s attorney, a federal public defender assigned to his case, has not returned.