By Brian Wright | Casa Grande Dispatch
Pinal County Chief Criminal Deputy Attorney Richard Wintory is the subject of an Arizona State Bar investigation for his conduct during a 2010 murder trial in Pima County.
At the time, Wintory was a prosecutor for the Pima County Attorney’s
Office and obtained a first-degree murder indictment against 52-year- old Darren Irving Goldin, who allegedly paid a man $5,000 to kill a drug associate in March 2000.
Wintory took a job with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office later in 2010 but stayed on the case and sought the death penalty for Goldin.
Goldin eventually was sentenced to just 11 years in prison. After Pima County Superior Court Judge Paul Tang imposed the sentence, he asked the State Bar to investigate Wintory for possible ethics violations during the trial.
Tang said he was troubled because the victim’s family may never know if the prosecution’s case was “compromised” by Wintory, allowing Goldin to escape the death penalty and receive a much lighter sentence, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
On Thursday, Sandra Montoya, who works in the State Bar’s records department, confirmed Wintory is the subject of an ongoing investigation.
After he was elected last November, Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles tabbed Wintory to be his chief deputy attorney.
Wintory came to Pinal County with some strong credentials, which included winning awards for Prosecutor of the Year from the Arizona Narcotics Officers Association in 2005 and from the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys Advisory Council in 2007.
The Pinal County Attorney’s Office requested that the county hire outside counsel to represent Wintory during the State Bar investigation, even though his alleged actions took place before he came to Pinal County.
Pinal County Chief Deputy Civil Attorney Chris Keller sent a letter to County Manager Fritz Behring on May 2 to request approval of hiring outside counsel for Wintory.
In the letter, Keller said Wintory received a request on March 7 to respond to State Bar screening investigation.
“As I’m sure you are aware, being a licensed attorney in good standing is a prerequisite for the job functions Mr. Wintory performs,” Keller wrote. “Likewise, because of the investment of this office, and Pinal County, has made in Mr. Wintory’s responsibilities for the criminal side of this office, we have an immediate interest in defending this matter.”
Keller said that even though the conduct in question occurred before Wintory was with Pinal County, the county is responsible for his defense because Wintory received the State Bar inquiry while he was a Pinal County employee.
“I do not see anywhere in county policy where my office can approve the hiring of outside counsel,” Behring wrote in response to Keller.
Behring said that in previous cases, the county attorney or the Board of Supervisors approved the hiring of outside counsel.
Jim Knupp, public information officer for the Pinal County Attorney’s Office, said Thursday his office will eventually have a response to questions concerning Wintory but didn’t have any official comment as of now.
Wintory told the Arizona Daily Star in January that he “welcomes the Bar’s review.”
