Casa Grande Dispatch
A legal conference in Casa Grande Saturday shed some light on the ongoing discussion of the higher cost of prosecution in Pinal County in recent years, specifically a sharp increase in death-penalty cases. The county now has about 15 pending capital cases, roughly three times the number that existed before Lando Voyles was elected county attorney in 2012.
The conference at the Holiday Inn was sponsored by Arizona Advocacy Network, an organization that says it seeks “electoral justice, political rights and full civic participation,” and other organizations. Participants on a panel about Pinal capital cases were Pinal Chief Public Defender Jim Mannato, Presiding Criminal Court Judge Joseph R. Georgini and State Bar President Richard Platt of Coolidge, who formerly served as chief deputy in the Pinal County Attorney’s Office under Voyles’ predecessor, James Walsh. Voyles declined an invitation for his office to participate. Kathy Brody, a Phoenix attorney and president of Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, moderated the panel.
