PHOENIX — Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell made national headlines Wednesday when she refused to extradite a murder suspect from Arizona to New York City.
Can she do that?
The Republican prosecutor got a lot of clicks for taking a swipe at her Democratic counterpart in Manhattan, Alvin Bragg, over his "treatment of violent criminals."
RELATED: NYC attorney claps back at Maricopa County attorney's remarks on homicide suspect extradition
"We will not be agreeing to extradition," Mitchell told reporters during a news conference at Surprise City Hall.
The suspect in question, 26-year-old Raad Almansoori, faces charges in Arizona stemming from the stabbings of two women. Both women survived.
In New York, he's wanted in the bludgeoning death of a woman in a Manhattan hotel room.
"Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by the Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg," Mitchell said, "I think it's safer to keep him here and keep him in custody."
The reaction from Bragg's office was swift.
"It is deeply disturbing that DA Mitchell is playing political games in a murder investigation... It is a slap in the face to the victim in our case to refuse to allow us to seek justice and full accountability for a New Yorker's death," a spokeswoman from the DA's office said.
Mitchell's spokeswoman, as well as defense attorneys contacted by 12News, pointed to state law on extradition.
The bottom line: The extradition decision has been made for Mitchell. Under state law, Almansoori's prosecution must start in Maricopa County. Once that prosecution ends, New York's governor could request Almansoori's extradition through Arizona's governor.
A spokesman for Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs told 12News: "We are still examining details of the case."
There can be little doubt that Mitchell knows the state's extradition laws. She has held several executive postings in the nation's third-largest prosecutorial agency during her 30-year career.
While still a sex crimes prosecutor, Mitchell was propelled into the national spotlight six years ago when she was hired by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee to question Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh during Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Now Mitchell is seeking a second four-year term as county attorney but faces a Republican opponent in the August primary election.
There is also little doubt that taking shots at Bragg, the DA prosecuting former President Donald Trump, is a political winner with Republican voters.
Trump's trial in a hush-money case - the first prosecution of a president in the nation's history - is set to start in Manhattan on March 25.
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