PHOENIX — Sean Pena was fired from the Phoenix Police Department in 2020. He's now suing the city for wrongful termination. Pena claims the city and all involved "rushed to judgment."
The story unfolded following accusations from three women dating back to 2018 about alleged assaults that happened while Pena was on duty.
Pena was charged with seven felonies but acquitted in 2022. He and his attorney, Sean Woods, promptly filed a notice of claim. The lawsuit names the County Attorney's Office, the City of Phoenix, and the Phoenix Police Department, along with many others involved in the initial criminal case against Pena.
With a new lawsuit in play, County Attorney Rachel Mitchell couldn't detail a lot on Pena's trial, but this turn of events begs the question of how challenging alleged sexual assault cases can be to prove in court.
"As somebody who has prosecuted of number of sex assault cases there are a number of issues that you can come up with," Mitchell explained.
Part of those challenges can simply be one person's word against another. Mitchell is standing by her prosecutors in the Pena sexual assault case.
"We will go forward to defend ourselves and our prosecutors for what they did in this case," said Mitchell. "We have immunity unless we've done something to step outside that, I'm not aware of anything we've done to step outside that, so that will be part of our response."
Woods said his client is seeking some semblance of closure following this year's long litigation.
"Closure is number one on his list and some vindication, especially in the court of public opinion. All he wants to do is help people and that's been stripped away from him," Woods explained.
Since 2018, three women have accused Pena of sexual assault while he was on duty. Two of the accusers settled lawsuits with the City of Phoenix for more than $400,000 each.
"I was just taken advantage of and overpowered because he was a police officer made it seem like he was going to get away with it," one of the women said.
While the new lawsuit labels defendants like the County Attorney's Office as liars, Mitchell said it's not what's written, it's what plays out in court that counts.
"You can say what you want to at a press conference, we'll see what talking he's able to do in court," said Mitchell.
Pena is expected to hold a press conference on Thursday.
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