PHOENIX — Arizona's former top cop is being sued by the man his investigators once pegged as the prime suspect in a shooting spree that terrorized the Valley.
Leslie Merritt Jr., who was cleared of all charges in the 2015 I-10 Freeway Shooter investigation, filed the defamation lawsuit this week.
The suit was a response to a declaration by former Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead on 12News' "Sunday Square Off": "Leslie Merritt, in my opinion, is still the freeway shooter, and we had the right guy in custody."
Merritt's lawsuit says Milstead made the statement "even though he knew that (it) was false."
The Milstead campaign for Maricopa County sheriff declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Milstead's opponents in the Republican primary for sheriff are Jerry Sheridan, a top aide to former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and Mike Crawford, a career first responder.
Early voting for the July 30 primary started Wednesday.
Milstead appeared on "Sunday Square Off" June 23 to discuss his run in the Republican primary for Maricopa County sheriff.
He was asked about his investigators' failure to land a conviction nine years ago in the highest-profile case of his career.
A total of 11 shootings occurred on Valley freeways from August to September 2015. No one was seriously injured.
Merritt was jailed for seven months before his release after Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery dropped the charges.
DPS was cited for problems with its investigation.
Gregg Leslie, executive director of the First Amendment Clinic at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor Law School, said the defamation lawsuit could "go either way."
"The key thing that's going to really be essential to this case is he did say, 'In my opinion,'" Leslie said.
"That does not give you any kind of immunity to then make a factually false statement. You can still be guilty of libel while saying, 'This is just my opinion.' The Supreme Court has weighed in on this."
Leslie said Milstead would have to show his statement was based on factual information.
"What you have to do to make that opinion defense stick is say ... what facts your opinion is based on, and those facts turn out to be true," Leslie said.
Decision 2024
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