PHOENIX — The Maricopa County prosecutor at the center of a controversy involving Black Lives Matter protesters who were wrongfully charged with crimes in 2020 has been fired, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office confirmed Tuesday.
April Sponsel was placed on administrative leave last March as the Maricopa County Attorney's Office reviewed her actions involving a case where more than a dozen political protesters were indicted in October 2020.
Former County Attorney Allister Adel later chose to dismiss the charges after activists and reporters began to scrutinize the evidence against the protesters.
While MCAO believes some of the defendants committed crimes during the protests, the agency thinks Sponsel wrongfully pursued charges against innocent people.
In a notice of dismissal letter served to the prosecutor June 6, 2022, MCAO staff said they found Sponsel to display "a disturbing pattern of excessive charging" and failed to review evidence that was available to her.
"During your administrative review hearing, you expressed little concern that you had indicted a factually innocent person for extremely serious crimes," the letter stated.
MCAO further faulted Sponsel for not taking the time to review evidence that could have exonerated the protesters.
"You did not do so in this case, and it resulted in an innocent person remaining under a felony indictment for months," the notice of dismissal letter stated.
Sponsel filed a defamation lawsuit against Adel before the former county attorney's death in April, claiming Adel used Sponsel as a scapegoat in the protester scandal.
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