Prosecution presses to keep NAU shooting trial on schedule for July
Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect reference to the reason the public defender is no longer involved in the Steven Jones retrial. The Jones family was appointed a public defender and later opted to hire private counsel.
The Coconino County Attorney's Office is asking a judge to stick to the July trial date for a man accused of a 2015 fatal shooting on the Northern Arizona University campus, even as his current defense attorneys await results of a conflict-of-interest investigation by the State Bar.
Steven Jones is set to be retried on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault on July 6. But his attorneys asked to continue the trial because the mother of one of the victims accused them of conflict of interest and referred them to the State Bar of Arizona, which licenses and regulates attorneys. If the defense motion is granted, it will be the fourth time the retrial has been rescheduled.
The prosecution maintains, in new court filings, that the repeated delays prejudice the state's case.
"Wrangling witnesses, flying them in from various parts of the country, and asking them to continually put their lives on hold for a trial that has repeatedly lacked a firm trial date is a monumental task," Deputy County Attorney Ammon Barker wrote in a court filing.
Barker said Jones' defense attorneys have failed to show that a delay would prejudice the case and that the circumstances for seeking a delay are not "extraordinary," as is required by law.
Jones was represented in his first trial by private Phoenix attorneys Joshua Davidson and Burges McCowan. Davidson withdrew from the case for medical reasons, and Jones was declared indigent, meaning he could no longer afford private counsel.
Jones was then appointed a public defender. McCowan stayed on as "Knapp" counsel, which is a sort of consulting attorney in a case represented by a public defender. The Jones family later opted to hire private counsel, two Flagstaff-based defense attorneys, Bruce Griffen and Ryan Stevens, with McCowan still on the case. Meanwhile the new attorneys need to be up to speed on the case.
The case was further complicated when the unidentified mother of one of the surviving victims alerted the Arizona State Bar to a "potential conflict of interest" based on prior meetings her son had with Griffen and Stevens. The nature of the conflict was not described in the court record.
The State Bar is reviewing the potential conflict, according to court documents.
Griffen and Stevens maintain there is none, but "the outcome of the conflict of interest analysis could have a significant bearing on availability of defense counsel and of course, availability to go forward with the trial."
The prosecution's motion would force McCowan to be the first chair attorney and asks that the trial proceed as scheduled.
The defense thought it would be problematic: Without resolution by the State Bar, they wrote, "defense counsel would be forced into the untenable position of defending Jones while being actively accused of a conflict of interest by a testifying witness/victim."
They say their motion to delay the jury trial is supported by "extraordinary circumstances," as required by law, and that Jones wants Griffen and Stevens to anchor his defense team. They say they can be ready for a retrial within 60 days of when the State Bar inquiry is resolved.
But Barker said it's unclear how long the State Bar inquiry will take or when any findings will be issued.
"The State Bar has indicated that such an investigation could take up to eight months," Barker wrote. This would push the retrial date into 2019. Another delay would violate the victims' constitutional rights to a speedy trial, he said.
"Defendant shot the victims over two years ago. The first trial ended over one year ago, and has since been reset three separate times. The victims have not been allowed 'the healing of their ordeals' as promised in the Victims' Bill of Rights, and demand justice at the earliest opportunity," Barker wrote.
Coconino County Superior Court Judge Dan Slayton has set a hearing for 9 a.m. on May 31 to consider whether to continue the jury trial.
Jones's original trial ended with a hung jury in April 2016, when a Coconino County jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether Jones attacked the other students or if he was acting in self defense.
Jones, 21, is charged with one count of first-degree murder and six counts of aggravated assault in a October 2015 shooting that left NAU student Colin Brough dead and three other students wounded on the Flagstaff campus.
The shooting was the first in NAU's 116-year history and made national news. Last year, the NAU shooting was the subject of a 20/20 show that examined the question of self-defense or murder.
Jones maintains he shot in self-defense when an argument and fight outside an off-campus apartment complex spilled onto campus. Prosecutors say he was the aggressor.
He is out of custody while awaiting retrial and his movements strictly monitored.
Reach the reporter at 602-444-8072 or anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com.
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