The case is one in a growing number that highlights the impact of the federal government’s mass deportation campaign on local justice systems. At the same time that the Trump administration brags about expelling the “worst of the worst” — despite crystal clear evidence to the contrary — prosecutors and judges across the country have been forced to shelve cases and drop charges against people accused of violent crimes after they or key witnesses were deported.
In Tucson, the Pima County Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint against Aguirre that detailed 14 charges, including first-degree murder and six counts of aggravated assault. The federal complaint, meanwhile, only accuses Aguirre of three felony charges: attempted carjacking, the use and discharge of a firearm during a violent crime, and alien possession of a firearm.
On Thursday, hours after federal prosecutors informed her office that they wouldn’t be facilitating Aguirre’s appearance at any hearings except for one initial appearance at state court, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said she’s willing to sue the federal government to ensure the county’s prosecution can actually happen.
Custody fight puts case in jeopardy
At an apartment complex in midtown Tucson, Aguirre was seen by witnesses threatening to shoot Miller if he didn’t turn over his keys. Aguirre, 42, shot Miller and then fled to a nearby home, where he once again attempted to intimidate the residents into giving him their car, according to the Tucson Police Department. Eventually, Aguirre was found hiding in a nearby storage shed and was taken to the hospital to treat injuries he obtained while fleeing.
While Aguirre recuperated, Pima County prosecutors began constructing their case. During the course of the investigation, the federal government revealed that Aguirre was in the country without documentation, had been arrested more than 10 times between 2007 and 2013 for “immigration-related crimes” and had been deported in 2013.
According to a timeline posted to social media by the Pima County Attorney’s Office, federal prosecutors agreed at a June 2 meeting that Aguirre would remain in the county’s custody to face a first-degree murder charge. Federal officials would be given access to Aguirre to pursue federal charges.
But that understanding was upended later that day, when federal officials instead took custody of Aguirre and transported him overnight from the hospital to a federal detention center in Florence, in neighboring Pinal County.
When Conover’s office reached out to request Aguirre be returned, federal officials appeared cooperative at first, but quickly began to delay sending him back. On Wednesday, the Pima County Attorney’s Office once again requested Aguirre’s return, saying a preliminary hearing to preserve the testimony of three victims in their 70s who were held at gunpoint was needed. On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office denied that request.
In an emailed statement, Esther J. Winnie, the executive assistant U.S. attorney for Arizona, dismissed Conover’s description of events as false, but refused to offer another explanation.
“Our office has a significant federal interest in this matter,” she wrote. “The press release from the Pima County Attorney mischaracterizes the situation. However, we have no intent to engage in an exchange with the County Attorney via the media.”
In a virtual news conference on Thursday afternoon, Conover called the process “completely abnormal” and accused federal officials of exploiting the case for “political gain.” The Democrat, who has been fiercely critical of Trump, lambasted the decision to deny the county access to Aguirre as contrary to justice, flying in the face of what voters want and undermining the Trump administration’s purported commitment to eradicating crime.
“This new federal administration said that they were going to go after aliens with a criminal background. That people who had caused harm in our community should be removed immediately and have no authority to be here,” she said. “That was something that voters got behind and agreed to. Never did they tell us that we were going to deprive local residents of justice.”
But she said she wouldn’t be deterred and that her office is exploring what legal avenues are available to ensure Aguirre faces the 14 charges in Pima County. One of those options, she said, may be taking the fight to federal court.
“We want indeed to have a fair trial someday,” she said. “It seems like ‘someday’ is sort of the operative word right now.”
Conover noted that the charges initiated by federal prosecutors aren’t sufficient to ensure justice for everyone involved. The federal complaint doesn’t include a homicide charge. And Aguirre pointed a gun at several people that day who are covered in the criminal complaint under aggravated assault charges.
“We were trying to warn the feds that it needed to go in the direction of the state first and the federal government later, because once we had their criminal complaint in hand — the criminal complaint is about a carjacking with use of a firearm, and then it’s about possession of that firearm,” she said.
