September 2009 Archives

According to the family of Anthouny Arambulas, the police officers involved in his accidental shooting engaged in an attempted cover-up.  They allege that in a shoot out incident in Phoenix some city police officials shot Anthony Arambulas who had called 911 to report the entry of an intruder in their house who ran into their son's bedroom. Anthony who was worried about the safety of his son rushed into his room with a gun in hand. Anthony put the gun to the fugitive's head and held him at gunpoint while he made a call to 911 to report the matter. The fugitive had entered the house of the Arambulas by breaking the glass of the son's bedroom window. Some Phoenix police officials who were already in the area rushed to the Arambulas house on hearing the noise. They were chasing a fugitive in the area.

The police officials were met by Lesley Arambulas outside the house were she conveyed to Sgt. Coutts that her husband Anthony was inside the son's bedroom, Sgt. Coutts however failed to convey the message to his colleague Officer Brian Lilly who had already entered the house, on seeing Anthony with the gun he mistook him for the fugitive and shot him in the back six times. The police officials were however unaware that the 911 tape was rolling while they were shooting as prior to their entering the house.  Many commentators agree that had Arambulas returned fire in self-defense, he himself would require the services of a Phoenix Criminal Defense Attorney.

Anthony was on call with the 911 representative. When he was injured Anthony shouted that they had got the wrong man, this made officer Lilly realize that he had made a mistake and he can be heard swearing on record on 911 tape.  Later to cover up the police officials pretended that the Arambulas family were involved in a drug overhaul.

In their complaint at Maricopa County court, the Arambulas family has made charges of gross negligence and a deliberate attempt to incriminate them wrongly. They have sought the services of a Phoenix criminal Attorney to pursue  their civil claims against the city police officials. The case of the Arambulas will be represented by prominent Phoenix lawyer Michael Manning.

If you or a loved one is facing weapons charges and is seeking representation by a qualified Phoenix Weapons Misconduct Attorney, contact Joshua S. Davidson today.

In Kaufmann v. State of Arizona, Division Two of the Arizona Court of Appeals issued a decision yesterday involving a criminal case where the court ordered the criminal defense attorney to pay the attorney's fees of the prosecutor.  The case involved a defendant who was charged with possession of marijuana for sale and apparently cooperated with the police in connection with other investigations in exchange for leniency.  The defense lawyer requested that the prosecutor be held in contempt of court for allegedly not honoring whatever agreement had been reached.

The court found that the defense attorney's claims were baseless and ended up hold him in contempt.  As his punishment, the judge ordered him to pay the prosecution $499 in legal fees to the prosecution.  The attorney filed a special action with the Arizona Court of Appeals who reversed the order.  The court reversed the order on the grounds that Arizona criminal law does not permit a court to award attorney's fees as punishment for a contempt finding.

Most criminal defense attorneys in Phoenix and throughout Arizona anticipate that the judge will impose an alternative sentence against the lawyer after the case is returned to the Superior Court.