The prosecutor who was fired after working with police to falsely charge protesters as gang members told a panel of state disciplinary judges that she stands by her actions.
April Sponsel testified for the first time in the State Bar trial against her on Friday.
She denied any wrongdoing and answered “absolutely” when asked if she prosecuted the cases in a measured and ethical standard.
Bar attorneys and her own ethics counsel questioned Sponsel about a wide range of issues, including the gang case, other debunked charges against protesters, and the inter-workings of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Editor’s note: ABC15 will cover the issues in separate reports as hearings continue. Check back to this story for updates.
CHARGES AGAINST INNOCENT BYSTANDER
On the first morning of taking the stand, Sponsel was questioned about why she pursued gang charges against Ryder Collins.
RELATED: Victims testify against former prosecutor in State Bar trial
Collins is a nurse who was in downtown Phoenix on October 17, 2020, to take pictures of the buildings at sunset.
He saw the protest pass by and decided to watch from the sidewalk. Police and witness videos show he never participated in the demonstration. But he was ultimately swept up and charged as part of the group.
Sponsel testified that she still believes that Collins may be part of a gang that she and Phoenix police invented to charge protesters as members.
She said that no one has proven Collins wasn’t a “legal observer” with the group.
She also dismissed evidence and testimony showing that Collins didn’t know any of the protesters and was in the area to shoot cityscape photography, which he said was his hobby.
“People can be out there taking photos of the sunset and then go home and murder their spouse,” Sponsel said in response to a question from her attorney. “Does that necessarily mean they were innocent of murdering their spouse because they were taking pictures of the sunset earlier in the day? No.”
SPONSEL DEFENDS GANG CHARGES
During direct and cross-examination, Sponsel defended her actions in bringing gang charges against a group of protesters arrested on October 17, 2020.
She testified that she still believes the group should be a documented criminal street gang titled “All Cops are Bastards,” or ACAB.
When asked by her attorney if the protesters and ACAB were one and the same, she replied, “Yes.”
Sponsel also called the protesters “ACABers” during her testimony.
An ABC15 investigation exposed that Sponsel and several Phoenix officers colluded to invent ACAB and then charge protesters as members.
Their claims were based on wild lies and exaggerations.
In front of a grand jury, Sponsel and Phoenix Sergeant Doug McBride compared the group of protesters to the Bloods, Crips and Hells Angels.
Sponsel testified that she believed all of that was accurate and true.
“I was basing it on what I knew from the police reports and previous information from law enforcement,” she said.
ABC15’s investigation launched on February 4, 2021.
Sponsel was placed on administrative leave shortly after, and she testified that it prevented her from fully proving the gang case.
“The evidence was getting better each day,” she said.
But Sponsel also admitted that she watched little or no body camera footage before pursuing the unprecedented gang charges and didn’t check photographs to verify unusual claims by Phoenix officers.
Police said the protesters had sharpened their fingernails and umbrella tips to attack officers. Evidence photos taken the night of the arrests proved that was entirely false.
Sponsel said that didn’t matter.
“If you take that away, they're still a gang based on all of the other things were looking at and we knew,” she said.
The Department of Public Safety denied Phoenix officers when they tried to submit ACAB into the state gang database.
Questioned about the denial, Sponsel answered, “I don’t know for sure. That’s my understanding. But I had already been placed on administrative leave.”
The presiding judge then interjected and said it was a stipulated fact.
Read more ABC15 coverage on the April Sponsel case
TOP OFFICIALS APPROVED OF THE PLAN
Weeks before a group of protesters were arrested and falsely charged as members of a fictitious street gang, top Maricopa County Attorney Office officials asked prosecutor April Sponsel to work with Phoenix officers to explore a syndicate-type case against demonstrators.
Evidence and testimony also show that Sponsel’s direct supervisors approved of her case as it was being filed.
Here’s an exchange between Sponsel and her ethics attorney during her testimony:
ATTORNEY: Did you discuss it with your supervisors?
SPONSEL: Yes.
ATTORNEY: Who did you discuss it with?
SPONSEL: Immediately went to Mr. Goddard. He was our division chief. I walked him through what I was seeing in the reports... And right after talking to him, I called Sherry Leckrone, my bureau chief.
ATTORNEY: So you spoke to your bureau chief about it and her boss, correct?
SPONSEL: Mr. Goddard that is correct.
ATTORNEY: And based on what they said, what was your impression of how you were proceeding?
SPONSEL: They were both fine with it. They were like, it sounds like you got the evidence.
Both Leckrone and Goddard, who each resigned during the fallout of the scandal, testified that they did support Sponsel in the early stages of her case.
Goddard also testified that he got the approval of then-County Attorney Allister Adel.
In the days and weeks before the arrest and grand jury presentation in October 2020, testimony and evidence also show there were a series of meetings about the plan to charge protesters as gang members.
Weeks before the protest arrest, Goddard and MCAO executive Tom Van Dorn each instructed staff members to explore the “priority project," records and emails show.
And on Oct. 23, 2020, there was a multi-agency meeting to discuss the imminent grand jury presentation.
Sponsel was asked about that meeting by her attorney during her two days of testimony.
ATTORNEY: There was an October 23rd meeting to discuss the case correct?
SPONSEL: Yes. The FBI task force meeting with Homeland Security yes.
ATTORNEY: So, we’re talking Gilbert Police Department, Phoenix Police Department, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, your superiors, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security as sources you had to consider?
SPONSEL: Correct.
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ATTORNEY: Did the group reach a consensus?
SPONSEL: Everybody was on board.
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SPONSEL: We didn’t get into a lot of the facts, delve into a lot of the facts about what happened on October 17, because a lot of the individuals knew what happened.
The State Bar tried to counter Sponsel’s claims about her supervisor’s role by emphasizing that the ultimate ethical responsibility for the case was hers.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
