The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is rebuffing a judge’s request to notify defendants in past convictions that a leading Phoenix homicide detective had a history of misconduct and lied about it.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kevin Wein made the request back in September in an order overturning a conviction.
Wein ruled that evidence about Det. Jennifer DiPonzio’s history of misconduct should not have been hidden from the defense and asked for it to be disclosed in all her cases.
MCAO declined to comment and didn’t answer questions about the judge’s ruling.
“MCAO needs to start informing defendants that are impacted by DiPonzio’s actions and then let the court actions play out,” said Seth Apfel, a defense attorney involved in the legal battle over DiPonzio’s role in past cases. “Some people will remain convicted. Other people will have grounds for relief. Some people may be actually innocent. It’s up to the court system to flush that out.”
Apfel filed a post-conviction appeal on behalf of Randall Barnes, who was facing a first-degree murder charge and eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Before taking the plea, Barnes and his defense team did not know about DiPonzio’s history of misconduct.
When tossing out Barnes conviction, Wein also ruled that DiPonzio lied during the case and misled the grand jury to get the initial charges.
“In addition to [findings of DiPonzio’s poor performance as a detective], there is evidence of DiPonzio’s misconduct in this matter,” Wein wrote. “First, the State does not dispute that DiPonzio misled the grand jury when she testified that the Defendant was identified as the shooter by a witness.”
In his court order, Wein also included the following footnote.
“According to (MCAO) counsel, there has been no disclosure by MCAO to defendants convicted in cases involving DiPonzio. At oral argument, counsel for the state conceded that MCAO has an obligation to make such disclosures but was unable to state if any such disclosures have been made. While the Court does not believe this is the appropriate forum to order any such disclosure, the Court is nonetheless concerned and asks that MCAO comply with its disclosure obligations as soon as practicable.”
Following the order, Apfel along with ACLU Arizona and a coalition of defense attorneys sent MCAO a letter asking if they could help prosecutors notify past defendants about DiPonzio.
In a response letter, MCAO said no.
“Despite suggestions to the contrary, we are confident that appropriate disclosure has been made pursuant to the Rules and case law regarding former detective DiPonzio,” wrote Blaine Gado, MCAO’s Chief Deputy. “All such disclosures are evaluated and made as necessary on a case-by-case basis.”
Defense attorneys believe dozens of past convictions could be impacted by DiPonzio’s mistakes and many more appeals and post-conviction relief petitions are likely.
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ABC15 first began reporting on DiPonzio in early 2023, when the station revealed her mistakes handling evidence were impacting at least 37 active court cases and 61 police investigations.
DiPonzio, who’s married to a Phoenix assistant chief, went on medical leave in 2021 when confronted with her mistakes by a supervisor and then eventually retired under a confidential disability claim, records show.
For years, DiPonzio claimed to be too unwell to testify or even be contacted about her cases.
But an ABC15 investigation uncovered DiPonzio had been worked multiple jobs while the court believed she was too sick to participate in proceedings in any way.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
