PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office plans to retry an assault case against a corrections officer who was investigated and charged after blowing the whistle against the former state prison director.
The criminal prosecution against former Lt. Mark Hasz for aggravated assault ended with a hung jury in October.
The jury voted six to two in favor of acquittal.
Prosecutor Adriana Genco told the court in a November 9 hearing that the state will lower the felony charge to a misdemeanor and wants the court to try the case in a bench trial.
A bench trial is conducted without a jury and the judge decides whether there’s guilt or not.
A jury finally heard the case three years after Hasz was fired and charged with aggravated assault after a use-of-force incident on July 21, 2020, inside the Lewis prison complex.
Months before the use-of-force incident that led to his criminal charge, Hasz spoke publicly to ABC15 about concerns inside the prison system and how top officials were responding to COVID-19.
“They went after him to destroy him,” said Shaun Holland, a fellow whistleblower and former assistant deputy warden.
Holland, who was present during Hasz’s alleged assault on July 21, 2020, wasn’t charged himself but was fired.
“Absolute retaliation,” he said. “They needed a reason to fire us. They found something. And they retaliated against us.”
Last year, ABC15 separately obtained leaked videos of violent incidents that raise questions about the cases ADCRR has chosen to refer for prosecution or keep to themselves.
A judge precluded Hasz’s defense team from telling the jury that he was a whistleblower or showing them other prison use-of-force incidents that were never charged.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has disputed any allegation of retaliation.
In a previous statement, a spokesperson wrote: “It is not, and never would be, the practice of this office to charge someone with a crime in retaliation for acts taken by any individual. In this matter, a case was submitted to this office by a law enforcement agency. Prosecutors reviewed the facts and evidence and made the decision that a crime had been committed and charged the case appropriately.”
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
