SURPRISE, AZ — The Surprise Police Department is scheduled to host courtroom testimony training classes that will be led by a disgraced former prosecutor who’s under State Bar investigation for falsely charging protesters as gang members and presenting false information to the court.
The full-day sessions led by April Sponsel also have the backing of the state police board, according to a flyer obtained by ABC15.
Sponsel was fired from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and placed under State Bar investigation after ABC15’s Politically Charged investigation.
POLITICALLY CHARGED: ABC15 investigates Phoenix protest cases
The former prosecutor colluded with Phoenix officers to invent a fictional gang and then charge anti-police demonstrators as members.
After ABC15’s reports, the court, MCAO, and multiple outside investigations concluded that Sponsel presented clearly false information to grand jurors to obtain charges in multiple cases.
RELATED: MCAO ignored warnings about prosecutor; "They bred this monster"
The courtroom testimony trainings are set up through a company called Five Eight Group, which is run by retired Mesa Police officer Michael Pezzelle, according to online business filings.
The flyer announcing the upcoming events in April and July also says the course is approved for eight hours of training credit from the state’s police board, AZPOST.
ABC15 reached out to the company, AZPOST, Surprise police, and MCAO for comment on Monday.
MCAO declined to comment.
Surprise PD sent us the following statement:
"The Surprise Police Department is hosting a training called Courtroom Testimony on April 11, 2023, which is open to all law enforcement agencies in the Valley to sign up to attend. Before agreeing to host this training, the department identified a need to provide continuing training to our detectives, especially in connection with testifying on felony cases. Michael Pezzelle and April Sponsel of the Five Eight Group offer training directly on this topic, and Surprise Police Department has agreed to let them host a training at our location. To the best of our understanding, the presenters meet all of the qualifications necessary for this training."
AZPST also sent us the following statement:
"We recently changed our rules related to advanced officer training. AZPOST no longer vets curriculum or presenters for advanced officer training. All advanced officer training, the selected vendor, and instructor are approved by the agency head hosting the training and/or the agency head of employees who attend. If the agency head approves the course for their employees, AZPOST will accept it for continuing training credit."
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
