Homicide Lawyer in Phoenix, AZ

Inside city limits, a death that may be a homicide goes to the Phoenix Police Homicide Unit, one of five work units in the Violent Crimes Bureau. The city says a lieutenant commands it and that it is organized into response squads, a cold case squad and a resource squad. It is mainly a daytime unit with detectives on call at all hours, so a case can open overnight and run for weeks of interviews, records requests and lab work.

Fatal and other serious crashes on Phoenix streets go to the department's Vehicular Crimes Unit, while the Department of Public Safety handles the freeways and interstates. The unit's own page says a detective's arrival does not by itself mean a crime occurred, and once a citation or report is submitted, the charging call belongs to the prosecuting agency rather than the police.

The county Office of the Medical Examiner, 701 W. Jefferson St., examines violent deaths and deaths that are unexpected or unexplained. The county notes that cause and manner of death can stay listed as pending while testing continues. The autopsy, the toxicology results and the investigator's notes often frame the causation question, so we read them closely and, where the facts call for it, have an independent expert review them.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office decides the charge. Its Capital Litigation Bureau handles first degree murder cases in which the State seeks death, and its Vehicular Crimes Bureau prosecutes crimes that arise from motor vehicle collisions. A reviewing prosecutor can send the report back for more work, turn it down, pass it to another office, or charge it. Homicide cases often reach Superior Court through a grand jury, a panel of citizens that hears the State's evidence without the defense in the room.

Phoenix Municipal Court does not take felony matters, and no Maricopa County felony takes a detour through a justice court. Superior Court hears the case downtown, in the Central Court Building on Jefferson Street or the South Court Tower on Madison Street. Confirm the building on your current notice.

Counsel attaches on any felony, and a lawyer is appointed for someone who cannot afford one. Much of the work that shapes a homicide case comes earlier: saving video and phone records, finding witnesses while memories are fresh, and keeping a client from making a statement before the evidence is known.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A plea to a lesser homicide count can still mean years in prison and a felony record. Arizona's sealing statute, § 13-911(O), does not allow serious offenses, violent or aggravated felonies or dangerous offenses, as other sections define those terms, to be sealed. Any felony conviction makes a person a prohibited possessor until the right is restored, and federal law adds its own firearm bar. When the death came from driving, a conviction can also bring license consequences through MVD. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen needs immigration advice before deciding on any plea.

The scene. Officers secure the area while detectives and crime scene staff document it. The Phoenix Police Crime Laboratory has its own Crime Scene Response, Firearms, DNA, Latent Print Comparison and Trace Evidence sections. Body-worn video, 911 audio and nearby business or doorbell cameras can matter as much as the physical evidence, and private systems overwrite footage, so preservation requests go out early.

The request to talk. Detectives may ask a person to stay at the scene or come to a police facility to clear something up. You can decline and ask that contact go through your lawyer, even if you believe you acted in self-defense, because an account given in shock, before anyone has seen the video, can be quoted back for the life of the case. Do not consent to a search of your phone, home or car. If officers arrive with a warrant, do not interfere, and call us.

No contact. Do not reach out to the family of the person who died, to witnesses or to anyone else involved, and do not post about the case. A release order that names people means no contact of any kind, including through friends. Treat every call and visit at the jail as recorded.

The first appearance. Someone booked on a homicide charge is brought to the Intake, Transfer and Release facility (ITR) on 28th Drive for a hearing inside the 24 hours that Rule 4.1 allows. Felony calendars run there every three hours, overnight included, according to the Phoenix Police victim rights pamphlet. Adult Probation gives the judge a risk score called the Public Safety Assessment, along with any prior record, before release is decided.

Bond and supervision. If the judge sets a secured bond, the Superior Court says it is paid in person at the jail on South 4th Avenue, never electronically. Pretrial Services supervises released defendants from the South Court Tower, 3rd floor, Suite 3306.

Indictment and arraignment. Once a grand jury indicts, or a judge finds probable cause at a preliminary hearing, the case is arraigned and given a trial date. Where the State may seek death, mitigation, including life history, mental health and family background, is gathered long before that decision.

Disclosure and motions. The State's disclosure can include scene photographs, autopsy and toxicology reports, phone extractions, recorded interviews and jail calls. Motions follow on statements, searches, expert opinions and, in a self-defense case, what the jury may hear about the events leading up to the death. Trial can be two years or more after arrest, and that time is used to build the defense.

Nova Law Group was built by Ryan Tait, a former Maricopa County Attorney's Office felony prosecutor. The practice is criminal defense first. We keep caseloads deliberately low, which means the lawyers on your case have time to actually watch the video and read the reports line by line. We take homicide cases to trial when trial is the right pressure. Overcharging happens, and a case that is genuinely prepared for trial changes the conversation with the prosecutor. Most criminal cases are quoted as a flat fee. Consultations are free and confidential.

Office: 4455 E. Camelback Rd., Suite C250, Phoenix, AZ 85018. Meetings are by appointment.