Fired U.S. Attorney overruled on death penalty

Thursday, June 28, 2007  

Paul K. Charlton, the former U.S. Attorney for Arizona, said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales forced him to seek the death penalty in a murder case involving a methamphetamine dealer.

No body or weapon was ever discovered in the case against Jose Rios Rico. He was charged with the 2003 murder of a drug supplier in suburban Phoenix.

Despite the lack of evidence, Gonzales ordered Charlton to seek the death penalty, Charlton told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee yesterday. A month after the incident, Charlton's name was put on a list of federal prosecutors to be fired.

It was the second time Charlton was overruled on a death penalty case. In 2001, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered him to seek capital punishment against a Navajo man who was charged with murdering a woman and her granddaughter.

But in that case, Ashcroft's aides were willing to listen to Charlton's views -- the Navajo Nation opposed the use of the death penalty. Gonzales, on the other hand, refused to discuss the meth dealer issues, Charlton told the subcommittee.

Get the Story:
Fired Prosecutor Says Gonzales Pushed Death Penalty (The Washington Post 6/28)
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