A Cochise County man has been ordered back to court next month to set a trial date, but it will be for an aggravated assault charge instead of the original attempted murder charge he was arrested on last fall.
Lloyd Duane Porter is accused of shooting a lifelong friend during an incident in the Pearce-Sunsites area on the evening of Oct. 11, 2020. He and the friend, Randy Garcia, had a disagreement over some vehicles after which one shot was fired into Garcia’s ankle.
At the time of the shooting, Garcia was wearing a leg brace and using crutches after breaking his ankle a week earlier. He was transported to a Willcox hospital and then a Tucson hospital for treatment with the bullet still in his ankle.
Porter, 41, fled the scene but was identified by both Garcia and other witnesses as the shooter. He was taken into custody Oct. 22 and held in the Cochise County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail on suspicion of attempted murder.
Judge Laura Cardinal later reduced bail to $50,000 after a county grand jury returned an indictment against Porter for only one count of aggravated assault. Porter posted a bond on Dec. 22 and was released from jail.
The Cochise County Attorney’s Office has already advised Cardinal that if Porter is convicted at trial then evidence will be presented at sentencing of Porter’s eight prior felony convictions. Those include a 2003 aggravated assault, a 2009 misconduct involving a weapon, a 2009 possession of a dangerous drug for sale, and a 2009 aggravated assault.
There is no explanation in the court file as to why the grand jury indicted Porter for aggravated assault by use of a firearm but did not charge him with a violation of ARS 13-3102, weapons misconduct for possession of a firearm by a prohibited possessor.
Cardinal has scheduled a trial setting hearing for April 20. She advised Porter during a Feb. 22 pretrial conference that his bail could be revoked if he failed to appear for the hearing.
Court records show Porter was released from state prison in 2018 after serving the sentences for his 2009 convictions.
