A plea deal which guarantees a former Cochise County court employee is placed on probation and could have two felony charges reduced to misdemeanors in a few years was approved by a judge who will formally impose sentence next week.
Mayra Munoz entered two no-contest pleas last month to charges of attempted leaving the scene of an accident and attempted aggravated assault of a peace officer. The assault charge stems from physical contact Munoz had with a Bisbee police officer who had ordered Munoz out of her car.
A no-contest plea means Munoz, 38, does not admit to the criminal offenses but agrees to a conviction anyway. She faced a maximum prison sentence of four years if convicted at trial of all charges with a jury finding of aggravated factors. Instead, she will be placed on probation during a Aug. 30 sentencing hearing.
The judge will schedule a restitution hearing within the next 60 days so the 68-year-old bicyclist can try to recoup “losses suffered as a result of the course of conduct” Munoz engaged in on July 9, 2020 when her car struck the bicyclist who suffered a fractured pelvis.
Court records show the bicyclist had a greenlight to travel eastbound State Route 90 near Canyon Vista Medical Center when Munoz made a right turn onto SR90 with a red light. Munoz, who was heading to work at the Cochise County Superior Court in Bisbee, said something “hit” her driver’s side mirror with enough force to push the mirror inward but she did not see anything in the roadway.
She was also charged with kicking a Bisbee police officer who stopped Munoz’s vehicle based on witness descriptions of the hit-and-run vehicle. Both the bicyclist and the officer were conferred with by the Cochise County Attorney’s Office prior to a plea deal being negotiated.
