In 29 days, Kimberly E. Maguire will be released from state prison despite the fact she was ordered in 2018 to serve 10 years in prison after trying to pass off two forged utility vouchers.
On Tuesday, Judge Laura Cardinal of the Cochise County Superior Court imposed a new 4.25-year sentence with Maguire eligible for release from custody after 85 percent. The new sentence resolves allegations made by Maguire that she was denied her constitutional right to effective assistance of legal counsel.
Maguire, 46, was convicted by a jury of two counts of forgery for her failed attempt to receive about $90 in credit toward a City of Douglas water bill. The credits were never applied to Maguire’s water utility account because an employee raised suspicions on the certificates’ authenticity.
Court records show Maguire originally signed a plea agreement which called for a two-year prison sentence. She later withdrew from the deal and choose to stand trial instead, even though the Cochise County Attorney’s Office pointed out several times that Maguire’s criminal history would mandate a lengthy sentence if convicted by the jury.
But Cardinal ordered a March 1 evidentiary hearing on whether Maguire’s court-appointed trial attorney, Richard Swartz, provided ineffective assistance of counsel before and during the 2018 trial. Swartz took over Maguire’s case only three months before the jury trial started.
“This misstatement of the law, for which the Court mysteriously concurred, may have been grounds to grant a new trial,” Zucco said.
At the time, Swartz had legal issues of his own in 2018, including a domestic violence arrest and a DUI arrest. Public records show Swartz was suspended by the State Bar of Arizona in September 2021 for two years due to issues unrelated to Maguire’s case.
Swartz was prepared to testify via Zoom for the evidentiary hearing. However, the sentence modification meant there was no need for a hearing, and Cardinal would not have to make any finding on Maguire’s constitutional challenge.
Maguire’s new, significantly reduced sentence was negotiated by Cynthia Brubaker of the Cochise County Public Defender and Lori Zucco, the chief deputy county attorney. It takes into consideration several factors, including the 2018 plea deal and its two-year prison sentence stipulation.
There was also the fact Swartz commented in court about the possibility the jury could be told of Maquire’s earlier acceptance of the plea deal if she testified at the trial. The now-retired trial judge agreed with Swartz’s statement and Maguire never took the stand in her own defense.
But plea negotiations undertaken to resolve a case without a trial are not admissible against a defendant, Zucco told Arizona Daily Independent. “This misstatement of the law, for which the Court mysteriously concurred, may have been grounds to grant a new trial,” Zucco said.
The sentence Cardinal imposed Tuesday was based on a Category 2 repetitive offender status and its 4.5-year presumptive sentence instead of the Category 3 presumptive of 19 years used by the trial judge in 2018. Cardinal cited Maguire’s good conduct in prison the last three years, as well as Maguire’s medical condition back in 2018 to support a further mitigation to 4.25 years.
“The new stipulation is more than double what she would have received under the original plea agreement,” Zucco noted. “Given the one legal misstatement that the State agreed did occur, this resolution appeared to be the best course to serve the interests of justice, judicial economy, and public safety.”
Maguire has 1,289 days served between pretrial jail time and time with the Arizona Department of Corrections. She is eligible for release from prison after 1,318 days, although Maguire will remain under ADC supervision until the entire 4.25 years runs out.
Cardinal has called on the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office to return Maguire to ADC custody “as soon as possible” so prison officials can prepare for her upcoming release. Court records show Maguire will be staying in transitional housing when first released.
“I really hope this is the last run in with the law for Ms. Maguire and I wish her the best,” Zucco said after the resentencing.
MORE ABOUT MAGUIRE’S CASE HERE
