Voters have already had a taste of the quality of work done by Maricopa County Attorney candidate Gina Godbehere — they likely just didn’t know it.
The near-murder of multiple Scottsdale cops in March was made possible in part by Godbehere’s decisions over 15 years ago during her stint as a county prosecutor. The would-be cop killer, 52-year-old Laquanza Young, was known up until 2019 as Quan Chaney, who moved to Arizona from Chicago, Illinois.
On that fateful day in March, Young was killed after he fired on two Scottsdale police officers. Officers conducted a traffic stop after identifying Young’s vehicle as stolen.
Based on public records, the near loss of two public servants may not have occurred if, back in 2009, Godbehere hadn’t offered Young (then Chaney) an unsolicited plea deal for a violent robbery. Instead of Young still potentially being imprisoned through that fateful March day, Godbehere’s revised charges against Young after she took over his case ensured that he served less than a year in prison.
In February 2009, Young attempted to rob his former workplace, Cricket Wireless, in the process aiming a gun at and threatening his pregnant former coworker. Presentencing records relayed that Young had been fired over the belief that he was responsible for the money missing from his workplace. In the weeks leading up to the attempted robbery Young had reportedly threatened his former employer via email repeatedly.
Prior to Godbehere taking over the prosecution of his case, Young faced three counts of aggravated assault (a class three felony), burglary (a class three felony), and armed robbery (a class two felony).
First-time offenders under those charges would be eligible for anywhere from seven years mitigated sentencing to 24 years maximum sentencing. Aggravated sentencing under those charges amounts to nearly 30 years.
During pretrial statements, Young told prosecutors he had no interest in a plea. Young’s case was headed for trial under the three felony counts at that point until Godbehere took over the case, not long after his pretrial rejection of a plea deal.
Godbehere promptly gave Young a five-week continuance for his trial date, and then offered him a plea deal. Instead of felony charges for aggravated assault, burglary, and armed robbery, Godbehere offered Young lesser charges of disorderly conduct with a handgun (a class six felony) and burglary in the first degree with a handgun (a class three felony).
Minimum sentencing under the revised charges amounted to three years, or a maximum of eight years. Godbehere personally signed off on the plea deal.
According to court records, Chaney was sentenced to 10 months in prison and released after just five months. Chaney’s restitution to the pregnant women he terrorized and threatened to kill was less than $400.
When Godbehere received Chaney’s case, he already had a record of criminal activity spanning from his home state of Illinois to his new home in Arizona.
In previous years leading up to the 2009 attempted robbery, Young had accrued over a dozen criminal filings for offenses ranging from lacking a valid driver’s license or insurance, to unsafe driving, to marijuana possession, to theft.
In the years following his brief 2010 prison stint, Young accrued several criminal offenses for driving on a suspended license, unsafe driving, and assault.