Defense lawyers question Allister Adel's sobriety, decisions in 3 death penalty cases

ROBERT ANGLEN   | Arizona Republic

Defense lawyers in three death penalty cases are asking if Allister Adel was sober or absent from office when the Maricopa County Attorney's Office pursued charges against their clients.

Under Arizona law, only the elected county attorney can sign off on a decision to seek the death penalty. And now attorneys are seeking records to determine if Adel was physically able to make those decisions or if she delegated her authority.

Lawyers in separate requests to the County Attorney's Office demanded records to determine if Adel acted personally or violated protocols in seeking the death penalty. 

"We have a right to know whether Ms. Adel made the decision, as required by law, to seek the death penalty in our client's case," Marci Kratter wrote in a Feb. 3 email. "Ms. Adel's management team has expressed concern about her sobriety and its affect on her ability to do her job."

Adel on Wednesday said she followed all procedures and denied abdicating her duty.

“Death penalty decisions are made based on recommendations from a committee that are given to me for review," she said in a statement to The Arizona Republic.  "I thoroughly and thoughtfully review those recommendations before deciding whether MCAO should pursue the death penalty. At no time have I failed to do so.”

She would not address any specific cases, saying, "The County Attorney does not respond to questions about potential litigation."

Concerns rise over Adel's sobriety

The requests underscore the potential repercussions facing the County Attorney's Office on the issues of Adel's continued sobriety and her physical absence from the office for weeks at a time.   

Even if all the procedures were followed and the cases continue unabated, the requests themselves will cost taxpayers extra time and money and likely will result in additional litigation in what is already a yearslong process.

The requests surfaced as members of Adel's leadership team questioned her fitness to hold office. On Monday, Adel's five top criminal prosecutors urged her to resign and called for investigations by the State Bar of Arizona and members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

In a three-page letter, the five division chiefs said Adel has shown "obvious signs of impairment" while conducting county business and has been frequently absent since seeking treatment for anxiety, alcohol abuse and an eating disorder in September.

The call for Adel's resignation followed a series of reports in The Republic raising concerns about Adel's continued sobriety, her absence from office and her failure to weigh in on key legal questions facing county leaders.

Adel, in an internal message to staff on Tuesday, dismissed the division chief's letter as a "distraction." She publicly said she vehemently disagreed with the letter and has no plans to resign.

Death penalty cases involved

Adel faces scrutiny over three notorious cases involving the murders of a child, a mother of three and a teenager. The defendants charged in those cases are:

• Maribel Loera: She and her husband, Rafael Loera, were arrested in 2020 and are accused of abusing and neglecting their adopted children and hiding the body of a girl who died in their care. The 11-year-old girl's skeletal remains were found in the attic after firefighters responded to a fire at the home. The County Attorney's Office announced in January it intended to seek the death penalty against the Loeras.
• Andre Daniels: He was arrested in July and is accused of stabbing Shavone Robinson, 30, to death in front of her three young children and leaving them trapped in an apartment for days. Police said they found the kids after neighbors reported two children, ages 2 and 3, were crying and asking for food. A month-old infant on the floor next to Robinson had skull fractures, police said.
• Alex Madrid: He was accused in 2013 of murdering 14-year-old Claudia Ann Lucero and dumping her body in a Mesa dumpster. Police said Madrid was the ex-boyfriend of Lucero's mother, who broke up with him after her daughter accused him of inappropriately touching her. Police said he raped and strangled Lucero. The case was still moving through the court system.

Kratter, who represents Maribel Loera, said in her letter her client "has the right to know whether your office followed proper protocol in determining to seek the death penalty in her case."

Kratter could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

She asked the County Attorney's Office to turn over any records of communication between Adel, the office's Capital Review Committee and "any other personnel acting on Ms. Adel's behalf regarding the decision to seek the death penalty in this case."

Daniel's lawyer is seeking similar information and recently asked for "any and all correspondence to and from Allister Adel communicating the death notice."

Phoenix lawyer Natalee Segal wrote, "As you are aware, by statute, only the elected county attorney can decide to seek death in any criminal case,"

"In light of the recent reporting regarding the county attorney's absences from the workplace, we are requesting any and all discovery related to the decision to seek death in this case," Segal wrote.

Segal would not comment Wednesday on the records request.

County Attorney's Office in turmoil

The County Attorney's Office handles all adult and juvenile felony cases and misdemeanors filed in justice court. It represents all county agencies in civil matters. The county attorney makes decisions about who to charge with crimes, when to authorize wiretaps and whether to seek the death penalty against someone.

The Board of Supervisors appointed Adel in 2019 to replace Bill Montgomery, who left for a seat on the Arizona Supreme Court. She was elected in 2020 after a life-threatening fall.

Adel underwent emergency surgery for a brain bleed on Nov. 3, 2020, election night. She was hospitalized at two medical centers for more than a month. She spent the beginning of 2021 recovering. 

Adel returned to her duties full time that spring. She went into rehab on Aug. 29 and was out of the office for 13 days in September before the Maricopa County sheriff forced her to publicly acknowledge she was getting treatment. 

Nineteen days after checking into rehab, Adel checked out and said doctors cleared her to go back to work.

At the time Adel sought treatment, the County Attorney’s Office was already in turmoil over the botched prosecution of 15 Black Lives Matter protesters arrested during a 2020 demonstration. 

Adel, who initially defended the handling of the case, eventually reversed herself and last year dismissed the charges. A scathing external report cited a breakdown in communication between County Attorney's Office leadership and the lead prosecutor.

Simmering questions about Adel's leadership reached a boil two weeks ago, when The Republic detailed concerns by members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors about Adel's absences from county meetings and her failure to weigh in on key legal issues. 

Chairman Bill Gates told The Republic a member of Adel's leadership team reported receiving a drunken after-hours phone call from her. Gates said he questioned Adel about the call and if she was drinking again. She did not deny it, he said. 

Adel has given different answers about her reported call to the staffer. She initially denied it occurred, then said she knew which employee reported it and said she had not yet addressed it with the employee.

During a Feb. 7 radio interview on KJZZ, the Phoenix public radio station, Adel misstated the length of time she spent in a rehab facility last year, which her office later characterized as a mistake. 

Former County Attorney Rick Romley, who held the position longer than any other county attorney, said he has received several calls from employees warning about a lack of direction, understaffing and heavy workloads. 

Romley said Adel was "in over her head" and should step down.

Last week, a key member of Adel's leadership team was removed from office after writing staff should not be put in the position of defending Adel's "sobriety and leadership."

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic.Reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8694. Follow him on Twitter @robertanglen