Arizona’s so-called fake electors cleared a significant hurdle in court in their attempt to dismiss the criminal case against them by Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes under an Arizona law designed to prevent politically-motivated prosecutions.
The defendants in the case, all Republicans, are accused of fraud and other felonies for signing and submitting a document falsely claiming President Donald Trump defeated former President Joe Biden in Arizona’s 2020 presidential election.
Their attorneys have made several attempts to dismiss the case, including a filing a motion arguing the prosecution violates Arizona’s anti-SLAPP law, which which states that a defendant can ask for a case to be dismissed if they can prove “the legal action was substantially motivated by a desire to deter, retaliate against or prevent the lawful exercise of a constitutional right.”
That law only applied to civil cases until Republican lawmakers expanded it to cover criminal charges in 2022. The Arizona Legislature is considering additional changes this year that could further impact the fake elector case.
On Monday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers ruled the defendants provided enough to move forward with the anti-SLAPP motion, though he emphasized he has not yet ruled on whether the case should be dismissed altogether.
“The court finds that the defendant's motions do include information that the charges in this case include, at least in part, some arguably lawful exercise of their rights of petition and speech,” Myers said.
Myers added, “Defendant's motions also include information that the attorney general has made statements in the past, suggesting that what happened in this case should never happen again, which they argue shows a desire to deter the actions that were alleged in this case.”
Myers said that’s “step one” the court must go through as it considers a motion filed under the expanded anti-SLAPP law.
Now, prosecutors from Mayes’ office will have the opportunity to argue that the charges are justified.
“In this step two, the state will have the opportunity to show that the charges are justified by clearly established law and that the Attorney General did not act in order to deter, prevent or retaliate against the moving parties defendants exercise of their constitutional rights,” Myers said.
Myers gave the attorney general’s office 45 days to file a response.
“We disagree with this ruling, and we will pursue an appeal,” Mayes said in a statement. “It is not the lawful exercise of free speech to file forged slates of electors to deprive Arizona voters of their right to vote.”
Myers will hear arguments Tuesday on a host of other requests filed by the defendants, including several different motions seeking to send the case back to the grand jury or dismiss it altogether.
