Ex-San Diegan, OAN anchor Christina Bobb may elude Arizona electors charges

Christina Bobb in a December segment of her show Weekly Briefing on OAN Image via YouTube com Former San Diegan Christina Bobb could be off the hook along with fellow election-deniers in Arizona s fake-electors situation In April prosecutors accused her and other Republicans of trying to overturn the voting results in President Donald Trump s favor Now Arizona prosecutors have to go back to the drawing board after a judge ordered the event returned to a grand jury Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers on Friday sent the development back to grand jurors to determine whether probable cause exists that the defendants committed the crimes The decision first shared by The Washington Post centered on the Electoral Count Act a law that governs the certification of a presidential contest and was part of the defendants states they were acting lawfully Related stories Arizona Grand Jury Given No Evidence of Christina Bobb Crimes Lawyer Contends Former San Diegan Christina Bobb Asks Arizona Court to Dismiss Criminal Counts Ex-Arizona Governor Cassidy Hutchinson May Testify Against Ex-San Diegan Bobb Ex-San Diegan Christina Bobb Smirks at Phoenix Appearance Pleading Not Guilty Ex-San Diegan Christina Bobb is First in Arizona Fake-Electors Affair to Lawyer Up Ex-San Diegan Christina Bobb Faces Years in Prison if Guilty in Fake Electors Occurrence Former San Diegan Christina Bobb Faces Criminal Charges on Ariz Fake Electors Although the law was discussed when the event was presented to the grand jury and the panel demanded a witness about the law s requirements prosecutors didn t show the statute s language to the grand jury Judge Myers wrote The judge revealed a prosecutor has a duty to tell grand jurors all the applicable law and concluded the defendants were denied a substantial procedural right as guaranteed by Arizona law Bobb a San Diego State University MBA who worked for locally based One America News and now the Republican National Committee didn t benefit from a technicality her lawyer notified Times of San Diego Not really a technicality stated Thomas Jacobs Bobb s Tucson-based attorney More like Christina and the others calling out the state in its tactic to downplay the importance of the Electoral Count Act by not bothering to provide it to the grand jury On Monday Jacobs called this action an intentional denial of an major due-process right The state had the statute in hand knew the defense based on the statute and even mentioned it in their presentation but deliberately withheld the information because they knew it would damage their development if the grand jury knew the whole truth and the reason why what these assistants did was legal electioneering he explained Jacobs noted that the original grand jury without a fair presentation voted - in favor of indictment There is a high likelihood that a properly instructed fairly informed grand jury would decline to issue an indictment he mentioned via email That would mean the end of the event Jacobs noted he expected the judge s decision As to Christina Bobb there was also false information presented although the court did not rule on that argument he added Without the improper testimony it is much less likely Christina Bobb would be indicted Richie Taylor a spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes a Democrat whose office is pressing the scenario in court explained in a comment that prosecutors would appeal the decision We vehemently disagree with the court Taylor explained Mel McDonald a former county judge in metro Phoenix and former U S attorney for Arizona revealed courts send cases back to grand juries when prosecutors present misleading or incomplete evidence or didn t properly instruct panel members on the law They get granted at times It s not often noted McDonald who isn t involved in the occurrence In all Republicans were charged with forgery fraud and conspiracy The defendants consist of Republicans who submitted a document falsely claiming Trump won Arizona two former Trump aides and five lawyers connected to the former president including Bobb and Rudy Giuliani Two defendants have already resolved their cases while the others including Bobb have pleaded not guilty to the charges Trump wasn t charged in Arizona but the indictment refers to him as an unindicted coconspirator Bulk of the defendants in the development also are trying to get a court to dismiss their charges under an Arizona law that bars using baseless legal actions in a bid to silence critics They argued Mayes tried to use the charges to silence them for their constitutionally protected speech about the voting process and actions taken in response to the race s outcome Prosecutors explained the defendants didn t have evidence to back up their retaliation claim and that they crossed the line from protected speech to fraud Eleven people who had been nominated to be Arizona s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec to sign a certificate saying they were duly elected and qualified electors and claimed Trump had carried the state in the electoral process Joe Biden won Arizona by votes A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time The document later was sent to Congress and the National Archives where it was ignored Prosecutors in Michigan Nevada Georgia and Wisconsin have also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme The Associated Press contributed to this account