Maricopa County settles lawsuit with former freeway shooting suspect

PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has settled a civil lawsuit with a man who was considered a suspect in a string of Phoenix-area freeway shootings three years ago.

According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona, the lawsuit filed by Leslie Merritt Jr. was settled for an undisclosed amount earlier this month. It still needs to be approved by county officials before the deal is finalized.

The settlement does not include the Arizona Department of Public Safety or the state of Arizona.

Amanda Steele, a spokeswoman for County Attorney Bill Montgomery’s office, and Merritt attorney Jason Lamm declined to comment.

Merritt’s lawsuit didn’t specify the amount in damages he was seeking. But his lawyers said in an earlier notice of claim — a precursor to a lawsuit — that he was seeking $10 million from the state and county.

Merritt was taken into custody in September 2015 in connection to four of the 11 shootings that were reported along the Interstate 10.

No one was seriously hurt in the shootings, even though eight cars were struck by bullets and three others hit by what authorities said were projectiles.

Merritt was charged after the Department of Public Safety said forensic evidence linked Merritt to a gun used in some of the shootings.

He insisted he was innocent and was freed after spending 222 days in jail.

All of the charges, which ranged from aggravated assault to drive-by shooting to disorderly conduct, against the West Valley landscaper were dismissed on April 25, 2016 after an outside ballistics expert said bullets from the four shootings couldn’t be “excluded or identified” as having come from Merritt’s gun.

The lawsuit alleged the only evidence linking Merritt to the shootings was a statement by a Department of Public Safety criminologist who examined the case’s ballistic evidence and concluded that Merritt’s gun was the firearm that fired bullets in four of the shootings. Merritt’s lawsuit also alleged that prosecutors misled grand jurors about the reliability of the ballistics evidence.

Attorneys for the state, Maricopa County and Montgomery denied those allegations.

Merritt’s lawyers tried unsuccessfully to force Gov. Doug Ducey to testify about his calls with Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead around the time of the arrest. Merritt’s attorneys had argued that Ducey inserted himself in the case when he triumphantly tweeted, “We got him!” minutes after Merritt was arrested.

No one else has been arrested in connection to the shootings.

The settlement is subject to the approval of the county’s Board of Supervisors. It’s not clear when the board will vote on the agreement, but its next formal board meeting is scheduled for Dec. 12.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Follow @KTAR923