Pima County Attorney Laura Conover clears misconceptions about recent domestic violence case, low-cash bail

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Cash bail is at the forefront of discussion following the arrest and subsequent release of a suspect in a domestic violence incident that left Zahriya Moreno on life support.

In an exclusive interview with 13 News, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover is clearing up misconceptions about her team’s handling of the cash bail process at initial hearings such as in Moreno’s case.

25-year-old Angelito Olivas was released on a $2,500 bond following an incident in which Moreno allegedly was on his car’s trunk and suffered life-threatening injuries. The initial police report claimed Olivas knew Moreno was on the trunk and kept driving.

Moreno’s family told 13 News she was placed on life support Monday and that her organs were donated on Wednesday. Video of the emotional Honor Walk is below.

Conover is pointing the finger at the county’s initial hearing system as to why a full picture of the incident may not have reached the presiding judge.

“Once again, we have a case and so many examples where we find the initial appearance system to be lacking,” Conover said.

Conover said the time from when Olivas was arrested to his initial hearing was only a matter of hours, but still the prosecution tried to set a fair bond for the charge of aggravated assault.

“Our prosecutor used what limited information he had and made a very earnest argument to try to have the suspect held in custody using the only system we have, which is right now under state law, the cash bail system,” she said.

Contrary to analysis from current attorneys and former county attorneys of an interim complaint of the incident 13 News reported on yesterday, Conover said the prosecution did recommend the judge set a $10,000 bond for Olivas.

“Given the limited information that we had, our prosecutors strenuously argued for a $10,000 bond,” Conover said. “The judge chose his $2,500 bond, which he was able to pay and be released.”

That low bond had many questioning why. Conover attributed this to a possible lack of information often seen in initial hearings due to the quick turnaround required in the current system.

Conover said because the court was not able to contact/talk to Moreno, the judge did not know if Moreno was in the hospital at the time of the hearing. She wasn’t there to do a risk assessment, which is often used in domestic violence cases.

“The initial appearance happens so quickly, there is very little time for law enforcement to fully assess the evidence they have to give the judge a full picture of what’s going on,” Conover said.

Conover went on to explain a pattern of lack of time for law enforcement and pre-trial services to gather adequate information to make fair bail recommendations, something she blames on the way the current cash bail system is set up.

That is why she said she has pushed for a system change since 2021 to multiple levels of the judicial system such as the Supreme Court, Superior Court and county legislators.

“Cash bail continues to fail us on both ends of the spectrum, and it’s deeply embedded into the culture (of Pima county),” she said.

Conover said she is fighting to expand the time between the initial arrest and initial pre-trial hearings to allow everyone more time to gather information to make sound bail decisions.

“(The current system) really undermines our ability to have a thoughtful process for what is arguably the most important hearing of an entire case,” she said. “Whether the defendant is in or out of custody, will shape the rest of the prosecution.”

Conover said she could not go into detail about the specifics of the case but could refer to the bond since it was discussed in previous reporting by 13 News.

In addition to the initial pre-trial hearing reform, Conover and her team are trying to educate people on signs of violent offenders and proper information gathering to produce those subsequent bail amounts.

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