An Arizona judge dealt a major blow to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Monday, sending the violent defendant who assaulted a Queens mother to death in a SoHo hotel room to the Big Apple on murder charges. He said there was nothing to do.
Court Chief Justice Barbara Spencer ruled that Raad Almansouri, 26, refused to consent to extradition and remained in Arizona to stand trial on attempted murder charges over the objections of Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell. He said it dashed Bragg’s hopes of bringing the suspect back to Manhattan. KSAZ TV reported.
Manhattan prosecutors now say they plan to petition Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs to intervene.
“Nothing can happen in a fugitive case other than there may be a so-called gubernatorial order, which is a document that detains you instead of a gubernatorial warrant,” Spencer told al-Mansouri in court.
Almansoori, the only suspect in the Feb. 7 beating death of Denise Oleas-Aranchibia, 38, at the Soho 54 Hotel, fled to Arizona after the murder and killed two women there days later. He is charged with attempted murder for attacking the man.
Since then, Mr. Bragg and Mr. Mitchell have been embroiled in a legal battle over who should fire the first shot at Mr. Al-Mansouri, and Manhattan prosecutors have said their murder case will take precedence over the lesser charge of attempted murder. It is claimed that it will be done.
A spokesperson for Mr. Bragg said in a statement following Monday’s ruling that “seeking justice for victims and survivors is the Manhattan Prosecutor’s Office’s top priority.”
“We de-emphasize ritual and prioritize the integrity of the process,” the spokesperson said. “As with all cases involving out-of-state arrests, we are proceeding according to the facts and law to ensure justice is served.”
Bragg’s office argued that extradition decisions between “professional” prosecutors in other states are typically made over quick phone calls, and that murder cases are routinely prioritized over lesser charges.
But Mr. Mitchell said last month that he intended to keep Mr. Al-Mansoori in the county, citing Mr. Bragg’s reputation as a crime-friendly prosecutor in the Big Apple.
“We’re going to keep him here,” she told reporters on Feb. 19. “Alvin Bragg, who has observed the treatment of violent criminals by the Manhattan DA’s office in the New York area, I think it’s safer to keep him here,” she said.
Al-Mansouri could have waived extradition to New York, but he refused.
Police in Arizona said the suspect confessed to a murder in New York and two assaults on women during a two-day frenzied crime spree in Phoenix and Surprise.
Al-Mansouri, who was indicted last week in the Arizona case, is accused of carjacking and stabbing a woman in Phoenix on February 17, then attacking and sexually assaulting another woman the next day at the McDonald’s where he worked. has been indicted for.
He was apprehended by police late on February 18th in a shopping mall parking lot in Scottsdale.
He is scheduled to return to court on March 25, the newspaper said.
