Considering that Mohave County has the highest crime rate in the state, according to a recent study, many people assume that County Attorney Matt Smith is allocating the limited resources of the judicial system to prosecuting the most dangerous criminals to the fullest extent of the law. Many people would be incorrect in that assumption.
While even violent crimes are routinely offered plea bargains to avoid a costly trial, the County has aggressively prosecuted an elderly man named Walter Spawr for two non violent misdemeanors over a simple misunderstanding of law.
Walter Spawr believes that there is no law prohibiting a citizen from bringing evidence of a crime directly to a grand jury, and last year he brought a proposal to the Board of Supervisors to codify that process in Mohave County. Over strenuous objection by legal counsel the Board eventually rejected Spawr’s proposal, asserting that the County Attorney is the gatekeeper for who does and does not get prosecuted. But what if the County Attorney, one of his staff, his friends or relatives, or his employees are the one being accused of a crime? What if Smith declines to prosecute?
Undaunted, Walter Spawr showed up to the Kingman City Courthouse in June of 2024, before a grand jury was convened, and walked in when the door was unlocked for potential jurors. He attempted to hand out manila envelopes containing evidence and leave well before the official proceeding began. Court officials had been warned to be on the lookout for the elderly Mr. Spawr, but were not told that for all intents and purposes Walter is deaf.
Spawr was asked to leave the premises but had difficulty understanding what was being said to him. Ultimately Spawr left before law enforcement arrived and returned to his vehicle in the parking lot before the official 9:30 Grand Jury start time.
Spawr was subsequently charged with “Criminal Trespass In The Third Degree” and “Interfering With Judicial Proceedings” that hadn’t technically started yet. The legal standard for trespassing is that the defendant must both know he’s not supposed to be somewhere and refuse to leave when asked.
Spawr was arraigned earlier this year and pleaded “not guilty” to the misdemeanor counts. It seems that County Attorney Smith had convinced the City to prosecute the case, as the Courthouse is located in Kingman.
Spawr tried to find an attorney but none would agree to take the case. As his income exceeds the amount to have legal counsel provided for him, Spawr was forced to represent himself at the bench trial on June 24th. The judge stating at the trial that he didn’t believe that Spawr couldn’t secure defense counsel.
During pre-trial, when Spawr wanted to subpeona the potential jurors as witnesses to what had occurred, the court refused to provide their names, referring to them only as Jane and John Does.
Ultimately Spawr was his only defense witness in an all day proceeding that was drawn out due to his inability to hear Judge Vederman, Prosecutor Jeffrey Haws, and the witnesses against him (Elizabeth Meins - MCAО Victim Advocate, Amanda Claerhaute - MCAО Deputy County Attorney, Frank Walter Mueller - MCAО Investigator, and KPD Officer Mejia). Spawr had to use a voice to text program on his laptop to try and read what had been said, and hope that the transcription was correct.
A verdict was not handed down in the courtroom after closing arguments but was issued after the fact, in writing by mail. Walter Spawr was found guilty on both counts. He intends to appeal. Hopefully he can find an attorney willing to represent him through that process.
The total cost to the taxpayers to adjudicate this case through the appeal process is unknown, and it is assumed that the witnesses were on the clock for the day, given that they were all government employees.
So while dangerous criminals roam the streets of Mohave County, will you sleep better at night knowing that your tax dollars are being used to make an example of an elderly man with no prior criminal history, whose only real crime was trying to present what he believed to be evidence of an actual crime that the County wasn’t interested in prosecuting? Does this example give you confidence in the local judicial system?