George Kelly's Case Dismissed With Prejudice By Trial Judge

George Kelly, as you might remember, is an Arizona rancher accused have having used an AK style rifle to shoot and kill an illegal alien on his property in January 2023. In April 2024, the jury was unable to come to a decision (with one holdout refusing to acquit) and a mistrial was declared. Shortly thereafter, the prosecutor declined retrying and asked for the case to be dismissed. But it apparently was not a done deal: the prosecutor wanted the case dismissed without prejudice, meaning that he could again bring the charges against Kelly at a later date and retry him in the future. But the judge was having none of that: he has denied the request for a dismissal without prejudice, and instead ordered dismissal with prejudice (meaning that the prosecutor will not be able to refile charges). 

    'The interests of justice are not advanced where the only thing to be accomplished by a dismissal without prejudice, where there is not possibility that a re-trial will occur, is the harassment of the Defendant,' [Judge] Fink said in a decision obtained by KGUN 9.

    'The interests of justice are not served by the dismissal without prejudice for [a] case that cannot and will not be re-tried.

    'The State's motion to dismiss without prejudice is denied. In the interests of justice the case is ordered dismissed with prejudice.'

    After the trial, Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley said the prosecution supported dismissing the case but wanted the option to retry it if circumstances change.

    She had said unknown witnesses may come forward and known witnesses in Mexico might become available.

Meaning that they wanted to use illegal aliens--apparently some returned to Mexico--and perhaps smugglers to bolster their case against Kelly if they were able to locate them. Which is problematic for Kelly and his defense team because there would be virtually no means of obtaining information about their backgrounds or even confirming their identities.