Mitchell's office has announced nine indictments involving eight people and five cases in Gilbert and the East Valley since January. Gilbert and Mesa police have referred 19 people to her office for prosecution, Mitchell said Wednesday.
"Most charges are related to assault, different classes of assaults depending on the type of injury and various factors within the case," Mitchell said.
Mitchell again faced questions from reporters about the Gilbert Goons, teen violence and the killing of Preston Lord during her biweekly press conference on Wednesday.
None of the indictments are related to Lord's homicide in October. In late December, the Queen Creek Police Department submitted a mountain of evidence related to Lord's death, which many parents and East Valley residents have connected to a violent group of mostly white males known as the Gilbert Goons.
Mitchell defended her office on Jan. 24 when challenged by reporters on the lack of indictments in the Lord case. She said her prosecutors were still studying the 2,000-page police report, 2,000 pieces of evidence and 600 videos submitted to her office by Queen Creek police.
On Wednesday, she read a statement from Preston Lord's parents, which was projected onto a screen for reporters. In it, the family stated that Mitchell "continues to provide us with updates on her office's review of the case." The family added that "we understand that there is work to be done to achieve justice for Preston," and so they are "exercising patience."
The family urged "members of the community and the media" to do the same.
Mitchell also was asked if the Gilbert Goons are a criminal street gang.
"We are still looking at that," she said. "There actually is a set process by which to do that, and so we're working through that set process."
Banning brass knuckles won’t be ‘cure-all’
Mitchell also was asked about the use of brass knuckles in some attacks on East Valley teens. She said that in some cases, using brass knuckles during an assault could elevate the crime to a felony. She expressed support for SB 1183, a bill sponsored by state Sen. John Kavanagh, a Fountain Hills Republican, that makes the possession of brass knuckles a misdemeanor in Arizona."One thing I would say though is there's always going to be a weapon," she said. "And so it's not going to be the cure-all."
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill in a 7-0 vote on Feb. 1.
Mitchell added that she also was concerned about the "explosion of juvenile gun violence" in the Valley and that her office has been working with the legislature to address it.
She cited HB 2819 from state Rep. Quang Nguyen, a Republican from Prescott Valley. The legislation requires parental consent for a minor to possess or carry a gun at their home. Currently, state law allows a minor to have a gun at home without their parents' approval.
"What the police are seeing is they're getting calls from parents who are saying, 'My child has a gun. Could you come get it? Because I'm fearful of what will happen,'" Mitchell said. "And because it is not impermissible under the law for them to have a gun within their own home, and parental consent doesn't matter, the police are unable to act on that."
Nguyen's bill could "close up that loophole," Mitchell added, allowing police and prosecutors to intervene at an early age.
"If we don't capture that violent tendency or the tendency to carry guns around at that level, when they move into 18 years old, it's a completely different story for their lives," Mitchell said.
Nguyen's bill was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
