This gives Terry Goddard a huge slap in the face.
Criminal charges against a Phoenix gun shop owner accused of supplying firearms to Mexican narcotics cartels were thrown out of court Wednesday when a judge ruled the prosecution's case had a fatal evidentiary flaw.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Gottsfield issued a directed verdict of not guilty for George Iknadosian, owner of X-Caliber Guns, who faced a 21-count indictment for fraud, money-laundering and other offenses.
The ruling appears to be a defeat for the Arizona Attorney General's Office, which made international news by portraying Iknadosian, 47, as a greedy business owner who helped fuel Mexico's drug violence by supplying more than 700 AK-47s and other weapons to cartels.
Attorney General Terry Goddard and his prosecutor, Patrick Zinicola, were not immediately available for comment.
An entry from Wednesday's court decision says Gottsfield concluded that evidence against Iknadosian was not sufficient to support conviction based on a technical legal issue.
Iknadosian was accused of selling firearms to "straw buyers," who then transported weapons south of the border. The straw buyers, all of whom pleaded guilty and became cooperative witnesses, signed statements at the time of purchase falsely declaring that they were acquiring the weapons for themselves.
Judge Gottsfield concluded that, while those documents were falsified, the purchasers all were legally eligible to buy firearms, so the deception did not amount to a "material falsification" under the law.
Gottsfield dismissed jurors and granted acquittal under a so-called Rule 20 motion sought by defense attorney Thomas Baker. Under Arizona law, Rule 20 holds that a case must be thrown out if the state's evidence is inadequate for conviction. "There is no proof whatsoever that any prohibited (firearm) possessor ended up with the firearms," he said.
The case against Iknadosian was investigated jointly by Phoenix police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was considered a landmark prosecution in part because of cooperation with Mexican authorities, who provided evidence that guns from X-Caliber were used in criminal operations south of the border.
Neither Iknadosian nor his attorney were available Wednesday afternoon.
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