Louis Taylor case

Deposing the county attorney: A federal judge ordered Pima County Attorney Laura Conover to be deposed regarding the case of Louis Taylor, KVOA’s Lupita Murillo reports. Taylor spent 40 years in prison, but he was released when new technology indicated the fire, which killed 29 people in 1970, wasn’t arson. The remaining question is whether Taylor will be officially exonerated. Conover initially seemed to agree Taylor could be innocent, but then backtracked.

“It's important because it allows us to depose the one person who truly knows why in May of 2022 she reviewed the evidence and decided there was clear and convincing evidence of innocence,” Taylor’s attorney, Timothy Stackhouse, told Murillo. (July 14, 2023)

Document dump: Lawyers representing Louis Taylor, the man convicted in the 1970 Pioneer Hotel Fire, have received records from the Pima County Attorney’s Office that show previous plans to exonerate him, KVOA’s Chorus Nylander reports. The roughly 500-page filing includes a drafted motion to vacate Taylor’s charges, dated May 30, 2022. Taylor spent 40 years in prison for the hire, which killed 29 people, but was released in 2013 when a re-examination of the available evidence concluded that the origin and cause of the fire could only be considered undetermined. Pima County Attorney Laura Conover told KVOA that her office reviewed the original case but found nothing new, resulting in her closing the case. She’s set to be deposed Sept. 26. (September 15, 2023)

Change of plans: The City of Tucson and Pima County may end up paying damages for the decades that Louis Taylor spent in prison in connection with the 1970 Pioneer Hotel Fire, KVOA”s Chorus Nylander reports. Taylor spent 42 years in prison before making a deal in 2013 to plead no contest in exchange for the Pima County Attorney’s Office setting aside his original conviction and giving him credit for time served. Taylor is suing the city and county alleging prosecutor misconduct, racial biases and more. His no-contest plea limited his ability to seek damages, but a judge said in January that Taylor can receive damages if the jury finds ample cause. A settlement conference is scheduled for later this month. (February 7)

Plot twist: KVOA’s Sarika Sood broke the news Monday that Pima County Attorney Laura Conover asked for her office be removed from a federal lawsuit involving a man who spent 42 years in prison in connection with the deadly Pioneer Hotel Fire. Louis Taylor was convicted of setting the fire, but released from prison in 2013 after making a deal for time served with the former Pima County Attorney. Taylor is suing Pima County and the City of Tucson for wrongful prosecution, violation of his constitutional rights, and prosecutorial misconduct. In the months before Conover took office, the office’s ethics committee determined that she had a conflict of interest in Taylor’s case because of comments she made while campaigning citing the handling of Taylor’s case as the inspiration for her work.

“In 2021… Conover’s office conducted a thorough, independent, and objective assessment of the Louis Taylor matter based on the facts and information known at that time. She followed the limitations of Arizona law in reaching her conclusion. County Attorney Conover has recently been deposed in the civil case and has now been subpoenaed to testify at the civil trial later this year,” Conover’s office said in a statement to the Tucson Agenda. “Based on these new, changed circumstances, the Pima County Attorney’s Office is seeking to have an outside agency investigate any facts or information that may arise out of the civil litigation.” (February 27)

“In 2021… Conover’s office conducted a thorough, independent, and objective assessment of the Louis Taylor matter based on the facts and information known at that time. She followed the limitations of Arizona law in reaching her conclusion. County Attorney Conover has recently been deposed in the civil case and has now been subpoenaed to testify at the civil trial later this year,” Conover’s office said in a statement to the Tucson Agenda. “Based on these new, changed circumstances, the Pima County Attorney’s Office is seeking to have an outside agency investigate any facts or information that may arise out of the civil litigation.” (February 28)

Staying out of it: The Ninth Circuit has declined to get involved in a wrongful arrest and racial discrimination case that seeks to expunge the conviction of the man accused of setting Tucson’s deadly Pioneer Hotel Fire in 1970, Courthouse News Service’s Joe Duhownik writes. The three-judge panel decided the issues would be better served upon a retroactive appeal, saying it was unsure whether a federal judge can expunge a state conviction. Louis Taylor sued Pima County in 2015 after spending more than 40 years in prison in connection with the fire, saying he was wrongfully charged. (April 10)

Costly remarks: The Star’s Tim Steller writes about Pima County Attorney Laura Conover’s involvement in the criminal and civil cases of Louis Taylor, who spent 42 years in prison in connection with the 1970 Pioneer Hotel Fire. Steller writes about Conover’s 2022 decision to not vacate Taylor’s conviction, saying that her first term is marked by her flip-flopping on the case.

“By her own description during the 2020 campaign, Taylor’s questionable 1972 conviction for the Pioneer Hotel fire helped inspire her career. She said in Facebook comments that year that Taylor ‘should have been compensated in my humble opinion,’” Steller writes. “When she took office, Conover had a chance to do something about it. In the end, she didn’t take that chance.” (May 19)

Hot take: Attorneys for Louis Taylor claim in their most recent court filings that Pima County Attorney Laura Conover lied during a sworn deposition, KVOA’s Chorus Nylander reports. Taylor spent 42 years in prison in connection with the deadly 1970 Pioneer Hotel Fire before making a deal with the former county attorney and being released from prison in 2013. His federal lawsuit against Pima County and the City of Tucson is scheduled to go to trial in early July. The new filing claims that Conover lied during a deposition about a phone call she had with attorney Nick Acedo, who is representing the county in the lawsuit. Conover told KVOA she testified truthfully during her deposition and Acedo said he “absolutely did not accuse” Conover of lying under oath, adding that when his filing is made public, it will dispel the “outrageous allegation.” (May 17)

A solid explainer: The Green Valley News’ Kim Smith takes a deep dive into the complicated saga of Pima County Attorney Laura Conover and the case of Louis Taylor, the man who spent 42 years in prison in connection with Tucson’s 1970 Pioneer Hotel Fire. Smith also details the battle between Conover and members of the office’s former administration, who have publicly questioned what they call financial mismanagement by Conover, her handling of specific cases (including Taylor’s) and the office’s high turnover. (June 10)