Lawmaker’s plea deal falls through

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- An Arizona state representative, arrested on drunken-driving and other charges, had her plea deal dropped last week after a county official criticized it as too lenient.

State representative Trish Groe, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., was arrested six weeks ago for drunken driving and driving with a canceled license in the La Paz County, Ariz., community of Parker.

The plea deal would have spared Groe from having her driver's license suspended while bringing a misdemeanor drunken-driving conviction, a one-day jail term and about $1,600 in fines.

Under Arizona law, a felony conviction would force the second-term Republican lawmaker to give up her legislative seat.

La Paz County attorney Martin Brannan, citing a conflict of interest because Groe's legislative district reaches into his county, asked Yuma County prosecutor Roger Nelson to handle the matter.

But Nelson gave the case back to Brannan on Thursday after Brannan criticized the deal as too lenient. "Other people will get the idea that that's what's going to happen to them if they're in the same situation," Brannan said. "You wouldn't get that type of treatment in this county."

He said he doubted that any other county attorney's office will take the case, so he is trying to hire a special prosecutor not connected to government.