News updates are sent daily. You can unsubscribe at any time.
No charges for student who took campaign signs
Digg|
Save|
License|
Print|
E-mail|
An Arizona State University student caught removing controversial campaign signs last month will not be prosecuted, Tempe authorities said.
ASU student in campaign sign thefts swaps story
Student says she was told to take campaign signs
Police were told by city prosecutors that no charges would be pursued against Lori Lieberman, police spokesman Sgt. Steve Carbajal said. He wasn't aware of a specific reason behind that decision, and the prosecutor's office declined to comment.
Lieberman admitted to investigators that on Oct. 18, she took signs opposing two Democratic legislators from the corner of Rural and Guadalupe roads.
She first confessed to doing so at the behest of the university's Young Democrats organization, according to a memo from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. It was a detective from that office who caught Lieberman with the signs, including seven in the trunk of her car.
The honorary chair of the Arizona Young Democrats is Ed Ableser, a state representative attacked by the signs as in favor of illegal immigration. Sen. Meg Burton Cahill was the other lawmaker targeted.
Both won re-election in District 17, which encompasses Tempe and south Scottsdale.
But Lieberman later changed her story when questioned by Tempe police, records show. She told them that an Internet chat board was where she read that the signs were illegal.
Lieberman did not return a phone message left Monday afternoon.
Jim Torgeson, the signmaker for two Republican challengers, was not surprised by the prosecutors' decision.
"They want to make sure they keep Ableser happy," Torgeson said. "The cowardice involved is staggering."
Torgeson said he expects that campaign signs now will be stolen at a greater rate.
"The person was caught in the act," he said, "and they didn't want to get to the bottom of it."
Please add your comments, but follow these guidelines to keep this a safe, credible place for discussing the news: