Legal experts said Saturday that homicide charges in the deaths of four news crewmen killed in a midair helicopter collision would be hard to prove.

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Nonetheless, police officials intend to push the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to file homicide charges against Christopher Jones, 23, who is accused of leading the police chase that the television news crews were following when their helicopters crashed.

Jones was booked Saturday on four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of vehicle theft and resisting arrest. No other charges were filed, but under Arizona law he could face homicide charges if prosecutors can show that his actions directly led to the crash that killed the four newsmen.

“This is going to be a tough one,” said former Maricopa County Attorney Richard Romley. “If it were up to me, I would do everything in my power, but this is going to be very hard to prove.”

Romley, who served as county attorney from 1989 to 2004, said he can’t remember any similar cases that could serve as a legal guide. The closest, he said, involved two men convicted in the 1999 shooting death of a Chandler police officer even though they did not pull the trigger.

In that case, Arthur Lucero, Leroy Campbell and Sergio Martinez had robbed a jewelry store in Tempe and led police on a chase to a Chandler apartment complex. After ditching the getaway car, police discovered one of the robbers hiding in an apartment.

When officers charged in, there was a gunfight that left Martinez and Chandler police officer James Snedigar dead. Lucero and Campbell were not inside the apartment at the time, but both were found guilty of murdering the officer and their accomplice.

The Arizona Court of Appeals upheld the conviction.

In an ongoing case, a Phoenix woman faces murder charges in a 2004 robbery attempt at a Mesa check-cashing store following the death of her accomplice. The accomplice was shot and killed by the store’s clerk, who also shot Rhonda Wright multiple times.

Prosecutors reasoned that the clerk would not have pulled his weapon if the assailants had not entered his store.

In the case involving the helicopter collision, Phoenix defense attorney Larry Debus said prosecuting Jones for homicide would be nearly impossible because the case does not fit within the scope of the statute. He said it was not the intent of the Legislature to include news helicopters when they crafted the law.

To show that Jones was responsible for their deaths, Debus said prosecutors would have to show that the highspeed chase put the news crews at risk. Had police officers crashed a squad car and died, the law would apply, he said, because the chase would have led directly to their deaths.

“But these helicopters were never in the zone of danger,” he said.

In addition, he and other legal experts contacted by the Tribune said prosecutors should hold off until an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is completed.

Ron Reinstein, who served as a Maricopa County Superior Court judge for 21 years, said the investigation could show a number of reasons for the crash, such as pilot error, mechanical failure or even the weather.

Ultimately, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will have to make the final decision about any additional charges against Jones.

Sgt. Joel Tranter, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department, said investigators will continue working the case and will be talking with the county attorney’s office.

“The baseline is that Mr. Jones was committing a number of serious felonies when this mishap took place,” Tranter said. “And that resulted in the death of four innocent people.”

Tips hot line

Federal investigators ask any eyewitnesses to Friday’s midair collision to call (602) 262-6141

- Tribune writer Mark Flatten contributed to this report.