Attorney: Suspected valley freeway shooter should be released from jail

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Accused I-10 freeway shooter Leslie Merritt Jr. made an appearance in court Monday. His attorneys were asking the judge to lower his $1 million bond. They say they have alibi evidence, including phone records and text messages that prove Merritt was not behind the attacks.

Leslie Merritt Jr. was arrested in September and charged in four of 11 confirmed freeway shootings after detectives say they forensically linked a gun he pawned to the shootings.

"The statements that our alibi witness have provided, which we have provided to the state, which indicate the defendant Mr Merritt was not present at the time and place of the alleged shootings," said Ulises Ferragut.

The judge agreed to allow them to present that evidence at a special hearing set for November 16.

"I'm just focusing on if this is a purported alibi, I don't need the history for each of these witnesses, I wanna know where they were at 7 a.m. or whatever time it was on August 29, so limit it to that," said Judge Warren Granville.

Merrit's attorneys say they feel confident the new information, which wasn't available when a judge set Merritt's first bond, will be enough to convince the judge to modify the release conditions.

"There's nothing more we can say other than everything will come out in court on the 16th, so I appreciate the understanding. It's a difficult situation, but we're going to follow Judge Granville's marching orders, and we're just going to leave it right there," said Jason Lamm.

For now Merrit remains housed in a Maricopa County Jail.