TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — In the case of a man charged with a murder on the University of Arizona campus, a group at the County Attorney’s office will consider the best way to prosecute the case.
The murder case against a young man charged with killing another young man on the U of A campus will push into next year but before the next hearing on this case there will be a meeting of a very important committee.
Two lives came together on volleyball courts near some University of Arizona dorms. Minhaj Jamshidi’s life ended. Ryan Romero Encinas's life turned towards jail, to wait for his murder trial.
Neither man had ties to the U of A. Jamshidi was an Afghan refugee studying at Pima Community College.
An autopsy says he was shot in the head, stomach and back.
Judge Howard Fell ordered that Encinas not be on camera. He set a pre-trial conference for January 17th.
Before the next hearing in this case there’s going to be a meeting of a very important committee over at the Pima County Attorney’s Office. It’s usually just called “the Panel” or they may refer to a case being paneled. This is a committee of very experienced attorneys and they discuss the ins and outs of various homicide cases and decide the best way to go forward and in some cases they may decide it would be appropriate to offer a plea bargain where someone could plead to a lesser charge.
But taking a case to the panel does not automatically suggest a plea is in the works. It’s prosecutors conferring to decide the best strategy for a case.
