8 Feb 1st–Feb 7th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Long Shot Michael Turney sues for $300,000 over arrest for killing stepdaughter. BY STEPHEN LEMONS S ix months after a judge acquitted him on charges that he killed his stepdaughter Alissa Turney, Michael Roy Turney sued police and prose- cutors, alleging they colluded to punish him before his trial and violated his rights. Turney, 75, is seeking more than $300,000 in damages in the civil complaint, which he filed on Jan. 11 in Maricopa County Superior Court. He accused several law enforcement agencies involved in his arrest and prosecution of wrongful imprisonment, excessive force, property damage, denial of appropriate medical care and defamation. The hand-written complaint includes several defendants: the city of Phoenix; Maricopa County; current Phoenix police Chief Michael Sullivan and his prede- cessor, Jeri Williams, and two officers; Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and her predecessor, Allister Adel, along with a prosecutor; and former Sheriff Paul Penzone. In the suit, Turney described his August 2020 arrest by Phoenix police as a “military operation” with one officer “picking me off the ground and placing his fist in my throat.” Turney’s arrest and high-profile trial in 2023 received national media attention. A former electrician and one-time Maricopa County sheriff’s deputy who now lives in Apache Junction, Turney is representing himself in the suit. During an interview with Phoenix New Times, Turney said he couldn’t get a lawyer to take the case. He’s fatalistic about the outcome. “I don’t ever expect to get any money from it,” Turney said. “I expect them to come down on me like banshees from hell.” The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Maricopa County Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the lawsuit. Phoenix police did not respond to inquiries from New Times. ‘I was very lucky to be acquitted’ Turney, with a $500,000 bond, spent three years in county jail awaiting trial. Prosecutors claimed Turney was respon- sible for the death of his 17-year-old step- daughter, Alissa, who went missing on May 17, 2001. It was the last day of her junior year at Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix. Alissa initially was believed to be a runaway, but suspicion later fell on Turney, who police said was creepily obsessed with his stepdaughter and observed her move- ments with cameras inside and outside Turney’s house. Police had mountains of circumstantial evidence, but no body, no crime scene and no way to prove if Alissa was dead or alive. In August 2020, Turney was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. His case went to trial in July 2023. On July 17, after the prosecution rested its case, Turney’s lawyers cited a lack of evidence and moved for an acquittal. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers said there were two questions before him: Could the jury reasonably conclude, based on the evidence, that Alissa was dead; and could the jury reason- ably find that “Alissa’s death resulted from the defendant’s conduct.” Based on the evidence presented by the prosecution, Myers found that it would be reasonable for the jury to conclude that Alissa was dead. But Myers said there was “really no testimony about the defendant’s conduct in relation to Alissa’s death.” He found in favor of the defense, acquitting Turney of the murder charge and ordering that he be freed. “I was very lucky to be acquitted,” Turney explained. “I think Sam Meyers should be put in for his citizen’s medal of honor” Not everyone was laudatory. Mitchell praised prosecutors, police and members of Alissa’s family — ironically, Turney’s grown children and Alissa’s siblings — who believe that their father is responsible for their sister’s death. “While our office doesn’t agree with the judge’s ruling today, we respect the deci- sion of the court,” Mitchell said in July. Turney’s 2023 trial ended in acquittal Alissa’s half sister, Sarah Turney, was 12 when Alissa vanished. Sarah initially thought that her sister went to California, based in part on a note, purportedly in Alissa’s handwriting, explaining that she was running away from home. Sarah later came to believe that her father molested and killed her sister. She campaigned for Turney’s prosecution, promoting an online petition demanding her father be tried for Alissa’s death that garnered nearly 300,000 signatures. She created “Voices for Justice,” a podcast that explores her sister’s death. And she’s posted scores of TikTok videos about the case. “(T)he reality of Alissa’s case was that law enforcement was never going to search for her remains,” Sarah said after Turney was acquitted. “Despite my fami- ly’s efforts to pursue that avenue, then I discovered the county attorney Alissa Turney’s school photo (left) and Michael Turney’s mugshot when he was arrested in 2020. | NEWS | | NEWS | >> p 10
