Murder charges

Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall's violent crime unit took 61 people to trial on murder charges between 2007 and 2011, and just over half were convicted of what they were charged with.

Whether that number is indicative of a successful prosecutorial office depends upon your definition of success. The Arizona Daily Star analyzed 204 cases between 2007 and 2011 in which someone was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter or negligent homicide to determine how the cases were resolved.