PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Attorneys for the man accused of shooting two Phoenix police officers last summer, one of whom later died, want his case sent back to the grand jury over claims that the suspect acted in self-defense.
In a 12-page motion filed last month, attorneys for 41-year-old Saul Aaron Bal say “substantial procedural rights” were violated when the grand jury was not allowed to consider self-defense. They claim that prosecutors kept “overwhelming evidence” of self-defense from the grand jury and ask that the case be sent back for reconsideration of probable cause.
Bal is accused of shooting two officers who responded to reports of a car break-in near 16th Street and McDowell Road on Sept. 3, 2024. When officers Zane Coolidge and Matthew Haney arrived in the area around 6:30 p.m., Bal reportedly ran and jumped a fence. Former interim Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan said they were then “met with gunfire” and both were shot…