Univision journalist arrested, his phone seized while reporting in Arizona

A cellphone belonging to former Univision news anchor León Felipe González Cortés is still in the custody of the Gilbert Police Department in Arizona five years after his arrest and more than three years after his conviction was set aside, a police representative told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in mid-April 2026.

In April 2021, González was in Gilbert, about 20 miles southeast of Phoenix, to report at the crime scene of a hit-and-run killing of a police officer and critical injury of another. While covering the story, he was arrested and charged with trespassing and interfering with an officer, with police claiming he was reporting “from the wrong side of police tape.” Police also seized his cellphone, threatening to access its contents by “brute force,” his attorneys said.

A police spokesperson told the Tracker then that the phone was seized “as evidence at the time of his arrest, as the Police Department had probable cause to believe that the phone contained evidence of his criminal conduct.”

In April 2026, another department spokesperson told the Tracker, “The Gilbert Police Department is maintaining possession of the phone in the event it is needed as evidence in the murder investigation.” A case against the driver accused of hitting the police officers is currently ongoing, with a trial on charges including murder and assault scheduled for October, according to the court docket.

In February 2022, the Gilbert Sun News reported that attorney Mark Kokanovich had filed claims against the town on behalf of González and Univision for $4 million in damages for civil rights violations during González’s detainment, and that González, who is now with Telemundo, had separately filed a suit for the return of his cellphone.

In 2026, spokespeople for the Maricopa County Superior Court and the Maricopa County Justice Courts told the Tracker that they could not find a case associated with González in either court system. Kokanovich did not respond to questions from the Tracker.

The conviction of Univision Arizona news anchor León Felipe González Cortés was set aside on Nov. 22, 2022, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has confirmed.

González had been convicted in an April 2022 bench trial of interfering with a police officer and criminal trespassing while reporting on a hit-and-run, the Gilbert Municipal Court clerk’s office told the Tracker. He was fined $644 and the case was closed in July 2022.

González then filed a motion to set aside the judgment against him and the motion was granted in November, according to court documents reviewed by the Tracker.

In the April 2021 incident, Gilbert police arrested González and seized his cell phone, claiming that he was reporting “from the wrong side of police tape” and that his phone might contain “evidence of his criminal conduct.” As of August 2023, his phone has not been returned.