Thread: Activist denounces refusal 2 prosecute (soldier in AZ)

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php? ... etain_reax

Activist denounces refusal to prosecute
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen
April 23, 2005

An immigration rights activist has denounced the decision by Maricopa County top prosecutor not to prosecute a U.S. Army reservist who detained seven Mexicans at gunpoint, and legal experts warn that attempting similar citizen's arrests can lead to deadly consequences.
"It is another notch in the disturbing pattern of impunity that vigilantes enjoy in Arizona," said the Border Action Network's Jen Allen.

Sgt. Patrick Haab, 24, was arrested April 10 after he held the men at a Sentinel rest stop on Interstate 8.

While Haab acted alone, his arrest spurred concerns about vigilante violence with hundreds of volunteers from the Minuteman Project in southern Arizona to patrol for illegal immigrants.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio called Haab's actions dangerous and illegal, and said Haab had no right to detain the men. Haab was arrested on seven felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas released Haab earlier this week, saying he carried out a legal citizen's arrest.

Citizen's arrests are allowed in Arizona when a felony or certain misdemeanors that include disturbing the peace are committed. If it turns out that no such crime has been committed and the arrest involved a gun, the individual who made the arrest can be prosecuted, said Jack Chin, a law professor at the University of Arizona.

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Pointing a gun at somebody without probable cause or the need for self-defense is a felony punishable by five to 15 years in prison.

Haab said he made the arrest because he believed the men were illegal immigrants. As it turned out, they were.

Entering the United States illegally is not a felony the first time, nor does it fall under the category of covered misdemeanors.

One of the men was identified as a smuggler, though, and smuggling is a felony.

Allen's organization has documented more than 65 incidents where it believes people have illegally detained immigrants, and in a few cases, Americans of Hispanic descent.

Frustrated by local prosecutors' unwillingness to take on such cases, the group has prepared a complaint it plans to present to the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights next week in Washington.

Deputy Pima County Attorney Rick Unklesbay said Haab might have been within the law, but he warned that civilians who attempt arrests risk more than just a prison sentence.

In 1997, a resident of Three Points, 21 miles west of Tucson, noticed a suspicious-looking man parked outside his house. The resident pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and pointed it at the driver. The driver turned out to be an undercover federal drug agent staking out a case.

The agent pulled out his gun and shot the man, who later died.

"If you think something illegal is going on," Unklesbay said, "call the police. Don't try to investigate it on your own."

Entering the US illegaly either the first,fifth,or tenth time should be a felony on both state and federal levels.