Thread: Deportations avoided via DA's plea deals

http://colorado.mediamatters.org/items/200610030002
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Hewitt and Beauprez mischaracterized Ritter's plea-bargaining of legal and illegal immigrants

Summary: Radio host Hugh Hewitt and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez falsely claimed that, during his tenure as Denver district attorney, Democratic opponent Bill Ritter plea-bargained illegal immigrants to the "misdemeanor" charge of "trespass on agricultural land."

On the September 29 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Hugh Hewitt and Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez distorted Democratic candidate Bill Ritter's record as Denver district attorney by falsely claiming that Ritter plea-bargained illegal immigrants to the "misdemeanor" charge of "trespass on agricultural land." In fact, according to Colorado law, second- and third-degree criminal trespass is a felony "if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon." And according to a September 30 report in the Rocky Mountain News, the agricultural trespassing charge Ritter had sought was "a Class 5 felony."

Hewitt interviewed Beauprez following the release of an ad from the Beauprez campaign attacking Ritter's apparent plea-bargaining of legal and illegal immigrants while he was Denver district attorney. As The Rocky Mountain News reported on September 30, "Bob Beauprez unleashed a new attack on Bill Ritter's record as Denver district attorney late Friday, accusing him of giving five Hispanic immigrants who committed felonies plea bargains that helped them avoid deportation."

On October 1, The Denver Post, echoing Beauprez's attack ad, also reported, "The Denver district attorney's office under gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter approved plea bargains that prevented the deportation of illegal and legal immigrants charged with drug, assault and other crimes. The office allowed defendants to plead guilty to trespassing on agricultural land instead of the crimes they actually were accused of 152 times from 1998 through 2004."

On his show, Hewitt claimed that by seeking the charge "trespassing on agricultural land" instead of the crimes the suspects were charged with, Ritter plea-bargained "felons to misdemeanor." Beauprez did not challenge this assertion:

HEWITT: [A]s district attorney for Denver, Mr. Ritter plea bargained more than 190 suspected felons to a very obscure charge of trespass on agricultural land. They were aliens, illegal and legal. And as a result of that plea bargain, they were not deported. They weren't tried. They were simply -- they pled to a misdemeanor, agricultural -- (laughing). I just don't understand that at all, Bob Beauprez. But it is as though he had an assembly line there, a little office where "get-out-of-deportation-free" cards were issued.

BEAUPREZ: You got it.

But according to Colorado law, in cases of second-degree or third-degree criminal trespass, it is a felony "if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon."

Colorado Revised Statute 18-4-503 (C.R.S. § 18-4-503) states, "A person commits the crime of second degree criminal trespass if such person":

(a) Unlawfully enters or remains in or upon the premises of another which are enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders or are fenced; or

(b) Knowingly and unlawfully enters or remains in or upon the common areas of a hotel, motel, condominium, or apartment building; or

(c) Knowingly and unlawfully enters or remains in a motor vehicle of another.

C.R.S. § 18-4-503 also states:

(2) Second degree criminal trespass is a class 3 misdemeanor, but:

(a) It is a class 2 misdemeanor if the premises have been classified by the county assessor for the county in which the land is situated as agricultural land pursuant to section 39-1-102 (1.6), C.R.S.; and

(b) It is a class 4 felony if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon.

Similarly, Colorado Revised Statute 18-4-504 (C.R.S. § 18-4-504) states: "A person commits the crime of third degree criminal trespass if such person unlawfully enters or remains in or upon premises of another" and that third degree criminal trespass "is a class 5 felony if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon." According the C.R.S. § 18-4-504:

(1) A person commits the crime of third degree criminal trespass if such person unlawfully enters or remains in or upon premises of another.

(2) Third degree criminal trespass is a class 1 petty offense, but:

(a) It is a class 3 misdemeanor if the premises have been classified by the county assessor for the county in which the land is situated as agricultural land pursuant to section 39-1-102 (1.6), C.R.S.; and

(b) It is a class 5 felony if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon.

Likewise, a September 30 Rocky Mountain News article reported that the agricultural trespassing charge sought by Ritter was "a Class 5 felony." According to the News:

The defendants were initially arrested between 1999 and 2002 on charges that included cocaine dealing, assault and drunken driving. But they all pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of trespass of farmland with intent to commit a felony -- a Class 5 felony. Some offenders also pleaded guilty to DUI and weapons violations and received prison time.

And according to the October 1 Post article, the charge of "trespassing on agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony" is, in fact, a felony and not a misdemeanor, as Hewitt falsely claimed. As the Post reported:

Trespassing on agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony usually does not fall into any of the deportable offenses, primarily because plea agreements often cite eavesdropping or other similar crimes as part of the underlying felony charge, according to [Denver immigration attorney Jeff] Joseph and a review of court records. Those charges don't involve moral turpitude.

Joseph said the "designer plea" of agricultural trespass is not bending the law in favor of immigrants. In drug cases, for instance, American citizens often have the ability to plea to a lesser charge such as a misdemeanor or receive a deferred judgment.

On September 30, the Rocky Mountain News also noted that "four of the five cases highlighted by the Beauprez campaign's commercial involved legal immigrants" before noting that "legal immigrants can only be deported for major crimes such as murder or kidnapping":

Four of the five cases highlighted by the Beauprez campaign involved legal immigrants from Latin America. Previously, Beauprez has chosen to focus on illegal immigration as an issue, and this marks the first time he has singled out legal immigrants as "alien felons."

Under the law, legal immigrants can only be deported for major crimes such as murder or kidnapping.

The September 30 News article also reported the comments of Don Lemon, a Republican immigration attorney, who said it was "unclear whether any of the legal immigrants cited in documents provided by the Beauprez campaign to support the ad would have been at risk of deportation by federal immigration authorities":

Don Lemon, a Republican from Avon who is an immigration attorney, said he hadn't personally reviewed the cases Beauprez selected, but thought they sounded routine.

"It doesn't sound to me like it's 'shocking,' " he said. "If it's a murder and they plea-bargain it down to trespass on agricultural land, then that's different."

During the same September 29 interview with Hewitt, Beauprez again made the erroneous claim that Denver "was a sanctuary city" during Ritter's tenure as Denver district attorney. According to Beauprez, Ritter "admitted, or volunteered, a few weeks ago on another Denver radio show, that Denver was not a sanctuary city. Now, everybody else in the nation knows that it was a sanctuary city, but under his term, I guess, he didn't want to believe that it was."

As Colorado Media Matters previously noted (see here, here, here, here, here and here), several Colorado media figures and Republican officeholders and candidates -- including Beauprez -- have sought to perpetuate the myth that various Colorado cities are "sanctuary cities." However, a U.S. Congressional Research Service report from 2004 identified "sanctuary cities" as those that have adopted "a 'don't ask-don't tell' policy where they don't require their employees, including law enforcement officers, to report to federal officials aliens who may be illegally present in the country." The report's March 11, 2004, list of U.S. "[c]ities and counties currently that have sanctuary policies" did not include any in Colorado.

Ritter served as Denver's district attorney from 1992-2004.

From the September 29 broadcast of the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show:

HEWITT: Yeah, when I got word from your staff that you would be making this announcement today, I couldn't believe it, because I know D.A.'s often do plea bargains. But you usually plead someone, for example, to armed robbery to something lesser than that in order -- if it's a first-time offender. But you don't plead felons to misdemeanor, and you don't let them stay in the country if they're deportable. How often did it happen, Bob Beauprez, on Bill Ritter's watch?

BOB BEAUPREZ: We know of almost 200. I think the --

HEWITT: -- Whoa.

BEAUPREZ: -- count right now stands at 192, and we're still doing an investigation.

HEWITT: That's an assembly line of plea bargains. And what was the offense he plea-bargained them to?

BEAUPREZ: Agricultural land trespassing, in the city and county of Denver. If you know anything about Denver, there's not a lot of ag land.

[...]

HEWITT: What, generally, is Bill Ritter's position on illegal immigration?

BEAUPREZ: He's pretty mushy -- first he started off saying that it was a federal problem. And then when our state legislature decided to go into special session and the Democrats wanted to take credit for it, he said, well, I guess it is a good idea after all. And then, after they did what they did, he said well, we've done everything we can do. Let's move on. And now, it becomes very apparent to me why he doesn't want to talk about the problem of illegal immigration. He admitted, or volunteered, a few weeks ago on another Denver radio show, that Denver was not a sanctuary city. Now, everybody else in the nation knows it was a sanctuary city, but under his term, I guess, he didn't want to believe that it was.

[...]

HEWITT: Bob joins me from Washington, D.C., and we were just talking about a press release put out by his office this evening. He's running against a guy named Bill Ritter, who was the district attorney for Denver for a very long time. And as district attorney for Denver, Mr. Ritter plea-bargained more than 190 suspected felons to a very obscure charge of trespass on agricultural land. They were aliens, illegal and legal. And as a result of that plea bargain, they were not deported. They weren't tried. They were simply -- they pled to a misdemeanor, agricultural -- (laughing). I just don't understand that at all, Bob Beauprez. But it is as though he had an assembly line there, a little office where 'get-out-of-deportation-free' cards were issued.

BEAUPREZ: You got it. You know, in one interview, he was asked about his plea-bargain pattern, and whether or not he thought it was appropriate. And his response was look, we were very busy there. My job was to get them in one end, and get them out the other as fast as I could. I thought, what a bizarre answer. You're not running a drive-through at a fast food restaurant. You're supposed to be metering out justice. And then we stumbled across this -- I just -- it does stagger the imagination, especially when you see some of the horrible offenses that are committed out there, including what we saw this week, tragically, in Colorado. Providing for the public safety for people that are elected to do just exactly that, ought to be job one, not errors in judgment.

[...]

HEWITT: You've released this to the press, tonight. I know you're talking about it for the first time on The Hugh Hewitt Show. Have you had any calls yet from The Denver Post or the Rocky Mountain News?

BEAUPREZ: I understand my office's phone is ringing off the hook, and not only from them, but from very many other media outlets, understandably so.

HEWITT: This is actually a national story, because it does go to the wall, it does go to the fencing, it does go to the idea that illegal immigration is not simply a labor issue, it's also an issue of crime. Have any of the networks phoned in yet?

BEAUPREZ: Not that I know of, but then, I'm in D.C., and not at my Denver office. But I did get word from the Denver office that we've kicked a hornet's nest.

[...]

HEWITT: That's remarkable. Now, last question. I know we're running low on time, Congressman Beauprez. Is there a particular office in the D.A.'s office, answering to Bill Ritter, that was making these decisions? Have you identified, was there actually sort of an immigrant-rights activist nested in there somewhere?

BEAUPREZ: That's not information that we have yet. But my guess is, we're going to get a whole lot of information to start coming forward, now that we have kicked this can over.

HEWITT: It'll be fascinating to see if The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News lay down on this one, and continue to cover for Bill Ritter, or whether they pick up what will obviously be something of intense public interest. Congressman Beauprez, I look forward to talking to you again in a couple of weeks. I'll be out when the absentees go out on the 9th. And I'm sure everyone's working hard. Congratulations on a good session of Congress, and I'll see you soon in Colorado.

— C.K.

Posted to the web on Monday October 2, 2006 at 9:10 PM EST

Here is the very prompt reply I received from the email I sent requesting that he investigate himself as district attorney immediately.

Hi there. Thanks for he e-mail. Just some quick facts:



n Congressman Beauprez is once again distorting Bill’s record as District Attorney. The story in Sunday’s Denver Post was generated by the Congressman and is now running on TV ads around the state. A story in Saturday’s Rocky was much more fair and balanced. Here is a link to that article. Today’s Denver Post also included an editorial that provides a clear and rational explanation.



n The truth is that Bill’s office handled 200,000 criminal cases during the 12 years he was DA. His office had a 95% conviction rate.



n They had only 7 courtrooms to handle all of these cases – but their No. 1 priority was always to protect the public and seek the harshest punishment for the most violent offenders.



n Does trespassing on farmland in Denver sound silly? Yes. But prosecutors used the tools available to them to earn felony convictions and keep the system moving. This charge was used in drug-use cases against legal immigrants, and in cases where there were often evidentiary problems.



n Is it possible that it was inadvertently offered to illegal immigrants or someone whose immigration status was in question? Yes. But illegal immigrants are ALWAYS subject to deportation, regardless of whether they have committed a criminal act or entered into a plea bargain.



n It would appear that the Congressman is trying to exploit a tiny number of cases for political gain. This isn’t unique to Denver. Every DA’s office – including those run by Republican DA’s – does this to keep the system from breaking down.



n The cases the Congressman is talking about amount to less than one half of one percent of all the cases Bill’s office handled. And this particular charge is still a felony. It was used primarily in drug use cases, cases that often had evidentiary problems to begin with, and mostly in cases involving LEGAL immigrants.



n The Congressman is intentionally trying to confuse illegal immigrants and legal immigrants. It’s a desperate political ploy.



n Illegal immigrants are always deportable. It doesn’t matter if they’ve committed a crime or been convicted. Being in this country illegally means you can be deported.



n But Washington and the INS failed time and again to pick up felons after they served their time – even after the DA’s Office asked them to come pick up illegal immigrant felons who were about to be released back onto the streets.



n The Congressman has been in Washington for four years and he hasn’t done a thing to lift a finger and help local law enforcement deal with the problems of illegal immigration. He could have chosen to make a difference. Instead he chose to play politics.



Here is a link to Bill’s position on illegal immigration in general.



Thanks. Please let me know if you have any additional questions



Evan Dreyer
Deputy Campaign Manager
Ritter for Governor
www.ritterforgovernor.com
Office: 303-534-0660
Cell: 720-350-8370
Fax: 303-942-7165
E-mail: evan@ritterforgovernor.com

Focus campaign page now open for business.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... c&p=226702

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4434065

Article Last Updated: 10/02/2006 11:47:24 PM MDT

denver & the west | election 2006
Plea bargains attacked
Tancredo seeks tougher policies after revelations that prosecutors under Ritter reduced charges against immigrants, who avoided deportation.
By Karen E. Crummy
Denver Post Staff Writer


Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo on Monday asked Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper to adopt tougher police policies when it comes to dealing with suspected illegal immigrants.

The request came in response to revelations that former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, now a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, allowed plea bargains with illegal and legal immigrants that let suspects avoid deportation. Drug, domestic violence and theft charges were knocked down to trespassing on agricultural land, even though there was no factual basis for that charge.

Ritter has said there were significant evidentiary issues in many of those cases that led to plea deals on the agricultural charge.

Calling Ritter's policy "plead and release," Republican Tancredo called on Hickenlooper to have Denver police fingerprint illegal immigrants detained on minor violations and send the information to federal authorities.

Cole Finegan, the mayor's acting chief of staff and city attorney, said he couldn't comment because he had not reviewed the letter.
Also on Monday, Ritter's opponent, Republican Bob Beauprez, sent a letter to Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey asking him to end the practice of allowing immigrants to plea-bargain to agricultural trespass.

Lynn Kimbrough, communications director for the district attorney's office, said she had not seen the letter and, therefore, could not comment.

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_4432155

Article Last Updated: 10/02/2006 07:37:14 PM MDT

editorial
DAs overwhelmed by cases



Bill Ritter's use of an obscure plea-bargaining tool with immigrants accused of crimes is a vivid example of how an over-burdened judicial system tries to deal with thousands of cases and a broken immigration-enforcement system.

As Denver's district attorney, Ritter approved plea bargains that prevented the possible deportation of immigrants charged with drug violations, assault and other crimes. In 152 cases, his office allowed defendants to plead guilty to trespassing on agricultural land instead of the crimes they actually were accused of. Trespassing on agricultural land is a felony offense, but a non-deportable one.

Ritter served 12 years as Denver DA and is now the Democratic candidate for governor. His Republican opponent, Bob Beauprez, has criticized Ritter's plea bargain record, but the central fact remains that the federal government has primary responsibility for immigration violators. It hasn't done the best job of it, a fact that Beauprez - a congressman - knows all too well.

The agricultural trespassing provision was to be used for legal immigrants, mostly for drug cases, the DA's office says. But a Denver Post review of records showed that some illegal immigrants and others whose immigration status was unclear also entered into the same sort of agreement. Ritter says the charge was used in cases where evidence might be shaky. The idea was that a plea to a lesser charge was better than losing at trial. "We had 5,500 cases a year and seven judges," he said, echoing a familiar complaint

from other DAs. "Our priority was to try the most serious cases."
Most district attorneys have high plea-bargain rates because that's the only way they can operate their offices efficiently. If they tried even a quarter of all cases the wheels of justice would grind to a halt.

Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer on Monday said the former DA used the agriculture trespassing charge because "there were only a couple \[of possible charges\] on the books that were non-deportable offenses." Had prosecutors pushed for a deportable offense, defense attorneys likely would have wanted to take cases to trial. So Ritter used agriculture trespassing as a tool to secure a felony conviction rather than go to trial and risk an acquittal, Dreyer said.

Ritter says his office contacted immigration officials whenever a defendant was an illegal immigrant or had questionable status.

No one expects local prosecutors to solve the nation's immigration crisis, but Ritter will want to address voters who wonder if felony agricultural trespassing was the most sensible route to secure a conviction.

Bill Ritter supports Illegals? Then move there dude!

That's one way to get Ritter of'm!
.