Thread: Illegal Immigrant with 4 Prior Arrests Charged in Fatal Sex Attack

http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/08/0...who-later-died

by Fox News Insider
Au. 5, 2015 8:15A.M.

An illegal immigrant with four prior arrests is accused of attacking and sexually assaulting a California woman, who later died.

Police have arrested 29-year-old Victor Aureliano Martinez Ramirez in connection with the heinous crime.

They say that the undocumented immigrant attacked 64-year-old Marilyn Pharis with a hammer and sexually assaulted her in her Santa Maria home. She died Saturday, eight days after the attack.

The Santa Maria Times reported that Ramirez pleaded not guilty on Friday to attempted murder, first-degree burglary with person present, assault with intent to commit rape, sexual penetration by foreign object and resisting a peace officer.

Authorities are now weighing whether he will face more charges in the wake of Pharis’ death.
Cops say Ramirez was arrested at a nearby home that he broke into following the attack.

The paper reports:

Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Karapetian said she is unable to comment yet on when or if the complaint against him will be amended to include a murder charge.
Martin said Tuesday afternoon that he had confirmed Ramirez's immigration status with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Ramirez had been arrested four times in the past by SMPD for minor crimes, most recently in May of 2014, Martin said. At the time of his arrest, he was on probation, which he is charged with violating.

Illegal Alien on Probation Allegedly Rapes, Beats Woman with Hammer During Home Invasion



by Katie McHugh
5 Aug 2015
1,247 comments

Victor Aureliano Martinez Ramirez, an illegal alien who allegedly broke into 64-year-old Marilyn Pharis’s home, raped her and savagely beat her with a hammer, had been arrested four times by Santa Maria police in California — and was on probation at the time of his arrest.

Police say Ramirez broke into Pharis’s home on July 24, raped her and beat her with a claw hammer, leaving her for dead before trying to break into another home.

Ramirez pled not guilty on Friday to charges of “attempted murder, first-degree burglary with person present, assault with intent to commit rape, sexual penetration by foreign object and resisting a peace officer,” according to HNGN. He also faces special allegations: “the use of a deadly weapon in a sex offense, causing great bodily injury in a sex offense, assault with a deadly weapon on an elderly person and a violent crime against a vulnerable victim,” according to the Santa Maria Times.

Pharis died eight days later. Ramirez may face additional charges for murder after an autopsy is conducted.

Police say they “don’t care” that Ramirez is an illegal alien, who rather than being detained and deported, was free to rampage through the neighborhood.

“We have a citizen that lost her life, it’s serious, when you look at it, we don’t care what the circumstances were, we’re going to do what we need to do to get our facts and bring this individual to justice. If there are extenuating circumstances that arise as a result of that, that he’s an undocumented immigrant, then we will let the proper authorities address those issues when they present themselves,” Santa Maria Police Department Commander Kendall Greene said.

Had he been deported, of course, Pharis would still be alive. Santa Maria police arrested Ramirez four times in the past two years, most recently in May 2014. He was on probation when he allegedly raped and beat Pharis in the dead of night.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...home-invasion/

All four of Victor Aureliano Martinez Ramirez's past arrests were by the Santa Maria Police Department for minor crimes

Victor Aureliano Martinez Ramirez, 29, was arrested four times before allegedly attacking and sexually assaulting a California woman earlier this month. Marilyn Pharis, 64, died on Saturday,

eight days after police believe Ramirez, an undocumented immigrant, broke into her Santa Maria home, attacked her with a hammer and sexually assaulted her, Fox News reports

Pharis fought back during the attack, according to local ABC affiliate KEYT.

"We're proud of her because she fought back and she fought back enough that the police were able to identify her attacker," said Pamela Frame, Pharis' sister-in-law, told the news station.

Ramirez was arrested on the same day Pharis was attacked, July 24, trying to break into a nearby house. He pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, first-degree burglary with person

present, assault with intent to commit rape, sexual penetration by foreign object and resisting a peace officer on Friday, but now he may face murder charges in light of Pharis' death,

according to the Santa Maria Times.

Illegal Immigrant Charged In Fatal Sex Attack Was Arrested Four Previous Times : News : Headlines & Global News


Victor Aureliano Martinez Ramirez: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com

August 10, 2015
By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN

(CNN)When a woman died after an undocumented immigrant and another man allegedly sexually assaulted her and beat her with a hammer, a police chief wasted little time blaming the executive offices of California and the United States.

"I think it starts in Washington, D.C., with this administration that we see and their policies. I think you can draw a direct line over to Sacramento with the policies of, I'm going to say, this governor and the Legislature," Santa Maria Police Chief Ralph Martin told reporters. "And I am not remiss to say that from Washington, D.C., to Sacramento, there's a blood trail into the bedroom of Marilyn Pharis."

Pharis was sleeping at her home just before 10 a.m. on July 24 when Victor Aureliano Martinez, 29, and Jose Fernando Villagomez, 20, allegedly broke into her home and assaulted her, Santa Maria police said in a news release.

The victim, who worked for the Air Force as a civilian contractor, called police and when officers arrived, dogs led them to a nearby home where they found Martinez, who had allegedly broken into the home in an attempt to evade police, the statement said. Martinez, who was in the country illegally, according to Martin, was arrested without incident and charged with attempted murder, sexual assault and residential burglary, it said.

illagomez was arrested five days later -- on a probation violation -- and he was charged August 4 in the attack on Pharis, according to police.

Pharis, 64, died in the hospital August 1. Her family said she was "much loved," while her employer -- the Air Force's 50th Space Wing -- called her death a "tragic loss" in a statement from the commander.

Arrested weeks prior

Public defender Lori Pedego's office was closed Sunday, and she couldn't be immediately reached for comment. But last month, Martinez had pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, first-degree burglary with person present, assault with intent to commit rape, sexual penetration by foreign object and resisting a peace officer, according to the Santa Maria Times.

Following Pharis' death -- which family members told CNN affiliate KEYT resulted from a coronary embolism -- police upgraded the charges to first-degree murder for both men, with the special circumstances of burglary, mayhem and rape, KEYT reported. Martinez faced an additional special circumstance of torture, the station said.

"These charges carry the possibility of the death penalty or life without possibility of parole," Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley told reporters, saying she did not yet know which sentence she would pursue.

Police say Martinez has had numerous run-ins with the law, including an incident shortly before the attack on Pharis.

"Two weeks before this murder, Santa Maria police officers arrested him for possession of meth, and you know what we had to do? We had to cite him out. That's the problem with this system. This is not just in Santa Maria. This is all over the state of California and all over the United States," Martin said.

The chief singled out California's Assembly Bill 109 -- an effort to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court's mandate to reduce the prison populations in state prisons -- and Prop 47, which makes most nonviolent drug and property crimes misdemeanors, as the reasons that Martinez was able to commit the crimes of which he's accused.

No immigration requests?

Martin said although Martinez -- originally from the state of Durango, Mexico -- was in the United States illegally and even though he'd been booked in Santa Barbara County at least four times since 2009, local police received no formal requests from federal immigration authorities.

The county first booked Martinez on November 19, 2009, for driving without a valid license. He was released 19 days later, police said.

He was picked up again on May 22, 2014, initially for felony drug and sexual assault charges, police said. The assault charge was later modified to misdemeanor battery. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed an "immigration detainer -- notice of action," but the sheriff's office determined the request did not meet its "immigration detention requirements," police said. Martinez posted bail and was released June 4.

And during the methamphetamine arrest Martin referenced, Martinez was arrested July 17 on charges of possessing drug paraphernalia and felony possession of a "concealed dirk or dagger." The paraphernalia charge was dismissed, and Martinez pleaded no contest to the weapons charge and the 2014 drug charge.

Though the weapons charge earned him 30 days in jail, which would have begun October 31, Martinez was ordered released on July 20, five days before Pharis was attacked, police said. He was supposed to return to court August 24.

In a statement, ICE said it lodged an immigration detainer on Martinez after the May 2014 incident and asked that ICE "be notified prior to Mr. Martinez's release to enable the agency to take custody to pursue possible administrative immigration enforcement action. Available records indicate that Mr. Martinez was released by local authorities a week later without ICE receiving the requested notification."

The agency did not issue a detainer after his most recent arrest because there were no deportations or felony convictions in his case history, its statement said.

Villagomez, who was born in San Francisco, had been arrested at least twice before he was charged in Pharis' killing. In May, he was charged with misdemeanor drug use and battery, the latter of which was dropped. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor use/under the influence of a controlled substance, received probation and was released June 17, police said. He was picked up again July 29 on an unspecified probation violation.

Police: 'Remedy this conflict'

In a statement accompanying the timeline of Martinez's and Villagomez's arrests and releases, the sheriff's office said that in response to questions about the suspects' incarceration histories and immigration statuses, it was releasing the suspects' data to set the record straight.

State law, the statement said, dictates when police can detain someone based on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer request, while a federal court has ruled that placing someone in custody based only on an ICE detainer request may leave a local law enforcement outlet liable for violating that person's constitutional rights.

"Based upon the constraints created by the above noted laws, it is the policy of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, that DHS/ICE must obtain a court order or arrest warrant signed by a Federal judge or magistrate, before we will continue to maintain custody of an individual who does not have local charges that require the individual to be held in our custody," the statement said

It continued, "The impact of these two laws causes a significant legal and moral conflict for California Sheriffs when handling ICE immigration detainer requests. It is imperative that the Federal government work to remedy this conflict and provide clear guidance to California Sheriffs."

Santa Barbara authorities have received a detainer request for Martinez, but no court order signed by a federal judge, police said in a statement.

ICE said it "is monitoring the case closely and has lodged a formal request with the custodial law enforcement agency seeking notification in advance of his release or transfer from local custody."

In order to deport someone, that person must have committed a "crime of moral turpitude," must have multiple criminal convictions or must be guilty of an aggravated felony, according to federal law.

U.S. immigration policy relating to criminals came under new scrutiny when Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, a felon who had been deported to Mexico five times, was accused of killing Kate Steinle of San Francisco on July 1. Lopez-Sanchez has pleaded not guilty to murder and weapons charges and is being held on $5 million bail.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/09/us/und...air-force-vet/

California prosecutor may seek death penalty in home invasion murder

Prosecutors in California said Tuesday they may seek the death penalty against an illegal immigrant accused of the horrific sexual assault and bludgeoning murder of a 64-year-old Air Force veteran attacked in her Santa Maria home last month.

Victor Martinez Ramirez, 29, an illegal immigrant with an extensive criminal record, is scheduled to appear in court Thursday in connection with the murder of Marilyn Pharis, who was beaten with a claw

hammer and left for dead in a home invasion three weeks ago. Police arrested Ramirez six times over the last year and a half, but he remained free because of federal and state policies protecting criminal aliens.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley told Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren she would gather information from several sources before deciding on the death penalty charge.

"I am going to want to get input from the Santa Maria Police Department, from the other prosecutors in my office, from the executive staff, from the victim's family, from the defense attorneys," Dudley said. "All

of this is very important and I will make the decision based upon the information I receive."

The prosecutor said the immigration status of Ramirez is not a factor in the decision, although it has generated outrage as the latest in a strong of cases in which illegal immigrants known to police were not
detained for deportation.

"For a state prosecutor, the immigration issue is irrelevant," Dudley said. "My job and the job of the two prosecutors who will be prosecuting this case is to prove the charges, the special allegations, the

enhancements to a standard beyond a reasonable doubt. Whether someone is an immigrant or not an immigrant, whether they are here lawfully or not here lawfully."

But others question why Ramirez was still in the U.S. Arrested previously on two felony charges, Ramirez should have been deported under federal law. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had asked

local authorities to turn him over, but when Dudley's office accepted misdemeanor pleas, Ramirez received sanctuary under state and federal law.

Ramirez's case angered Santa Maria Police Chief Ralph Martin, recently lashed out at lawmakers and President Obama for protecting criminal aliens.

"I think this is a national issue," Martin told reporters last week. "It starts with the administration and their policies. You can draw direct line to this governor and Legislature. I am not remiss to say that from

Washington, D.C. to Sacramento, there is a blood trail to Marilyn Pharis bedroom."

Martin isn't the only one upset. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson a letter Tuesday demanding answers.

"Clearly, there has been a total breakdown in cooperation between local and federal law enforcement that allowed this alleged killer to be released and, despite his lengthy and violent criminal record, never deported," Grassley wrote.

He demanded Johnson turn over Ramirez' federal immigration file, plus any correspondence the department had with Santa Barbara over its sanctuary policy.

The Pharis case and the July 1 alleged murder of Kate Steinle in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant have made illegal immigration an issue in the presidential campaign as well as re-igniting a debate on Capitol

Hill over the Obama administration's policy of not removing criminal aliens. Statistics show a 50 percent decline in the number of federal detainers issued on criminal aliens, leaving them on the streets instead of being sent back home.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/12...vasion-murder/

Originally Posted by European Knight

Ramirez's case angered Santa Maria Police Chief Ralph Martin, [who] recently lashed out at lawmakers and President Obama for protecting criminal aliens.

"I think this is a national issue," Martin told reporters last week. "It starts with the administration and their policies. You can draw direct line to this governor and Legislature. I am not remiss to say that from Washington, D.C. to Sacramento, there is a blood trail to Marilyn Pharis bedroom."

'Bama is having much too much fun thumbing his nose at the American people, to do anything about this. So Americans should not be looking to Washington for relief from illegal aliens.

The best we can hope for is that sites like ALIPAC will help spread the word that Americans have to *demand* that people who want to be elected or re-elected must put American interests ahead of the interests of foreigners.
**************************************
Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Steve Redgate shouts, "Protect our women," at a group opposite. The two groups gathered near the Santa Maria courthouse — one to protest the rape and death of a 64-year-old woman allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant, the other to protest the use of a tragedy to further a political agenda.

Released in 2014 on Misdemeanor Charge; Immigration Not Notified

Friday, August 14, 2015
By Kyle Harding for the Santa Maria Times

Tensions ran high between two groups who gathered near the Santa Maria courthouse on Thursday after the arraignment of the men suspected of raping and murdering a 64-year-old Santa Maria woman.

While about 35 people gathered on the west side of Miller Street at noon to protest illegal immigration, about the same number gathered across the street in counterprotest, saying that the protesters are using a tragedy to further a political agenda.

The competing protest groups shouted back at one another across the street. Cries of “stop the hate” were countered with “stop the murder.”

Earlier in the day, Victor Aureliano Martinez, a 29-year-old transient illegal immigrant, pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder in the death of Marilyn Pharis, a Vandenberg Air Force Base contractor who was attacked in her home on July 24 and died eight days later.

Jose Fernando Villagomez, 20, the second suspect charged in the murder, did not enter a plea.

The case has garnered national media attention due to Martinez’s immigration status and his criminal history. Among multiple brushes with the law is a 2014 arrest on suspicion of felony assault with intent to commit sexual assault.

Martinez was not actually charged with that offense, and he was convicted of misdemeanor battery.

Federal immigration officials say that they asked to be notified before Martinez was released from County Jail, a notification that they never received. Santa Barbara County Undersheriff Barney Melekian said that at that time a detainer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not simply a request to notify but a request to hold an individual. Melekian said such a hold is illegal for people convicted of a misdemeanor, absent a federal court order.

Reporters from the Los Angeles Times, NBC’s Los Angeles affiliate, and Fox News joined local media in the courtroom at the arraignment.

Afterward, Martinez’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Lori Pedego, worried that the national coverage will taint the jury pool.

“I don’t know, with the national media attention, if he can get a fair trial anywhere in the country at this point,” she said.

Pedego said that people are using Pharis’s death to advance a political point, which could lead to him being “tried in the media.”

Outside the courthouse, anti-illegal immigration protesters held signs advocating for stricter enforcement of immigration laws, including five-year prison sentences for people caught re-entering the country after having been deported.

Santa Maria resident Michael Rivera said that he has been advocating for the city to crack down on illegal immigration for more than 20 years.

“This city has known full well since 1994 that this is a tragedy waiting to happen,” Rivera said.

He said that city leaders turned Santa Maria into a “de facto sanctuary city” to provide cheap labor for the agriculture industry and ignored simple steps they could have taken, such as requiring employers to use E-verify, a federal program designed to help determine if a prospective employee is in the country legally.

“They could have done many things that they never did,” Rivera said.

Across Miller Street, Miguel Hernandez, an organizer with Central Coast United for a Sustainable Economy, said that the anti-illegal immigration protesters were using Pharis’s death to further a political agenda.

“They want to use that case to promote a divided community,” he said.

Not everyone with an eye on the case is concerned about Martinez’s immigration status.

Several women affiliated with the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center attended the court hearing, wearing buttons saying “No more.”

“We’re here today to represent Marilyn, because she doesn’t have a voice anymore,” Alison Wales said.

The group said it is not political. They will hold a vigil for Pharis on the evening of August 21 outside of City Hall.

Martinez’s lawyer also is not focused on immigration.

“Immigration status should play no role in the courtroom,” Pedego said.

http://www.independent.com/news/2015...atus-sparks-n/