http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3383968

Incriminating statement allowed in immigrant smuggling trial

HOUSTON An incriminating statement made to investigators by one of the accused in a deadly human smuggling attempt will be allowed in court.
The Fifth U-S Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has ruled that Erica Cardenas' statement after her arrest can be used during her trial.

The judges' opinion described the interrogation as sloppy, but said Cardenas had voluntarily waived her rights.

The 25-year-old Brownsville woman is one of 14 people indicted in a failed smuggling attempt in May 2003. Nineteen immigrants died of more than 70 immigrants found crowded into a hot, airless trailer abandoned at a Victoria-area truck stop.

Authorities said Cardenas and her husband, Juan Carlos Don Juan, tried to ransom the safe return of a three-year-old son of a Honduran woman who survived the ride.

___

Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.