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  1. #1
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    Morris County prosecutor plans to appeal bail for Honduran

    Morris County prosecutor plans to appeal bail for Honduran charged with sex assault
    by Jim Lockwood/The Star-Ledger
    Thursday January 29, 2009, 6:33 PM

    The Morris County Prosecutor's Office plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court a ruling that lowered bail for an illegal immigrant from Honduras charged with sexually assaulting a child and viewed as a flight risk.

    Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi filed a motion today to temporarily suspend a state appellate judge's decision issued Tuesday that reversed the $300,000 cash-only bail of Manuel Fajardo-Santos, 30, and restored the bail to its original $75,000, cash, bond or property, with no 10 percent option.

    The bail was raised on Jan. 14 by Superior Court Judge John Dangler after Bianchi expressed concern that Fajardo-Santos posted the lower bail and was to be turned over to custody of the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, on a detainer.

    The prosecutor feared that Fajardo-Santos, while in federal custody, would consent to deportation and be sent back to Honduras -- essentially avoiding prosecution on the sex-assault charges.

    That's what happened last month in an unrelated case involving another illegal Honduran charged with child-sex assault. Bianchi said the two cases highlight a loophole between state and federal jurisdictions that could end up being exploited by illegal immigrants facing criminal charges.

    "The situation is obviously a critical issue and will lead to a tragic and unjust result," Bianchi said in a statement. "There is a jurisdictional quagmire between the state and federal laws, which in essence creates a legal loophole for defendants to easily jump through."

    Appellate Judge Christine Miniman, who reversed the bail, today granted a temporary stay of that decision to give the prosecutor's office time to file a motion for a full stay, pending an expected appeal to the state Supreme Court.

    Fajardo-Santos' attorney, public defender Michael Fletcher, had argued on Jan. 14 against a bail increase because there was nothing new in the case to warrant it. The initial $75,000 bail on Fajardo-Santos was deemed appropriate by a judge, and ICE also issued its own bail of $15,000 on the defendant, Fletcher argued. Dangler, however, saw Fajardo-Santos' risk of flight as a new factor and raised the bail. Fajardo-Santos then was returned by ICE to the Morris County jail, where he remains held.

    Fletcher appealed the bail increase and Miniman, sitting in Morristown, "summarily reversed" it. She stated in her ruling the fact that ICE would pick up an illegal immigrant defendant on a retainer as soon as bail is posted at a county jail "is not a new factor justifying a fourfold increase of bail." She ordered Fajardo-Santos to be returned to ICE custody, although then stayed it pending the prosecutor's expected appeal.

    In the unrelated - though similar - case involving another illegal Honduran, Carlos Ulloa-Murillo, 20, was indicted last month on charges of first-degree aggravated sex assault, two counts of second-degree sex assault, and third-degree endangering the welfare of a 12-year-old Morris Township girl, for alleged violations that occurred in April. Ulloa-Murillo posted bail and was taken into custody on an ICE detainer, but while in federal custody consented to deportation and was sent back to Honduras. After failing to appear for an arraignment Jan. 12, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

    Fajardo-Santos was charged Aug. 25 with sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl in Wharton. On Dec. 17, he was indicted on charges of first- and second-degree sex assault and third-degree child endangerment, and on Dec. 18 a detainer was placed on him by ICE. He then pleaded not guilty to the assault charges at a Jan. 7 arraignment in Superior Court in Morristown. On Jan. 12, he posted the $75,000 bail, but before being released was taken into custody by federal authorities on the ICE detainer, prompting the prosecutor to seek the bail increase.

    The root of the problem is a jurisdictional one, Bianchi said. The fact that someone is charged criminally in a state court apparently has no relevance or bearing in a federal deportation hearing, he said. He believes the law needs to be changed so ICE detainees would be held without bail.

    "My hope is that we can move forward with a legislative or regulatory fix, because this decision essentially means that if the defendant does not fight deportation, he will be removed from our ability to prosecute these egregious charges that have been lodged against him. This would be, in my mind, a travesty of justice," Bianchi said.

    U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-11, plans to introduce a bill to close the loophole.

    "I fully intend to introduce legislation that addresses the 'communication gap' that allowed an illegal alien charged with a violent crime against a child to evade American justice," Frelinghuysen said in a statement. "The challenge before us is to strike a balance that allows appropriate flexibility for federal immigration officials, local law enforcement, and prosecutors while preventing any dangerous criminals from eluding the justice system."
    http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/0 ... to_ap.html
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    "The situation is obviously a critical issue and will lead to a tragic and unjust result," Bianchi said in a statement. "There is a jurisdictional quagmire between the state and federal laws, which in essence creates a legal loophole for defendants to easily jump through."
    Think of all the nice loopholes the undocumented criminal illegal aliens have got
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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