Thread: Missteps blamed for suspect’s release

Missteps blamed for suspect’s release
March 29, 2007

Voters approved a proposition last November to keep violent illegal immigrants behind bars, but somehow a 23-year-old man facing a kidnapping charge fell through the cracks and is now accused of killing his cousin.

Authorities and court officials admitted that a breakdown in communication led to the release of Ruben Perez Rivera, an illegal immigrant now hunted by authorities in the stabbing death of his cousin.

“We all owe the victim an apology,” said Maricopa Superior Court Presiding Judge Barbara Rodriguez Mundell.


Judge Barbara Rodriquez Mundell speaks during a press conference at the Maricopa County Court House in downtown Phoenix regarding the release of Ruben Perez Rivera.


At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Mundell said a series of missteps led to Rivera’s release. She said prosecutors didn’t note Rivera’s immigration status during the preliminary hearing and didn’t ask for the paperwork to be processed quickly. She further stated that the clerk of court didn’t deliver the paperwork detailing $10,000 bond until after March 16, when Rivera was released.

The voter-approved measure in question — Proposition 100 — took effect Dec. 4, when Gov. Janet Napolitano signed it into law. Now, anyone who is here illegally and commits a Class 4 felony and above should be held without bond if there is compelling evidence that he or she committed the crime.

On March 5, Mesa police had arrested Rivera on allegations of kidnapping and assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Karol Nieves, the night before outside Club Cabo, 30 S. Robson.

Nieves had been at the Mesa club with her friends when Rivera arrived, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her outside. He forced her into his car and at one point, according to a police report, “Ruben slapped her face with his hand and asked her why she was playing him.”

After an hour and a half, he stopped the car in Chandler, then yelled at her to get out.

Kidnapping is a Class 4 felony and Rivera, due to his illegal status, should’ve been held without bond. However, the slow movement of paperwork allowed for his release March 16.

Police say that late Tuesday night, Rivera went to the Verona Park Apartment Homes, 1666 S. Extension Road, and stabbed to death his cousin Theodore Cruz Perez, 23. Cruz Perez was at Nieves’ apartment.

Rivera had lived with Nieves at the apartment for about a year, according to a police report. They have a 2-year-old son.

Neighbors say Nieves has since been evicted from the complex, which requires its tenants not to be involved in criminal activity.

Apartment managers confirmed she doesn’t live there anymore. Nieves couldn’t be reached for comment.

Mesa Police Chief George Gascón said the issue of Rivera’s release goes beyond immigration. “The system broke down because the system is broken,” Gascón said.

Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, authored Proposition 100 and said he holds judges responsible for ensuring that people who are here illegally and who have a criminal propensity are not released.

“Now, we have somebody that’s dead. Who do we hold accountable for that?” Pearce said. “We have somebody that shouldn’t have died — shouldn’t have died if the judge had done their job.”

Mundell said she wants court, prosecution and law enforcement agencies to come together and review their procedures to prevent the future release of someone who should be held without bond.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is going to start staffing initial appearance courts – the place where judges set bail ‑ 24 hours a day to make sure judges comply with Proposition 100.

Office spokesman Barnett Lotstein said the county attorney is responding to statements made last week by the Arizona Supreme Court and Maricopa County Superior Court officials, who said that judges that set bail often lack information because no prosecutors are present to offer it.

Lotstein said prosecutors have never been present for the initial appearance of defendants because police officers fill out paperwork that the judges use to set bail. This paperwork has always been sufficient until Proposition 100 came along, he said.

In the case of Rivera, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office believes he should have been held without bond the first time he went before a judge and when he was indicted by a grand jury.

However, court documents state that both times Rivera was in court, judges set bail at $10,000 — and each time they were informed, through a warrant fact sheet, that he was in the country illegally.

Rivera’s case was not the first instance where the county attorney has accused judges of failing to abide Proposition 100.

Earlier this month, Jocabed Dominguez Torres, a Mexican national, ran a red light in Peoria and collided with a car, killing 20-year-old Robert Christopher Miller.

A judge knew Torres was here illegally but set bail at $150,000. A second judge lowered it to $50,000.

Judge James Keppel, who until last week was the county’s lead criminal court judge, overruled the previous judges and ordered Torres to be held without bail, according to court records.


http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/86851

missteps , now he high steps it back to good old Mexico

apoligy to the victom is not enough for me

Who do we hold accountable for that?

Start with George W Bush and work your way down!

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/ ... =STY-86970

April 1, 2007

Court aide memo: Keep citizenship off records

Gary Grado, Tribune
A Maricopa County court official took action to circumvent Proposition 100 less than two weeks after Arizona voters passed the constitutional amendment that denies bail for illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes.

A memo dated Nov. 17 — shortly before Proposition 100 took effect — instructed Maricopa County Superior Court workers to stop asking about immigration status in inmates’ pretrial interviews.

“Due to recent changes in the legislation and the liberty interest implications, we will no longer be asking defendants any questions regarding their citizenship,” wrote pretrial services director Penny Stinson in an e-mail obtained by the Tribune.

One of the functions of pretrial services is to conduct interviews and criminal background checks on the thousands of people arrested and booked into Maricopa County jails. The information is provided to court commissioners and judges who set bail and other release conditions at initial appearances.

Stinson tagged the e-mail high importance and “EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY” and sent it to 19 staff members. The message was copied to Commissioner Sheila Madden, whose job is to set bail for defendants in their first appearances before a judge.

In a second e-mail on March 19, Stinson reminded her staff of the directive and instructed them not to record any immigration information on paperwork.

“Please remember that we do not ask defendants any questions regarding their citizenship, and that question should not have any response listed on our PSA paperwork,” Stinson wrote.

This e-mail was circulated four days after a paperwork error led to the release of an illegal immigrant who is now wanted in a fatal stabbing last week in Mesa.

Police say Ruben Perez Rivera killed his cousin Tuesday night when he found the man with his ex-girlfriend. Under the terms of the law mandated by Prop. 100, Perez should have been in jail at the time of the stabbing while awaiting trial on felony charges of kidnapping and assaulting the ex-girlfriend on March 4.

The court has come under fire in the Perez case and others in which illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes obtained bail and were eventually freed.

Presiding Judge Barbara Rodriguez Mundell said through a spokeswoman that she knew nothing about Stinson’s directives. Court spokeswoman J.W.

Brown said Mundell was unaware of any legal research done before Stinson sent her e-mails.

“If the directive is not supported by the law, it will be corrected,” Brown said. “She’s taking this very seriously.”

Rep. Russell Pearce, RMesa, authored Prop. 100 and said he sees Stinson’s instructions as an attempt to subvert the will of voters.

“There is no room for political correctness in the criminal justice system,” Pearce said.

Pearce vowed to do whatever he can to force the courts to follow the law, including withholding money. “We’re not going to roll over on this,” he said.

County Attorney Andrew Thomas has also called for a full accounting of the court’s response to Prop. 100.

“Having helped lead the fight for Prop 100 last year, I am very disturbed by this most recent and compelling evidence that the judiciary is undermining this reform,” Thomas wrote in a prepared statement.

Maricopa County Attorney’s Office spokesman Barnett Lotstein said Perez should have been denied bail.

Instead, a judge set bail at $10,000 after a grand jury indicted Perez on March 15.

The suspect was freed the next day without posting bail due to a court error. Federal officials deported him to Mexico, but he returned to Mesa and is now wanted in connection with a slaying.

Mundell said during a news conference on Thursday the commissioner who ordered Perez’s release had limited information on his citizenship. She did not address the issue of pretrial workers intentionally leaving that information off paperwork.

Mundell has called a meeting on Tuesday with Thomas, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, Clerk of the Court Michael Jeanes, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and defense attorneys to discuss how to get information to court commissioners so they can better apply Prop. 100.

Prosecutor takes step to ensure enforcement of bail law

Apr 2, 2007

PHOENIX Maricopa County County Attorney Andrew Thomas says his office will take the unprecedented step of staffing initial court appearances in criminal cases.

He says that move is meant to ensure that a new voter-approved law that denies bail to some illegal immigrants is being followed.

The announcement came one day after a newspaper revealed that a county court official told staff to stop asking inmates for their immigration status.

Democratic leaders at the Legislature also criticized Thomas' office for not doing enough to prevent an illegal immigrant accused of kidnapping and assault from being released on bail. The immigrant was released from jail, deported him to Mexico and is now wanted in a fatal stabbing in Mesa.

Thomas says the criticism is coming from people who support illegal immigrants.

The law, passed in November with overwhelming support from voters, denies bail to illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes.

Thomas, a key proponent of the law, says his office can't unilaterally enforce the law and can only urge judges and court employees to carry out its requirements.

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=6316205