Thread: WA: Appeals court overturns ruling on false IDs

Appeals court overturns ruling on false IDs
by Chris Bristol
Yakima Herald-Republic
December 24, 2009

SPOKANE, Wash. -- In a decision that prosecutors hope could set precedent, an appeals court has overruled a Yakima County judge who questioned the harm an orchard worker caused by using false identification.

The decision by the Division III Court of Appeals in Spokane reinstated a jury's verdict against Rodolfo Ramirez Tinajero, a 46-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico whose arrest made headlines two years ago when he was accused of luring women seeking work into orchards in the Lower Valley and raping them.

Authorities said that at the time of his arrest for the orchard rapes, Tinajero had several pieces of false ID. Among the documents were a Social Security card and a permanent-resident card commonly known as a "green card."

In a trial held separately from his prosecution on rape charges, a jury in February convicted Tinajero of unlawful possession of fictitious identification. But Superior Court Judge Blaine Gibson questioned whether the defendant's employer at the time had suffered any actual harm as a result and dismissed the case. Tinajero's work performance had not been called into question.

The appeals court ruled that Gibson should have considered the trouble a business -- in this case a company called Big Cherry Orchards -- can get into for employing illegal immigrants knowingly or even unknowingly.

"To avoid potential liability, Big Cherry Orchards must know the true identity of its employees," Judge Teresa Kulik wrote in a decision released Thursday.

Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Eilmes said his office is considering whether to ask the Court of Appeals to publish the decision, a legal maneuver that would effectively mark the case as setting a precedent.

"We're thinking about it, because this case could have precedential value," he said.

Gibson's decision to vacate the Tinajero jury verdict echoed a similar though much more controversial ruling involving another defendant earlier in his career, which began when he defeated two other Yakima lawyers for a vacancy on the Superior Court bench in 2004.

In 2006 he angered prosecutors when he voided the conviction of an accused rapist facing a sentence of life in prison without parole under Washington's three-strikes law.

Gibson voided the conviction on the grounds that phone records in the case suggested the accuser had initiated more than 100 calls to the defendant and had lied about the nature of their relationship.

The appeals court upheld Gibson, ruling the judge was correct in ordering a new trial based on new evidence that undermined the accuser's credibility.

The judge's decision in the ID case did not affect two rape cases against Tinajero.

In July, Tinajero was sentenced to life in prison without parole for raping a woman looking for work at an orchard in the Buena area. Tinajero qualified for the state's two-strikes law for sex crimes because of a 1994 conviction for burglary with sexual intent.

He awaits trial in a second rape case alleging he used a radio ad to lure a woman to an orchard in the Toppenish area. That case is set for trial Feb. 8.

Court records indicate Tinajero was deported to Mexico after his burglary conviction in 1994.

www.yakima-herald.com

So does this imply that "Big Cherry Orchards" should have used E-Verify?