DELAY EXPECTED IN IMMIGRANT-BEATING CASE.Byline: Raymond Smith Raymond Smith may mean:
Prosecutors will not decide for at least two months whether to charge the Riverside County deputies who beat two undocumented immigrants on television after an 80-mile chase, several attorneys predicted this past week. At a District Court hearing in Riverside, attorneys in civil-rights cases stemming from the April 1 incident said they believe federal prosecutors are dragging their feet, and that could damage the civil cases. Two said they plan to subpoena subpoena (səpē`nə) [Lat.,=under penalty], in law, an order to a witness to appear before a court. A subpoena ad testificandum [Lat. police reports from the U.S. Attorney's Office in a bid to make prosecutors respond. ``We're very concerned with the fact that we may be losing witnesses (who could return to Mexico),'' said Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. attorney Samuel Paz. Paz represents Alicia Sotero Vasquez, the woman who was beaten while being arrested after the chase. Los Angeles attorney Peter Schey said the U.S. Attorney's Office is not expected to call his client, Enrique Funes Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the , to testify before the grand jury until late December. Funes also was beaten while being arrested. That timetable means it probably will be sometime in January or later before prosecutors decide about criminal charges, said John Porter John Porter may refer to:
Since about early August, a federal grand jury has met in Los Angeles to examine the deputies' actions. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office also is considering possible criminal charges against Deputy Kurtis Franklin and former deputy Tracy Watson. The sheriff's department fired Watson and suspended Franklin for a month. Both are appealing the disciplinary action. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gennaco declined to confirm a grand jury had been convened. He also said the civil cases are not his concern. ``I am proceeding at the pace that is appropriate for the case. We want to do a thorough and complete investigation and leave no stone unturned,'' he said. A lawsuit by Watson contends Riverside County sheriff's supervisors violated vi·o·late tr.v. vi·o·lat·ed, vi·o·lat·ing, vi·o·lates 1. To break or disregard (a law or promise, for example). 2. To assault (a person) sexually. 3. his civil rights after the April 1 incident. Sotero and Funes allege To state, recite, assert, or charge the existence of particular facts in a Pleading or an indictment; to make an allegation. allege v. the beatings violated their civil rights. |
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