Posted on 12/17/2004 2:38:37 PM PST by atomic_dog
Girl let out of criminal custody
Farmworker who abandoned baby in toilet held for immigration
By GEORGE B. SANCHEZ
Herald Salinas Bureau
The young Oaxacan woman accused of abandoning her newborn outside Soledad is now being held for immigration officials after a judge released her from local criminal proceedings.
An immigration hold was placed on the woman when she was booked into Juvenile Hall in June after being arrested on charges of attempted murder and child abandonment, said Mike McNews, Monterey County probation services manager. The woman has since turned 18.
On Thursday, the court ordered her released from custody because of a ruling a day earlier that she is mentally incompetent to stand trial. Monterey County Judge Jonathan Price ordered her to undergo outpatient treatment technically intended to enable her to assist in her defense.
McNews said probation officials are required to notify U.S. Immigration officials of the pending release. If she is not picked up by federal agents by noon Saturday, she will be released to her sister in Greenfield, said Salinas lawyer Blanca Zarazua, a representative of the Mexican Consulate.
Less than a half-dozen similar immigration holds have been issued for Juvenile Hall inmates in the past 16 months, McNews said.
If she is picked up by immigration authorities, she will have the right to a bond hearing, which could result in her being freed from custody pending a formal immigration hearing, Zarazua said.
Zarazua spent Thursday afternoon trying to obtain an immigration bond for the young woman, as well as an immigration attorney to represent her if necessary.
"We just don't know what's going to happen," she said.
On Thursday morning, the Mixtec Indian was taken into Juvenile Court in Salinas. Thin and small, with fine black hair pulled into a pony tail, she was dressed in Probation Department-issued green pants, a blue T-shirt and plastic sandals. She was chained at her wrists and ankles while seated near her sister.
Price's decision was based on a report from the Monterey County Health Department's Behavioral Division. The woman's attorney, Miguel Hernandez, said criminal proceedings will be suspended until she is deemed mentally competent to assist her attorney in her defense.
"It was an excellent ruling," Hernandez said. "I think the judge should be commended. I'm glad we're at the stage where this young lady can be released to her family and receive the treatment she needs."
The young woman was charged with attempted murder and felony child abandonment after sheriff's deputies discovered her newborn baby in a portable toilet outside a lettuce field near Soledad on June 17. The infant girl survived and is in foster care.
A representative of the Mexican government, Bruno Figueroa, was on hand for the ruling.
"We're trying to help the most vulnerable population -- that is women, minors, and indigenous people who don't speak Spanish. She is all three," said Figueroa. "The most important thing is there are no more. Any story of a baby being abandoned is a tragic one."
To prevent another such incident, Figueroa said, the Mexican Consulate is working to inform Mexican immigrants of California's safe surrender law, which allows parents to abandon newborns at hospitals or other safe havens within 72 hours and not face prosecution. Figueroa and Zarazua said they are also looking into establishing a local branch of Project Cuddle, an Orange County-based nonprofit organization with a 24-hour, toll-free hotline that offers support and placement for babies who otherwise might be abandoned.
Meanwhile, the baby, named Milagros, Spanish for "miracles," is still in county custody, said Zarazua, who is also involved in the baby's legal proceedings. She could not say whether the girl, or even her sister, would gain custody of the baby.
"Everyone wants her to be in the best place possible," said Zarazua. "We don't know what that is right now."
thanks
bttt
Boo freakin' hoo. If she were white and a legal citizen and she'd be facing at least 10 years behind bars.
A few years ago in a local restaurant, a woman gave birth in the restroom and dumped the baby in the trash. On the way to the dumpster, the bus boy was curious why the trash can was heavy and found the dead baby. Such a tragedy.
A dry hole here, I think.
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