Posted on 08/03/2005 9:28:51 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Lawsuits seeking millions in damages have been filed in federal court in Victoria by survivors of seven illegal immigrants who died in Victoria County's infamous 2003 human-smuggling case.
The suits allege that the Savanna, Ga.-based Great Dane trailers, manufacturer of the trailer in which the immigrants rode during their ill-fated journey from the Mexican border, failed to install escape latches inside the fully insulated refrigerator trailer, which had no ventilation system.
The oversight left the trapped occupants with no access to fresh air, no means of escape, and placed them in danger of suffocation and death, the suits claim.
The suits describe the trailer as "dangerous," "defectively manufactured" and lacking warning decals or other precautions to prevent injuries to loading-dock workers or others who might become trapped inside.
Also named as defendants in the suits are Tyrone Williams, driver of the tractor-trailer rig that carried the immigrants; Salem Truck Leasing, a trucking company identified as the owner of the trailer; and unknown members of a human smuggling ring, identified in the suit only as John and Jane Does.
None of the defendants had filed responses to the suits with the court as of Tuesday.
The suits - labeled as product liability, wrongful death and negligence suits - were filed by the Montebello, Calif., law firm of Moreno, Becerra, Guerrero and Casillas.
Each suit seeks a minimum of $1.4 million in damages from the various defendants, plus funeral expenses, attorney fees and any additional monetary award the court may deem appropriate.
Attorneys for the survivors are seeking a jury trial.
Victoria Federal Judge John D. Rainey has scheduled pre-trial hearings on the various cases for Sept. 6, Sept. 19 and Oct. 11 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building in downtown Victoria.
The suits were filed on behalf of the wives, children and parents of victims Ricardo Gonzales Mata of Mexico, Serafin Rivera Gamez of Mexico, Hector Ramirez Robles of Mexico, Robert Rivera Gamez of Mexico, Edgar Gabriel Hernandez-Zuniga of Mexico, Oscar Gonzalez Guerrero of Mexico, Ricardo Gonzales Mata of Mexico and Jose Felicito Fugueroa of Honduras.
On May 14, 2003, according to the suits, Williams, a Jamaican living in New York, had driven his Houston-bound human cargo of approximately 70 from Harlingen for hours in desert-high heat before he noticed that a taillight on the trailer had been knocked out and a handkerchief was being waved from the opening.
The suits allege that the driver then pulled the tractor-trailer over - on Victoria County's Fleming Prairie Road near its intersection with U.S. Highway 77, near the Speedy Stop truck stop - and opened the trailer's doors. Finding many of the immigrants collapsed from asphyxiation and heat stroke, Williams disconnected the trailer and fled, according to the suits.
Nineteen perished in the incident, which has been described as the deadliest human smuggling attempt in U.S. history.
Williams has since been convicted of smuggling and faces a life sentence. He is one of 14 defendants. Two others have been convicted of smuggling charges and are also awaiting sentencing.
The Moreno, Becerra, Guerrero and Casillas law firm, according to its Web site, is handling immigrant civil rights cases across the country, including litigation against the U.S. government for the death of immigrants at the hands of Border Patrol agents.
It is also preparing a lawsuit against Arizona militia and vigilante groups that it says have been making illegal arrests and using excessive force against undocumented immigrants.
The firm says it also represents the families of several immigrants who died in the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York.
Greg Bowen is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6519 or gbowen@vicad.com
Good point...
Let me just say... HUH????
Partners from the law firm of Moreno, Becerra, Guerrero and Casillas should be sealed inside the trailer to verify conditions.
Yup, typing too fast with elbows again.
The phrase is "Beyond the Pall"
And this is the key, and the guy to sue. Nevermind that he does not have any money. This suit against the trailer manufacturer is similar to the suit agains gun manufacturers with the exception out there that refrigerator manufacturers have moved away from latches that lock and cannot be opened to the magnetic latch that can be pushed open. These trucks can be pushed open unless latched and locked from outside. I would say if the truck was going to be used to haul human cargo then a fire axe should be left inside. What? The fire axe was not there?
WRONG, wrong wrong. It's 'beyond the pale.'
NOT 'beyond the pall.'
"Pale" has the same root as "palisades" - a fence around a habitation. Thus, 'beyond the pale' means 'outside the bounds' of acceptable human activity.
Your definition of 'pall' is correct (similar to 'shroud'), but that is not the word in this phrase. Possible use of 'pall' - "The recent death of their father cast a pall on the family's Christmas celebration." Or "The smog cast a pall on LA's sunshine."
Sorry for the OT, but especially since you went through the trouble of repeating yourself, I thought you might like to know.
They should sue the Mexican government. Is there a tip in that comic book they printed telling illegals that it is dangerous to ride in a trailer to sneak into America?
Advocates claimed that comic book was strictly for safety purposes yet it included tips on how not to be detected once you move into a city.
Or the doors are latched open.
Yes, I have quite often thought that refrigerated trailers needed an escape hatch, I have seen many trucks driving down the freeway where the sides of beef and other perishable goods have been trying to escape from the truck. It is about time we had escape hatches for all the food that wants to depart these trucks./s off
pale (n).
1. A stake or pointed stick; a picket. 2. A fence enclosing an area. 3. The area enclosed by a fence or boundary. 4. a. A region or district lying within an imposed boundary or constituting a separate jurisdiction. b. Pale The medieval dominions of the English in Ireland. Used with the. 5. Heraldry. A wide vertical band in the center of an escutcheon.
tr.v. paled, pal·ing, pales
To enclose with pales; fence in.
Idiom: beyond the pale
Irrevocably unacceptable or unreasonable: behavior that was quite beyond the pale.
These lawyers have to look up to see a snakes belly!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
Don't forget they can also sue under the Civil Rights Act too, because there were no restroom facilities.
I can see criminal charges against the driver but this is so messed up. We really need a no civil recourse if you are involved in a crime at the time of an accident.
So the manufaturer is suppose to assume his trailers will be used in illegal human trafficking? They same for the rental company? The screwed up thing is that with our courts they may win.
I think it was Dane who brought to my attention the newly created firm of Sheister & Sheister.
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