Posted on 08/27/2005 7:17:27 AM PDT by Loud Mime
Authorities skeptical of police reports that woman from Irvine committed suicide.
IRVINE – Alone in Ensenada late at night, without her car or purse or shoes, 20-year-old Paulina Baeza found an unlocked Chevy Blazer at a downtown car lot, climbed inside and fell asleep.
A few hours later, after police had arrested her for trespassing and locked her in a cell, Baeza was dead.
Contradicting initial reports from Ensenada police that Baeza - who suffered from bipolar disorder - committed suicide in her cell Aug. 9 by banging her head against the bars of the door, Mexican authorities said Friday that the Irvine woman may have died from improper use of force by police.
The Ensenada district attorney said suicide has been ruled out. Three Ensenada police officers face possible charges of negligent homicide and abuse of authority. Authorities said the investigation is continuing.
The abuse charge carries a maximum penalty of five to eight years; the homicide charge three to five years.
Baeza, a theater-loving student at Irvine Valley College and graduate of University High School, was in the main jail in Ensenada for 20 minutes when police reported her dead at 11:15 p.m., said Lorena Balco, spokeswoman for the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana.
A jail surveillance camera showed Baeza's head slamming on the ground and her body being dragged after officers apparently dropped her while carrying her down a hallway to her cell.
"We're keeping track of the case and following up with the Mexican authorities and waiting for a final statement that will be released early next week," Balco said.
Nine police officers - eight men, one woman - have been detained for questioning. Six are considered witnesses.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
She was in jail only twenty minutes? This just smells bad.
Yea right...
It is clear that they roughed her up and that it killed here IMHO,and even the Mexican authorities are ruling out suicide now, which means that was the local officer's cover. They should do a full autopsy and make sure she wasn't sexually assaulted as well.
Horribly tragic, and my heart goes out to her family, loved ones and friends...but any single girl alone in a foreign country like Mexico late at night (or parts of plenty of cities in the US for that matter) is taking her life into her hands.
I used to go scuba diving in Mexico. After considering all their politics I decided that they can do without my money.
When I lived in Tempe (AZ) I dated a student who told me she was caught smuggling some pot across the border. She chose to be a "girlfriend" of two mexican border agents instead of going to jail, figuring that the same thing would happen to her in jail anyway.
A Mexican Autopsy will say what the magistrate will want it to say. Mexican justice system is based on cash, not law.
But I presume her body will be delivered back to her parents in the states. That is when I was meaning that a full (read real) autopsy should be completed.
Sounds as if something strange happened before the police got ahold of her. Certainly doesn't excuse her mistreatment by the officers but that's nothing unusual in jail, especially a Mexican jail.
The original article in the OC Register had more, you have to register with the register to read it. In it the deceased girl's mother says she wants justice, not revenge.
I imagine that the body will be properly cleaned beforehand; they'll protect their own. They know their system is corrput. What else should one expect?
The predators of the world smile when they hear that kind of talk.
......good point.
Justice, from Mexico concerning an attractive girl in jail?
Why nothing of this in the news? Instead it's Aruba 24/7. But then the media doesn't like to discuss Mexico.
Fox and Bush are friends, and the meskins are a big voting block........legal or not.
my apologies to joe bob briggs.
These are the animals that President Bush refuses to secure our border against.
I did not see that. Thanks for the update.
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