Posted on 01/31/2006 1:23:08 PM PST by Irontank
Two immigrants are now the legal owners of a Douglas-area ranch seized from an anti-immigrant activist. Documents granting the 70-acre ranch once owned by Casey Nethercott to Fatima del Socorro Leiva Medina and Edwin Alfredo Mancia Gonzales were signed by a Cochise County judge on Monday.
Nethercott is serving a five-year prison term in Texas stemming from a 2003 incident on a Texas ranch where he confronted Leiva and Mancia and was accused of pistol-whipping them. He was acquitted of assault but convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Nethercott was a member of the group Ranch Rescue, which works to protect private property along the southern U.S. border.
The Southern Poverty Law Center brought suit against Nethercott on behalf of the two immigrants. Nethercott did not respond and a Texas judge ordered him to pay $500,000.
Also named in the suit were Jack Foote, the founder of Ranch Rescue and the owners of the Texas ranch, Joe and Betty Sutton.
The Suttons settled for $100,000. Foote also didn't offer a defense and was ordered to pay $500,000. Leiva and Mancia were illegal immigrants from El Salvador. They received temporary legal status in the United States as crime victims and are seeking visas to stay longer.
They don't plan to hold on to the ranch, said Kelley Bruner, an attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Instead the property will be sold, with the proceeds going to the immigrants
The way this story comes out is...don't defend your property or else some will hassle you. And since he didn't defend himself it almost portrays that illegals have an unbridled right to sue you...when that's not clearly the situation or case.
I wouldn't be surprised if...as my friend says,'They pointed a gun at me and I shot one, but the one with the gun got away...' is the new story. If it looks like you can't be legit in America, people will defend their rights in ways that might be deemed immoral. Personally, I think everyone deserves a fair warning to get off ones property, but if they don't understand you (because of language gaps), it shouldn't mean you can't shoot them off your land.
Build the wall, and legislate broad/pragmatic legislation.
---- WTF? Unreal!
The defendant defaulted. The judge had no discretion.
I can sue you for the craziest thing in the world, and if you don't respond, I am entitled to a default judgment. So don't blame the judge
Every judge in the USA is bound by oath to support & defend the Constitution & justice.
-- Neither were served in this case. We can blame all the judges, [and all the attorneys] involved.
Article clearly states Nethercutt was acquitted of the assault (pistol-whipping) charge. With that acquittal, there was no legal grounds for the civil suit...
Then you must think there was no legal grounds for Ron Goldman's family to sue OJ.
You'd be wrong in both cases.
You get a court order to take his deposition in prison and play the videotape to the jury at trial. Happens all the time.
Given all the costs involved, the $100,000 settlement probably looked reasonable to the ranch owners. The video deposition alone probably would have cost a few thousand dollars.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.