Posted on 03/31/2010 3:29:29 AM PDT by Man50D
Rest of Title: Charged With Murder in Washington Suburb
Attorney General Eric Holder has directed prosecutors in a federal conspiracy and murder trial not to seek the death penalty for three El Salvadoran men who are in the United States illegally.
The three are accused of robbing and shooting Claros Luna on July 29, 2009 in Alexandria, Va., just a few miles from the Justice Department, as Luna transported a prostitute from Maryland to Virginia.
The suspects, Eris Arguera, Alcides Umana and Adolfo Amaya Portillo, admitted to being members of the MS-13 gang, court documents show. They were indicted on Nov. 24 on federal racketeering and murder charges.
A Justice Department spokeswoman told CNSNews.com that the department would not comment on Holder’s decision not to seek the death penalty in the case. She directed CNSNews to an online “resource manual” stating that the attorney general’s decision-making process and final decision on whether to seek the death penalty is confidential.
But the manual also states that no information on the process can be disclosed outside the Justice Department “without prior approval of the Attorney General.”
According to court documents, in a letter dated Feb. 3, 2010, Attorney General Holder “authorized and directed” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neal McBride “not to seek the death penalty against Alcides Umana, Adolfo Portillo and Eris Ramon Arguera.”
McBride filed a corresponding document – Government’s Notice of Intent Not to Seek the Death Penalty – on Feb. 16.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Virginia, told CNSNews.com that Holder, as U.S. attorney general, makes death penalty decisions in federal cases. “The decision to pursue or not pursue the death penalty in a death-eligible case resides with the Attorney General, not the U.S. Attorney,” Carr said.
Court documents indicate that the death penalty at one time was being considered in the Salvadorans’ case.
Early on, a court-appointed attorney for one of the defendants was dismissed because he did not have the proper certification for a trying a death penalty case. Also, attorneys for one of the defendants entered a motion on Feb. 18 seeking to use a questionnaire that would eliminate jurors who might discriminate against Latinos. That questionnaire alluded to the death penalty.
Another motion by defense attorneys sought to keep gang affiliation from being part of the trial because of the possibility that it might bring a death sentence.
(Other questions for potential jurors included, “Do you believe people born in Central or South America deserve a lesser standard of justice or greater scrutiny because they are probably not really supposed to be here in the first place?” and “Do you believe people born in Central or South America deserve harsher punishment if they commit a crime because they are already accustomed to being uncomfortable and deprived?”)
An FBI press release issued the day after the three men were indicted by a grand jury stated that the case was under investigation by the FBI, Alexandria Police Department, Fairfax County and Arlington County Police Departments and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
ICE spokeswoman Cori Bassett said the immigration agency filed paperwork to begin deportation proceedings in case the men are not convicted or if they are released on parole. If that happens, the Salvadorans would be remanded to ICE custody.
“We do not have any record of ICE encounters with the individuals prior to 2009,” Bassett added.
The trial is set to begin on May 10.
Personally I think he should give them medals and cash prizes.
The one that says "Zot" in the title?
Yep. But not for that, for the content of the post. He was just being prescient...
It’s far worse now. Economically, it was not good, however, most were equally strapped. Seen the 70’s show? High style! Mod houses looked like the set, traditional ones were a bit different, but mostly the same hideous colors!
No internet, so most didn’t really know how big an idiot Carter was. It was more of a ‘feeling’, but no 24/7 analysis.
Also, even Carter was not so deliberately provocative as is our Dear Leader.
Didn’t know of people stockpiling food and buying PM’s. Dollar was stronger then. Now, we’ve not got a cushion, unless you subscribe to the ‘US fiat is less crappy than most other fiat currency’ point of view.
Bush’s AGAG...Atty Gen Alberto Gonzales was just as bad.
Just we US citizens are put to death for our crimes...can’t upset the 3rd world bureaucrats south of the border.
Obama ordered this--let's make no mistake about that.
Obama/Rahm/Axelrod/Jarrett, and the rest of the "progressive" WH crooks are purposefully antagonizing large groups in middle America, goading us into civil unrest.
This would give them an excuse to declare Martial Law. Obama gave ACORN billions to form a Civilian Security Force to silence the populace, and march us to reeducation camps.
” US citizens are put to death for our crimes........Holder can’t upset 3rd world bureaucrats south of the border.
Obama ordered this—let’s make no mistake about that.
Obama/Rahm/Axelrod/Jarrett, and the rest of the “progressive” WH crooks are purposefully antagonizing large groups in middle America, goading us into civil unrest. “
Yes, Obama & Holder are wrong. But the precident for this nonsense was set by Bush.
if you want to get positively baseline about it, you could say that Medellin v. Texas is an ironic case which has seen George W. Bush go out of his way to provide due process protections to a Mexican national - a convicted killer, no less - after failing or refusing for years to show any concern at all for the rights of homegrown prisoners. There are no doubt hundreds of men on death row in America right now who are saying to themselves: Why Medellin and not me? Why can’t I get the president to intercede on my behalf?
Why, indeed. The justices Wednesday went way beyond their self-imposed one-hour time limit for oral argument trying to figure out whether the president has the authority to order the state courts of Texas to provide a new round of appellate review to a man named Jose E. Medellin, a Mexican national who was charged with murder in 1993 and then convicted and sentenced to death a year later.
The White House says that the state courts must respect a ruling by the International Court of Justice that declared in 2004 that Medellin upon his arrest was deprived of his right to confer with consular officials. Texas says that both the president and the international court ought to butt out of what has traditionally been the province of the states - capital cases, remember, almost always are brought by state prosecutors before state juries and judges.[snip]
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/12/opinion/courtwatch/main3360484.shtml
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