Posted on 04/21/2005 4:14:44 PM PDT by Spiff
KFYI is Reporting:
CHARGES HAVE BEEN DROPPED against Army reservist Patrick Haab who was accused of holding a group of illegals at gunpoint.
Make that soldier an officer.
Good news for a change.
Yep, and they've just been releasing them for years!
That can change.
Talk about being soft on illegals...
Friggin A! Give that man a ceegar!
Why don't you lead that effort and see how many on this conservative site are willing to donate to your cause?
Can I be the first to by you a beer to cry in?
The Perp. I guess he wasn't a "perp" if they let him go.
You sure hope, don't you?
County Attorney Declines to Prosecute Soldier Making Citizens Arrest of Illegal Immigrants Committing Felony
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas today announced his decision that Sgt. Patrick Haab, who detained a group of illegal immigrants and the man smuggling them, was making a lawful citizens’ arrest and did not commit a crime.
“This is a unique case with a very unique set of circumstances, and after a full analysis of the issues involved and the applicable law, prosecution is not appropriate,” Thomas said.
The County Attorney noted he is legally obligated to evaluate each case referred by law enforcement for prosecution. The law and facts of this case support the conclusion that Sgt. Haab has a valid defense to the charges.
ARS 13-3884 conveys upon citizens of Arizona the legal right to make a citizens’ arrest if (1) a felony is committed in the citizen’s presence or (2) a felony has actually been committed and the citizen has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed it. Case law indicates that a felony offense that would allow a person to make a citizens’ arrest may be either violation of state or federal statute: United States v. DeCatur, 430 F2d. 365 (9th Cir. 1970) (per curiam); United States v. Swarovski, 557 F2d. 40 (2nd Cir. 1970); United States v. Hernandez, 715 F2d. 548 (11th Cir. 1983).
The offense committed by those arrested by Haab is contained in 8 U.S.C. 1324(1)(A) “any person who…knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered or remained in the United States in violation of law, transports, moves or attempts to transport or moves such alien within the United States by means of transportation or otherwise shall be punished as provided…by law.” One of the individuals arrested by Haab, Mr. Oliviera-Antonio, has been charged by the United States Attorney with engaging in human smuggling. The other six men detained by Haab engaged in felony conduct by conspiring with the alleged “coyote.”
The force used to make an arrest must be reasonable under the circumstances. The citizen’s arrest performed by Haab took place April 10, 2005 at approximately 9:20 pm at the Sentinel Rest Area located on Interstate 8 in the middle of the desert. The illegal immigrants were running and had access to a vehicle with which they could make an escape. Haab’s use of a weapon to detain them was in accordance with law. A.R.S. 13-410; 13-3881.
“This is not a green light to intimidate, threaten, or detain anyone merely suspected of being in this country illegally. Mere presence in the U.S. illegally is a crime, but not in itself a felony, so other factors must be present in order to justify a citizens arrest. In this case, the other factor was the human smuggling,” Thomas added.
Thomas urged citizens to recognize the risk of making a citizens arrest, and reminded the public that the right of citizens arrest is available under very specific circumstances and if engaged in unlawfully will result in prosecution.
http://www.maricopacountyattorney.org/Press/PDF/Haab_turndown.pdf
ping
Good news!
Reservist cleared of all charges
Patrick Haab is a free man. Haab, 24, was arrested April 10 by Maricopa County sheriff's deputies at a rest stop along I-8 after Haab had held seven illegal immigrants at gunpoint. Haab said he thought he was in danger. After looking at the evidence, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas concluded Haab was making a citizen's arrest, stopping people he saw violating federal law. The real saving grace for Haab was that one of the illegals was a coyote - a human smuggler - which is a federal felony. Thomas says if the men weren't here illegally, Haab would be facing felony charges of his own. Thomas is repeatedly cautioning people not to start rounding up immigrants at Home Depot. He says actions like that will be dealt with severely.
http://kfyi.com/local_news.html
Oops, copy, paste went bad, still
I bet you hope he can be, don't you?
Note to Thomas. This didn't happen to citizens, this happened to illegals.
Yes, I heard about this earlier today.
Excellent news.
Thanks for the ping.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
Lemme get this straight..
.... good guy catches suspected bad guy(s) in the commission of a suspected crime...
...turns out the bad guy(s) are bad guy(s) and the crime is real ...
...and the taxpayer-paid 'officials' ,BP, asked the[illiegal] aliens if they wanted to press charges?!?!?!?!
Where's that WTF pic?????
18 USC 241 said an alien is protected by the constitution; but I don't think this applies to illegal aliens. The law doesn't address illegal aliens.
>>My, how astonishing that these law breaking illegals wanted to "press charges", no doubt after learning all about that option from the friendly BP types. <<
I would have that BP agent investigated to make sure he isn't on the take.
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