Posted on 05/06/2009 5:52:56 AM PDT by Born Conservative
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund has launched an online petition asking for signatures urging the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the death of Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala and bring federal charges against the defendants who were acquitted on most county charges Friday.
“There’s a strong federal interest in eradicating the bias that motivated the violence and a fed prosecution is definitely in the public interest,” MALDEF staff attorney Gladys Limon said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Two Shenandoah area teens were found not guilty of the most serious charges facing them in relation to the death of illegal Mexican immigrant Ramirez, 25, who died July 14, 2008, from injuries suffered in a beating two days earlier.
Brandon J. Piekarsky, 17, of Shenandoah Heights, was found guilty of one count of simple assault and acquitted of all other charges, including third-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Derrick M. Donchak, 19, was found guilty of one count of simple assault. He was also found guilty of three counts of corruption of minors and three counts of furnishing alcohol to minors. He was acquitted of all other charges, the most serious of which were two counts of aggravated assault.
Both were also found not guilty of ethnic intimidation. In its online petition, MALDEF writes this comes despite “mounting evidence of a hate-driven and violent attack,” and notes that the jury foreman has given public statements in which he alleged to have observed prejudice in his fellow jurors.
“The homicide and ethnic intimidation charges are much harder to prove, but what is very telling in this case, and questionable about the integrity of the jury’s deliberation, is the fact that they came back with a not guilty on a few of the other lesser charges, like recklessly endangering another person,” Limon said.
Limon, who attended the five-day trial from Wednesday to Friday, said she observed several rulings on evidence that may have effected the verdict, most notably when defense called Diego Tovar Alvarez.
“They were fleeing the scene of the crime, and that’s when they enconter this guy Tovar who had a BB gun,” Limon said. “It had absolutely no bearing on their actions in beating and killing Luis Ramirez.”
That testimony, Limon said, was a “sideshow” which only ignited the juror’s emotions.
“When (Pierkarksy’s attorney Frederick J.) Fanelli picked up the gun and very dramatically asked if it was the gun that was on the scene, it had absolutely nothing to do with the defendants’ actions.”
The number of people who had signed the petition was not available Tuesday.
Ping
Pretty soon speeding tickets will end up in federal court too.
Too bad MALDEF isn’t interested in seeing all the illegals who maim and murder Americans aren’t brought to justice. They may have more credibility.
It certainly puts the deceased in a different light than originally reported. The prosecution and MSM painted this as a hard working, shiny eyed, immigrant who'd fallen in love with a U.S. citizen, here, following his dreams, coming home from a long night of dish-washing.
Sounds a lot more like some Latin Kings member drunk from a block party, coming home with a 15 year old girlfriend who started a fight with the wrong group of thugs and lost before his homies could get there.
MALDEF, Ha! Why should legal Americans from Mexico give a hoot about cheating Mexican criminals?
MALDEF, another communist front group.
ping
Of course!
ping
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