Posted on 08/15/2003 8:45:56 AM PDT by GoRepGo
Accused in border incident offered legal aid
BY LOUIE VILLALOBOS
Aug 15, 2003
As the case against two men accused of unlawfully detaining six illegal immigrants progresses through the Yuma County court system, a California organization is joining a Missouri group in offering legal aid to the pair.
Howard Garber, director of the California-based American Civil Responsibilities Union, told The Sun he is planning to meet with his team of lawyers on Monday to decide how his organization is going to help Matthew Hoffman, 23, and Alexander Dumas, 26, defend themselves.
Each faces six counts of aggravated assault, five counts of unlawful imprisonment and one count of conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment for allegedly holding six illegal immigrants — including three children and two women — at gunpoint and by using handcuffs in the July 31 incident in Gadsden.
Somerton Justice of the Peace Manny Figueroa said the men were scheduled to appear in court today, but said he wasn't sure if it would be a grand jury or a preliminary hearing — both of which are meant to determine if there is probable cause to send the case to Superior Court.
Martin Hoffman, father of Matthew Hoffman, said on Thursday he would welcome any legal help for his son. Dumas' family members have said they too could use some help.
Garber said he will provide that help after Monday's meeting, after which he expects to dispatch lawyers to Yuma County that he said will take on the Yuma County Attorney's Office as it pursues the case.
"We have the finances, we have the legal power, and we are going after it," he said. "I think they are going to be surprised."
Garber's group, which is heavily involved in immigration issues and California politics, supports the deportation of every illegal immigrant in the country and believes the nation's permissive immigration laws will destroy the nation, according to its Web site.
He said this Hoffman-Dumas case was brought to his attention by a friend who pointed him to Tuesday's edition of The Sun, which reported that a Missouri group, U.S. Special Service, had taken notice of the case and promised to help the two men while preparing for a trip to Yuma.
Garber said he called Keith French, president of the U.S. Special Service, and offered his help. He said the two organizations are expecting to take the case up and see the men released.
"I'm flying to Missouri next week for a meeting," Garber said.
Garber said he will officially announce on Monday what exactly his organization will do on behalf of Hoffman and Dumas, but promised it would include representing the two in court. He also said Monday's meeting will include a vote to decide whether to give the men an award for their alleged actions in Gadsden.
"They only did what the federal government should be doing," Garber said.
Officials have said what the men are accused of doing was against the law because of the unjustified use of force against the illegal immigrants. Deputies said making a citizen's arrest does not include holding someone against their will by force.
© Copyright, YumaSun.com
What does arrest mean? It means to stop. So the deputies are telling us that you should say "You are under citizen's arrest--you are free to go."
Tell that to the would be dope growers who wanted to farm my farm.
In actuality, we hire and train cops to work within and be knowledgable with case laws and the pertinent codes they enforce. They are limited by those things in what they can do.
But! A citizen can enforce laws as well. If a traffic violator does something you see happen, and you can get a cop to stop that violator, you the citizen can co-sign the citation as the complainant. (See Calif. traffic citations for the additional signature box).
Then there is the actual taking of someone into custody, "A CITIZEN'S ARREST". Citizen's can make arrests but must turn the arrestee over to the nearest Magistrate or in most cases law enforcement. You can reasonably restrain the arrestee, common sense dictates that restraint and that the citizen may need to protect themselves from that person. This is where reality sets in, "COMMON SENSE".
These two guys will have to rely on the fact the a Yuma jury won't convict them. That's the safety valve for a prosecutor that has his head up his butt.
How do you feel about two men being charged with improperly holding illegal aliens at gunpoint while trying to cross near here?
55.93%
They shouldn't be charged for detaining lawbreakers.
30.86%
It isn't right to take the law into your own hands.
13.20%
It wouldn't be necessary if the Border Patrol was doing its job.
Total Votes: 674
The odds of a conviction are not what the prosecutor might like, the safety valve will work.
If the ILLEGALS were on private property, I'd think that'd be considered "more" justifiable by many people. But even on "public" property, ILLEGALS are ILLEGAL and it's right for them to be detained, even detained by people who care more for our country that those put in place to guard it.
Manuel Figueroa never went to law school. He is Justice of the Peace. In this state anyone of us can be Justice of The Peace witout a law degree. So backwards.
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