Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger
If you ever wondered why the Justice Department is investigating the office of Maricopa, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, this latest story may be all you need to read. Recently, the Maricopa Sheriff’s office arrested and detained Briseira Torres and alleged that she was an illegal alien. Why is this one arrest such an important story? The short answer is that Sheriff Joe’s office and possibly the Prosecuting attorney ignored the most credible exculpatory evidence that was already in their possession. Briseira’s long form Birth Certificate, attested to by the State of Arizona as accurate, was left out of the record provided to the Grand Jury!
“In the pile of paperwork they provided to the court, to the prosecutor, and to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was a silver bullet: a sworn statement from Arizona’s Office of Vital Records attesting to the legitimacy of documents on file for Torres. Among these docs is Torres’ birth certificate, showing she was born August 14, 1981, in Avondale. Salvatierra asked the court to remand the case back to the grand jury. Judge Carolyn Passamonte did just this, noting in her minute entry that Torres’ long-form birth certificate was “clearly exculpatory evidence that should have been presented to the grand jury.” The judge remarked that the documents on file with Vital Records had been “available to the state,” and in oral arguments, the prosecutor had to admit that he’d never bothered to pull the file and inspect it.
More troubling still was Passamonte’s observation that the MCAO’s lone witness, Detective Chris Oberly of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General, told the grand jury this: In 1999, Vital Records discovered that Torres’ birth certificate, in his words, had been “falsely created” by Torres’ mother and so the department “canceled it.” This was not true, according to Vital Records. Torres’ birth certificate never was canceled and remains as valid as the day it was issued. ” Crooks and Liars
Detective Oberly may have a serious criminal problem staring him in the face due to his false statements to the Grand Jury. Of course, this is Maricopa County, Arizona and Sheriff Joe may not agree that lying to a Grand Jury by one of his detectives is a criminal act.
What really upsets me is the action or inaction of the Prosecutor who failed to even look at the file that would prove that Ms. Torres was indeed a legal citizen of the United States and the State of Arizona. The alleged perjury by a detective in the Sheriff’s office and the negligence of the Prosecutor resulted in Ms. Torres being locked up for 4 1/2 months! Because of these illegal and immoral acts by Maricopa County officials, Ms. Torres lost her home and her car since she was unable to work and make her payments during her illegal incarceration.
Sheriff Arpaio is currently under investigation by the Justice Department for alleged numerous violations of the constitutional rights of Latinos. Think Progress Sheriff Arpaio is also currently fighting a recent class action lawsuit alleging that his office was involved in racial profiling. Sheriff Joe With these investigations and lawsuits, one may think that there may be trouble in his office. Sheriff Joe, the former Arizona chair during Gov. Romney’s 2008 run for President, is also a died in the wool backer of the far right Birther movement. Birther Will Sheriff Arpaio believe any State’s birth records if he won’t believe his own State’s records certifying a valid long form birth certificate?
I am surprised that the residents of Maricopa County are not upset at the legal costs of defending their Sheriff’s allegedly illegal activities. This time the illegal actions of his office have cost a legal citizen dearly and presumably will cost the citizens of Maricopa county dearly. When will this far right bigot be forced out of office? Is anyone in Arizona listening? Stay tuned.
Thank you, Mike. I find the name calling offensive as well. There was a use of chinamen up thread that is also inappropriate.
I want to echo Mike’s condemnation of any derogatory name calling.
Matt,
I don’t know if you’re trying to be funny or not, but I find your use of “Dagos” to be seriously offensive, just as I would react strongly against anyone calling me a Kike. You know nothing of Italians shown by your derogatory stereotyping.
Matt J — what? Turin is a car? I thought it was a shroud! I’m not driving in Italy ever again!
Mr.Spinelli,
Do you really think anybody cares what the Dagos think. They don’t. The Italians don’t even know how to make decent cars. Turin sucks.
itchinBayDog, My family is from southern Italy[Naples and Bari]. I appreciate your Sicilian pride. But we southern Italians, w/ your folks being the most southern, are @ the bottom of the pecking order in Italian culture. Northern Italians, are the elite. The farther south, the less status. The great Joe Dimaggio was haunted by this. Many of the Italians who settled in San Francisco were northern. His family was dirt poor Sicilian. There is a strong African influence in Sicilian food. I am in no way saying I abide this pecking order, just relating the reality of it.
itchinBayDog is a Sicilian in a prior incarnation when a humanoid prior to this life as a dog. That, is why I asked if the schmuck was an Italian. We call them “northerners”. No self respecting Sicilian would be such a bigot. His own family would knock him in the jaw for what he is doing to Mexicans.
ID707,
They got angry because I only stayed for two days. It’s only about 1800 miles from eastern Wisconsin to Boise.
Thanks guys and I like your quip Idealist. have you tweeted that? (I am liking twitter, think it does get seen by a lot of olk)
Yeah, forgot. Thank you LJC. If more did that……!
Matt, are they squeals of triumph or of disappointment at your recalcitrance?
Great story leejcarroll. Sunshine on any felon helps!
ID707,
I don’t have a wife. Only four sisters. What is that?
They keep trying to tell me what to do. I’m going to do whatever I want.
LeeJCarrol,
Here comes a quip:
Nice that Romney keeps his skirts clean. It is his heart that disturbs me however.
Malisha,
Just wishful thinking on my part. Why is it bad traits replicate so well, whereas good ones disappear?
Streetwise. In Pa. I had a med mal case against a doctor who was a name. He perjured himseof in court, the Pa. Superior court said so (trial testimony inconsistent and different with deposition testimony) Gov.Ridge knew still nominated him to be Sec’t of Health, 50 senators advised, still confirmed him. I went to AG office, they refused to prosecute, no crime there. Went back after Ridge no longer Gov and AG office said sorry, we would prosecute but you missed the statute of limiitations by 8 months.
When Romney was to appear with Ridge in Pa a few weeks or so back I wrote a note on facebook and twitter about Romney appearing with someone who allowed perjurer in his cabinet. Never know if that was why but suddenly the announced presence of Ridge was changed to Ridge had decided not to be a part of it.
Matt,
Do I know. Not squealing, no. But energy, yes incredible.. Endurance. My wife could work 9 hours straight in the yard on cups of coffee, cigarettes occasionally and a muffin also. Others have shown similar talents. I got the short end endurance wise. I take a nap, compelled to after each hour long walk. Been so since my 40s. Whew.
And you?
ID707,
Old women just like to squeal. And they never tire, they have more energy than you would believe.
I had a meeting with 9 people and the chief judge of the Juvenile Court in Rockland County NY — that circuit, that is. She heard us out. Blah blah. She didn’t do a damn thing. In the hallway afterwards one of the talkers, who was head of pediatrics at Columbia Presbyterian, got all “hippie” with me and told me that he had read Saul Alinsky. But he neither followed up to make sure something happened nor did he try to do anything about the fact that a pediatrician who WORKED FOR HIM had testified that a child of eight could get pelvic inflammatory disease from an “unknown etiology” without having been sexually abused. Idiot.
Still, Alinsky was great and you can’t take that away from him…
But not all his disciples were worth their weight.
Try local elections for example.
You are tired, worked hard and long today, kids in bed, TV calls, wife and coffee. How about phoning the neighbors you know well, and inviting them over for a discussion this weekend about the coming election. Lie a bit and feed his crap back to him to get him to come. Start your own persuasion campaign.
Requirement: Knowledge and a list of facts to drive away the usual claims of the corrupt candidates.
Well in case you haven’t found an honest candidate, you can try to make a deal with a new one who is promising change.
He doesn’t have to buy you, just pay you in kind.
Let the word go out that you need someone to hold a Saul Alinsky course for new agitators.
Get yourselves guarantees from the ACLU that they will support the first cells in their exercise of their use of the Amendments.
etc, the list and fight is long.
Enlist old women who hever tire, apparently.