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i'm new to this forum, but have a story to tell that i find very disturbing, and hope someone may read this and give suggestions to help.
may 5th 1996 my husband was hit head on by a drunk driver, he suffered severe injuries but survived, (of course the drunk suffered not even a scratch. and admitted to drinking 7 or 8 drinks)
my husband was on a motorcycle and was wearing a helmet, so no real head injuries.
while in custody , the district attorneys office(albuquerque) and police informed me that the man who'd injured my husband was proven to be an illegal immigrant from mexico.
they told me that even though they could not establish his true identity, if he pled guilty to the charges against him, they would be required by law to release him pending a presentencing investigation held by the probation office, and then he would stand at his sentencing hearing be sentenced and deported after serving his term.
i questioned this proceedure, and expressed my concerns about him being released without even knowing who he was in the first place.
we were not informed of his plea hearing and on that day my husband was in the hospital undergoing one of the six surgeries he's had to have since the "accident".
a week after my husbands surgery, and the mans release, i phoned the jail to see if he was still in custody and found out that he had been released.
the d.a.'s office had failed in notification, though we had told them we wanted to be notified and attend all hearings.
i was so angry, i scremed at everyone involved, and was assured that in the future, we would be notified of every future hearing and that at sentencing, all in our family effected would be allowed to give victim impact statements.
of course the day came for the mans sentencing and lo and behold, he failed to appear, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
for the past eleven years acting as my husbands victim advocate, i have routinely kept in touch with the d.a.'s office, provided current addresses and phone numbers and expressed our desire to be notified of and attend all hearings concerning the case, and also made clear that we still wanted to give victim impact statements.
today is august 29th 2007, and one week ago, i phoned the d.a.'s office to find out if they had ever captured the guy, expecting full well that they had not....but instead, i was told that on july 7th 2005 the man had been indicted, and sentenced and should still be serving probation.
no notification....no victims impact statements.
i phoned the probation and found out that he was no longer on probation, and the restitution the judge ordered as a condition of his probation was never enforced by the probation office.
to top it off, we found out online that this same man ,who'd injured my husband and ran from justice for nine years, was arrested in california, where he'd served his probation, for unknown charges, two weeks after being released from his probation and released again a week and a half later, never deported, as promised he would be after serving his sentence, out there free to do whatever he wants, with no regard for anyone but himself.....
how can this happen? i am so angry i could spit fire....
i wrote my congressmen about what had happened, i wrote the judge who'd released the man the first time, (the same judge who sentenced him in 2005) the gov. of nm and the d.a.'s office...but no-one seemed to care...because even though we'd asked to be involved, we were not even allowed to give our victims impact statements.they claim there are no note in the file stating our desires, nor are there any notes showing our current address or phone number.but they had diligently made ayyempts two and a half months after his capture to contact us...right, like i am lying about it all.
now, my hausband suffers from his injuries, like i said, six surgeries later, he still has an ununited fibula in his leg, he is facing more surgeries has severe headaches daily, the medical costs, absorbed by our insurance company and ourselves,(because the man who'd committed this crime was uninsured) have risen to over one hundred thousand dollars and is climbing every time we turn around, my husband lost wages that have neared fifty thousand dollars, and we were forced to file chapter 13 bankruptcy, which resulted in a foreclosure of our home...and now, my husband is fearing the fact, that soon , he may have to go on disability due to the fact he is not healing like he should.
who says drunk driving is a victimless crime? who says that illegal immigration is a victimless crime?
my husband and my family can attest otherwise...if you don't beleive me, the case number is cr961553 new mexico vs. roberto flores garcia...if that is indeed his real name...
i wonder, is there anything we can do to punish the d.a's office for their failure to respect the sate's victims rights act, and the federal victims rights act? and what about this restitution? shouldn't there be a way to make this man pay?
please help..we are at our wit's end
i wonder, is there anything we can do to punish the d.a's office for their failure to respect the sate's victims rights act, and the federal victims rights act? and what about this restitution? shouldn't there be a way to make this man pay?
please help..we are at our wit's end
Go to a lawyer! That is what they are for.
The legal advice that anyone here gives you is worth exactly you pay for it - nothing!
i'm new to this forum, but have a story to tell that i find very disturbing, and hope someone may read this and give suggestions to help.
may 5th 1996 my husband was hit head on by a drunk driver, he suffered severe injuries but survived, (of course the drunk suffered not even a scratch. and admitted to drinking 7 or 8 drinks)
my husband was on a motorcycle and was wearing a helmet, so no real head injuries.
while in custody , the district attorneys office(albuquerque) and police informed me that the man who'd injured my husband was proven to be an illegal immigrant from mexico.
they told me that even though they could not establish his true identity, if he pled guilty to the charges against him, they would be required by law to release him pending a presentencing investigation held by the probation office, and then he would stand at his sentencing hearing be sentenced and deported after serving his term.
i questioned this proceedure, and expressed my concerns about him being released without even knowing who he was in the first place.
we were not informed of his plea hearing and on that day my husband was in the hospital undergoing one of the six surgeries he's had to have since the "accident".
a week after my husbands surgery, and the mans release, i phoned the jail to see if he was still in custody and found out that he had been released.
the d.a.'s office had failed in notification, though we had told them we wanted to be notified and attend all hearings.
i was so angry, i scremed at everyone involved, and was assured that in the future, we would be notified of every future hearing and that at sentencing, all in our family effected would be allowed to give victim impact statements.
of course the day came for the mans sentencing and lo and behold, he failed to appear, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
for the past eleven years acting as my husbands victim advocate, i have routinely kept in touch with the d.a.'s office, provided current addresses and phone numbers and expressed our desire to be notified of and attend all hearings concerning the case, and also made clear that we still wanted to give victim impact statements.
today is august 29th 2007, and one week ago, i phoned the d.a.'s office to find out if they had ever captured the guy, expecting full well that they had not....but instead, i was told that on july 7th 2005 the man had been indicted, and sentenced and should still be serving probation.
no notification....no victims impact statements.
i phoned the probation and found out that he was no longer on probation, and the restitution the judge ordered as a condition of his probation was never enforced by the probation office.
to top it off, we found out online that this same man ,who'd injured my husband and ran from justice for nine years, was arrested in california, where he'd served his probation, for unknown charges, two weeks after being released from his probation and released again a week and a half later, never deported, as promised he would be after serving his sentence, out there free to do whatever he wants, with no regard for anyone but himself.....
how can this happen? i am so angry i could spit fire....
i wrote my congressmen about what had happened, i wrote the judge who'd released the man the first time, (the same judge who sentenced him in 2005) the gov. of nm and the d.a.'s office...but no-one seemed to care...because even though we'd asked to be involved, we were not even allowed to give our victims impact statements.they claim there are no note in the file stating our desires, nor are there any notes showing our current address or phone number.but they had diligently made ayyempts two and a half months after his capture to contact us...right, like i am lying about it all.
now, my hausband suffers from his injuries, like i said, six surgeries later, he still has an ununited fibula in his leg, he is facing more surgeries has severe headaches daily, the medical costs, absorbed by our insurance company and ourselves,(because the man who'd committed this crime was uninsured) have risen to over one hundred thousand dollars and is climbing every time we turn around, my husband lost wages that have neared fifty thousand dollars, and we were forced to file chapter 13 bankruptcy, which resulted in a foreclosure of our home...and now, my husband is fearing the fact, that soon , he may have to go on disability due to the fact he is not healing like he should.
who says drunk driving is a victimless crime? who says that illegal immigration is a victimless crime?
my husband and my family can attest otherwise...if you don't beleive me, the case number is cr961553 new mexico vs. roberto flores garcia...if that is indeed his real name...
i wonder, is there anything we can do to punish the d.a's office for their failure to respect the sate's victims rights act, and the federal victims rights act? and what about this restitution? shouldn't there be a way to make this man pay?
please help..we are at our wit's end
Call Bill O' Reilly of The O'Reilly Factor he loves stories like this. So does Glenn Beck. Montel Williams. Most Wanted would be a GREAT one too!
God Bless you and your family.
I'm not sure what kind of help they can give, if they can't help you directly maybe they can steer you in a good direction.
God bless you and your husband, I hope he continues to heal. A little piece of mind, as in a resolution to your nightmare might go a long way to help the healing process.
I hope we hear some good news from you in the future.
Call Bill O' Reilly of The O'Reilly Factor he loves stories like this. So does Glenn Beck. Montel Williams. Most Wanted would be a GREAT one too!
God Bless you and your family.
Montel supports the illegals along with Al Sharpton....
i have spoken to two attorneys so far, both say not much, if anything can be done, but have encouraged me to file a complaint with the new mexico bar association, which i am in the process of doing, i also have contacted the national center for crime victims, waiting eagerly for a reply, have contacted my local news, which i did in the beginning, and am waiting to hear back from them, also i have started writting letters to my congressmen again, like i did when this was new, and my senators, and bill o'riely is on the list along with other national news media....i have written a letter to the district attorney, flaming i might add, and have been playing phone tag with the d.a. who handled the sentencing hearing, he said in a message that he had new information on this case, i cannot imagine what that can mean....i thank you all for your support, and blessings, ...
i do want to say, though, the real reason i posted , was to alert everyone i can about what has happened, and warn all who read, that if you are a victim of any crime, the soltution to what has happened to our family lies in the victims and their families to stand up for their rights, do not let anyone assure you of anything over the phone, write everything down in writting, and send your letter certified return receipt requested so that in the future, you can prove you ahve requested that your rights be honored....
my regret is that i trusted the word of the d.a.'s office, and by doing so, i failed my husband as his victims advocate....
do not let this happen to you, or anyone you love....
again, tahnk you all for your kind words, it means more than i can express.
their son david march, a sheriff's deputy in los angeles county, was murdered in 2002 by an illegal alien who fled to mexico. deputy march's parents and widow fought tirelessly to effect justice for their beloved david, and his murderer, armando garcia, was finally extradited to CA and sentenced to life without parole earlier this year. (he very likely would have been sentenced to death, but mexico wouldn't hand him over to US authorities unless the death penalty was taken off the table.) i understand that your situation is not identical (and, thankfully, your husband is still alive), but if anyone could tell you how to proceed and perhaps help you find sympathetic legal counsel and media outlets to challenge a system that has obviously failed the victim here, i think the march family know a thing or two about that.
again, thank you for the response, i will take note of these new avenues, and contact both, so far i have been on a letter writting campaign, and have sent out a total of 25 letters, one response recieved by phone today was from new mexico gov.'s victim advocacy department, the lady i talked with for an hour was very nice, and assured me(didn't get it in writting lol)that she is going to look into this and be in touch with me next week, she isn't sure if there is much she can do to help, but the kindness this woman gave me rang true...i do appreciate her honesty about being unsure of exactly what she can do, but if my story helps others avoid this in the future, then that will be enough to help me breathe again...and again, everyone's kindness on this forum gives me hope that the world isn't so bad, afterall. bless you all, and have a safe labor day wekend, as for us, we will be staying off the roads as we do every holiday since cinco de mayo 1996.
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