http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/63534Attorney General Eric Holder has directed prosecutors in a federal conspiracy and murder trial not to seek the death penalty for three El Salvadoran men who are in the United States illegally.
The three are accused of robbing and shooting Claros Luna on July 29, 2009 in Alexandria, Va., just a few miles from the Justice Department, as Luna transported a prostitute from Maryland to Virginia.
The suspects, Eris Arguera, Alcides Umana and Adolfo Amaya Portillo, admitted to being members of the MS-13 gang, court documents show. They were indicted on Nov. 24 on federal racketeering and murder charges.
A Justice Department spokeswoman told CNSNews.com that the department would not comment on Holder’s decision not to seek the death penalty in the case. She directed CNSNews to an online “resource manual” stating that the attorney general’s decision-making process and final decision on whether to seek the death penalty is confidential.
But the manual also states that no information on the process can be disclosed outside the Justice Department “without prior approval of the Attorney General.”
According to court documents, in a letter dated Feb. 3, 2010, Attorney General Holder “authorized and directed” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neal McBride “not to seek the death penalty against Alcides Umana, Adolfo Portillo and Eris Ramon Arguera.”
McBride filed a corresponding document – Government’s Notice of Intent Not to Seek the Death Penalty – on Feb. 16.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Virginia, told CNSNews.com that Holder, as U.S. attorney general, makes death penalty decisions in federal cases. “The decision to pursue or not pursue the death penalty in a death-eligible case resides with the Attorney General, not the U.S. Attorney,” Carr said.
Court documents indicate that the death penalty at one time was being considered in the Salvadorans’ case.
Early on, a court-appointed attorney for one of the defendants was dismissed because he did not have the proper certification for a trying a death penalty case. Also, attorneys for one of the defendants entered a motion on Feb. 18 seeking to use a questionnaire that would eliminate jurors who might discriminate against Latinos. That questionnaire alluded to the death penalty.
Another motion by defense attorneys sought to keep gang affiliation from being part of the trial because of the possibility that it might bring a death sentence.
(Other questions for potential jurors included, “Do you believe people born in Central or South America deserve a lesser standard of justice or greater scrutiny because they are probably not really supposed to be here in the first place?” and “Do you believe people born in Central or South America deserve harsher punishment if they commit a crime because they are already accustomed to being uncomfortable and deprived?”)
An FBI press release issued the day after the three men were indicted by a grand jury stated that the case was under investigation by the FBI, Alexandria Police Department, Fairfax County and Arlington County Police Departments and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
ICE spokeswoman Cori Bassett said the immigration agency filed paperwork to begin deportation proceedings in case the men are not convicted or if they are released on parole. If that happens, the Salvadorans would be remanded to ICE custody.
“We do not have any record of ICE encounters with the individuals prior to 2009,” Bassett added.
The trial is set to begin on May 10.
Topic: Holder nixes death penalty for illegals accused of murder (Read 1117 times)