Twice-deported man guilty in traffic death
Saturday, November 4, 2006
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
YAKIMA -- A twice-deported illegal immigrant with a history of drug arrests has been convicted in the traffic death of a Yakima Valley Community College educator.
A Yakima County Superior Court jury deliberated for barely half an hour Thursday before finding Marcos Ramos Medina, 35, most recently of Portland, guilty of vehicular homicide in his second trial.
Medina faces 2 1/2 to five years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 16 for the death of Peggy Keller, 53, a radiology expert and dean of distance education and technical services at the two-year school.
Keller was on her way to an education conference in Vancouver, Wash., when Medina's 1997 Chevrolet Lumina crossed the center line and hit her 2000 Lexus nearly head-on on U.S. Route 97 between Goldendale and Toppenish on Aug. 4, 2005.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to testimony by a state toxicologist, Barry Logan, a blood test following the crash showed that Medina had a high concentration of methamphetamine in his system, adding that the miles of erratic driving described by witnesses and his mood swings after the crash were indications of drug-induced exhaustion.
Testifying in his own defense Thursday, Medina said he was exhausted from a trip to sell a pickup in Portland, had gotten very little sleep for several days because of generalized bouts with fear and nervousness and had been given some pills by a friend the night before the crash.
Defense lawyers did not deny that Medina was to blame but argued that his conduct was reckless or negligent, which would be treated less severely under the law, rather than impaired driving, which is grounds for a vehicular homicide conviction.
2006-11-04 19:16:08 · 21 answers · asked by princess_29_71 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
if we didn't have all the extra crime from the illegal immigrants than we would be able to focus on our own drunks, rapists, murderers.....with all the extra crimes being committed by the illegals we are having a hard time dealing with our own.
sure, maybe that person could have been hit by a legal citizen but, since it wasn't i think the problem should have been taking care of from the very get go. this guy has been deported twice and he still kept coming back. He should have been thrown in prison the second time he was caught. What people aren't noticing here is this guy broke more than one law...first he killed someone, he was taking drugs plus, he simply broke the law, again, by coming over here illegally. Just the simple act of crossing the boarder should be enough to put them away for quite awhile.
since this problem wasn't taking care of from the beginning now, we have a dead citizen on our hands. another strike against the illegals.
2006-11-04 23:37:33 · answer #1 · answered by Who cares 3 · 5⤊ 5⤋
I guess only God can answer that question....woops sorry ACLU didn't mean to offend you by saying THAT word again you commie basta*** but I digress.
I do believe that all things happen for a reason and we just need to figure out what those reasons are. We are all given choices in this life and it is those choices that define our destiny and, in some cases, the destiny of future generations.
In this case we have an illegal alien drug addict, TWICE deported who is responsible for the death of a productive citizen. What does this tell us? Well it should tell us we have a problem. It should tell us that it is far too easy to cross our borders illegally. It should tell us that our laws are not stringent enough for those that are deported but we already know that and more.
We have forever lost a productive and valued member of our society and all we can hope is that this tragic loss does not go unnoticed. Hopefully our Congress will wake up and do what is right for America instead of doing what they think is going to gain them another term by placating the illegal alien lobby and every other special interest group out there..
2006-11-05 03:24:04 · answer #2 · answered by Bob G 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No, at least it would not have happened in the USA. It might have happened in his home country (his home country isn't mentioned in the article, even though it says he was "twice deported.") However, then, it wouldn't be a problem for the US to deal with, would it? What people don't seem to understand here is that when the illegal immigrants commit further crimes in the USA (after their original crime of being here illegally), they are costing us even more tax dollars that would otherwise be costing that illegal immigrant's home country, rather than ours! Earlier in this forum, I read someone answering a question with something along the lines of "the tax dollars aren't yours anymore, once you pay them, just like when you pay for groceries in a store - that money isn't yours anymore, so what do you care where those tax dollars go, once you pay them?" I think that the illegal immigrants do not think of the social benefits and other expenses they cost the USA as actually "coming out of the pockets of average USA citizens." They think it is just "government money" and it doesn't matter who it goes to. Sort of like how I have heard of people who "steal" from large corporations and don't think it hurts individuals. It is a mindset, I think.
2006-11-04 21:55:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
I think in this case it is his drug abuse, not his immigration status that caused the death. While I agree that immigration laws are ineffective, this person still could have gotten into the US legally and been just as doped up still causing the accident. There are many people killed every day by legal citizens who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Laws that ineffectively punish these criminals are often more a mere slap on the wrist. People get minor fines and rarely seem to see jail time. If you are unfortunate enough to actually kill someone it is unlikely that you will be in prison for more than a few years. These are the laws that fail in the situation mentioned above, it has nothing to do with the fact that he was here illegally.
2006-11-04 19:52:18 · answer #4 · answered by Memnoch 4 · 3⤊ 4⤋
Sad, Sad outcome... Yes, the Immigration laws should have been applied since the very first incident. Some people do not deserve the priviledge and blessings of this Land.
In this situation, he should never be let go with no bond, but comply a sentence and then be deported, since the very first time
2006-11-04 19:29:37 · answer #5 · answered by cibercitizen 3 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Who knows,I mean yeah a death is always tragic but that's like asking the mother of a child who has been killed by a drunk driver that if his friends had taken the keys would her child still be alive.The truth of the matter is you can't specifically foresee into the future,maybe in this case if the man had been deported then who knows maybe the woman would still be alive.But on the other hand maybe it was bound to happen anyway.maybe a drugged up teenager or drunk driver who was legal would have still impacted her and she still would be dead.The only difference is that since the person who impacted her was illegal her death was published in the newspaper,if the person who killed her had been legal more than likely only her family members and friends would know about it and be under the obituary section or under the title "another innocent person dies in car wreck".but i guess the media along with newspapers can be selective on what they consider newsworthy stories.
2006-11-05 02:14:57 · answer #6 · answered by Nexus K 4 · 2⤊ 3⤋
If America's immigration policy and laws had been strictly enforced beforehand upon this killers first offense of crossing our border illegally then perhaps this might have been prevented. The perpetrators use of drugs should only enhance the sentencing guidelines at his sentencing hearing.
Because he CHOSE to become a twice deported criminal he should get no leniency whatsoever. Anm American citizen has been killed by a trespassing criminal, again, how many of these preventable deaths will it take before Real immigration reform becomes a reality, and to hell with what any foreign nations opinion is of America securing the safety and tranquility of its citizens.
2006-11-05 04:28:58 · answer #7 · answered by RENEGADE. 3 · 3⤊ 4⤋
with the aid of fact that's such as the islamic terrorists, on no account pronounced via obama, with the aid of fact then he would would desire to handle it! If he would have the regulation enforced, he would would desire to tutor and tell the form on ultimate the borders and fines leveled at corporation's hiring them
2016-10-03 07:20:05 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pro criminals: Do you really want this kind of drug addicted, homicidal scum coming in illegally? You protest every deportation, so do you really support this trash? Do you want him in our country? Maybe you should be forced to live with such lowlifes for a year. I bet that would change your convictions.
2006-11-05 02:08:03 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
As I see it the problem isn't so much that the immigration laws are not effectively enforced. The problem is there is not enough border patrol officers to effectively patrol our borders and enforce our current laws.
If we had enough border patrol officers, then I believe many of our illegal alien issue would lessen.
2006-11-04 19:36:06 · answer #10 · answered by pj_gal 5 · 6⤊ 0⤋