Raiders Army
06-29-2008, 01:11 PM
Saw this in the newspaper this morning. The title was big in the newspaper and really seemed...awkward-not-politically-correct. The article itself is quite strange as well.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_9731245
Retarded man cleared in rape-slaying
Associated Press
Article Launched: 06/29/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
ALBUQUERQUE -- Charges have been dropped against a 22-year-old mentally retarded man who had falsely confessed to the slaying of an 11-year-old girl in 2005. Robert Gonzales had been charged with murder and criminal sexual penetration in the death of Victoria Sandoval, who was found strangled inside the mobile home where she lived with her grandparents.
The district attorney's office said Friday that DNA evidence now points to Israel Diaz, 20, an undocumented immigrant who had been picked up in April on a burglary charge. Diaz was charged in the Sandoval case earlier this month, but his arrest warrant has been sealed by the court.
District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said prosecutors are working on moving Diaz from federal to state custody, and the case could go before a grand jury next month.
Prosecutors said Gonzales' DNA did not match evidence found at the scene, and investigators were not able to find a connection between Gonzales and Diaz.
"There's a reason we have a presumption of innocence," said Gonzales' attorney, Jeff Buckels. "This is what it's all about. Sometimes people confess to things they didn't do. And people with vulnerabilities, like people with mental retardation, are more likely to confess."
Buckels said he learned last week that a national database that tracks DNA profiles of arrestees had hit on someone other than Gonzales. Prosecutors said the DNA identified Diaz as the likely perpetrator.
Gonzales was released Friday from the Metropolitan Detention Center. He had been in custody since Nov. 1, 2005. In his statement to police, Gonzales said he crawled through Sandoval's bedroom window on Halloween 2005 and the two had sex. He said he became angry when the girl told him she was 13 and not 15 -- although she was 11.
According to police reports, Gonzales and Sandoval began dating that summer.
Gonzales' statement was suppressed earlier this month following a request by his defense, which argued that the statement was given after Gonzales was arrested without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Brandenburg said the statement seemed credible at the time.
"It's a situation where everyone was doing the best job they could with the information they had," she said.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_9731245
Retarded man cleared in rape-slaying
Associated Press
Article Launched: 06/29/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
ALBUQUERQUE -- Charges have been dropped against a 22-year-old mentally retarded man who had falsely confessed to the slaying of an 11-year-old girl in 2005. Robert Gonzales had been charged with murder and criminal sexual penetration in the death of Victoria Sandoval, who was found strangled inside the mobile home where she lived with her grandparents.
The district attorney's office said Friday that DNA evidence now points to Israel Diaz, 20, an undocumented immigrant who had been picked up in April on a burglary charge. Diaz was charged in the Sandoval case earlier this month, but his arrest warrant has been sealed by the court.
District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said prosecutors are working on moving Diaz from federal to state custody, and the case could go before a grand jury next month.
Prosecutors said Gonzales' DNA did not match evidence found at the scene, and investigators were not able to find a connection between Gonzales and Diaz.
"There's a reason we have a presumption of innocence," said Gonzales' attorney, Jeff Buckels. "This is what it's all about. Sometimes people confess to things they didn't do. And people with vulnerabilities, like people with mental retardation, are more likely to confess."
Buckels said he learned last week that a national database that tracks DNA profiles of arrestees had hit on someone other than Gonzales. Prosecutors said the DNA identified Diaz as the likely perpetrator.
Gonzales was released Friday from the Metropolitan Detention Center. He had been in custody since Nov. 1, 2005. In his statement to police, Gonzales said he crawled through Sandoval's bedroom window on Halloween 2005 and the two had sex. He said he became angry when the girl told him she was 13 and not 15 -- although she was 11.
According to police reports, Gonzales and Sandoval began dating that summer.
Gonzales' statement was suppressed earlier this month following a request by his defense, which argued that the statement was given after Gonzales was arrested without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Brandenburg said the statement seemed credible at the time.
"It's a situation where everyone was doing the best job they could with the information they had," she said.