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11 year old girl victim of bureaucratic cruelty? racism?
A news story about a little girl, who is primarily
Spanish-speaking. Maribel Cuevas, a frail little 11-year old girl in
Fresno was attacked by water balloons thrown by nieghborhood boys. They
were taunting her.
Spanish-speaking. Maribel Cuevas, a frail little 11-year old girl in
Fresno was attacked by water balloons thrown by nieghborhood boys. They
were taunting her.
This is a feminist story, at least, it is to me. Or maybe this story is
really all about racism and class. Were you ever picked on by little
boys when you were a little girl? Were you ever afraid of groups of
little boys who were teasing you and threw things at you? I was. What is
this post about anyway? A news story about a little girl, who is primarily
Spanish-speaking. Maribel Cuevas, a frail little 11-year old girl in
Fresno was attacked by water balloons thrown by nieghborhood boys. They
were taunting her. When they wouldn't stop, finally, in frustration, she
threw a rock at them. One of the little boys needed some stitches in
his forehead because the rock dinged him. She ran to his parents' home to
apologize. This a news story? Well you wouldn't think so. But what
happened next makes it one. The Fresno police (speaking only English)
arrested the little girl and carried her away in handcuffs. She was
incarcerated in juvenile hall for five days. Then she was made to wear
an ankle
monitoring bracelet for a month. And the Fresno District Attorney's
office is forcing her to go to trial August 3rd on.... the charge she
faces is felony assault with a deadly weapon. (News article from Fresno
Bee below) Maybe the feminist part of the story is our response to it?
The Fresno District Attorney is Elizabeth A. Egan. The main email for
that office is DAmail [at] fresno.ca.gov
This is the phone number of the Juvenile Unit of the Criminal Division
of the District Attorney's office in Fresno. (559) 455-5268. Their fax
number is (559) 455-5182
The address is
Office of the District Attorney
Fresno County Plaza
2220 Tulare Street, Suite 1000
Fresno, CA 93721
Assistant Fresno County District Attorney Bob Ellis' phone number may
be (559) 488-3657; not sure on that one.
AP wire service story July 15 2005 by Juliana Barbassa
http://www.fresnobee.com/state_wire/story/10897646p-11669193c.html
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Police apparently came prepared for gang warfare
when they sent three squad cars and a helicopter in response to a 911
call. Instead, they found an 11-year-old girl who had thrown a rock to
defend herself as neighborhood boys pelted her with water balloons.
What happened next stunned Maribel Cuevas and her family.
Maribel says she didn't mean to hurt the boy - who admitted to officers
that he started the fight and was quickly released from the hospital
after getting his head stitched up.
But police insist she's a criminal - she's being prosecuted on a felony
charge of assault with a deadly weapon. "We responded. We determined a
felony assault had taken place and the officers took the actions that
were necessary," said Fresno Police Sgt. Anthony Martinez.
Her family says Maribel was simply defending herself when 9-year-old
Elijah Vang and several other boys pummeled her with water balloons
outside her home in a poor Fresno neighborhood in April. They say she
quickly sought help and tried to apologize to the boy and his family. The
Vangs have since moved away.
"She's 11 ... they're treating her like she's a violent parole
offender," said Richard Beshwate, Jr., Maribel's lawyer.
Maribel, who speaks limited English, spent five days in juvenile hall
with just one half-hour visit from her parents. She then spent about 30
days under house arrest, forced to wear a GPS ankle bracelet to monitor
her whereabouts. She's due in court Aug. 3.
Officers denied that their response was influenced by the setting - a
low-income, largely minority neighborhood - or language difficulties -
Maribel's family speaks limited English, and the responding [police]
don't speak Spanish.
With help from their church, the family hired Beshwate to represent
Maribel at her upcoming trial. The lawyer says prosecutors aren't
interested in a deal. Assistant Fresno County District Attorney Bob Ellis said
he couldn't comment on the case because it involves children.
Maribel's family said the soft-spoken girl, who turned 11 in March,
remains terrified - she's a good student who struggles sometimes because
English is her second language, but in a neighborhood where kids grow up
fast, she keeps close to home, helping her mother take care of her four
younger siblings. Maribel attends school with the boy, and says she's
been taunted by him in the past.
She says was playing on the sidewalk with her 6-year-old brother and
other younger children on April 29, when the boys rode by on their bikes.
They started teasing her, calling her names and hitting her with water
balloons, she said, holding her 1-year-old brother in her lap in her
family's modest living room, where a couch and dining table share space
with a crib and a bed.
When the boys refused to leave, Maribel threw a rock at them, hitting
Elijah.
The aunt of one of Maribel's playmates saw the boy's forehead was cut,
got him a towel to stop the bleeding and called 911, the family said.
Maribel ran to the boy's house, two blocks from her own, to tell his
parents she was sorry, she said.
Police responded to the call ready to tackle a hardened criminal.
The officers "grabbed me from behind, by my shirt" the girl said in
Spanish. "I was so scared. ... I didn't know what they were doing."
Maribel panicked. The officers had the slight girl down on the ground,
and one of them put his knee to her back to restrain her, her mother
said in Spanish.
Guadalupe Cuevas couldn't communicate with the officers, because she
doesn't speak English, and was pushed away when she tried to reach her
daughter.
Maribel was crying, the police report said, but Officer Christopher
Green, who handcuffed her, wrote, "We were able to get Cuevas into the
back of the patrol vehicle."
Guadalupe Cuevas said didn't understand what was happening.
"The officer was just saying, 'I don't care, I don't care,'" Guadalupe
Cuevas said in Spanish. "He told my nephew he didn't speak his kind of
English."
The police report said Green read Maribel her Miranda rights twice, in
English. The report also lists the girl's emotional state as
"apologetic" and "hysterical."
Maribel's mother and her father, Martin, were able to see their
daughter for half an hour the day after the incident. The girl's wrists were
bruised, her mother said, and she was scared.
Maribel was kept in juvenile hall without seeing her parents again for
five nights. When she was released, she had to wear an electronic
monitoring bracelet that kept her under house arrest for about three more
weeks, leaving school early to make it home before the 3 p.m. curfew.
This is a case where the police department "overreacted and won't back
down," Beshwate said. "I don't know if they don't like Spanish
speakers, if it's racism, or if they were having a bad day. But how can you
defend this kind of behavior?"
really all about racism and class. Were you ever picked on by little
boys when you were a little girl? Were you ever afraid of groups of
little boys who were teasing you and threw things at you? I was. What is
this post about anyway? A news story about a little girl, who is primarily
Spanish-speaking. Maribel Cuevas, a frail little 11-year old girl in
Fresno was attacked by water balloons thrown by nieghborhood boys. They
were taunting her. When they wouldn't stop, finally, in frustration, she
threw a rock at them. One of the little boys needed some stitches in
his forehead because the rock dinged him. She ran to his parents' home to
apologize. This a news story? Well you wouldn't think so. But what
happened next makes it one. The Fresno police (speaking only English)
arrested the little girl and carried her away in handcuffs. She was
incarcerated in juvenile hall for five days. Then she was made to wear
an ankle
monitoring bracelet for a month. And the Fresno District Attorney's
office is forcing her to go to trial August 3rd on.... the charge she
faces is felony assault with a deadly weapon. (News article from Fresno
Bee below) Maybe the feminist part of the story is our response to it?
The Fresno District Attorney is Elizabeth A. Egan. The main email for
that office is DAmail [at] fresno.ca.gov
This is the phone number of the Juvenile Unit of the Criminal Division
of the District Attorney's office in Fresno. (559) 455-5268. Their fax
number is (559) 455-5182
The address is
Office of the District Attorney
Fresno County Plaza
2220 Tulare Street, Suite 1000
Fresno, CA 93721
Assistant Fresno County District Attorney Bob Ellis' phone number may
be (559) 488-3657; not sure on that one.
AP wire service story July 15 2005 by Juliana Barbassa
http://www.fresnobee.com/state_wire/story/10897646p-11669193c.html
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Police apparently came prepared for gang warfare
when they sent three squad cars and a helicopter in response to a 911
call. Instead, they found an 11-year-old girl who had thrown a rock to
defend herself as neighborhood boys pelted her with water balloons.
What happened next stunned Maribel Cuevas and her family.
Maribel says she didn't mean to hurt the boy - who admitted to officers
that he started the fight and was quickly released from the hospital
after getting his head stitched up.
But police insist she's a criminal - she's being prosecuted on a felony
charge of assault with a deadly weapon. "We responded. We determined a
felony assault had taken place and the officers took the actions that
were necessary," said Fresno Police Sgt. Anthony Martinez.
Her family says Maribel was simply defending herself when 9-year-old
Elijah Vang and several other boys pummeled her with water balloons
outside her home in a poor Fresno neighborhood in April. They say she
quickly sought help and tried to apologize to the boy and his family. The
Vangs have since moved away.
"She's 11 ... they're treating her like she's a violent parole
offender," said Richard Beshwate, Jr., Maribel's lawyer.
Maribel, who speaks limited English, spent five days in juvenile hall
with just one half-hour visit from her parents. She then spent about 30
days under house arrest, forced to wear a GPS ankle bracelet to monitor
her whereabouts. She's due in court Aug. 3.
Officers denied that their response was influenced by the setting - a
low-income, largely minority neighborhood - or language difficulties -
Maribel's family speaks limited English, and the responding [police]
don't speak Spanish.
With help from their church, the family hired Beshwate to represent
Maribel at her upcoming trial. The lawyer says prosecutors aren't
interested in a deal. Assistant Fresno County District Attorney Bob Ellis said
he couldn't comment on the case because it involves children.
Maribel's family said the soft-spoken girl, who turned 11 in March,
remains terrified - she's a good student who struggles sometimes because
English is her second language, but in a neighborhood where kids grow up
fast, she keeps close to home, helping her mother take care of her four
younger siblings. Maribel attends school with the boy, and says she's
been taunted by him in the past.
She says was playing on the sidewalk with her 6-year-old brother and
other younger children on April 29, when the boys rode by on their bikes.
They started teasing her, calling her names and hitting her with water
balloons, she said, holding her 1-year-old brother in her lap in her
family's modest living room, where a couch and dining table share space
with a crib and a bed.
When the boys refused to leave, Maribel threw a rock at them, hitting
Elijah.
The aunt of one of Maribel's playmates saw the boy's forehead was cut,
got him a towel to stop the bleeding and called 911, the family said.
Maribel ran to the boy's house, two blocks from her own, to tell his
parents she was sorry, she said.
Police responded to the call ready to tackle a hardened criminal.
The officers "grabbed me from behind, by my shirt" the girl said in
Spanish. "I was so scared. ... I didn't know what they were doing."
Maribel panicked. The officers had the slight girl down on the ground,
and one of them put his knee to her back to restrain her, her mother
said in Spanish.
Guadalupe Cuevas couldn't communicate with the officers, because she
doesn't speak English, and was pushed away when she tried to reach her
daughter.
Maribel was crying, the police report said, but Officer Christopher
Green, who handcuffed her, wrote, "We were able to get Cuevas into the
back of the patrol vehicle."
Guadalupe Cuevas said didn't understand what was happening.
"The officer was just saying, 'I don't care, I don't care,'" Guadalupe
Cuevas said in Spanish. "He told my nephew he didn't speak his kind of
English."
The police report said Green read Maribel her Miranda rights twice, in
English. The report also lists the girl's emotional state as
"apologetic" and "hysterical."
Maribel's mother and her father, Martin, were able to see their
daughter for half an hour the day after the incident. The girl's wrists were
bruised, her mother said, and she was scared.
Maribel was kept in juvenile hall without seeing her parents again for
five nights. When she was released, she had to wear an electronic
monitoring bracelet that kept her under house arrest for about three more
weeks, leaving school early to make it home before the 3 p.m. curfew.
This is a case where the police department "overreacted and won't back
down," Beshwate said. "I don't know if they don't like Spanish
speakers, if it's racism, or if they were having a bad day. But how can you
defend this kind of behavior?"
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Not if it was someone like Justin.
The cops took the easy way out by arresting her- they absolutely have the option to speak to the little girl, her parents and the parents of the boys, and this is what they should have done. Acting like storm troopers to counter a failry common situation is ridiculous and to my mind speaks of policework that is lazy and somewhat neurotic- they need to get involved instead of holding a hard-to-understand community at arms length. Instead, these policemen contented themselves with containing situations, instead of working in a community based way.
He's on the side of the corporations. I'm on the side of the people.
Albeit those boys were not so nice, but meeting a water balloon with a rock or a club in certain circles may not be construed as lady-like behavior.
Also, there is the issue of the police being forced to actually doing a legitimate public service for a change, stemming a potentially deadly situation. Guess what may have happened if one of those kids (or their family) had returned with a knife or a pistol?
And it wasnt a knife or a gun, it was a rock. If a complaint was filed or if someone simple called the police, they still have the responsibility to analyze the situation appropriately...and not equate a rock with a gun. The parents of the boys both derserve a response from the gilrs family and the police if they feel their boys are in danger, but of course, they also need to be ablke to see thier boys behavoir in a much broader way...as a contributing factor .
The girl's response was not proportionate to the boys' actions. The police arrested her because the family of the boy pressed charges.
Analyze that!
parents she was sorry, she said.
Police responded to the call ready to tackle a hardened criminal. The officers "grabbed me from behind, by my shirt" the girl said in Spanish. "I was so scared. ... I didn't know what they were doing."
Maribel panicked. The officers had the slight girl down on the ground, and one of them put his knee to her back to restrain her, her mother said in Spanish.
These guys(the po-po) are idiots.
No, she didn't have water balloons to throw back. This was because she didn't plan the attack. The stone just happened to be nearby.
Contact information and petition are available at the FreeMaribel.org website.
Please sign up and help spread the word.
Thanks
Mike.
Also, to anyone reading this, before donating money to any third party committee I would check out who they are. If money is to be raised it would be better directed to the Cuevas family, to cover legal expenses, and set up and managed by their lawyer.
Thank You.
Also, to anyone reading this, before donating money to any third party committee I would check out who they are. If money is to be raised it would be better directed to the Cuevas family, to cover legal expenses, and set up and managed by their lawyer.
Thank You.
I agree totally about donating money, which is why the site asks for "pledges" not donations and asks people definately not to send money. Having a figure to quote helps quantify the level of concern about their tactics. Hopefully, they will back down and there will be no need to actually ask for that money. If not, I'll set up the trust and hand it over to a respected organization to administer.
To keep things clear and no conflicts of interest, I don't ever want to make a cent directly or indirectly out of this.
Mike.
As to Maribel herself, it is rather doubtful that an election is going to help her. Don't presume that everyone in the district is going to be joining you in your "protests". Most people don't really give a damn and those that do might find it a tad odd that you consider rock throwing "normal childhood behavior". There may be good reason to dislike the mayor and the police, but this is not one of them.
When I first heard of this on the radio I told everyone that this child had to be a minority, and I was right.
Look this is a situation between children. The little girl just reacted as an eleven year old child under pressure NOT as an adult fully aware of all of the consequences. What about the boys parents why dont they raise kids who are less of a bully.
Recently we had a similar incident occur, when a younger girl (black)
was handcuffed for mis-behaving in school.
Be honest when these things happen with white kids, we apply the coorect understanding that they are children.
Years ago when the white kid vandalized all of the Mercedes Benz
in Singapore (where you can't chew gum) and they wanted to cane
him of america cried foul. Every weekend when kids knowingly
drunk drive and kill someone. We sympathize.
Lets just be fair and balanced.
You lose sight of one thing, however, the court in all likelihood will decide that Maribel will enter some type of supervised anger management program, period. Of course the judge may throw it out altogether, which is what a lot of people prefer; however, at this point it doesn't hurt that a judge hear this matter.
Poverty Pimp Sharpton can chew on that.
Mexicans are not the problem, kids are.
me and my friends were talking about it, If a boy hit me or my friends with a water balloon or anything else, then we have the right to do anything to him. Even if the boy died, its an act of self defense. He should have got hit more with that rock!
"And the family of the injured boy are not pressing charges then the state is far exceeding its supposed authority. However, no disrespect to you friend, I would most certainly check out that fact. "
Justin,
When a call is made to 911 about domestic violence, a police officer arrives, is going to arrest the man or woman for beating his or her partner and the abused partner changes his/her mind about pressing charges, it no longer matters. If there is a mark, a cut, a bruise, anything- the D.A. will press the charges. This is what they are doing in this case.
My little sister was attacked by rocks by ten year old boys when she was five years old just becuase she was hispanic. God knows what would have happened if my mother would not have heard her screaming cries from underneath a car she was hiding under. The police never did anything-why? Because my mother did not know the laws, because she was hispanic, and so they didn't care.
Now, if my sister had picked up a pole and swung at one of these kids, and knocked him off of his bicycle, would she have been arrested at five years old? Come on people, get real.
The only criminal action here is the one taken by the police. I'd be willing to bet that California law defines "assault" or "battery" in terms that include being struck by another person with an object, regardless of what that object was, including a water baloon. I'd be equally willng to bet that the action taken by the little girl easily falls under the definition of "self defense". Given that a lone 11 year old girl is in no position to defend herself against a gang of boys, she had every right to respond as she did. I'm a professional mediator in the Texas public school system with 20 years experience working in psychiatric, educational and legal intervention. I've also negotiated over 1500 disputes with parents and school administrators over violations of so-called "zero tolerance" school policies. My first reccomendation to the attorney for the child's family is to file a nasty civil lawsuit against the Fresno police department, followed by a call for a criminal investigation into the abuse of police authority and corruption in the Fresno DA's office. As I understand it, Fresno is approximately 45% Hispanic, so political pressure should be brought to bear on these maniacs.
How truly frightening for the people of Fresno that idiots like these police officers are running around loose with a license to carry a loaded gun. How scary the DA would consider prosecuting this child. What's next...jack-booted, goose stepping Gestapo searching house to house for children with slingshots?
Fresno county voters need to expel the current DA.
This is the most ridiculous story I have ever heard, and I cannot believe anyone, anywhere, would allow any police to get away with something like that. THESE KIDS ARE 11!!!!!!!!!!
What has this world come to???????????