Prosecutor in illegal border jumper's beating death suspected cover-up
Leroy N. Soetoro
Shenandoah, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- The Pennsylvania prosecutor who failed
to secure felony convictions against two teens in the beating death of a
Mexican immigrant says he thought his case was "compromised" from the
start.
Like many residents in the small, tight-knit eastern Pennsylvanian
community of Shenandoah, Schuylkill County District Attorney James
Goodman knew that an officer investigating the death of Luis Ramirez was
in a relationship with the mother of one the teens involved.
Goodman also believed the investigation and evidence hadn't been handled
as it should have been.
"They didn't interview the perpetrators, the boys. In fact, not only did
they not interview them, they picked them up, gave them rides, helped
them concoct stories, brought them back and told the boys what to say,"
Goodman told CNN.
The son of Shenandoah Police Lt. William Moyer also played on the same
football team as the teens who were involved in the July 2008 street
brawl, according to court documents.
Read excerpt from "Latino in America"
"It's clear they were trying to help these boys out, for whatever reason
-- they were football players, these police officers were trying to help
these boys out and limit their involvement in the death of Luis
Ramirez."
Early on, Goodman says his office reached out to the U.S. Attorney's
Office with his concerns. Their investigation led to a federal
indictment alleging that the teens, Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick
Donchak, participated in a scheme to obstruct the investigation with the
help of Moyer, Shenandoah Police Chief Matthew Nestor and Police Officer
Jason Hayes, who was dating Piekarsky's mother.
Moyer, Nestor and Hayes pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in
Scranton on Tuesday. Moyer and Hayes were released; Nestor is being held
under a magistrate's order, his lawyer, Patrick M. Rogan said.
"The situation is very tragic in many ways and too many families and I'm
not in any way taking the attention away from what happened to the
Ramirez family," Rogan said. "But I believe that after a full airing of
the case and the situation that my client will be fully exonerated."
Piekarsky and Donchak are also charged with a federal hate crime for
fatally beating Ramirez allegedly because of his race.
The two are serving prison sentences after a Schuylkill County jury
found them guilty in May of misdemeanor simple assault in Ramirez's
death.
They were acquitted of felony charges of ethnic intimidation, a hate
crime according to Pennsylvania law, and hindering apprehension.
Piekarsky, who was accused of delivering the fatal kick to Ramirez's
head while he was on the ground, also was found not guilty of
third-degree homicide.
Anticipating the potential jury verdict, Goodman says his office
considered a plea deal.
"We knew there were problems with the evidence, with what the police
did, with the reports that were generated," he said. "We knew our case
was compromised and we knew we didn't have the strongest case going
forward and that's why we entertained the plea deal."
The plea deal never panned out, but Goodman says he does not fault the
jury for reaching its verdict.
"With the evidence, the police, what they did, we don't get to pick our
evidence either and you've got to play the hand you're dealt," he said.
"We respect their verdict and now the federal system has spoken and
we'll see what happens there."
The federal indictment alleges that, shortly after the July 12, 2008
fight, Piekarsky went with Hayes and Moyer to the scene of the assault
and told them about it.
After talking with them, the indictment says Piekarsky went to Donchak's
home and made an agreement with Donchak and others, including two of the
alleged participants "to give a false account of the assault on L.R.
[Luiz Ramirez] to authorities in official statements," the indictment
says.
Prior to leaving the home, the young men "created a false version of
events to be incorporated in official police reports which omitted
references to Brandon Piekarsky kicking L.R. and to the racial
motivation for the assault," the indictment alleges.
Moyer is accused of instructing the teens to dispose of their shoes; he
is also accused of mischaracterizing witness accounts to minimize
Piekarsky's role. Hayes and Nestor are accused of creating false and
misleading investigative reports, among other allegations, according to
the indictment.
Piekarsky's relationship with the officers and rumors of a cover-up have
been circulating among the community ever since Ramirez died after two
days on life support. Ramirez, a 25-year-old father of two, was living
with the mother of his children, a lifelong resident of Shenandoah. He
was walking her sister home the night of July 12 when he encountered
Piekarsky, Donchak and several other members of the Shenandoah High
School football team, who were leaving a local festival.
Prosecutors alleged that the teens baited Ramirez into the initial
confrontation after a night of drinking, hurling racial epithets at the
undocumented Mexican immigrant.
After the fight broke up, witnesses said Ramirez came back at the teens.
They beat him so severely that, according to medical testimony, brain
tissue oozed out of his skull during surgery at a hospital.
Defense lawyers argued that Ramirez's death was a street brawl gone
wrong that was not motivated by racial bias. They also suggested that
Ramirez was responsible for triggering the second confrontation.
Ramirez's fiancee, Crystal Dillman, said the indictments bring a measure
of hope that justice will finally be served.
"We prayed for this day. And it finally happened. It was a gift from
God, a Christmas present from God. It was a long-time coming but it was
definitely worth the wait."
If he wasn't in the USA illegally, he would be alive. When the U. S.
Government selectively enforces immigration, it is in the hands of true
American citizens to take up the slack.
--
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact, to
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel of New York's
million dollar tax evasion. Charles B. Rangel is still under
"investigation" by a "closed door" House Ethics Committee.