No Justice for Victims of Beating

For 14 long months, Alicia Sotero Vasquez and Enrique Funes, the two immigrants whose beating by Riverside Deputies Tracy Watson and Kurt Franklin was televised worldwide, have been waiting for a decision by Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti or the U.S. Justice Department. The issue: Is there sufficient evidence to charge the deputies?

In the same span of time in which the LAPD officers who beat Rodney King with batons were tried and acquitted in state court and tried a second time in federal court for violation of King’s civil rights, the county prosecutor and U.S. attorney cannot seem to find sufficient time, motivation or interest to make the call.

Is it that Garcetti has abandoned his duty under the law to prosecute police crimes? Or is this a simple allocation of prosecutorial discretion based on the need for political support from law enforcement elements that protect even the bad apples. While distasteful and sad as this may be, at least we can understand why Garcetti is missing in action. But what excuse does U.S. Atty. Nora M. Manella offer for the slower-than-snail’s pace review of a videotaped, audio-recorded, 30-second beating witnessed by multitudes?

With the $740,000 civil settlement being paid to the victims, the need for witnesses diminishes. Many of the witnesses have now returned to their homelands or have made themselves unavailable. The victims are less inclined to remain separated from their families, and soon our prosecutors will find that memories have faded and recollections faltered. Their delay has heightened the prospects that Sotero and Funes, the people of California and our nation will be denied justice. More important, the international community, who we demand must comply with human rights standards in order to maintain most-favored-nation status, will point to this example and question our resolve to uphold these standards in our homeland.