D.A.’s Website Targets Fugitives

Twelve-year-old Steven Morales was fatally shot while playing baseball with friends. Tiffany Rios, 19, was gunned down as she sat in a car near an East Los Angeles apartment complex. Sheriff’s Deputy David March was on routine patrol when he was shot at close range.

In all three cases, the suspected killers fled to Mexico, prosecutors said. But because Mexico doesn’t extradite suspects facing either the death penalty or life in prison without parole, U.S. authorities say their hands are tied.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is unveiling a website today to raise awareness of the issue and put pressure on government officials. The site, www.escapingjustice.com, includes descriptions of several cases, text of Mexican extradition law and links to politicians’ websites.

“This is just another layer to focus attention on this,” Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Tuesday. “If you murder someone here, we should be able to prosecute them and punish them. We should not be held hostage or change our whole penal system and punishment system because they have a different view of the law.”

If suspects are not extradited, they can be tried in Mexico. But California prosecutors say sentences there are often more lenient than they would be in the U.S.

In September, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that addresses one aspect of the problem. The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, allows officials to retry anyone prosecuted in a foreign jurisdiction for crimes committed on U.S. soil should they reenter the country.

The idea for the website came out of a meeting between Cooley and relatives of victims whose suspected killers fled to Mexico. A Spanish-language version is expected to be online next month.

The website features wanted posters. Descriptions of the slayings include 911 tapes, photographs and emotional letters from survivors. Crime victims or their families can fill out a form if they believe a criminal has escaped justice in Mexico.

Jack Morales was getting ready to take his family out for pizza on Aug. 29, 1998, when he heard what he thought was a car backfiring. His son, Steven, had been playing baseball with some friends on their cul-de-sac in Highland Park. A friend rushed in to say the noise was gunfire. When Morales ran outside, he saw his son lying on the ground bleeding.

Prosecutors alleged that Alvaro Jara was shooting at rival gang members and Steven got caught in the crossfire. By the time the district attorney’s office charged Jara with murder in September, he had already fled. Mexico has refused to deport Jara, prosecutors say.

“I live every day thinking there is a chance of catching him,” Morales said in an interview. “My son deserves justice.”

In the Rios case, Mexican authorities prosecuted Angel Jimenez, who is now serving 14 years in prison there. If he had been convicted in California, Jimenez could have faced life in prison.

Jorge “Armando” Arroyo Garcia, suspected of killing March, is believed to be at large in Mexico.