Post by WaTcHeR on Feb 16, 2006 11:18:53 GMT -5
Deputy's word put man in prison, perhaps wrongly
For the past six months we've been following the trail of a former Harris County deputy who shot two men in eight days last spring.
There is another prisoner who allegedly was beaten by the same deputy while handcuffed.
Azalea Juarez was 53 days old when her father went to jail. Now, she's helping with the dishes.
He missed her first steps, her first birthday and her first piñata.
Her mother, Blanca, was there, and lots of aunts and uncles and cousins, but no father.
"I would cry every night because he couldn't be there," said her mother.
He still can't and the days continue to blow by.
Juarez' father has been in the Eastham Unit at the other end of Prison Road One.
It's here that Bonifacio Juarez counts the days, professing his innocence and bemoaning his loss.
"She comes to visit me but she won't let me hold her. She smiles and she's nice. But she don't know me," he said.
The man who put him here was former Harris County deputy sheriff William Wilkinson.
But Juarez says he couldn't have done it alone.
"After we proved he was lying, the DA should have done something. He needs to be indicted," said Juarez.
For this, Juarez was taken into custody by Wilkinson.
"It disturbs me a lot, especially in Houston, with our pipeline to prison. This guy went to prison for nothing more than being a punching bag," said Juarez' defense attorney Wes Cordova.
Juarez's nightmare began on a rainy night when he lost control of his vehicle and slid off the road into waist-deep water.
He saved his wife and daughter, but Wilkinson accused him of driving drunk and gave him a series of sobriety tests, then asked him to take a Breathalyzer.
Juarez refused to take the test.
"He said, 'Well, I think you're drunk,' I said "You can think whatever you want." He put handcuffs on me and that was the last time I was with my family," Juarez said.
Juarez was taken to the Wallisville Road substation where Wilkinson handcuffed him to a bench.
Juarez demanded to see a lawyer. Wilkinson demanded he take a Breathalyzer.
"I said, 'Look, I'm not going to answer any more of your questions'," said Juarez.
He said that is what set Wilkinson off.
When asked how many times Wilkinson hit him, "At least six, seven times," said Juarez.
His nose was broken, one eye swollen shut, his face tenderized. He had a gash on his forehead, another in his scalp, and he was barely recognizable.
Cordova, in a letter to the Assistant DA, pointed out that "the deputy said the injuries were caused by the automobile crash."
He cited the E.M.S. report from the scene, which said the "patient had no obvious sign of injury."
It put Wilkinson's truthfulness in doubt.
Yet, neither Wilkinson nor his attorney, will comment. The assistant DA has since moved to Chicago and District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal passed on our request to his assistants, none of whom wanted to comment.
Wilkinson, though, had no choice. He was sued and ordered to participate in a video re-enactment after shooting two people in eight days.
The first was an alleged shoplifter, reportedly running from a Dillard's. Wilkinson fired three shots through the windows of a Lexus.
A week and a day later, during a traffic stop, he shot and killed a man at point-blank range.
Both shootings, he said, were self defense
But they immediately sparked public protests, coming at the same time that Cordova was negotiating with the Asst. DA, who apparently believed Wilkinson, even when he said he only hit Juarez once.
The DA charged Juarez with assaulting a police officer, on top of D.W.I with a child passenger.
Juarez was now facing 25-to-life, all on the word of Wilkinson.
"It's gonna be his word against Deputy Wilkinson's word and your client doesn't have a good record," said Juarez.
In his 20s, Juarez had been convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm.
"I wasn't a very good person back in those days. But I learned from my mistakes," said Juarez.
He got out, went to school, got a job as a truck driver, married and started a family.
It didn't matter.
Cordova, who used to work in the DA's office, wasn't surprised.
"I believe DAs are programmed to believe the police officer or law enforcement," he said.
He said Juarez had little choice but to plead guilty to the D.W.I. with a child passenger.
Even so, some day Azalea Juarez will see a picture of her father's mangled face and wonder how it was that her father was the one who went to prison.
Wilkinson was cleared of using excessive force in this case, and the two shootings.
However, the Harris County sheriff's department fired Wilkinson after allowing him to plead guilty to an unrelated misdemeanor case
That means Wilkinson can still work as a peace officer in the state of Texas.
Meanwhile, a civil suit against Wilkinson and the sheriff's department is expected to go to trial this summer.
For the past six months we've been following the trail of a former Harris County deputy who shot two men in eight days last spring.
There is another prisoner who allegedly was beaten by the same deputy while handcuffed.
Azalea Juarez was 53 days old when her father went to jail. Now, she's helping with the dishes.
He missed her first steps, her first birthday and her first piñata.
Her mother, Blanca, was there, and lots of aunts and uncles and cousins, but no father.
"I would cry every night because he couldn't be there," said her mother.
He still can't and the days continue to blow by.
Juarez' father has been in the Eastham Unit at the other end of Prison Road One.
It's here that Bonifacio Juarez counts the days, professing his innocence and bemoaning his loss.
"She comes to visit me but she won't let me hold her. She smiles and she's nice. But she don't know me," he said.
The man who put him here was former Harris County deputy sheriff William Wilkinson.
But Juarez says he couldn't have done it alone.
"After we proved he was lying, the DA should have done something. He needs to be indicted," said Juarez.
For this, Juarez was taken into custody by Wilkinson.
"It disturbs me a lot, especially in Houston, with our pipeline to prison. This guy went to prison for nothing more than being a punching bag," said Juarez' defense attorney Wes Cordova.
Juarez's nightmare began on a rainy night when he lost control of his vehicle and slid off the road into waist-deep water.
He saved his wife and daughter, but Wilkinson accused him of driving drunk and gave him a series of sobriety tests, then asked him to take a Breathalyzer.
Juarez refused to take the test.
"He said, 'Well, I think you're drunk,' I said "You can think whatever you want." He put handcuffs on me and that was the last time I was with my family," Juarez said.
Juarez was taken to the Wallisville Road substation where Wilkinson handcuffed him to a bench.
Juarez demanded to see a lawyer. Wilkinson demanded he take a Breathalyzer.
"I said, 'Look, I'm not going to answer any more of your questions'," said Juarez.
He said that is what set Wilkinson off.
When asked how many times Wilkinson hit him, "At least six, seven times," said Juarez.
His nose was broken, one eye swollen shut, his face tenderized. He had a gash on his forehead, another in his scalp, and he was barely recognizable.
Cordova, in a letter to the Assistant DA, pointed out that "the deputy said the injuries were caused by the automobile crash."
He cited the E.M.S. report from the scene, which said the "patient had no obvious sign of injury."
It put Wilkinson's truthfulness in doubt.
Yet, neither Wilkinson nor his attorney, will comment. The assistant DA has since moved to Chicago and District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal passed on our request to his assistants, none of whom wanted to comment.
Wilkinson, though, had no choice. He was sued and ordered to participate in a video re-enactment after shooting two people in eight days.
The first was an alleged shoplifter, reportedly running from a Dillard's. Wilkinson fired three shots through the windows of a Lexus.
A week and a day later, during a traffic stop, he shot and killed a man at point-blank range.
Both shootings, he said, were self defense
But they immediately sparked public protests, coming at the same time that Cordova was negotiating with the Asst. DA, who apparently believed Wilkinson, even when he said he only hit Juarez once.
The DA charged Juarez with assaulting a police officer, on top of D.W.I with a child passenger.
Juarez was now facing 25-to-life, all on the word of Wilkinson.
"It's gonna be his word against Deputy Wilkinson's word and your client doesn't have a good record," said Juarez.
In his 20s, Juarez had been convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm.
"I wasn't a very good person back in those days. But I learned from my mistakes," said Juarez.
He got out, went to school, got a job as a truck driver, married and started a family.
It didn't matter.
Cordova, who used to work in the DA's office, wasn't surprised.
"I believe DAs are programmed to believe the police officer or law enforcement," he said.
He said Juarez had little choice but to plead guilty to the D.W.I. with a child passenger.
Even so, some day Azalea Juarez will see a picture of her father's mangled face and wonder how it was that her father was the one who went to prison.
Wilkinson was cleared of using excessive force in this case, and the two shootings.
However, the Harris County sheriff's department fired Wilkinson after allowing him to plead guilty to an unrelated misdemeanor case
That means Wilkinson can still work as a peace officer in the state of Texas.
Meanwhile, a civil suit against Wilkinson and the sheriff's department is expected to go to trial this summer.