TODAY: Unprecedented trial in Peterborough

[candyvynwak]

Is anyone going to this?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1401704/posts

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/05/22/nh_police_chiefs_tactics_stir_a_storm_on_immigration/

http://www.nipd.net/041505.html

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FIGHTS CHARGE (TRESSPASSING IN NH)
http://www.unionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=54600 | May 12, 2005 | Dan McLean


MERRIMACK ? The attorney representing the illegal immigrant charged by New Ipswich police for criminal trespassing will argue state law is being misused and the Vienna Convention was violated when her client was not put in touch with the Mexican Consulate.

During an interview in her Merrimack office, Attorney Mona Movafaghi said the Vienna Convention guaranteed the right of her client to contact the Mexican Consulate, but police failed to provide the opportunity.

New Ipswich Police Chief W. Garrett Chamberlain charged Jorge Mora Ramirez, 21, with criminal trespass and operating a vehicle without a valid license on April 15. Ramirez encountered police on Turnpike Road after having car trouble. A local officer, who stopped to investigate, found Ramirez with several false identification papers and a Mexican driver's license.

When federal authorities would not take Ramirez into custody, Chamberlain added the criminal trespassing charge ? a tactic that has gained attention nationally.

"I'm disgruntled that the feds aren't going to follow up. We're stepping up to the plate and doing what the federal government refuses to do," the chief has said.

"We think that it's a misuse of the law and it was not the intent of the statute to be used in that way," Movafaghi said.

"If (Chamberlain) feels like this is his mission in life, he should join ICE," she said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency charged with enforcing immigration law.

Immigration authorities are "told to target criminals, terrorists and people who are causing trouble," the attorney said.

Manny Van Pelt, an ICE spokesman, disputed the priorities outlined by Movafaghi.

"We cannot turn a blind eye to violations of the law. And we will not," he said.

"We are going to place this person (Ramirez) in deportation hearings. Absolutely. We fully intend to," Van Pelt said in a phone interview yesterday.

Movafaghi declined to comment on the pending deportation proceedings.

In district court on May 3, Ramirez pleaded guilty to the charges. He does not speak English and did not have an attorney present.

After contacting the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, the Mexican Consulate in Boston called Movafaghi on May 4. Movafaghi met Ramirez the next day. And, on May 6 in Jaffrey-Peterborough District Court, Ramirez's guilty plea was reversed to innocent.

"Things moved very quickly. We were surprised we got a hearing" to change the plea, Movafaghi said.

Movafaghi declined to comment on whether she is being paid by the Mexican Consulate, Ramirez or working pro bono. The Mexican Consulate in Boston did not return calls for comment.

"The police chief is saying a person who is traveling on public roads has no right to do so if they are in the U.S. illegally . . .," she said. "If you are from Milford, can you be on the roads in New Ipswich?" Movafaghi said. "Where does it end?

"The immigration laws make the determination on who's here illegally, not the police chief," she said.

Movafaghi has been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association since 1987 and has focused primarily on immigration and nationality law since 1996. Her law firm is at 419 Daniel Webster Highway in Merrimack.

"I think people don't understand the state of immigration in New Hampshire . . . both illegal and legal. If there is an issue in a small state like New Hampshire, you can imagine the problems in New York and Florida," she said.

Ramirez is living in Waltham, Mass., and worked for a construction company in Jaffrey.

"(Ramirez) did not understand the implication of pleading guilty and was not given access to an attorney or a consulate," said Claire Ebel, executive director of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union.

The matter is scheduled for a bench trial at 10 a.m. on July 12 in Jaffrey-Peterborough District Court.