6 Held in Alleged Poway Rape Plan Wrongful-Arrest Claims

Six Mexican citizens who spent two months in jail as suspects in the reported rape of a 15-year-old Poway girl plan to file claims totaling $6 million against San Diego County for wrongful arrest and imprisonment in connection with the racially charged case, an attorney said Friday.

Edmundo Espinoza, a lawyer representing the five men and one woman held as suspects in the case, said the claims would be filed in the next few weeks. They will likely lead to a civil lawsuit against the county and the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, which made the arrests, Espinoza said.

“The Sheriff’s Department should have investigated more thoroughly before arresting these people,” Espinoza said at a San Diego news conference announcing the planned claims.

The six are among 19 Latinos, most of them illegal aliens from Mexico, who plan to file civil claims totaling $23 million in coming weeks against federal, city and county authorities in connection with alleged shootings, beatings and unlawful arrests by law enforcement officers in San Diego County, said Espinoza, an attorney for the Coalition on Law and Justice, a rights group that is assisting the claimants. The claims are precursors to expected civil suits, Espinoza said.

10 Separate Incidents

The allegations involve 10 separate incidents that occurred between April, 1987, and April, 1988, at locations ranging from the U.S.-Mexico border to northern San Diego County. Agencies targeted by the suits include the U.S. Border Patrol, the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

“We’re going to keep on documenting these abuses, and we’re going to hit them where it hurts--in the pocketbook,” said Roberto Martinez, who heads the U.S.-Mexico program here for the American Friends Service Committee and is also a co-chairman of the Coalition for Law & Justice.

The planned claims represent the latest effort by rights activists to counter what they see as “systematic” abuses against Latinos by the U.S. Border Patrol and other law enforcement authorities. Officials have generally denied the allegations.

Perhaps the most celebrated case cited Friday was the roundup by sheriff’s officers and Border Patrol agents of scores of Latino men after the reported rape April 24 of the Poway teen-ager. The mass arrests drew considerable protests from rights groups, as did the detention of the six former suspects--Leonardo Martinez, Guadalupe Martinez, Jorge Mendez, Jose Luis Romero, Camarino Cedillo and Monica Acevedo.

The six illegal aliens were released last month after the district attorney, citing the discovery of “information favorable to the defendants,” abruptly dropped charges against them.

Father, Son File Claims

The rape case also spawned wrongful-arrest claims by a father and son from Poway who were picked up in the sweeps after the purported crime and held in custody for up to eight hours. Jorge Garibay Sr., 46, and his son, Jorge Jr., 24, are both legal U. S. residents and plan to seek $500,000 each in damages, Espinoza said.

George Gardner, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, declined comment on the prospective claims. However, the Sheriff’s Department has defended its actions in the Poway case as justified.

Also among the prospective claimants in the upcoming series of claims, Espinoza said, are five men who survived shootings by members of the Border Crime Prevention Unit, a joint effort of the U.S. Border Patrol and the San Diego Police Department. The shootings occurred between April, 1987, and March, 1988, at sites in San Diego County, Espinoza said. The shooting victims, some of whom still suffer from their wounds, plan to seek $1 million in damages each from the federal and city governments.

One victim, Luis Fernandez Bonilla, who was shot eight times in the back Jan. 27, is also seeking $500,000 from San Diego County for its alleged failure to provide him with adequate medical attention while he was in custody, Espinoza said. Fernandez, who filed a claim with city and county authorities this week, is the only one of the 19 alleged victims who has actually filed.

Beating Claims

Five other men plan to submit claims seeking $1 million apiece from the U.S. government for beatings allegedly inflicted by Border Patrol agents, Espinoza said. The alleged beatings took place between December, 1987, and April, 1988, he said.

One other man, Manuel Pena, a 24-year-old junior college student and U.S. citizen from San Diego, will file a $500,000 claim against the U.S. government in connection with his illegal detention by the Border Patrol, Espinoza said. Despite Pena’s U. S. citizenship, Espinoza said, patrol agents removed Pena from a bus last May and held him in custody for about 45 minutes. After realizing their mistake, they let him go.