Calif. Girl Faces Felony Assault Charge (11 years old!!!)

[Sequoia]

(07-15) 16:05 PDT Fresno, Calif. (AP) --

An 11-year old girl faces felony assault charges after seeking emergency help for a boy whom she says she accidentally injured after he bullied her with water balloons.

Maribel Cuevas was arrested, handcuffed and taken by police to juvenile hall, where she spent five days with only minimal contact with her parents.

Her family says Maribel meant no harm when she accidentally hit Elijah Vang, the 9-year-old neighborhood boy, in the forehead with a rock. They say she was simply defending herself after Vang and several other boys pummeled her with water balloons outside her home in a poor Fresno neighborhood in April. Vang's family isn't pressing charges and has since moved away.

Police contend Maribel was the main suspect in a felony assault and they treated her appropriately.

"We responded. We determined a felony assault had taken place and the officers took the actions that were necessary," said Fresno Police Sgt. Anthony Martinez.

No matter the boy admitted to officers he started the fight and was quickly released from the hospital after getting his head stitched up. No matter the girl herself ran for help.

"She's 11 ... they're treating her like she's a violent parole offender," said Richard Beshwate, Jr., Maribel's lawyer.

<snip>

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/07/15/national/a154213D52.DTL

Time to call these bastards!!! BASTARDS!

[fberknm]

1. Time to attend law school

Periodically an incident is so stupid that it would be worthwhile to attend law school just to bring one lawsuit. Seems like a strong case to me. If I were in Fresno and practiced law, I would consider lining up to bid on the case.

Unbelievable. If there is any justice, then even a half witted attorney should be able to get her college account fully funded!

FWH

[tubbacheez]

10. Proving inappropriate response doesn't look too hard here.

But justifying damages (especially large punitive amounts) is another beast.

[Fridays Child]

2. The child is poor and, no doubt, a person of color...

Fuck this shit. I am so tired of it.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. and rich white Republican men

are said to be innocent of all wrongdoing......

[Mythsaje]

4. This really stinks...

Then again, it goes along with what I say about law vs. justice. Law doesn't give justice because its stature grows so imposing, so monumental, so unassailable, that it starts to harm the very things it was originally designed to protect.

She was well within her rights to try to defend herself. She intended no serious injury, I'm sure. She just wanted them to stop.

[bushisanidiot]

5. KKKarl Rove squeels a covert CIA agent's identity to the public and

walks free.

treason = good
throwing a rock and accidently hitting a kid = felony


gawd.

the girl must be black otherwise they wouldn't be charging her with a crime.

[Fridays Child]

8. Hispanic and poor = felony charge. Rich and white = walk free.

[atreides1]

6. Watch out

You start calling cops names and pointing how stupid they can be, as well as how much of a danger to the community, and the "We Love Cops"
crowd will burn you at the stake.

And that's here on DU, just think how bad it would be at FreeRepublic.

[wakeme2008]

7. pic

the police are crazy in this case. "where she spent five days with only minimal contact with her parents."

FIVE DAYS WHY

[anitar1]

23. Yes--Latino aAND female. Big strikes against you. n/t

[Nikki Stone 1]

9. One girl defends herself against several bullies and SHE goes to jail?

How about felony assault for the boys throwing the goddamned water balloons?

I mean, if we are going to charge children for assault when they have fights, we should start with the kids who gang up on one lone child and start throwing things.

What a lesson for this girl--don't defend youself, you'll go to jail. Does that mean if I accidentally injure a rapist when trying to escape from him that *I* go to jail and not the rapist? Should I not try to defend myself and just capitulate, just in case I happen to end up getting led away from the rape scene in handcuffs and charged with assault?


The whole thing is a ridiculous overreaction by the local police.

[Voltaire99]

14. Good post. Her response seem perfectly normal to me...

...given her age.

She was bullied. She fought back with the means at hand. What more should we expect of an 11-year old?

Given the violent bullying that is now endemic in this country, prosecuting this child is shameful.

This malfeasance by prosecutors should be publicized far and wide. DAs are often looking to future political careers; we should put the pressure on.

[AX10]

22. DA's are very corrupt. I'd say worse than salemen.

[AX10]

21. The "local police" are criminals. How can they not allow...

an 11 year old (a victim of a crime) not to have contact with her parents for 5 days. What is this, "Mother Russia"? :argh: :mad:

Read my other post, a massive lawsuit is going to come here against many people. The arresting cops and those who held her for 5 days without contact to the outside world need to be FIRED and stripped of their pension. I am not "anti-police". They have a job to do, but this is an abuse of power.

Holding people in jail without contact to the outside world, isn't that what happens in GITMO?!?

[Megahurtz]

11. They're making an "example" out of her.

That's what they do here in Nazi-Governator Land.

[LeftyMom]

12. The families should have been able to handle this

First of all, the appropriate response to being pelted with water ballons is not to throw rocks. Maribel's parents need to make sure that's clear. Meanwhile, the only injury the boy suffered was a scalp wound requiring a few stitches. Sounds like the issue resolved itself to me.

In a sane world, a call to the police over the squabbles of nine and eleven year olds would result in laughter and a reminder not to waste thier time on petty issues. Certainly long ago when dinosaurs roamed free on the plain and I was that age the police didn't come out even for the wildest of children's fights, which it sounds like this was not. Honestly, I don't think it would have occured to anyone to call, it's a family and neighborhood matter, not a legal one.

[pinerow]

13. What should she have done...???

Ask them nicely..."oh please leave me alone"...one girl vs. several boys...i think her response was appropriate and measured...if it were my daughter, she would have received an "atta-girl"...

[LeftyMom]

15. Go inside and tell an adult?

Seems like the reasonable response to me. After all, they were throwing water balloons, a nusaince not likely to injure, and she escalated the situation with a rock to the head, which is much higher on the potential injury scale.

[Nikki Stone 1]

17. Babe, this stuff usually happens when adults are not around

I can tell you from personal experience. By the time you figure out where an adult might be, you're covered head to foot in water. Then the bullies either run off, laugh, or, if they are more troubled than normal, become more aggressive. There is usually one in a group who is more troubled--beaten by an alcoholic daddy or whatever--who might make the move to a whole new level.

I agree that adult involvement, especially for the more recidivist bullies, is definitely in order. This kind needs psychological counseling and treatment, especially if he comes from a violent home. But on site? The girl was 11 and fought back. I respect that.

[WhiteTara]

19. I am sure both her parents were working

at least one job, maybe two. Latch key kids abound and 11 is often considered old enough to stay alone. Could be why "several" boys felt she would be an easy target. Too bad she didn't have several rocks...one for each boy.

[merkins]

16. Locked and booted off LBN?

I can point to atleast a half dozen stories on the LBN forum that deal
with local/state issues..but this particular story gets the boot.
Just seems odd ..

[havocmom]

18. was thinking the very same thing

Seems odd.

[AX10]

20. Ms. Cuevas defends herself and even takes the assailant...

to the emergency room. I see nothing wrong with what she did. Das Governmentreich is the problem here. She was right to defend herself, and she was right to take Mr. Vang to the emergency room. A see a massive lawsuit here against, the town, the "justice" department, and the police (for not allowing the girl contact with her parents for five days).

[chicaloca]

24. I agree that we should call them

"Time to call these bastards!!! BASTARDS!"

Fresno County District Attorney's office:
Phone:[phone]
Fax: [phone]

City of Fresno police department:
Phone [phone]

I'd encourage everybody here to send this info to all the Californians they know. This is utter and complete bullshit.