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11-Year-Old Girl Facing Felony Charge
FROM FRESNO CA. U.S.A
THIS IS BIG 8 AT IT'S BEST NEWS -- WE ARE HERE FOR YOU
YOU CAN SAY SOME THING ABOUT THIS STORY AT MY WEB
BLOG LINK RIGHT HERE RUN BY DAVID AARON GARCIA
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Deal Reached in Rock Throwing Case
attention. Now, a deal in court will keep an 11-year-old
It was a case that had the potential for a big battle in court after 11-year-old
Maribel Cuevas was arrested for throwing a rock and injuring a little boy.
But, little Maribel Cuevas won't be going to jail and her story continues to have
The shy 11-year-old received a hero's welcome when she arrived at juvenile hall
on Wednesday. Bus loads of supporters came from
Bay Area, urged to drive to
The crowd included children wearing orange to symbolize jail jumpsuits in protest
of Maribel's arrest.
Maribel was facing felony assault charges for hitting a boy with a rock, who may
have been among a group of boys throwing rocks and water balloons at her. He
suffered a cut to his face and police arrested Maribel.
She spent five days in juvenile hall and could have been locked up again. But there
will be no orange jumpsuits for Maribel, the judge decided the case should be settled
between her and the boy.
"It involved a reconciliation process between her and Eljah Vang, so they can shake
hands, apologize and move on with their lives," said defense attorney Richard Beshwate.
Maribel's father says he feels good because justice was served.
The Fresno Police Department's arrest and detention of the 11-year-old girl attracted
worldwide attention and landed a mention on late night American TV.
Despite the publicity, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says he's pleased with the
outcome, "I think there's a tremendous lesson learned by the suspect, perhaps by
the victim and by all of us in terms of how these types of incidents can escalate
into something nobody anticipates."
Chief Dyer still defends the officers actions as being justified.
Maribel Cuevas will be on informal probation. Her case will be reviewed in three months
and will then likely be closed.
11-Year-Old Girl Facing Felony Charge
But, police say she threw a rock at a boy and needs to be punished.
The young girl's family says she was held for days without ever being told why. But, the police
department says the young girl broke the law and they did not overreact.
The girl and the boy were in court on Wednesday, but there's still no resolution.
It's been a bizarre three months for 11-year-old Maribel Cuevas. The little girl faces a felony
assault charge for throwing a rock at a boy.
It happened in a
waterballoons and rocks at Maribel and her sister. Maribel threw a rock back, hitting a boy in the head.
They called an ambulance, but witnesses say police came too, with three patrol cars and a helicopter.
Police then took Maribel to Juvenile Hall, where the family says she was held for six days with no explanation.
"What we have here is an effort by law enforcement and or the D.A.'s office to essentially criminalize
childhood behavior," says the family's attorney, Richard Beshwate, Jr.
At one point, Maribel had to wear an ankle monitor during a month on house arrest.
The boy's family hasn't pushed for prosecution, but the father has said his son was only playing with
water balloons and not rocks.
Attorney Richard Beshwate, Jr. says police went too far, "I think it's a bit of a political case, based
on the conduct of the officers. They roughed up my client pretty well after the event, they made
assumptions, wrote reports that were incorrect."
But,
police say was thrown at the boy. He says it left a four inch gash and the officers were justified
charging the girl with a felony.
The girl's family and police seem to disagree on almost every detail of this case.
Police say the girl was 13-years-old and the victim, 6-years-old. The family says she's only
11-years-old and he's 9-years-old.
They also insist she was held in juvenile hall for six days. Police first said it was one day,
but now say it was five.
And while the family's lawyer says the boy wasn't seriously hurt, police say he was.
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 the 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
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 Robert Beshwate, Jr.,
Maribel's lawyer.
Maribel, who speaks limited English, spent five days in juvenile hall with just one half-hour visit from
her parents. She then spent about 30 days under house arrest, forced to wear a GPS ankle bracelet to
monitor her whereabouts. She's charged with assault with a deadly weapon and is due in court Aug. 3.
Officers said their response was not excessive, and was not motivated by the low-income, largely
minority neighborhood.
``We arrested the main suspect,''
Assistant
involves children.
Maribel's family said the soft-spoken girl, who turned 11 in March, is terrified. She's a good student
who struggles sometimes because English is her second language, but in a neighborhood where kids
grow up fast, she keeps close to home, helping her mother take care of her four younger siblings.
Maribel attends school with Elijah, and says she's been taunted by him in the past.
With help from their church, the family hired Beshwate to represent Maribel at her upcoming trial.
The attorney says prosecutors aren't interested in a deal.
Maribel says she was playing on the sidewalk with her 6-year-old brother and other younger children
on April 29, when the boys rode by on their bikes.
They started teasing her, calling her names and hitting her with water balloons, she said, holding
her 1-year-old brother in her lap in her family's modest living room, where a couch and dining table
share space with a crib and a bed.
When the boys refused to leave, Maribel threw a rock at them, hitting Elijah.
The aunt of one of Maribel's playmates saw the boy's forehead was cut. She got him a towel to stop
the bleeding, and called 911, the family said.
Maribel ran to the boy's house, two blocks from her own, to tell his parents she was sorry, she said.
Police responded to the call ready to tackle a hardened criminal.
The officers ``grabbed me from behind, by my shirt'' the girl said in Spanish. ``I was so scared. ...
I didn't know what they were doing.''
Maribel panicked. The officers had the slight girl down on the ground, and one of them put his knee
to her back to restrain her, her mother said in Spanish.
Guadalupe Cuevas couldn't communicate with the officers, because she doesn't speak English, and
was pushed away when she tried to reach her daughter.
Maribel was crying, the police report said, but Officer Christopher Green, who handcuffed her, wrote,
``We were able to get Cuevas into the back of the patrol vehicle.''
Guadalupe Cuevas said didn't understand what was happening.
``The officer was just saying, 'I don't care, I don't care,''' Guadalupe Cuevas said in Spanish. ``He told
my nephew he didn't speak his kind of English.''
None of the responding officers spoke Spanish, and none who did were called to communicate with
the family before the girl was taken to juvenile hall. The police report said Green read Maribel her
Miranda rights twice, in English.
The report also lists the girl's emotional state as ``apologetic'' and ``hysterical.''
Maribel's mother and her father, Martin, were able to see their daughter for half an hour the day
after the incident. The girl's wrists were bruised, her mother said, and she was scared.
Maribel was kept in juvenile hall without seeing her parents again for five nights. When she was
released, she had to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet that kept her under house arrest.
She was only able to leave the family's tiny, cluttered home to go to school, but the thought she
might not make it home on time, violating her
be made with her teachers so she could leave class early, her mother said.
Guadalupe Cuevas said watching the other children play outside depressed Maribel, and the child
went for periods of not wanting to eat, and not sleeping well.
This is a case where the police department ``overreacted and won't back down,'' Beshwate said.
``I don't know if they don't like Spanish speakers, if it's racism, or if they were having a bad day.
But how can you defend this kind of behavior?''
FRESNO, Calif. - An 11-year-old girl who threw a rock to defend herself as neighborhood boys
pelted her with water balloons is being prosecuted on a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
Maribel Cuevas says she didn't mean to hurt the 9-year-old boy - who acknowledged to officers
that he started the fight in late April. He was released from the hospital after getting his head stitched up.
Maribel already has spent five days in juvenile hall with one half-hour visit from her parents. She
then spent 30 days under house arrest, wearing a GPS ankle bracelet to monitor her whereabouts
and is now due back in court early next month.
``They're treating her like she's a violent parole offender,'' said her lawyer, Richard Beshwate, Jr.
Assistant
it involves children.
Police sent three squad cars and a helicopter in response to a 911 call. But authorities deny that
their response was influenced by the setting - a low-income, largely minority neighborhood -
or by language difficulties. Maribel's first language is Spanish and she and her family members
speak limited English.
``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.
The police report said an officer read Maribel her Miranda rights twice, in English. The 11-year-old
said the officers grabbed her by her shirt from behind.
``I was so scared,'' she said in Spanish. ``I didn't know what they were doing.''
as neighborhood boys pelted
her with water balloons is being
prosecuted on a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
Maribel Cuevas says she didn't mean to hurt the 9-year-old boy -- who acknowledged to officers that
he started the fight in late April. He was released from the hospital after getting his head stitched up.
Maribel already has spent five days in juvenile hall with one half-hour visit from her parents. She then
spent 30 days under house arrest, wearing a GPS ankle bracelet to monitor her whereabouts and is now
due back in court early next month.
"They're treating her like she's a violent parole offender," said her lawyer, Richard Beshwate, Jr.
Assistant
involves children.
Police sent three squad cars and a helicopter in response to a 911 call. But authorities deny that their
response was influenced by the setting -- a low-income, largely minority neighborhood -- or by language
difficulties. Maribel's first language is Spanish and she and her family members speak limited English.
"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.
The police report said an officer read Maribel her Miranda rights twice, in English. The 11-year-old said
the officers grabbed her by her shirt from behind.
"I was so scared," she said in Spanish. "I didn't know what they were doing."
boys pelting her with water balloons is being prosecuted
on serious assault charges in California.
Maribel Cuevas was arrested in April in a police operation which involved three police
cars and a helicopter.
She has since spent five days in detention, in which she was granted one 30 minute
visit by her parents, and has spent a month under house arrest.
Her lawyer accuses the authorities of criminalising childhood behaviour.
"They're treating her like a violent parole offender," Richard Beshwate said. "It's not
a felony, it's an 11-year-old acting like an 11-year-old."
The girl is due back in court at the beginning of next month.
Police say they had to investigate as the boy who was hit by the stone she threw suffered
a deep gash to his head and needed hospital treatment.
He has reportedly acknowledged to officers that he started the fight in late April.
'Obligation'
The confrontation happened in a poor district of Fresno, in central California, where Maribel
Cuevas lives with her Spanish-speaking family.
The girl, who speaks little English, has admitted throwing a stone at a group of boys she says
were pestering her with water balloons as she walked down the street.
An ambulance was called, but arrived flanked by three police patrol vehicles. A helicopter
meanwhile hovered overhead.
The 11-year-old was then read her rights twice in English before being detained.
"We responded. We determined a felony assault had taken place and the officers took the
actions that were necessary," said Fresno Police Sergeant Anthony Martinez.
Another police officer told ABC News that the girl, when asked what she thought would
happen if she threw the stone, replied that it would make him "bleed".
FRESNO, Calif. -- An 11-year-old girl who threw a rock to defend herself as
neighborhood boys pelted her with water balloons is being prosecuted on a
felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
Maribel Cuevas says she didn't mean to hurt the 9-year-old boy _ who acknowledged
to officers that he started the fight in late April. He was released from the hospital
after getting his head stitched up.
Maribel already has spent five days in juvenile hall with one half-hour visit from her
parents. She then spent 30 days under house arrest, wearing a GPS ankle bracelet to
monitor her whereabouts and is now due back in court early next month.
"They're treating her like she's a violent parole offender," said her lawyer, Richard Beshwate, Jr.
Assistant
because it involves children.
Police sent three squad cars and a helicopter in response to a 911 call. But authorities
deny that their response was influenced by the setting _ a low-income, largely minority
neighborhood _ or by language difficulties. Maribel's first language is Spanish and she
and her family members speak limited English.
"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.
The police report said an officer read Maribel her Miranda rights twice, in English.
The 11-year-old said the officers grabbed her by her shirt from behind.
"I was so scared," she said in Spanish. "I didn't know what they were doing."
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
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.
Maribel, who speaks limited English, spent five days in juvenile hall with just one half-hour visit
from her parents. She then spent about 30 days under house arrest, forced to wear a GPS ankle
bracelet to monitor her whereabouts. She's charged with assault with a deadly weapon and is
due in court Aug. 3.
Officers said their response was not excessive, and was not motivated by the low-income,
largely minority neighborhood.
"We arrested the main suspect,"
Assistant
because it involves children.
Maribel's family said the soft-spoken girl, who turned 11 in March, is terrified. She's a good
student who struggles sometimes because English is her second language, but in a neighborhood
where kids grow up fast, she keeps close to home, helping her mother take care of her four younger
siblings. Maribel attends school with Elijah, and says she's been taunted by him in the past.
With help from their church, the family hired Beshwate to represent Maribel at her upcoming
trial. The attorney says prosecutors aren't interested in a deal.
Maribel says she was playing on the sidewalk with her 6-year-old brother and other younger
children on April 29, when the boys rode by on their bikes.
They started teasing her, calling her names and hitting her with water balloons, she said, holding
her 1-year-old brother in her lap in her family's modest living room, where a couch and dining table
share space with a crib and a bed.
When the boys refused to leave, Maribel threw a rock at them, hitting Elijah.
The aunt of one of Maribel's playmates saw the boy's forehead was cut. She got him a towel to stop
the bleeding, and called 911, the family said.
Maribel ran to the boy's house, two blocks from her own, to tell his parents she was sorry, she said.
Police responded to the call ready to tackle a hardened criminal.
The officers "grabbed me from behind, by my shirt" the girl said in Spanish. "I was so scared. ...
I didn't know what they were doing."
Maribel panicked. The officers had the slight girl down on the ground, and one of them put his knee
to her back to restrain her, her mother said in Spanish.
Guadalupe Cuevas couldn't communicate with the officers, because she doesn't speak English, and
was pushed away when she tried to reach her daughter.
Maribel was crying, the police report said, but Officer Christopher Green, who handcuffed her,
wrote, "We were able to get Cuevas into the back of the patrol vehicle."
Guadalupe Cuevas said didn't understand what was happening.
"The officer was just saying, 'I don't care, I don't care,'" Guadalupe Cuevas said in Spanish.
"He told my nephew he didn't speak his kind of English."
None of the responding officers spoke Spanish, and none who did were called to communicate
with the family before the girl was taken to juvenile hall. The police report said Green read Maribel
her Miranda rights twice, in English.
The report also lists the girl's emotional state as "apologetic" and "hysterical."
Maribel's mother and her father, Martin, were able to see their daughter for half an hour the day after
the incident. The girl's wrists were bruised, her mother said, and she was scared.
Maribel was kept in juvenile hall without seeing her parents again for five nights. When she was
released, she had to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet that kept her under house arrest.
She was only able to leave the family's tiny, cluttered home to go to school, but the thought she
might not make it home on time, violating her
made with her teachers so she could leave class early, her mother said.
Guadalupe Cuevas said watching the other children play outside depressed Maribel, and the child
went for periods of not wanting to eat, and not sleeping well.
This is a case where the police department "overreacted and won't back down," Beshwate said. "I
don't know if they don't like Spanish speakers, if it's racism, or if they were having a bad day. But
how can you defend this kind of behavior?"
ABC30 OF FRESNO http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/news/071305_nw_girl_charges.html
YAHOO INTERNET NEWS http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050715/ap_on_re_us/little_girl_assault
NEWS PAPER WEB SITE FROM BAY AREA SFGATE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/07/15/national/a154213D52.DTL
WEB SITE PHILLYBURBS http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/1-07152005-515067.html
NEWS PAPER FROM BOSTON
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/07/15/calif_girl_faces_felony_assault_charge/?page=2