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Original Post, 7/18/05:
How many more of these incidents should we tolerate? An 11 year old is facing felony charges in California for throwing a rock. She was arrested and spent five days immediately thereafter in juvenile detention. Now she faces trial, and the prosecutors say they are not interested in a deal.
Police apparently came prepared for gang warfare when they sent three squad cars and a helicopter in response to a 911 call. Instead, they found an 11-year-old girl who had thrown a rock to defend herself as neighborhood boys pelted her with water balloons.
Little Maribel Cuevas says she didn't mean to hurt the boy - who admitted to officers that he started the fight and was quickly released from the hospital after getting his head stitched up. But police insist she's a criminal - she's being prosecuted on a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon. "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.
Her family says Maribel was simply defending herself when 9-year-old Elijah Vang and several other boys pummeled her with water balloons outside her home in a poor Fresno neighborhood in April. They say she quickly sought help and tried to apologize to the boy and his family. The Vangs have since moved away.
"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 due in court Aug. 3.
Officers denied that their response was influenced by the setting - a low-income, largely minority neighborhood - or language difficulties - Maribel's family speaks limited English, and the responding don't speak Spanish. With help from their church, the family hired Beshwate to represent Maribel at her upcoming trial. The lawyer says prosecutors aren't interested in a deal.
This is just sickening.