Bail for illegal alien murder defendants?

Houston Chronicle:

The bailiff called the murder suspect's name for the second time, scanning the courtroom. "Juan Sanchez?"

It was June 30, the day Sanchez's trial was scheduled to start in Harris County District Court in the killing of Gregorio Diaz, a 25-year-old paramedic and U.S. Navy veteran.

Even though Sanchez told Harris County jailers he was in the country illegally when he was booked on the murder charge in July 2007, he was released on $35,000 bail, according to Harris County Sheriff's Office records.

Now, he was nowhere to be found.

Judge Joan Campbell called Sanchez's defense attorney and the prosecutor to the bench. "I am revoking bond on Juan Sanchez," she said. "Now."

Under her breath, the judge said, "So much for that murder case."

A Houston Chronicle investigation found dozens of cases in Harris County involving suspected illegal immigrants who posted bail and absconded on criminal charges, including murder, aggravated sexual assault of a child and drug trafficking.

The Chronicle examined arrest and immigration records for 3,500 inmates who told jailers that they were in the country illegally during a span of eight months starting in June 2007, the earliest immigration records available.

The review found at least 178 cases involving suspects who absconded, meaning they had their bails revoked for missing court dates or allegedly committing more crimes. Of those, 30 cases involved felony charges and two-thirds had initial bails set below $35,000 — the minimum recommended in the county's bail schedule for illegal immigrants accused of felonies.

Local officials said the problems stem from a shortage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents dedicated to identifying illegal immigrants in the county's jails. When ICE doesn't file paperwork to detain illegal immigrants, prosecutors and pretrial services officers said, they have few tools to verify defendants' claims of legal status.

Lynne Parsons, Harris County district attorney central intake division chief, said the DA's Office runs criminal history checks on all defendants and sometimes gleans limited immigration information from an FBI database. But without word from ICE or other law enforcement, Parsons said, it generally must "rely on the person being charged to tell us the truth" when questioned about immigration status.

ICE officials have acknowledged difficulties screening all foreign-born inmates in the county's jails but said they have increased staffing and are identifying more criminals before they can post bail.

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The Chronicle review found a wide range of cases involving defendants who told jailers they were in the country illegally, posted bail and absconded.

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States and counties across the country have tried to address the issue of bail for illegal immigrants, but many proposals stalled because of constitutional concerns. In 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 100, which denies bail to illegal immigrants charged with serious felonies. Civil rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court in April, charging the law is unconstitutional.

Defense attorneys and immigrant advocates have criticized Harris County's $35,000 minimum bail policy, saying the Texas Constitution grants equal rights to bail to everyone who is arrested, except for capital defendants.

There is no conclusive research to show whether illegal immigrants are more likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to abscond on state charges while out on bail.

Patrick McCann, a Houston defense attorney who has lobbied for eliminating the higher bails, said the inflated bails unfairly discriminate against immigrants and may cause some to plead guilty, even if they're not. The practice may also invite racial profiling of Hispanic defendants, he said.

"What possible business is this of the state courts?" McCann said. "I thought we had immigration courts."

Stricklin, the administrative judge, defended the policy, saying, ''The fact that someone is here illegally is relevant to whether they are going to be a flight risk."

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McCann appears to lack imagination as to the relevancy of people who show no respect for the rule of law on immigration, so why should we expect that they will show respect for the law requiring them to show up for trial? I think Texas should go with the Prop 100 solution chosen by Arizona. It will make us safer.

It should also be noted, that despite the deficiencies at ICE, if a defendant admits he is here illegally then that should be enough to detain him pending trial or deportation.

The Chronicle investigation is an eyeopener. It is good investigative journalism. It demonstrates how valuable the old media can be when it sets its sights on something important.