Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Protesters Challenge Diaz Death Penalty Decision
by Patricia O'Connor
July 23, 2003

A group of eight concerned citizens, activists and lawyers protested Tuesday the Cook County State's Attorney seeking of the death penalty against a Mexican national who they believe admitted to a crime because she did not understand English.

Veronica Diaz, 26, was convicted of murder in a bench trial February 14, 2003 in the drowning death of her son. She claimed it was an accident and that her son drowned in the bathtub while she was getting his clothes out. Diaz's lawyers say the conviction was based on a wrongfully obtained and signed confession written in English, which at the time, Diaz did not know how to read or speak.

"[Diaz] knew nothing about that confession," Diaz's lawyer, Mari Jane Placek, said at a press conference held at the First United Methodist Church, 77 W. Washington St. Placek added that, "the confession was obtained prior to the intervention of the Mexican consulate."Recently, Placek represented another Mexican citizen and three other men who were cleared of a murder they did not commit after being convicted using similar 'confessions.'"She was told it was a matter of form," that she sign the confession, Placek said.

Jane Bohman, executive director of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said that Diaz's confession was not only false, but international law was broken when the Mexican consulate was not immediately informed by the police of Diaz's arrest. In recent years, the Mexican consulate has made legal aid to its nationals a priority, especially in death penalty cases, which is viewed as a human rights violation by the Mexican government.In fact, Rita Vargas Torregrosa, the Mexican consul of Chicago, said that she did not even hear of Diaz's arrest until one week later when she read an article about it in the newspaper.

However, Jerry Lawrence, spokesman for the State's Attorney office, said that every defendant is asked by the judge in the bond hearing, which takes place between 24 and 48 hours of being charged, if they want their consulate notified. "This is not required by law," Lawrence said.

"This is our procedure [to make sure the defendant knows he or she has this option]."According to Vargas Torregrosa, one of the purposes of consular notification is to explain the United States' legal system and the laws to the Mexican national, the intricacies of the case and on what grounds the national is being held. This is impossible to do if the consulate is not informed of a national's arrest.

Therefore, Varga Torregrosa said, Diaz was not given the proper consular representation which, on top of her not knowing English, made her vulnerable to signing a flawed confession.

"It is the law for every person to be given consular notification whether they ask for it or not," Bohman said.

Interestingly, Lawrence said that "in most cases, especially with Mexican nationals, they choose not to have their consulate informed."Lawrence also maintained that if a person is unable to understand or speak English, he or she is asked whether they would like a court-sworn and court-appointed translator present.

As for the confession, Lawrence also said that he believes "it can be brought [to court] in any language as long as it is accurate."While Placek continues to try to push for a motion for a new trial, Diaz suffers from a life threatening liver illness which can only be corrected with a tranplant.

However, as an undocumented alien, Diaz has little or no chance of getting a transplant in the U.S. According to an open letter sent to Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine, her only chance of survival is to not be sentenced to death which could make Diaz eligible for repatriation to Mexico where she could receive treatment.

According to Father Charles Dahm of St. Pius Church in Pilsen, cases like Diaz's may not be as rare as many people think. "I've had people come to me as to what they should do when confessions were signed under questionable circumstances."The conditions of fairness have not been met [in the Diaz case]," he added.

Lawrence denies that claim. The confession was allowed into evidence by the judge and if he did not see it as just, he wouldn't have done so, Lawrence said. "The courts make those judgements, not the defense attorney.""We are in charge of enforcing the law through the justice system," Lawrence added. "They have more to do with their political agenda [of eliminating the death penalty]."