Some suspects in violent assaults and sex crimes are escaping American justice because they're being deported before they can stand trial, according to prosecutors and legal experts across the country. Via MSN.com:
In one suburban Denver county, the district attorney has tallied at least six criminal cases he's had to shelve or drop because Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained or deported suspects before he could prosecute them.
In another case in the city of Denver, a man suspected of attempted murder was released because ICE had deported the witnesses against him, forcing prosecutors to drop the charges. That suspect then tackled an ICE agent trying to detain him outside the jail.
And in Boston, a judge was forced to drop charges against a man accused of using a fake name on a driver's license after ICE took him into custody mid-trial and refused to return him. Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden called ICE's actions "troubling and extraordinarily reckless," because the agents prevented him from prosecuting the detainee.
Across the country, prosecutors, defense attorneys and legal observers say they've seen an uptick in ICE agents choosing to deport criminal suspects, instead of keeping them in custody and producing them for local court proceedings. "It's not only undermining to the justice system but also impacting community safety," said Adams County District Attorney Brian Mason, who serves a suburban area northeast of Denver.
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