July 12, 2005
An association of Hispanic attorneys and 12 civil rights groups demanded Monday that Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas press charges against Patrick Haab, the soldier who held seven undocumented immigrants at gunpoint at an interstate rest stop in April.
"Our extensive legal research has caused us to conclude that Patrick Haab's arrest and detention (of the undocumented immigrants) was unlawful, and there can be no honest debate whatsoever about that conclusion," attorney Francisco Gutierrez said on behalf of Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association.
The association's members held a demonstration Monday in front of Maricopa County's Central Court Building to announce that they had sent a memorandum of law to Thomas, questioning his decision not to press charges.
Haab was arrested by sheriff's deputies, but Thomas ruled that Haab had made a citizen's arrest that was legal under Arizona law.
Antonio Bustamante, an attorney speaking for Los Abogados, said the arrest was not permissible under federal law, which trumps state law.
"The only persons who can enforce that statute are authorized members of the immigration service, people who are sworn police officers, not private citizens," Bustamante said.
"What Patrick Haab has done and what the decision of the county attorney has encouraged is the continuing demonization of undocumented people," he said.
The legal memorandum was signed by members of 13 organizations, including the American Jewish Committee, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Chicanos Por La Causa and the NAACP. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona also issued a statement criticizing Thomas' handling of the Haab case.
The groups accused Haab of aggravated assault.
Thomas was not impressed and said he has no intention of changing his mind.
"I've made it clear that our office reviewed the law and the facts of the case extensively, and that's where I came down," Thomas said.
Haab's attorney, David Michael Cantor, said that the debate between Thomas and Los Abogados ignores the self-defense aspect of the case. Haab was charged by seven men, he said, and whether or not he was actually being attacked, he had reason to believe he was being attacked.
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