Rhino
07-12-2006, 12:13 PM
Jul 12, 12:43 AM EDT
Smuggling Charges Dismissed in Ariz. Court
By JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press Writer
PHOENIX (AP) -- A judge dismissed charges Tuesday against two Mexican men in the first trial of illegal immigrants charged as conspirators under a new Arizona smuggling law.
The law targets immigrant smugglers, but a prosecutor has said that those who paid to be sneaked into the country also can be charged as conspirators to the crime.
After two days of testimony, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Thomas O'Toole dismissed charges against the two men, who were among the first 48 immigrants to be charged as conspirators under the 10-month-old law.
O'Toole said prosecutors didn't provide substantial evidence of a conspiracy, and likened the situation to people traveling independently of each other on a commercial airplane.
"You happen to be in a vehicle with other people on the same mission," O'Toole said.
The judge, however, declined Tuesday to dismiss a charge against a Mexican man who is accused of working as a smuggler........http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SMUGGLING_LAW?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Smuggling Charges Dismissed in Ariz. Court
By JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press Writer
PHOENIX (AP) -- A judge dismissed charges Tuesday against two Mexican men in the first trial of illegal immigrants charged as conspirators under a new Arizona smuggling law.
The law targets immigrant smugglers, but a prosecutor has said that those who paid to be sneaked into the country also can be charged as conspirators to the crime.
After two days of testimony, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Thomas O'Toole dismissed charges against the two men, who were among the first 48 immigrants to be charged as conspirators under the 10-month-old law.
O'Toole said prosecutors didn't provide substantial evidence of a conspiracy, and likened the situation to people traveling independently of each other on a commercial airplane.
"You happen to be in a vehicle with other people on the same mission," O'Toole said.
The judge, however, declined Tuesday to dismiss a charge against a Mexican man who is accused of working as a smuggler........http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SMUGGLING_LAW?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US