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May 6, 2009
Suspect in heat death skips court
2 others in farm worker case say third in
By
STOCKTON - A judge ordered an arrest warrant Tuesday for one of the
three defendants in the death of 17-year-old farm worker Maria Isabel
Vasquez Jimenez for failing to appear for his first court hearing.
Attorneys said in court that Raul Martinez had gone to Mexico, but they
didn't say why.
Three principals of Atwater-based Merced Farm Labor, the contractor for
which Jimenez worked, are charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Officials say they failed to provide the pregnant field worker with
reasonable access to potable water, shade, heat illness training and
prompt medical attention.
Maria De Los Angeles Colunga, 40, a nurse and owner of the labor
contracting company; and her brother, Elias Armenta, 39, former safety
director, did not enter pleas at their arraignment and let their
attorney speak for them. If convicted, each faces a prison sentence of
two to six years.
Martinez will likely receive additional charges for not appearing in
court. "We
have some information that (Martinez) is now living in Mexico. ... We
don't know his whereabouts," said attorney Randy E. Thomas, who
represents De Los Angeles Colunga and Armenta. De
Los Angeles Colunga, of Atwater, and Armenta declined comment, but
Thomas said, "There are a lot of facts that favor the defense." There
are various versions of what happened, he added.
Thomas said De Los Angeles Colunga and Armenta never met the teenage
farm worker. Thomas also said: "This is an extremely sad case. We want
to express our condolences to the family." The
criminal proceedings regarding Jimenez's heat-related death aren't
common in San Joaquin County, prosecutor Lester Fleming said.
"This is certainly the first time we filed anything under heat illness,"
Fleming said. De
Los Angeles Colunga and Armenta were ordered to report to the County
Jail on Saturday for booking (mug shot and fingerprints), but they will
remain free on their own recognizance throughout the trial. The
next hearing is scheduled for July 2.
Jimenez, a recent Mexican immigrant, suffered heat stroke in a
Farmington vineyard under the contractor's supervision May 14. She was
two months pregnant.
Jimenez's family said she had been working more than nine hours pruning
grapevines when she collapsed on the work site. They said supervisors
tried reviving her by placing an alcohol-soaked cloth over her face but
ended up releasing the teenager to her boyfriend, who had been working
alongside her.
After Jimenez's boyfriend took her to a clinic, she was taken to Lodi
Memorial Hospital. She died of heatstroke two days later, and the county
coroner declared it an occupational death. The
state has since revoked De Los Angeles Colunga's contractor's license
and fined her $262,700, the largest amount of fines assessed to a labor
contractor for labor violations. In
addition, two civil actions have been filed against De Los Angeles
Colunga, Merced Farm Labor and the operator of the vineyard, West Coast
Grape Farming. Jimenez's family
filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Merced County in June, and San Joaquin
County filed its own action April 23 seeking at least $500,000 in civil
penalties. Thomas said De Los Angeles Colunga has not yet been served
the county's civil lawsuit. |