A post from Rebecca's sister

From the home of Barbara Moodhe
February 5, 2009

These notes are from this morning’s conversation with Rebecca including her Public Defender’s comments, the Consulate’s comments made on 2/4/09. I have also included Rebecca’s comments on these subjects.


BACKGROUND:

Rebecca was sentenced to 9 years on April 22, 2008.

I went to see the woman judge to make a family appeal on September 10, 2008. I took Lucie E. to translate. In spite of a good meeting for an hour, Rebecca’s case was later transferred to Juanajuato with 12 other cases from Jalisco, saying that this would speed up her case due to an enormous amount of cases being processed in Jalisco.

On November 11, 2008, Lucie E. my translator drove me to Juanajuato to see the Judge.
He gave us 15 minutes. I wasn’t able to communicate much to him as he said that he would take my notes and those that were in Spanish from the translator. He said that
He would try to have his decision in before the end of the year. He admitted that since he was told by the people giving over these cases to him that Rebecca’s was difficult, he had placed her at the bottom of that pile.

We didn’t get any word of a decision by the end of the year. Instead we were told by
Rebecca’s Public Defender that it would probably be made by the end of January.

1) Yesterday, 2/4/2009, her Public Defender came and told her it could be another 3 months.
Inferring that the judge was going on with other cases and getting to hers as he had time.

The only thing that makes this case difficult is the Disorganization of the Prosecuting Attorney, misinformation, and total fabrications.

Rebecca asks:
WHY IS THERE NO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE JUDGES?

WHY IS THEIR WORK DONE IN SECRECY? NO TRANSPARENCY?

WHY CAN’T HER PUBLIC DEFENDER TALK TO THE JUDGE?

WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE JUDGES?

2) The new consulate person came and introduced herself as Janie Friedline. She was accompanied by Anna Kling. They spoke the same line of “know nothing” that all of the others have done over the past 3 years.

When Rebecca asked about the aforementioned information from her Public Defender, she was told that she had to go through her attorney and that he had to deal with these problems, that these were not anything the consulate could deal with. The brought her used tennis shoes, used bras, old magazines.

Janie didn’t give her a phone number to call or an email.

Rebecca finally got the name of the Consul General Edward Romatowski.

Rebecca told her about the 5 – 7 missing nebulizers. They said that they would check into this and into the medical procedures.

In light of the fact that it is reported daily in the newspapers that witnesses won’t come forward in Mexico because of the corruption in the legal system, Rebecca relates to her own experience when she was told to be a witness in 2002 in Puerto Vallarta. She was not told that she was being asked questions that would be later twisted into a “confession”. It was taken in Spanish which Rebecca did not speak

Rebecca mentioned that Carey Waage’s confession in the United States, in English, was read to him and then he was asked if he understood that he was making a confession.

Rebecca was never asked if she was giving a confession. She was solely brought in as a witness.

When they took her against her will to Puente Grande, Feb. 13, 2006, the next day she was told she was giving evidence as a witness. She was not told she was giving a confession. Again the information she tried to give was taken in Spanish, (no translator both times) and it was twisted against her and labeled a confession.

Our Consulate says that they can only watch to see that she gets “due process”. Does this sound like DUE PROCESS? WE THINK NOT!!!

WE SEEK HELP AND ADVICE FROM ANYONE WHO CAN HELP REBECCA.

SURELY, THE CONSULATE WILL NOT LIFT A FINGER; THE EMBASSY HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING. THE PRESS ISN’T INTERESTED IN HER PLIGHT.

WHERE IS JUSTICE?

Barbara Moodhe