Shameful Hit a kid.. . .don't even stop . . . just gets probation Rocket River http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2013995 Rally asks: `Where is justice for all?' Sentence in girl's death protested By ALAN BERNSTEIN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle WHARTON -- The controversy over the 2001 hit-and-run death of a Hispanic girl sizzled again Saturday with a protest march and rally where Hispanic activists and others charged that minorities get inferior justice in the area. "Where is justice for all?" League of United Latin American Citizens district director Benny Martinez asked in a speech to about 60 people. "Where is justice for Angela Nino?" Nino, 13, was hit by a pickup and killed as she and a friend walked along a highway near Lane City on Oct. 27, 2001. The driver, David Ray Polak, 40, of East Bernard, did not stop. He was arrested at home three days later and charged with failure to stop and render aid, criminally negligent homicide, and tampering with evidence, the last for allegedly replacing the grill and headlight assembly on the front of his Chevrolet. Polak pleaded guilty to failing to stop. In return Wharton County prosecutors dropped the rest of the charges. District Attorney Josh McCown urged a jail or prison sentence for Polak, but in February state District Judge Neil Caldwell sentenced the Anglo defendant to two years' probation and restitution of $4,468 for the girl's funeral. Hispanic activists have called for state and federal investigations ever since, saying Polak's sentence was too light and that a Hispanic driver would have drawn a stiffer sentence for running over an Anglo girl. "The legal system discriminates against us," the dead girl's mother, Laurie Valdez, told the crowd Saturday at the gazebo on Wharton's quiet courthouse square. "If this had been one of my family members (as the defendant), I know that he would be serving time." McCown had no comment, according to administrative assistant Becky Ivy. The judge and Polak could not be reached. There has been no public sign of any government investigation into the case. Speakers at the multiracial rally urged people to question the quality of justice in Wharton County -- about 55 miles southwest of Houston -- and to vote against McCown and Caldwell if they run for re-election. "You need to organize, you need to register (to vote) and make judges and everyone accountable," said Wharton County native Johnny Mata, a Houston LULAC spokesman. Polak drank two 16-ounce beers on the day he ran over Nino, a state trooper testified in February, according to news reports. McCown said no drunken driving charges were filed because it was impossible to prove whether Polak had been drinking. The district attorney also said the negligent homicide charges were dropped because the girls shared negligence for walking on the wrong side of the highway. The maximum penalty for failing to stop and render aid was five years in prison, at least as severe as the penalties for the other charges, he said. Valdez said she followed prosecutors' instructions and limited the number of people she brought to Polak's sentencing hearing, only to find the courtroom packed with dozens of Polak's supporters. She watched as Robert Hlavinka testified that Polak was one of his best agricultural students in high school more than 20 years ago. "He took care of his animals like he was supposed to," Hlavinka said, according to the Wharton Journal-Spectator. The trooper, Mike Hubenak, testified that Polak told a friend that he had "hit something in Lane City," and that the pair drove back to the scene, saw emergency vehicles and kept going. But Polak's lawyer, Ken Lipscombe, told the newspaper after the sentencing that the case was exaggerated.
But, but, yur majesty, uh i mean yur honor....he took real real good care uh his animals like he wuz spossed to....he shouldn't have to pay the funeral expenses neither....
Very sick. It is amazing how much black and brown people really are s*** on in our country, even after the civil rights movement.
I figured this thread would immediately go to a race discussion, judging by the author alone. Moon, there wasn't any mention of blacks in the article.
No, but this is one example of how brown and black people are treated in this country. If you are not anglo in this country, there is discrimination all around, but it is especially pronounced in the criminal justice system, where 86% of inmates are black or brown and anglos get away with (in this case) vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident. As stated in the article, if a hispanic man had run over an anglo woman, that man would be nailed for the max sentance.
Wow, if somebody made a similar statement using the color black, they would never be invited back to this BBS. You are perpetuating what you claim to abhor.
So can we get back to the original point here? How come he didn't even get the 5 years for failing to render aid? The parents should also bear some of the responsibility, this had to have happened at night, why was a 13 year old girl walking on a highway in the middle of the night?
If she was walking on the wrong side of the street at night, wearing dark clothes, would that matter? It is too bad that the reporter decided that inflaming racial anger is more important that reporting the facts.
I think Johnheath is on to something here. If this incident took place exactly how it was written up in the article, with no other salient points for a jury to consider, then yes, this is absolutely abhorrent. Truly disgusting. However, the jury made its decision based on all of the facts presented in the case. Would the prosecution (who played a part in selecting the jury) choose a bunch of rednecks who hate brown people for its jury? Doubtful. Even county prosecuters are smarter than that. Every day I become more and more convinced about the media's control on people's opinions. The media is for all practical purposes the education system for this country's adults. This is where people gather their information from. Many times this information is delivered with the reporter's opinion already imbedded in the story, effectively serving to persuade the audience. What's worse is the education system for teenagers and younger adults: the movies. Pay attention next time you go to the movies to all the references and left-leaning persuation tactics. I choose not to go to the movies frequently because I find that so often the producer/writer tries to impose his opinion on the audience. It's sad that for many, many people, these two media are the only source of their learnings. TV and the movies. I would also suspect that these people tend to vote in predictable patterns, but that's probably best left for another debate.
