Eleven days have passed since the Mexican authorities issued a warrant for the arrest of Bruce Beresford-Redmond for the murder of his wife, Monica, back in April. It doesn't appear that this walking, talking, alledged murderer will be taken into custody anytime soon. Think how easy it was for him to leave Mexico and return to the United States even though his passport had been taken from him so he could not leave the country.
If there is anyone who qualifies as a flight risk it is Beresford-Redmond.
I had an idea! Maybe the televison executives who purchased Bruce's new reality program after the murder of his wife :"Shedding For The Wedding" would consider donating a portion of the proceeds to victims of intimate partner homicide instead of funding (in my opinion) this piece of human garbage's legal defense fund.
If an abuser walks and talks like a duck, guess what folks he is one!
If an abuser walks and talks like a duck, guess what folks he is one!
And the laws in Mexico are complicated and unique:
Mexican Federal law is based on the Napoleonic Code. There is no presumption of innocence, no jury trial, and traditional common law and statutory rules of evidence don’t apply. All trials are conducted by affidavit or declaration and witnesses rarely, if ever, testify in open court. Victims and their families have no practical ability to witness the trial or be heard at sentencing which is controlled by the Mexican Federal Penal Code. Although the maximum sentence in Mexico is a term of sixty years for murder, a sentence can, and frequently is, reduced through the appellate process or the “Amparo” which is the rough equivalent to our habeas proceedings.
Although efforts are currently underway to address the wide-spread corruption which has historically plagued Mexican judicial and law enforcement communities, little is known about the results of Article IV prosecutions previously submitted. Often warrants remain in their system, unserved, for years. Prosecutions are commenced and then dismissed or sentences substantially reduced in the appellate courts. No verifiable system exists to track actual sentences served or to create a criminal database.
Here is the classic textbook statement of denial from a "model" husband and father claiming any wrong doi
ng in the murder of their wife or girlfriend. Maybe we should start manufacturing "abuser vomit bags" after each murder of an innocent life lost as a result of domestic violence?
Beresford-Redmond released the following statement through his attorney on May 31, 2010:
"Monica was the axis around which our whole family revolved. From her sisters and parents to my parents and of course to our children and me, she was everything to us.
I am devastated at her loss; and I am incensed at the suggestion that I could have had anything to do with her death. I am innocent. My children have had one parent taken from them by a senseless act of violence. I implore the Mexican authorities not to take their remaining parent by a miscarriage of justice and to do what is right not just what is expedient.
Attorney Richard Hirsch suggested Monica's murder might be connected to several other killings that have occurred in the Cancun resort area. He released a statement of his own on Monday:
We have been advised that Mexican authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of Bruce Beresford-Redman in connection with the murder of his wife, Monica. This news, if true, is extremely disturbing since it appears that this case is being handled in a manner outside the normal procedures in Mexico.
It is our understanding that the issuance of an arrest warrant normally entails a detailed judicial review that takes anywhere from several weeks to several months. It appears that the way this matter is being handled constitutes a rush to judgment. Mr. Beresford-Redman is innocent of this crime and is prepared to defend himself in a court of law."
Mexican Federal law is based on the Napoleonic Code. There is no presumption of innocence, no jury trial, and traditional common law and statutory rules of evidence don’t apply. All trials are conducted by affidavit or declaration and witnesses rarely, if ever, testify in open court. Victims and their families have no practical ability to witness the trial or be heard at sentencing which is controlled by the Mexican Federal Penal Code. Although the maximum sentence in Mexico is a term of sixty years for murder, a sentence can, and frequently is, reduced through the appellate process or the “Amparo” which is the rough equivalent to our habeas proceedings.
Although efforts are currently underway to address the wide-spread corruption which has historically plagued Mexican judicial and law enforcement communities, little is known about the results of Article IV prosecutions previously submitted. Often warrants remain in their system, unserved, for years. Prosecutions are commenced and then dismissed or sentences substantially reduced in the appellate courts. No verifiable system exists to track actual sentences served or to create a criminal database.
Here is the classic textbook statement of denial from a "model" husband and father claiming any wrong doi
ng in the murder of their wife or girlfriend. Maybe we should start manufacturing "abuser vomit bags" after each murder of an innocent life lost as a result of domestic violence? Beresford-Redmond released the following statement through his attorney on May 31, 2010:
"Monica was the axis around which our whole family revolved. From her sisters and parents to my parents and of course to our children and me, she was everything to us.
I am devastated at her loss; and I am incensed at the suggestion that I could have had anything to do with her death. I am innocent. My children have had one parent taken from them by a senseless act of violence. I implore the Mexican authorities not to take their remaining parent by a miscarriage of justice and to do what is right not just what is expedient.
Attorney Richard Hirsch suggested Monica's murder might be connected to several other killings that have occurred in the Cancun resort area. He released a statement of his own on Monday:
We have been advised that Mexican authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of Bruce Beresford-Redman in connection with the murder of his wife, Monica. This news, if true, is extremely disturbing since it appears that this case is being handled in a manner outside the normal procedures in Mexico.
It is our understanding that the issuance of an arrest warrant normally entails a detailed judicial review that takes anywhere from several weeks to several months. It appears that the way this matter is being handled constitutes a rush to judgment. Mr. Beresford-Redman is innocent of this crime and is prepared to defend himself in a court of law."
Monica Beresford-Redmond deserves her day in court too! It is called Justice!
