About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 2020)
LOCA^NATION The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Weekend Edition - October 3-4, 2020 13A DA rebuts Hall man’s appeal over trial stereotypes BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh filed a response to a Hall man’s petition to the Supreme Court, claiming the filing “twisted and misrepresented” the testimony at trial to say there were “negative ethnic stereotypes” about His panic men. Alejandro Martinez- Arias was convicted in February 2017 after a jury trial on charges of aggravated child moles tation, aggravated sexual battery and child moles tation. He was sentenced to life with 25 years to serve. The Georgia Court of Appeals upheld the decision to deny Martinez-Arias a new trial, and the man’s attorney, Matt Cavedon, filed a petition in Sep tember to the Georgia Supreme Court to review the case. The case involves allegations involving a young girl who did not “immediately report the abuse because she did not know whether anyone would believe her, and she was afraid of what would happen if she told,” according to the Court of Appeals’ summary of the case. The prosecution called on a counselor, Betsy Escamilla, who had said she had a passion for working with at-risk Latino students. “Ms. Escamilla explained that, based on her personal and profes sional experiences, tra ditional ideas in some Mexican homes are that the breadwinner is usually male and is seen as the head of the household, and some one to whom others in the home, especially females, should be sub missive,” according to the district attorney’s response. “Addition ally, Ms. Escamilla emphasized that, in her experience, traditional Mexican families are very ‘collec- tivistic’ It was this collectivism, in particular, that Ms. Escamilla tes tified made disclosures difficult.” Escamilla also testified that “sexual assault is sometimes seen as the girl’s fault,” according to Darragh’s response. “It’s kind of seen as if it hap pens — and no way am I saying this is an acceptable norm, but it happens — but if it happens, it’s something that you don’t share, that you keep it quiet, that it is the girl’s fault for opening her legs and the boys are just supposed to be that way, they just have urges,” Escamilla said during the trial. Darragh’s response said the court should deny the petition because it does not meet the standard for review, which are “cases of great concern, gravity, or importance to the public.” The prosecutors said no stereotypes were offered as evidence and any mention of Mexican culture was to explain why the girl delayed her disclosure. “Nowhere in the record does Ms. Escamilla, or any other wit ness, testify that Mexican, Latino, or Hispanic men are somehow predisposed to molest female children in their household,” according to the district attor ney’s response. “Nowhere in the record is there testimony that ‘Latina girls are.. expected to ser vice Latino men’s sexual exploi tation and perversion.’ Nowhere in the record is there testimony that Mexican, Latino or Hispanic families are more likely to toler ate child molestation than other families.” Cavedon said his concern was about the testimony potentially poisoning the jury’s deliberations. “What we’re concerned about here is in this case, we heard that kind of language or at least lan guage about ‘machismo’ and ‘sex ual perversion’ in the actual trial itself from a witness in the open courtroom,” Cavedon previously told The Times. “That means it was there for the jury’s consid eration. The judge instructed the jury to weigh all of the evidence together for its deliberations and told them that they could use that evidence for whatever purposes they deemed fit.” There is no set timetable for the Georgia Supreme Court to decide whether to grant the petition. Martinez-Arias California nears 4M acres burned in fires NOAH BERGER I Associated Press A firefighter runs past flames while battling the Glass Fire in a Calistoga, Calif., vineyard Thursday, Oct. 1. Driver of car flees after crash with Hall school bus BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Hall County school bus sustained minimal dam age after a traffic incident Thursday, Oct. 1. No stu dents were aboard at the time of the crash. Hall County Schools spokesman Stan Lewis said the incident took place around 4:20 p.m. Thursday, at the intersection of Atlanta Highway and Hilton Drive in Gainesville. Georgia State Patrol Cpl. Josh Hedden said a car was traveling eastbound on Hilton Drive when it went through the intersection as the bus attempted to make a right turn on Mimosa Street from Atlanta Highway northbound. The car’s passenger side struck the bus on the front end, Hedden said. The bus driver told authorities she was making the turn on a green light. Hedden said the other driver ran from the wreck and was seen getting into another vehicle before leav ing the scene. No further information was provided. BY OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO - California is poised to hit a fearsome milestone: 4 million acres burned this year by wildfires that have killed 31 people and incinerated hundreds of homes in what is already the worst fire sea son on record. Flames have scorched an area larger than Connecticut. Fire crews at a blaze in the wine country north of San Francisco were on high alert Friday as forecasters warned of extreme fire danger into Saturday. Powerful winds didn’t materialize early Friday, allowing fire crews a chance to make gains. But winds up to 30 mph were forecast to push through the hills of Napa and Sonoma coun ties as the Glass Fire, which exploded in size earlier in the week, threatens more than 28,000 homes and other buildings. “So far we have not seen the veloc ity of the winds that we were expect ing,” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said. “But there will be gusts and... we do have hot embers and it won’t take much to take that and blow it into a very dry receptive fuel bed. That gives us cause for concern.” Winds were blowing at higher ele vations on the western side of the fire. Crews expected a long battle to keep flames from jumping containment lines and to prevent spot fires from leaping ahead to spark new blazes. More crews and equipment were deployed in and around Calistoga, a town of 5,000 people known for hot springs, mud baths and wineries in the hills of Napa County about 70 miles north of San Francisco. The area was also experiencing high temperatures and thick smoke that fouled the air throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Numerous studies have linked big ger wildfires in America to climate change from the burning of coal, oil and gas. Scientists say climate change has made California much drier, meaning trees and other plants are more flammable. The Glass Fire is the fourth major blaze in the region in three years and comes ahead of the third anniversary of an Oct. 8,2017, wildfire that killed 22 people. Around the state, 17,000 firefight ers were battling nearly two dozen major blazes. Virtually all the dam age has occurred since mid-August, when five of the six largest fires in state history erupted. Lightning strikes caused some of the most dev astating blazes. Cal Fire Deputy Chief Jonathan Cox said wildfires have scorched 3.9 million acres in California since Aug. 15. That figure, which works out to more than 6,000 square miles, is astonishing even in a state that has had its fair share of fires. The death toll increased to 31 peo ple after a person burned in the LNU Lightning Complex died from their injuries, Cal Fire said in a statement. That cluster of fires sparked by light ning in mid-August in the San Fran cisco Bay Area was fully contained Thursday. Fire officials said the Glass Fire was their top priority. Since erupting Sunday, the fire has destroyed nearly 600 buildings, including 220 homes and nearly the same number of com mercial structures. About 80,000 people were under evacuation orders and officials warned that more were possible. Fire and public safety officials asked people to remain vigilant, stay out of evacuation zones and quit demand ing that officers let them back into off-limits neighborhoods. About 150 miles to the north of wine country, the Zogg Fire, which also erupted during Sunday’s high winds and grew quickly, has killed four people and destroyed 153 buildings. The weekend was expected to usher in some cooling — or less intense heat — and long-range fore cast models hinted at the possibility of rain. Hurricane Marie, spinning in the Pacific southwest of Baja California, was expected to weaken by the mid dle of next week but leftover tropical moisture may be pulled northward and bring “impressive rainfall” to Northern California, forecasters said. FALL CAR'CARE MONTH □ Check all fluids □ Check the hoses and belts New & Used Tires Wheels & Deals Get your camper and trailer tires checked before hitting the road! We have most sizes in stock at the best price. If you don’t have a spare for your trailer, we have various size wheels also! 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