There is video testimony allowed with the decision of the court. The prosecution and defense could have filmed the testimony with an understanding he was not to flee. What gives a judge authority to hold a man, documented or not, for two years in prison to insure he will testify. This is outrageous.
If video is unreliable, but, testimony can occur in transcript as well. There needs to be an investigation to this judge kidnapping and jailing a man for two years.
March 21, 2015
HILLSBORO, Oregon (AP) " A man who was jailed for 2 years (click here) so he couldn't avoid taking the witness stand in his son's murder trial was freed Thursday after providing two hours of often-combative testimony.
Benito Vasquez-Hernandez committed no crime, but a judge ordered the 60-year-old Mexico native held because of fears he would flee rather testify against his son, who is accused of killing in 2012 in the West Coast state of Oregon.
Federal and state material witness laws allow for the detainment of anyone who might have information about a criminal investigation. Though the use of such laws is not uncommon, it is extremely rare for someone to be held as long as Vasquez-Hernandez was.
"I don't like to be in jail. I want to get out," Vasquez-Hernandez said shortly after taking the stand Thursday. He and his son, Eloy Vasquez-Santiago, both wore orange jail clothes.
Prosecutors allege the son killed Maria Bolanos-Rivera, a mother of six who disappeared in 2012....
I'd be afraid of police, too. Isolation from a free and independent life can be considered torture. If Benito Vasquez-Hernandez is easily intimidated by others he is not a reliable witness.
How widespread is this practice?
...Defense attorney Tim Bowman elicited testimony that the father cannot read or write. Vasquez-Hernandez said he feels confused when more educated people speak and that he's scared of police.
If video is unreliable, but, testimony can occur in transcript as well. There needs to be an investigation to this judge kidnapping and jailing a man for two years.
March 21, 2015
HILLSBORO, Oregon (AP) " A man who was jailed for 2 years (click here) so he couldn't avoid taking the witness stand in his son's murder trial was freed Thursday after providing two hours of often-combative testimony.
Benito Vasquez-Hernandez committed no crime, but a judge ordered the 60-year-old Mexico native held because of fears he would flee rather testify against his son, who is accused of killing in 2012 in the West Coast state of Oregon.
Federal and state material witness laws allow for the detainment of anyone who might have information about a criminal investigation. Though the use of such laws is not uncommon, it is extremely rare for someone to be held as long as Vasquez-Hernandez was.
"I don't like to be in jail. I want to get out," Vasquez-Hernandez said shortly after taking the stand Thursday. He and his son, Eloy Vasquez-Santiago, both wore orange jail clothes.
Prosecutors allege the son killed Maria Bolanos-Rivera, a mother of six who disappeared in 2012....
I'd be afraid of police, too. Isolation from a free and independent life can be considered torture. If Benito Vasquez-Hernandez is easily intimidated by others he is not a reliable witness.
How widespread is this practice?
...Defense attorney Tim Bowman elicited testimony that the father cannot read or write. Vasquez-Hernandez said he feels confused when more educated people speak and that he's scared of police.
