BY HEATHER WOOD AND MYRNA TOWER
SIOUX CITY, Iowa-A protest was held June 6 at the Cathedral
of the Epiphany in Sioux City, Iowa. The family of José and
Gonzalo Ledesma along with packinghouse co-workers and
supporters from the church organized the demonstration to
protest the denial of a retrial by the Woodbury County
District Court, which sentenced the Ledesmas to life
imprisonment on charges of kidnapping and rape in 1994. They
are currently incarcerated in the Fort Madison, Iowa,
penitentiary at the opposite corner of the state from Sioux
City.
The two brothers-in-law were tried together after a woman charged them with abducting her from a bar and forcing her to have sex. The Ledesmas acknowledge having relations with the woman, but insist it was consensual and no force was involved. Martín Ledesma, brother of José, and Martín's wife Sylvia, sister of Gonzalo, have carried out a campaign for justice since their brothers were charged in 1994.
The men's appeal for a retrial is based on the fact that they were advised by court-appointed attorneys to plead guilty and to ask for a bench trial instead of a jury trial; that their request for separate trials was denied; that their attorneys did not call them or supportive witnesses to the stand; and that the court interpreter, Ray Cota, a former cop, took their money to help do an investigation he assured them would help sway the judge. In addition, the court- appointed attorneys did not explain the possible consequences of the court proceedings, according to witnesses.
Witnesses from the bar where the Ledesmas and another man were drinking with the woman were not called to testify in the trial. These witnesses are prepared to testify that everyone was drunk and on friendly terms, and that no coercion was involved. Another witness from the convenience store where the brothers and the woman stopped was not called either, even though that person said he saw no evidence of violence or force.
Protests against the conviction held in Sioux City and in San Martín, Mexico, have pointed to the racist, anti- immigrant character of the sentencing. Both José and Gonzalo Ledesma, who are 28 now, were migrant poultry workers who had come to the United States without work permits.
The struggle for justice in the Ledesma case is taking place as the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service is carrying out "Operation Vanguard." Through this campaign, the INS has subpoenaed personnel files from meatpacking companies throughout Nebraska. After reviewing the files, the INS announced a list of thousands of workers whose papers allegedly were out of order. Then the immigration cops went from plant to plant. At every plant workers who feared being deported fled. INS administrator Jerry Heinauer told reporters that 2,149 of the 3,135 workers on the INS list in Nebraska quit rather be interviewed. The immigration cops are now moving their operation into Iowa and South Dakota.
Members of the Ad Hoc Committee for Human Rights in Marshalltown, Iowa, many of whom are workers at the Swift packinghouse there, organized a protest of 300 March 28 against Operation Vanguard, the deputation of local police with INS powers, and the "English as a common language" legislation then before the state legislature. The committee organized a car caravan to Sioux City for the June 6 protest and is publicizing the Ledesma case among packinghouse workers and others.
The popular TV program Primer Impacto on the Univision cable network recently aired a story on the Ledesma case that was broadcast throughout the Spanish-speaking world.
On June 6, more than 200 people marched from the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City to the county courthouse and back, demanding justice of the Ledesma brothers and protesting the denial of a retrial.
Twelve workers from elsewhere in Iowa and three from Minnesota came to the protest. Most were packinghouse workers and members of the UFCW. Some arrived as the marchers were returning to the church, so those who could stay marched for a second time to the courthouse with those who had just arrived. Local television and newspaper reporters covered the event.
Participants in the march shared experiences of injustice of their own as well. Artemia Florez, a house cleaner and babysitter explained she has been fighting the juvenile court system for three years for custody of her four children. She is accused of child abuse after hitting her 11-year-old on the arm. "When the police came to check on me, Florez said, "they beat me and dragged me to the street, and now they want to deport all four of my kids to Mexico, although they are all U.S.-born citizens."
Maria Sanchez, a worker at the IBP plant in Dakota City, Nebraska, told of how her 29-year-old son has been sentenced to life in prison. He had lent his car to friends, Sanchez said, and they got arrested. Police say they found drugs in the car, so they arrested her son, who was convicted. Sanchez can't afford more than the $8,000 she has already paid lawyers.
Sanchez was also concerned about 13 co-workers arrested by the INS May 18 when the immigration cops visited the plant as part of Operation Vanguard.
More than 100 workers on the INS list fled, but some were arrested.
One of those arrested, Sanchez explained, was Maria Patricia Gomez, a young woman who had come up from Kansas with her husband and 9-month-old baby to look for work. They went to IBP to apply for work and the INS took all of them. The husband was able to provide papers but the woman wasn't, so the INS is holding her in jail until they deport her. "The husband and the baby have been homeless and destitute until I met them while visiting my son and took them in."
After the march, the Ledesmas invited the supporters from Iowa and Minnesota to come to their home to discuss future activities. Marshalltown workers invited the Ledesmas to come to Marshalltown the following weekend to speak to a meeting on their brothers' case. A collection of $80 was taken, and workers exchanged ideas for publicity and fund-raising for the case.