The Saga of Jose Jesus Vieyra - Part III

continued:

The case against Jose Jesus Vieyra dropped after the traffic victim was found to be intoxicated at the time of the accident. What the following article doesn't say what happened to Vieyra otherwise - there was much screaming about his residency status - He was a Mexican citizen who had overstayed his visa. Vieyra had lived in Houston for years - had a family here and a home.

Officials said he would certainly be deported - but was he deported after all?

click for link to previous March 15, 2008 DREAM ACT Texas post on Vieyra Part I and Part II

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June 5, 2008, 11:04PM
Deputy's DUI may derail prosecution against truck driver

By PEGGY O'HARE
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

In accident reconstruction expert for the Harris County Sheriff's Office predicts prosecutors will have a difficult time indicting or convicting the truck driver involved in a crash that killed a sheriff's deputy earlier this year.

Because Harris County sheriff's deputy Craig Miller was intoxicated and is believed to have been speeding, the case against truck driver Jose Jesus Vieyra is not a strong one, said David Pearson, a Sheriff's Office accident investigator who has reconstructed more than 700 crashes during his career.

"I think it will be a difficult case to not only get an indictment on, but also secure a conviction," Pearson said Thursday.

Vieyra, 57, is charged with criminally negligent homicide because he drove his commercial box truck into the path of Miller's car just before the Feb. 21 crash.

Vieyra is now free from the Harris County Jail on a $30,000 bond. Neither he nor his attorney, Yalila "Lee" Guerrero, could be reached for comment Thursday.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office is waiting on additional investigation and information before taking the case to a grand jury for review, said spokeswoman and prosecutor Donna Hawkins.

The accident report has not yet been released by the Sheriff's Office because it is waiting for Pearson's conclusions to be reviewed by another accident reconstruction expert who is not part of the law enforcement agency.

Pearson, an accident reconstructionist for 18 years, concluded both drivers contributed to the crash, which happened on the Katy Freeway feeder road near Mason Road.

Toxicology tests revealed that Miller, 43, had a blood alcohol level three to four times the legal limit, ranging from 0.27 to 0.32, even though he was on duty and driving to an undercover surveillance assignment after being called back to work.

Miller is also believed to have been speeding. Two witnesses estimated he was driving 60 mph — 10 mph over the posted speed limit on the feeder road.

But Pearson believes Miller could not have avoided the truck that pulled into his path even if he had been sober — though he might have lessened the severity of the impact by taking evasive action.

"They still would have had a crash, but probably less severe injuries than what we ended up with," Pearson said. Miller was not wearing a seat belt.

"Because of the alcohol in his system, slower responses, (Miller) did not do any steering or braking to avoid the wreck. If he had, it's possible he would have survived the crash," Pearson said.

Vieyra, however, was wrong to pull out of an auto dealership's parking lot into the path of Miller's car and was criminally negligent by continuing across four lanes of traffic in an effort to reach an entrance ramp to the Katy Freeway, Pearson concluded.

"I do feel that exiting the driveway as Vieyra did in this case does constitute criminal negligence," Pearson said.

Investigators believed the case against Vieyra was quite strong before they learned that Miller was intoxicated at the time of the incident. But Miller's drinking weakened the case, Pearson said.

"I would say because of the alcohol involved in this crash, it makes it a very difficult case," Pearson said.

peggy.ohare@chron.com

for link to HC article click here

The Saga of Jose Jesus Vieyra - part I

It started on the evening of February 22, 2008. Jose Vieyra was driving out of a Toyota dealership onto the eastbound feeder of Houston's IH10 when he hit a fast moving SUV.

Vierya had come to the U.S. on a visa in 2006. He had a driver's license. But everything turned upside down for him after the accident. He made the mistake of running in to the wrong person, a Harris County Sheriff's Deputy.

Vieyra couldn't have been going very fast if he had just driven out of a parking lot. But at first, all that was said was that Vierya was probably undocumented, that the deceased Deputy had 20 years on the force and that he was "working undercover."

The community was outraged. The media repeatedly published photos of Miller's smashed up SUV. He (Miller) had a wife and children. The newspaper reported that there was "no sign of drinking or drugs"

There was no mention of Vierya's family. What was emphasized was the terrible loss of Officer Miller and a number of details on how people are able to get immigrant visas - at first investigators were not sure Vierya was documented or not. However, nowadays people are assumed undocumented until proven to be legal residents - so he was taken in.

This post is not to make less of the Miller family's loss. It is about how immigrants are often targeted for supposedly committing atrocities - often without sufficient information.


p.s. It was almost impossible to find the Houston Chronicle article on the accident from February 23, 2008. The newspapers search engine did not show the article. The link to the article was posted on the net on several different web pages, but the links were no longer valid. I finally found it through a large library - not from "searching" for names other details, but from going into February 23, 2008 and checking each article one by one. It would be interesting to find out if the article was removed before or after it was found that Miller was heavily intoxicated at the time of the crash.

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February 23, 2008
(Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle)


U.S. Immigration officials could not determine Friday whether the driver of the truck that killed a Harris County Sheriff's deputy had a valid visa that would have allowed the Mexican national to live or work in the country.

Jose Jesus Vieyra, 56, is charged with criminally negligent homicide in a collision that killed Deputy Craig Miller Thursday night on a Katy Freeway access road.

Although ICE officials originally identified Vieyra as an illegal immigrant, the agency said late Friday that it could not confirm if his visa - issued at a border checkpoint - is still valid.

It is also unclear when or exactly where it was issued. Vieyra's case illustrates the federal government's difficulty tracking foreign visitors.

Vieyra is being held in the Harris County Jail in lieu of $35,000 bail, said Capt. John Martin, spokesman for the Sheriff's Department.

Miller, a 20-year veteran with the department, was working undercover when the fatal crash occurred about 7:20 p.m. Thursday, Martin said.

Family, friends and fellow officers mourned Miller's sudden death and remembered him Friday as a funny man and devoted father. Miller, 43, is survived by a wife, Michelle, and two young children.

"If he wasn't a police officer, he would have been a great comedian on Saturday Night Live," said Brenham resident Ross Martella, a friend of Miller's since they attended Stratford High School in the early 1980s. "He was a nice person."

Martella, who works in the oilfield services business, said Miller worked his way up through the ranks, starting as a jailer.

"And if someone called the law on you, you'd have been lucky if Craig was the officer involved," he said. "He was fair and he had common sense and he would listen to both sides."

No sign of drinking or drugs

Authorities said Miller was traveling east on the access road along Interstate 10 West near Mason Road when Vieyra pulled out of a driveway at the Don McGill Toyota dealership.

Vieyra drove across three lanes into the path of the sport utility vehicle Miller was driving, Martin said. The SUV ran into the truck, became airborne and landed on a raised concrete embankment separating the feeder road from the freeway, Martin said.

Firefighters had to cut through the wreckage to get the deputy out. He died before authorities could rush him to the hospital.

"The basis of the charge is that (Vieyra) failed to yield the right-of-way," Martin said.

He said there was no indication that Vieyra was drunk or under the influence of drugs.

Vieyra had a valid driver's license at the time of the crash, Martin said.

It's unclear, however, who owns the truck he was driving Thursday night.

Employees at the McGill Toyota dealership said Vieyra did not work for the company. Dozens of vendors drop off and pick up merchandise and supplies daily at the dealership, the workers said.

Immigration detainer filed

As the investigation continues, officials are working to determine Vieyra's immigration status.

Late Friday, ICE officials said they learned that Vieyra, a Mexican citizen, had entered the country on a visitor's visa.

"Initially I was told he was an `entry without inspection,' but in the last 15 minutes I've been told he does have a visa with multiple entries," John Gaudioso, deputy special agent in charge of the Houston ICE office, said Friday afternoon. "But we have not seen his passport, or the visa. So it's still under inquiry."

Gaudioso added that an immigration detainer has been filed against Vieyra allowing for his possible deportation.

"Depending on what happens with the county's investigation and prosecution, he could be subject to removal if he is convicted of a crime, and if the crime is considered an aggravated felony," Gaudioso said.

Driver's license clean

Deputy David Crain, spokesman for the Sheriff's Department, said Vieyra's Texas driver's license expires on his birthday in 2014. Crain said the license does not have any restrictions, and there were no traffic violations on his record. Vieyra apparently has no criminal record in Harris County.

There was no response at the home where the Sheriff's Department said Vieyra resides in northwest Harris County.

In Austin, Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said a foreign citizen in the state legally can obtain a driver's license.

The DPS Web site listed more than 25 immigration documents that could be used to obtain a driver's license, including a B1 or B2 visitor's visa, also known as a border crossing card.

To obtain a border crossing card, applicants must submit biometric information including fingerprints and photos, and pass a State Department background check followed by a personal interview.

Late Friday a Harris County Sheriff's deputy sat in a parked squad car outside the Miller home on a quiet cul de sac of brick homes in Katy. He said the family did not want to speak to the media.

Miller, who joined the department in August 1987, was assigned to the Investigative Support Unit in April 2006, Martin said.

"I can't even imagine what the family must be going through," Martin said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with them."

It was the Sheriff's Department's first death in the line of duty since 2002.

Visitation for Miller will be from 4-9 p.m. Sunday, at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home, 13001 Katy Freeway.

The funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday at Second Baptist Church's West Campus, 19449 Katy Freeway.

100 Club taking donations

The 100 Club is accepting donations to its "Survivor's Fund" on behalf of the deputy's family. The Houston-based organization's fund supports the relatives of officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

Note: jennifer.leahy@chron; kevin.moran@chron.com; jim.pinkerton@chron.com Chronicle reporters Lindsay Wise, Dale Lezon and Susan Carroll contributed to this report.

article taken from Pro-Quest

image: http://www.forcounsel.com/products/0942.jpg

The Saga of Jose Jesus Vieyra Part II

continued:

Houston tv stations reported Vieyra's accident, the sheriff was considering the Deputy's death as criminally negligent homicide. The photos of the wreck were sensational - Deputy Miller's SUV was totally destroyed - since it could not be verified first that Vierya was undocumented - the whole story was about Miller's death and Vierya's guilt.

Reports increased the focus on Vieyra - making him look more guilty by the minute. Then Miller was found to have an extremely high alcohol count in his body. It was reported that Miller had a problem with alcohol. There were no skid marks from Miller's truck. I wonder how fast was he going?

Have you every been at an intersection, look both ways very carefully, see that it is clear, take off and before you know it someone almost hits you from behind? You wonder, how in the world did that happen. It could have been that Vieyra did not see Miller coming. Another possibility is that Miller was going so fast that he was very far away when Vieyra entered the feeder - far enough for Vieyra to feel safe enough to cross the three lanes. But if Miller was going 60-70 or 80, he might have come upon Vieyra so quickly, neither one of them had time to react.

As for the alcohol content in Miller's body - the EMT's that picked him up after the accident would have known immediately that he had been drinking. Especially if he had 3x the legal limit in his body. Perhaps it had to wait for an official report from the medical examiner. But interesting that Miller was innocent until proven intoxicated. Vieyra was guilty from the begining - even though officials did not have all the information to make an informed decision on the charges.

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Fox News Houston
February 23, 2008

Right now a tragic accident claims the life of a 20 year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff's Office. The Deputy was working undercover when this accident occurred. Fox 2's Andrea Watkins joins us live from Harris County with details. Andrea, what can you tell us? Sibila and Jose [the tv news anchors] we learned this morning just a few minutes ago that the Harris County Sheriff's Deputy is investigating this case now as an accident criminally negligent homicide. The Sheriff's deputy who was driving east on the I-10 feeder road near Mason when a large box truck cut out in front of him. The deputy was in an unmarked SUV and could not avoid hitting the truck. The crash rolled the deputy's vehicle and hten it hit a concrete barrier. We still don't have the deputy's name, but he was a 20 year veteran to the department and he will be sadly missed. You can't say how big a loss it is, how big a loss it is for the Sheriff's Deputy, the Sheriff's deputy family and his personal family too. Hard to imagine, the driver of the box truck was not injured in the crash and he has not been charged with anything, but the nature of this investigation, criminally negligent homicide makes you think it's headed that way. Investigators say he was trying to pull directly across three lanes of traffic to get on this ramp on I-10. Very dangerous move, and as we've been saying this morning we have seen this before, its very scary and this time it claimed the life - it's a shame that he claimed the life of a deputy that he could not avoid hitting the truck. Reporting LIVE from West Harris County, Andrea Watkins, Fox 26 news.

March 1, 2008

Thanks Mike. A man involved in a traffic accident last week is facing very seroius charges today. He's the driver accused of hitting and killing a Harris County Deputy. Now his immigration status is part of the story. Fox 26 reporter Kristine Galvan has been following this story this morning. She's LIVE downtown. Kristine:

Good morning, guys. There's a lot of new developments in this story, the first though, we can see is the suspect has his first court date today. He is charged with criminally negligent homicide. Investigators say Jove Vierya failed to yielf the right of way while driving on the Katy Freeway and smashed into a Toyota Forerunner driven by a Harris County Sheriff's deputy. That deputy, Craig Miller died at the scene. His colleagues and neighbors had nothing but kind words when describing him. He's very knowledgable about electronics, and I think part of his expertise with electronics lended itself well in this investigative support. He was a loving father and definitely caring for what was in the best interest of the community, and we're going to miss him, and I'm so sorry. The funeral arrangements for Deputy Miller are set to take place at 2 o'clock today in Katy. In the meantime we are also learning that Vieyra entered this country legally with a work visa, but investigators tell us that work visa had expired at the time of the accident last week. We're LIVE downtown. Kristine Galvan, Fox 26 News