Alan Jackson, the chief attorney for the leader of the La Luz del Mundo church, warned in a document submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court that his client would face a life sentence if convicted of 19 criminal charges, including sexual abuse of minors.
Naasón Joaquín García has been detained in a Los Angeles jail since June 2019 and has pleaded not guilty to what the California Prosecutor's Office describes as a conspiracy in which women from his congregation recruited girls and young women for the Mexican pastor to abuse them. sexually.
In the hearings prior to his trial, whose start was rescheduled for May 9, prosecutors indicated that the so-called 'Apostle of Jesus Christ' could be sentenced to "several years in prison."
It is now Jackson who points out that, if his defendant loses the case, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. The lawyer mentioned it in a motion he submitted in August 2021 and a copy of which was obtained by Univision Noticias through the clerk's office of the Los Angeles court.
"This is a complex case in which Mr. García is facing dozens of serious charges, five accusers and a potential sentence of life imprisonment," Jackson wrote in said motion, the purpose of which was to request a postponement of the September 27 trial of a later date.
Judge Ronald S. Coen approved his request and scheduled a preliminary hearing for October 15. That day he decided that, due to new evidence that prosecutors found, the trial should begin in May.
Spokesmen for La Luz del Mundo in Mexico have pointed out that even if Naasón Joaquín is convicted in Los Angeles, he would not cease to be its leader, since "his apostolate is non-transferable."
“The trial is currently estimated to last eight weeks or more and will take place under unprecedented circumstances due to the Covid-19 emergency. It has now become apparent that the current mask-wearing injunction will remain in effect at the scheduled time for the trial, September 27 (2021) ... This necessarily means that all witnesses will have their faces covered while they testify before the jury and in front of Mr. Garcia, "said Jackson.
With this argument, the defense of the leader of La Luz del Mundo requested that the criminal process be carried out until the complainants are allowed in court to testify without face masks, so that their facial expressions can be seen in the interrogations of the prosecutors and the defense cross-examination.
A "monumental challenge" to choose juries "without prejudice"
Jackson revealed in his motion a hitherto unknown fact: that the California Prosecutor's Office plans to hide the identities of all the witnesses, as former members of the church.
“The government has already stated that its intention is to hide the identity of all its witnesses, not just the Jane Does (the five anonymous women mentioned in the case), due to their hyperbolic and unsupported characterization that La Luz del Mundo is a type of criminal organization that threatens the safety of those who testify against it, ”wrote Jackson.
“Because the witnesses will not have names, that forces the jury to place great emphasis on the behavior of those witnesses when making their credibility determinations… This would force Mr. García to confront nameless and faceless shadows, unlike real people. that the jury can see ”, added the litigant.
Hiding the identities and "physical characteristics" of the accusers means a violation of the constitutional rights of Joaquín García, said his legal defender, who believes that it will be a "monumental challenge" to find members of the jury "without prejudice" due -in part - to the #MeToo movement , which has aired various cases of abuse by men in positions of power.
"The public's already distinct but strong ideas about religion, the effects of religion, and their preconceived notions and biases toward aspects of religion will make the task of properly selecting the jury incredibly problematic," Jackson warned.
In response, the California Prosecutor's Office noted in a motion dated September 13, 2021 that the use of masks would not prevent a fair trial from being held. Recent court decisions that have imposed covid-19 emergency orders requiring witnesses to cover their mouths and noses do not violate the Sixth Amendment guarantee of confrontation (which gives defendants the right to a speedy trial and public before an impartial jury) ”, state the prosecutors.
They also mentioned that the cases cited by the legal defense in their motion, which question processes in which the witnesses' faces were not seen, are not linked to the current pandemic.
In another document submitted by the Prosecutor's Office last August, it is alleged that the alleged victims were in "extreme danger" due to threats and intimidation tactics of the church.
The legal defense requested authorization from the court to enter the jail where the leader of La Luz del Mundo is with a laptop and show him evidence of his case.
For their part, three agents and a prosecutor requested permission to visit Alondra Ocampo, a co-defendant, who pleaded guilty to three counts in a Lynwood women's prison. Officials said they would show him images of “child pornography” in preparation for Joaquín García's trial.
Photo source: https://twitter.com/alvaradoisa/status/1480990862980960258/photo/1