A former Kennesaw State University student whose case became a flashpoint for debate on illegal immigration is once again in jeopardy of getting a criminal conviction.
Jessica Colotl, a Mexican native who was found to be in the U.S. illegally after a traffic stop in March 2010, had been accepted into a pretrial diversion program that allowed her to avoid a criminal conviction on a felony false swearing charge.
But the judge told prosecutors to go "back to square one" in a Cobb County courtroom on Friday.
Though District Attorney Pat Head had decided not to pursue a criminal case, Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren said last week he didn’t know Colotl had been allowed to enter pretrial diversion, and told a reporter the punishment seemed like a "slap on the wrist."
Upon reading Warren's comments in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Superior Court Judge Mary Staley called everyone back into court. She made a point of telling everyone that it hadn’t been her decision and told the district attorney and the sheriff to confer about the resolution of the case.
Part of the vetting process for the pretrial diversion program involves consulting the victims and the law enforcement agency that made the arrest. Head said his office sent a letter to the Sheriff's Office in July to notify them the case was being considered for pretrial diversion, and received no response. Warren testified that one of his deputies apparently discarded it in error.
Staley also decided Friday to put the case back on her active calendar so that the attorneys for both sides have to appear every month or so for status updates.
The judge's actions drew stinging criticism from Colotl's defense attorney, Jerome Lee. Lee said he believed she was violating the canons of judicial ethics.
"Your honor is essentially calling a press conference to disavow responsibility for this," Lee said.
It may be weeks before Colotl finds out if she can stay in pretrial diversion. Head said that the soonest the two men could schedule a time to meet and discuss the case was in two weeks.
The 23-year-old is accused of lying to deputies about her address when they booked her into the jail a charge of driving without a license. The offense of false swearing is punishable by imprisonment of one to five years in prison, although a judge could order the time to be served on probation.
If Colotl gets the pretrial diversion program, that takes six months to a year to complete.
Colotl's arrest came after she was stopped for a minor traffic offense in a parking lot near Kennesaw State University, where she was attending college. A Mexican native, she was found to be in the U.S. illegally. However, she was granted a yearlong deferment in 2010 to finish her studies. A public outcry over the case prompted the Board of Regents to ban illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition rates from Georgia's top public colleges.
She was granted another yearlong deferment upon her graduation in May. She now works as a legal assistant for her immigration attorney, Charles Kuck.
It is possible that a criminal conviction could negatively affect her immigration status, Kuck said.
Colotl became eligible for pretrial diversion when the federal government granted her the deferment, according to Head. He said that he was treating Colotl like he would anyone else.
"I have never let politics shape my decisions," Head said. "I think decisions need to be based on what's the right thing to do, and if I get fallout from it, then I get fallout."
Both the sheriff and the judge are up for re-election next year. Head is not seeking re-election.
On Friday, Warren gave an impromptu news conference in the lobby of the courthouse and issued a written statement saying, "in my opinion, Ms. Colotl deserves no special treatment through the criminal justice process."
"She has a history of no respect for authority or the laws of this state," Warren added.
All the recent hubbub surrounding Colotl is surprising to some legal experts, especially when it appeared to have run its course.
University of Georgia law professor Ron Carlson said it seemed to him that a tremendous amount of energy has been expended on one young woman's case.
"I am sure the sheriff and the authorities would say it's the principle of the thing and the precedent for future cases," Carlson said. "But it seems to me that maybe those purposes have now been carried out in this case and it might be a good time to stop. There are other things going on in Cobb that deserve the attention of the authorities."
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