Appealing the 110-year prison sentence imposed on Cuban truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos - who caused an accident on a Colorado highway in 2019 with a death toll of four - is going to take a lot of resources, lawyers and time, he told Noticias Telemundo his lawyer, James Colgan.
“To be honest, an appeal in a case like this could take a couple of years.
It is not something that will happen overnight ",
Colgan stated in a telephone interview.
"This is one of the biggest legal errors I have seen, which is why the case has had so much resonance."
As of this Friday afternoon, almost three million people had signed a clemency petition considering that the sentence for the 26-year-old immigrant was too harsh.
The Denver Post newspaper, one of the most influential in Colorado, asked Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in an editorial to commute part of the sentence.
Polis said Thursday that he will "study" the petitions.
The accident occurred on Colorado's Interstate 70 on April 25, 2019. David Zalubowski
The trucker's attorney said countless people and various immigration defense agencies
have offered to help with money or legal advice for the appeal.
This Friday he was scheduled to visit the prison to consult with him on these options.
He says he hopes some pieces of evidence will be reexamined to ask for a lesser sentence.
"A punishment has to fit the crime and the punishment does not fit the crime in this case," said the lawyer.
"Even if Aguilera-Mederos made mistakes, he shouldn't have to pay with the rest of his life."
Attorney James Colgan defended Rogel Aguilera-Mederos at trial for the accident in Colorado where four people died.
James Colgan Law
He also criticized the decisions of those who represented the trucker before he took over the defense, just over a year ago.
“His first lawyer wanted to get him to speak to the press to gain recognition.
I never tell my clients to get on the news and speak until the case is over, ”he said, arguing that this could have a negative influence on the jury's decision.
Aguilera-Mederos crashed into stopped traffic at rush hour on Colorado's Interstate 70 near Denver, where an accident had occurred shortly before.
At the time of the crash,
his driver's license was in good standing.
His toxicology tests came back negative.
The defense claims that his driving record was so clean that he did not have a traffic ticket.
["I would have preferred to die," says the Latino truck driver who caused a fatal tragedy on the Colorado highway from prison]
But the Prosecutor's Office claimed that he was driving at 85 mph in a 45 mph zone and that he made reckless decisions, such as not directing the vehicle onto a truck ramp on the side of the highway.
Four Colorado residents died, the youngest of them a 24-year-old Hispanic identified as Miguel Lamas Arrellano.
Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos was 23 years old at the time of the accident.
His commercial truck driver's license was in good standing and his driving record was clean.
AP
The trucker, who has a 5-year-old son in Cuba, said after being sentenced on Monday that he was taking responsibility for the accident, but that his brakes failed.
“I was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol: I was working and I lost my brakes.
I lost my brakes, ”he pleaded with the judge.
The state of destruction of the truck, which was loaded with wood, made a mechanical inspection difficult.
"I don't know why God left me alive, but I never tried to harm anyone," he insisted from jail this Friday in a telephone interview with Actualidad Radio, a Miami station.
“People have to be calm: I am not going to commit suicide
.
God is up there and God knows the truth ”.
The 110-year sentence is the result of Colorado's controversial mandatory minimum sentencing laws.
Aguilera-Mederos was found guilty on 27 counts, including four of vehicular manslaughter and six of first degree assault.
State law requires these sentences to be served consecutively, one after the other.
Four Coloradans died in the 2019 crash, including a 24-year-old Hispanic identified as Miguel Lamas Arrellano.
Getty Images
Although the fight to achieve a commutation or sentence reduction will have to be titanic, there are some legal avenues that can be exploited, said lawyers consulted by Noticias Telemundo.
What are the options and what can Joe Biden and the Governor of Colorado do?
"There are different remedies (to appeal), but it will probably be at least two years before something happens," said attorney Randal Manning, a Colorado personal injury attorney.
The expert assures that the defense can request a new trial, alleging that Aguilera-Mederos should not have been found guilty.
If this avenue proceeds, the Prosecutor's Office and the defense would litigate again
and there could be a chance that he will be found innocent of some of the charges.
The jury found Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos guilty of 27 counts, including four of vehicular manslaughter and six of first degree assault.
The second option is to file a motion asking the judge to reconsider your sentence.
If the judge finds that the sentence was wrong, reducing it is faster than going to trial again, and can take about six months, calculates the lawyer.
In sentencing on Monday, the judge already said that he would have preferred a lesser sentence, but that his hands were tied.
Mandatory minimum sentences absolutely have a racial component ”
Randal Manning COLORADO ATTORNEY
The lawyer maintains that mandatory minimum sentences such as that applied to the Cuban immigrant allow them to be applied more rigorously against minorities such as Hispanics.
“Mandatory minimum sentences absolutely have a racial component.
They are not something that pleases many people, including some judges, "he argued.
"We must reevaluate (these laws) to ensure that they are fair and apply equally to all."
On the petitions to the president, Joe Biden, and the governor of Colorado, he stated: "I do not expect immediate executive action from the state or federal government."
"They are killing me in life," says the Hispanic sentenced to 110 years in prison.
This is how his mother tells it
Dec. 17, 202103: 27
The expert estimates that Aguilera-Mederos will have to spend time in prison before any type of executive relief is assessed.
"If he's being a good prisoner and all these other legal avenues provide no relief, then
I think the president and governor would be most interested in providing a pardon."
The Cuban migrant community has organized protests to demand a commutation and has donated money to relatives, while members of the United States truckers union have promoted the #DontDriveColorado (Don't drive to Colorado) initiative on social media.
["They are killing me while I was alive," laments the Latino trucker sentenced to 110 years. But the governor prepares a plan]
Attorney Manning assures that popular pressure is important, but that it will not prevent the trucker from serving at least a few years.
“What people maybe should focus on is thinking critically about how they can help Mr. Aguilera-Mederos," he said. "This probably won't happen in a week.
Carry it on your mind and
keep supporting it after this gets out of the news cycle
.
"
