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Life & Times Transcript
07/18/06 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Looking for work in Laguna Beach. Should a day labor center operate on state land? Eileen Garcia>> Basically, in layman's terms, they're squatting on the land. They're operating illegally. David Peck>> What we say is that the center is doing an important job for the community. Val Zavala>> And then, she was there before cameras were in the courtroom. Meet a woman who's made a career of capturing criminals. These stories and more next on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> We know them as those gutsy Americans who've headed down to the Mexican border to help stop illegal immigration. They are the Minutemen, but now they're targeting more than the border. In Laguna Beach, they have set their sights on one of those day labor hiring centers and, as Orange County reporter Roger Cooper tells us, that has sparked a local debate on a national issue. Roger Cooper>> Our nation is having a great debate over immigration and you can see that debate in microcosm in Laguna Beach. >> "When will we secure our borders?" Roger Cooper>> At the heart of the controversy, this place, a day laborer hiring center on Laguna Canyon Road that has been operating for seven years. >> "I come from Mexico. I come here to find better jobs, you know. I have my family." Roger Cooper>> For months now, protesters have demanded the city-funded Laguna site be shut down. Leading the effort has been the well-known anti-illegal immigrant group, the Minutemen. >> "We would penalize the employers that hire illegal aliens." Roger Cooper>> The Minuteman Project gained national attention in 2005 when hundreds of volunteers headed down to the Mexican border to help spot illegal crossers. Now they are intent on stopping people who made it across the border from getting work in the United States. Eileen Garcia is a Minuteman volunteer. She was researching public documents when she made an interesting discovery about the day labor center in Laguna Beach. Eileen Garcia>> So I went to Caltrans, their map room, and for three hours I poured over the maps. It was a great awakening when I learned that the entire property that the day labor site is operating on belongs to the state of California. Roger Cooper>> That's right. Eileen discovered that Laguna's day laborer site has been operating all this time on Caltrans property. Eileen Garcia>> And then I also found out that they don't have a permit. Basically, in layman's terms, they're squatting on the land. They're operating illegally and they have been for six years. They pay no rent. Roger Cooper>> Caltrans became concerned about liability, so it immediately ordered the city to close the center as soon as possible. Last week, Laguna's City Council discussed how to respond to Caltrans' orders. There were demonstrators outside. George Riviere>> "The situation there is actually encouraging illegal people to come into the country." Roger Cooper>> And there was some heated discussion inside. George Riviere>> "Well, gentlemen and ladies, you have made it a Laguna Beach issue by supporting an illegal day labor site." Arnold Hano>> "A lot of what is happening is an ignorance of the culture of the Latino who comes here. They don't come here to break the law. They come here to work. They come here to make money to send down to an ailing mother or father. They come here to raise a family." Eileen Garcia>> "I have some information." Roger Cooper>> Eileen Garcia, the woman who made the discovery about Caltrans land, was there as well. Eileen Garcia>> "Last week, it was discovered that there are some people in this city who are breaking the law. The operators of the day labor site and the city of Laguna Beach have taken some land that did not belong to them. You set up a business that aids and abets illegal aliens, breaking federal immigration law. Shame on you." Roger Cooper>> But many on the Council say the issue is not illegal immigration, but rather, controlling the hiring process. This is what can happen without hiring sites. [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> Council members say having one central labor site has kept workers from hanging around neighborhoods, something that used to create problems in Laguna. Why wouldn't the police arrest them? Police captain, Paul Workman, explains that day workers have rights too. Captain Paul Workman>> "What I think a lot of people don't recognize is that, in our country, the same laws that protect you as citizens from us just stopping you randomly also protect the day laborers. I cannot look at that person and make a judgment about who they are or where they're from just by their appearance. It's not within my power. I can stop them if they violate the law." Roger Cooper>> Laguna Beach is not the only place where day labor sites have been challenged. Last year in Costa Mesa, the City Council voted to close the site there. In Burbank, this hiring center near a new Home Depot opened, but only after an intense fight. >> "An immigration bill that is deeply flawed." Roger Cooper>> And in Congress, day labor sites would be outlawed under the tough immigration bill passed by the House, though it is yet to become law. There are about a hundred day labor sites in southern California. Studies show that about three-quarters of the workers are undocumented and half of the people who hire them are homeowners. >> You know, the people come here looking for guys in painting and construction. I don't know, different jobs. Roger Cooper>> What job do you do most often? >> Construction. Roger Cooper>> So who pays for the operation of these sites? Laguna's day labor center gets city financial support and where does that come from? [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> It comes from this long-time Laguna event, the Sawdust Arts Festival. The festival pays rent to the city and twenty-one thousand dollars of it goes to run the labor center, a use Eileen Garcia opposes. Eileen Garcia>> My concern with the day labor site is that it's using our taxpayer money and our charity budget to fund it. Roger Cooper>> Garcia thinks the money should go to other uses like relief for the Bluebird Canyon landslide victims. Although city money supports it, the site is actually run by a local nonprofit called the Cross Cultural Council. David Peck>> What we say is that the center is doing an important job for the community and it's an economic job. It's finding workers for employers. It's giving homeowners a chance to find people to work for them. Roger Cooper>> Chairman David Peck says the city asked his group to run the labor center to bring order and safety to the process. David Peck>> Well, the history is that, in many communities, workers used to congregate wherever, convenience stores, bus stops, and about nine years ago or so, the city decided they just had to stop that because the police had so many problems trying to maintain order in all these different sites. So they set up bathrooms and water out at the present site. Roger Cooper>> Meanwhile at the Council meeting, the City Manager had a major announcement to make. The city had found a solution to the Caltrans problem and a way to keep the day labor center going. Ken Franks>> "The city and Caltrans signed a one-year lease where the city will be leasing the current area of the day labor center for one year. The city is allowed to use that property under a lease from Caltrans for the next year." Roger Cooper>> And during that year, Laguna will work to purchase the land from Caltrans, but already opponents are planning to stop the sale. Eileen Garcia>> What will probably happen now is there will be an injunction to stop the sale or the acquisition of the land. I've put the City Council on notice that they are aiding and abetting illegal aliens. Roger Cooper>> David Peck of the Cross Cultural Council is saddened by some of the demonstrators. David Peck>> I feel sorry for them, you know. I think their racism, their unhappiness, is really sad to see. I mean, the fact is, if we have eleven million illegal immigrants in this country, as apparently we do, most of them are working. We need them. >> We are looking for a better life and we have to work very hard. Roger Cooper>> In Orange County, I'm Roger Cooper for Life and Times. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> They're called the Pendleton 8, a group of Marines accused of killing an unarmed Iraqi farmer and then planting a rifle on him to make him look like an insurgent. This is just one of several investigations into race and murders in Iraq. Is it time the Marines changed the way they train their soldiers? Jeffrey Kaye has our report. Jeffrey Kaye>> With Marines taking fire and locked in street by street combat, these scenes look like real fighting in Baghdad or Fallujah, but this is the Marine Corps combat training center in Twenty-Nine Palms, California. Here in a mock Iraqi village in the Mohave Desert, Marines scheduled to ship out to Iraq by the end of the summer are preparing for the kind of combat they're likely to face. Here and in other bases, the United States military is refining its training not only in tactics, but in ethics. That's because of a series of accusations that American servicemen have murdered non-combatants in Iraq. Brigadier General Douglas Stone is the commander of the Twenty-Nine Palms Marine Base. Brigadier General Douglas Stone>> The lesson is to teach them how to achieve their missions with the ethical use of force and to ensure that they're always following the rules of engagement. Jeffrey Kaye>> Rocked by the allegations of atrocities, the military is strengthening programs to educate soldiers and Marines about ethical conduct and the rules of war, what it calls values training. Here, Marines get a sense of the dangers they're likely to encounter: car bombs, snipers and civilians who may or may not be insurgents. They're also here to learn about cultural sensitivities. To assist them are up to five hundred Arabic speaking role players, many of them Iraqi Americans. Marines undergoing training say they've learned the key to their success will be getting to know the Iraqis. Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Kennedy>> We've evolved, adapted and made things as good as they can be in order to give our guys the tools that they're going to need for the kind of fight that they have. Jeffrey Kaye>> But human rights advocates say this kind of training only partially addresses the problem of military misconduct. Bridget Wilson>> I think you have to look at a failure of leadership when you start having a cluster of these kinds of cases. Jeffrey Kaye>> Bridget Wilson, a San Diego lawyer who often represents servicemen and women, says the boundaries for acceptable military behavior are set in Washington. Bridget Wilson>> I think that, when you have people very high up saying things to troops like, "Well, we think the Geneva Conventions are quaint and out of mode and need to be changed", that kind of an attitude starts to filter down. And when you see only fairly low-ranking people being prosecuted in these matters, it can get pretty cynicism-inducing. Jeffrey Kaye>> One case moving forward against enlisted men is at Camp Pendleton Marine Base in southern California. Colonel Stewart Navarre>> "Based on the findings of a criminal investigation, seven Marines and one Navy Corpsman have been charged with offenses including kidnapping, murder and conspiracy in connection with the death of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdaniyah, Iraq. It is important to note that the charges and specifications are accusations against the individuals and the accused are presumed innocent." Jeffrey Kaye>> The eight members of the Marine's Kilo Company of the Third Battalion Fifth Regiment are in Camp Pendleton's brig awaiting hearing. All of the squad members, none above the rank of sergeant, are facing murder charges which carry the death penalty. The case centers on Hashim Ibrahim Awad, an Iraqi farmer whom the Marines allegedly shot to death in April near his home in the village of Hamdaniyah. After his funeral, village leaders complained to American military officials who launched an investigation conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Military investigators have charged that the eight seized Awad from his home, tied him up, put him in a hole and shot him. To make it appear that he was an insurgent, investigators alleged the troops stole an AK-47 rifle and a shovel and placed them in the hands of the man they killed. Carolyn Jodka>> This is not the son we raised. This is not the young man that we know today. To be charged with it is just preposterous, you know. He honorably was doing his duty. Jeffrey Kaye>> Carolyn and John Jodka are parents of Private First Class John Jodka III. The twenty year old from Encinitas, California is accused of being one of five men who shot at Awad and killing him. The Jodkas accuse the United States military of railroading their son and the others for political purposes. Carolyn Jodka>> I think our government may be trying to send the message to the Iraqi government and may be using our sons to send that message. Jeffrey Kaye>> And the message is? Carolyn Jodka>> That we're being tough on our own, that we hear your concern about citizens being killed. If this man was indeed just a citizen, I think that is yet to be proven. Jeffrey Kaye>> The Jodkas and other families and supporters of the accused are fighting back. In addition to their many news interviews, they're using the internet to post pictures and videos of rallies they've held outside Camp Pendleton. They've also created websites on behalf of those facing charges to make their case and to raise funds for legal fees. Lawyers for the accused say they'll conduct their own investigation in hopes of proving the killing of Awad was justified. David Brahms, a retired Marine Corps Brigadier General, is the civilian lawyer for Lance Corporal Robert Pennington, one of the eight accused. Brahms says the investigative files he's been provided don't offer a full picture of what happened in Hamdaniyah. Brigadier General David Brahms>> The much more likely scenario, given the character of these young men and given the fact that they're Marines and given the setting, is that it was an appropriate interaction. Jeffrey Kaye>> Brahms doesn't dispute that Marines killed Awad, but he's convinced that they followed the rules of engagement regarding the proper use of force. Was he an insurgent? Brigadier General David Brahms>> Insurgents can't be identified by shining a beam on them and, like some sort of litmus test, they turn red. Aha, an insurgent. Jeffrey Kaye>> One factor in deciding guilt or innocence in the Hamdaniyah case is the often fuzzy line between moral and immoral behavior on the battlefield, according to lawyer Bridget Wilson. Bridget Wilson>> I proposed a hypothetical that I've always asked people to tell me what their answer would be. You're on the streets of wherever the war zone is and an eight year old child is walking down that street pointing out where your people are to the sniper above. What would you do? It's not always as easy. Jeffrey Kaye>> And the right answer? Bridget Wilson>> The right answer? The safe answer for you is probably to shoot the kid if you want to stay alive. Jeffrey Kaye>> Marine Corps officials at Camp Pendleton would not discuss the Hamdaniyah case. The next step in the case of what some supporters are calling the Pendleton 8 will be a hearing this summer in which prosecutors and defense attorneys can present evidence and call witnesses. After that, the Commanding General of the United States Marine Corps Forces Central Command will decide which, if any, of the charges involving the killing of Hashim Ibrahim Awad will result in a court martial. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> Can you imagine having a front row seat at the most notorious trials over the past twenty-five years? Well, we met one woman who has and she's not a judge or an attorney. She's a courtroom artist and she's drawn the likes of Michael Jackson, Heidi Fleiss, the Hillside Strangler and, of course, O.J. Now she's put her drawings and her observations in a book. Vicki Curry talked with Mona Edwards about some of the more memorable courtroom moments. Vicki Curry>> Mona Edwards, you've been a courtroom artist for over twenty-five years. How did you get started in this field? Mona Edwards>> I am a fashion illustrator and I have been doing that for many years and, one day, I saw some sketches on television that I thought were very boring and stiff. Vicki Curry>> Of a trial? Mona Edwards>> Of a trial, a courtroom drawing. I thought I could do that. I just went for it. I just wanted to see if I could accomplish it and I did. I went to a television station and asked for one chance and they gave me the chance and I worked for them for four years. Vicki Curry>> And what was your first trial that you covered? Mona Edwards>> My first trial was a big one. It was the Lee Marvin palimony case, so that was a big one. I started with a big one. Vicki Curry>> So over the years that you've done this, being in Los Angeles, it's mostly high-profile celebrity cases. One in particular that really interested me was Michael Jackson. You covered him over the course of many years, right? Mona Edwards>> Yeah, in 1996 I covered a federal case. It was the Jackson family honors. In the federal court, he played Jack-in-the-Box. He hid behind a witness stand and jumped up and did this sort of little movement and we just didn't believe our eyes that he was doing this in a federal courthouse. I think, for me, I would say the oddest case I've ever done was the Santa Maria, the child molestation trial. He didn't move pretty much the entire time I was there. He had a lot of makeup on and he was dabbing when it was getting hot and it seemed that he was divorcing himself from that courtroom. It just seemed like he was somewhere else. So I didn't get much of a feeling for him one way or another. Vicki Curry>> Another big celebrity, somewhat strange case, was the Robert Blake case. Tell me about your experiences on that. Mona Edwards>> I really liked that case. I liked the case because it represented to me the perfect murder trial. There were exciting witnesses. I thought that Blake was a very intriguing character, very smart and very articulate as opposed to the sort of guy that we have seen as Beretta and kind of fast-clipped. Vicki Curry>> I would think that one of your most interesting and exciting cases was the O.J. Simpson trials, both the criminal and the civil. What was your experience on those? Mona Edwards>> The O.J. trials, the first one, the criminal trial, and Simpson By The Sea, which we always called the second one, were amazing feats of history. Vicki Curry>> Now we all know that Simpson didn't have to testify and chose not to in his criminal trial, but he had to in the civil trial, and that's one of the most compelling drawings in the book. Tell me what it was like to be there for his testimony. Mona Edwards>> Compelling is a good word. Interesting, intriguing, very theatrical a couple of times. But there was one in particular, the sketch that's in the book. He was describing the good times and the playful times with his wife. He was discussing wrestling with his wife when they were playing around at home, but he had closed fists. I thought that was a really bizarre choice of hand movements, so I got that down. That was a really fast sketch to have clinched fists for a very pleasant part of his married life. Vicki Curry>> So when you start working on a trial, how do you go about doing your sketches? What's your process like? Mona Edwards>> My first sketches are usually my best sketches because it's just of my first impressions and those are really pretty correct. I've never done pre-drawing, never used pencil, never used an eraser. I work right in ink. What I do pretty much is survey it first. So it's actually finished in my head before I even put the pencil down. I do have a bit of a photographic memory, so just drawing it is the easiest part. It's the thinking it out first that's the most important. Vicki Curry>> Well, what do you look for when you're trying to figure out what the image should be? Mona Edwards>> I look for a landmark on somebody's face. I never spend time on the interiors of a courtroom. What I look for is a landmark, a great nose, great cheekbones, craggy eyebrows, the way someone is sitting holding themselves, collapsing on the witness stand. You know, I look for something that's exciting, that will give some interest to the sketch. Vicki Curry>> So when you're going in to these celebrity trials, is that different for you somehow? Is it different having to tackle a famous face? Mona Edwards>> It's very difficult. It seems that I draw normal people very easily because I never have to think that people may be analyzing the drawing. But if it's a Catherine Zeta Jones or Alec Baldwin, I mean, everybody knows what that person looks like. So it's an added pressure to get the features correctly. I'm not a portrait artist and I don't claim to be, but to get the essence of somebody in a very quick drawing is very, very difficult to do. Vicki Curry>> In this day and age of multimedia, do you think your profession is going to be around for long? Why do you think it's necessary to have courtroom artists at this point? Mona Edwards>> I think that it's the relevancy of a courtroom artist. As much as I know that it's a very dated sort of profession, it does lend an air of respect in the courtroom. I think that, when people are aware of a camera on them, it changes their body language. It could change an answer if it's a witness. I think that I am more of a fly on the wall. Vicki Curry>> Do you think a courtroom sketch conveys something different that a photograph or a video can't? Mona Edwards>> I think a courtroom sketch conveys the humanity of something or someone in the soul and just sort of the essence of it. So you use color and line and body language to create different emotions on the page. Not that I'm being subjective at all to what's going on. I am very objective, but I just think it gives a sort of humane feel to the proceedings. Vicki Curry>> Mona Edwards, author of "Captured! Inside the World of Celebrity Trials", thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. Mona Edwards>> Thank you very much. I really enjoyed it. Val Zavala>> Mona Edwards' book is called "Captured! Inside the World of Celebrity Trials". And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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