Man charged in death identified
By Andy Gates - Argus Observer
Monday, July 30, 2007 10:29 AM PDT
VALE - A confusing effect of illegal immigration was highlighted Friday during a court proceeding involving the death of a child.
The unusual display included a Mexican man with an arsenal of aliases who was arraigned on a grand jury indictment for charges including manslaughter in his daughter’s death last weekend.
He was placed under oath Friday in Malheur County Circuit Court so a judge could determine who he really is.
The man, who has used more than 10 names with authorities, sat in the Malheur County Jail Friday with one hand raised — the other grasped a phone connected to a Spanish-speaking translator.
From the courtroom via videophone, Malheur County Circuit Court Judge J. Burdette Pratt put the man under oath.
“What is your true name?” the judge asked.
Through a translator, the man said he is Oscar Vasquez Gonzalez.
The situation was apparently unusual.
“It’s rare for judges to put defendants under oath at an arraignment, in order to ensure they’re getting what is hopefully accurate information ... When Judge Pratt did that, that was not the norm,” Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris said.
A thorough line of questioning ensued by the judge, aimed at establishing Gonzalez’s age, parents’ names and the province and state of his birth in Mexico.
Gonzalez is charged with first degree manslaughter, criminal negligent homicide and DUII for the July 22 death of his 8-year-old daughter, Clarisa Vasquez Caldera.
The child was ejected from an SUV along Oregon Highway 201, and she died at the scene. Authorities have said Caldera and her father were the only two people in the vehicle, which had rolled before they were able to pick up food items for a get-together.
The father’s blood alcohol content registered at .21, according to a Malheur County Circuit Court schedule, almost three times the legal limit.
Name after name, Pratt asked Gonzalez Friday if he had used the different aliases.
“Uh huh ... yes ... yes,” the man said, confirming each one, one by one through a translator.
Oregon State Police originally arrested Gonzalez July 22 under the name Daniel Cabello Deleon. Then they determined his “true identity” Tuesday, through fingerprints and records checks, and called him David Raigoza Franco.
He has pre-existing warrants for probation violations, resisting arrest and furnishing false information to police, according to a release from Oregon State Police.
Gonzalez has also been involved in prior cases, according to the Malheur County Circuit Court schedule, involving failing to carry and present a license, driving while suspended, driving uninsured and violating a basic speed rule.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a hold on him at the Malheur County Jail, so he cannot be released on bond, which was set at $100,000 or $10,000 cash.
Gonzalez is apparently 34 years old, based on the date of birth he told the judge Friday while under oath.
Gonzalez had previously told authorities he was born Oct. 28, 1974.
Then he said Friday he was born July 17, 1973 — but also said he is 35.
“It’s still not right,” Norris said.
The judge asked Gonzalez if he would like to give his “actual” date of birth.
“I’m going to turn 35,” Gonzalez said through a translator.
Gonzalez wants to attend his child’s funeral.
“Am I going to be able to go Monday to see my little girl?” Gonzalez asked Pratt through his translator.
The judge’s answer was no.
The man told the court July 23 he had lived in Nyssa for about a year and in California prior to that. If convicted, he faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 31 years.
He is scheduled to enter a plea Aug. 15.
In other police news:
— The man police arrested Tuesday night at an Ontario motel, in connection to an Amber Alert issued earlier that day out of Meridian, was picked up Thursday afternoon on behalf of federal immigration authorities from the Malheur County Jail, officials confirmed.
Jaime Farfan-Soto, 22, was not charged locally, but was arrested on a federal immigration charge, authorities have said.
According to the alert, Farfan-Soto forced three children into his Ford Explorer with Idaho plates. One of the children, a young infant, shares the last name Farfan-Soto, and two other children, ages 11 and 9, were also named in the Amber Alert.
Malheur County Undersheriff Brian Wolfe confirmed Grant County deputies took Farfan-Soto from the Malheur County Jail on behalf of federal immigration authorities.
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