No one knew how often he had come or to whom he had talked. But Kerry Kaiser, a clerk who sits at an information desk in front of the elevators, knew she'd seen him. She thought she might even have talked to him once, briefly, before the day when she really listened to what he said to her in Spanish.

"I didn't know exactly what he was saying, something about his brother," she said. "He was just desperate: 'This is my brother. I need to find him.' "

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

He said that his brother, Fernando Antonio Cruz, had been left in the county jail and that he should have been freed already. With a few clicks, Kaiser opened a file on her computer and confirmed that his case had been dismissed in December. It was February.

She alerted the clerk's office, which faxed a release order to the jail. Court records show that it was dated 3:01 p.m. Feb. 15, with the handwritten words "was dismissed 12-12-05!!"

Through human error complicated by language and cultural differences, Cruz had been forgotten. Like many immigrants, he had become as invisible inside the criminal justice system as he was outside. As the number of Hispanics has swelled to more than 16 percent of Prince William's 348,588 residents, Cruz's case shows how one immigrant can find himself lost in the judicial system.

Every morning, dozens of Latinos come by Kaiser's desk. Many appear confused, frustrated. Starved for familiarity, they devour her every word, even if her Spanish is a bit broken.

Kaiser, 59, speaks English with a strong Tennessee accent and Spanish with the inconsistency of someone who taught herself more through desire than formal training. But she tries, and she sympathizes, and on a February afternoon when the halls were mostly hushed except for a man wandering around with a worried look, she listened.

Striving to keep up with population changes
Mark Voss, a defense lawyer who frequently works out of the Prince William courthouse, said that what happened to Cruz is in part a product of the county's changing caseload.

More national coverage
"You go to court, and it looks like you're looking at Juárez," Voss said, referring to the Mexican city. "I go over there and start speaking Spanish, and the next thing I know three or four people are coming over. . . . I open my mouth, and all of a sudden I'm surrounded."

Voss was there the day Cruz's brother came looking for help. He explained to the man that his brother would be released in a few moments and that he should take his brother home and then call Voss, because they had a potential lawsuit against the county. "Somebody made a mistake," Voss said. "If you spend two extra months in jail, that's not like spending an extra night in jail."

In the two decades he has worked in Prince William, Voss said, he's seen the justice system strive to keep up with population changes -- hiring more Spanish speakers, printing court literature in two languages, commissioning more translators.

"Yes, it has adjusted," Voss said. "Has it adjusted as fast as I would have liked it to adjust? Probably not."

When Cruz's brother did not call back, Voss spent weekends and nights trying to find him. He even hired a private investigator. Neither had success. Two addresses are listed for Cruz -- one that does not exist, and another where no one seems to live.

All that is known about Cruz is what can be pieced together from court records: He is 25, from Mexico and lives in Manassas. He worked as a contractor in Warrenton, earning $20,800 a year. He claimed to have no bank account, no real estate, no car.

It appears he's still in the area. Manassas police charged him July 2 with stealing beer from a 7-Eleven and issued a summons to appear in court this month.

"He's out there somewhere. I just wish I could find him," Voss said, adding that he is not surprised that Cruz chose to drift into a familiar anonymity. "They are told to keep a low profile, keep your head below the bushes."

CONTINUED : Legal breakdown

1 | 2 | Next >

Discuss Story On Newsvine
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh
Email
Instant Message
Print