A lawsuit filed against the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office alleges that the office engaged in the obstruction of justice by blocking access to critical evidence in the ongoing immigration proceedings of a man detained in Laramie County.
Background of the Case
The complaint accuses the sheriff’s office of blocking access to records after it released a report about the arrest of long-time Laramie County resident Mario Fabian Valenzuela Robles, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, that a representative of the Cheyenne Police Department called a ‘complete fabrication.’ The sheriff’s initial report indicated a Cheyenne police officer was involved in the arrest, even though that officer was on leave at the time.
The complaint asks the court to order the sheriff’s office to immediately hand over all evidence related to Valenzuela Robles’ stop and detention. It requests that the court declare that they ‘obstructed access to evidence’ relevant to Valenzuela Robles’ ongoing deportation proceedings and habeas corpus case in Colorado.
Investigation and Findings
An investigator working for a Denver, Colorado-based immigration law office, Lichter & Associates, went to the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office to request records related to Valenzuela Robles’ arrest and detention. The office initially told him that there were no reports for Valenzuela Robles’ arrest or detention.
Later, when the investigator presented a revised records request on Lichter letterhead, a staff member told him the office still didn’t have a report on Valenzuela Robles’ arrest or detention and would need a date of birth to search. The staff member also informed the investigator that the alien registration number he had provided didn’t yield results for the search.
The investigator visited the Cheyenne Police Department again and was told that the department was not involved in Valenzuela Robles’ arrest or detention. He then went to the sheriff’s office, where a representative gave him a report ‘purporting to document the encounter, arrest and detention’ of Valenzuela Robles.
The report indicated that there was no body camera footage, that the Cheyenne Police Department collected all digital media related to the arrest, and that a Cheyenne Police Department officer was involved in the encounter. However, when the investigator showed the report to the Cheyenne Police Department, a staff member called it a ‘complete fabrication,’ stating that the officer mentioned in the report was incorrectly identified and was on leave that day.
Original reporting: Oil City News (Casper WY) — read the source article.
