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Treaty cited Pedro Guerrero wants cocaine charges dropped
Posted: Sunday December 26, 1999 06:02 PM
MIAMI (AP) -- Former Major League Baseball star Pedro Guerrero wants his cocaine conspiracy charges thrown out. He says federal drug agents failed to tell him he could contact the Dominican embassy before he was questioned. His lawyers recently sought a dismissal in Miami federal court. Guerrero contends Drug Enforcement Administration investigators did not inform him of his rights under the 1963 Vienna Convention. Guerrero, 43, is a Dominican citizen who lives in Miami. He was a four-time All-Star with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the 1981 World Series co-MVP. He also played for the St. Louis Cardinals before retiring in 1992. He was arrested in September and charged with trying to buy 33 pounds of cocaine from undercover agents. He is free on $100,000 bail. Guerrero's lawyers say he would not have made incriminating statements if he had first spoken to his country's embassy. Guerrero has an only elementary school education and says he speaks limited English, despite living in the United States full- or part-time since the 1970s. "Mr. Guerrero is an unlettered man who has no training in the American legal system," Guerrero lawyer Milton Hirsch wrote the court. "Familiarity with the infield fly rule does not equate with familiarity with the exclusionary rule." The government has not commented on Guerrero's case, but DEA reports say Guerrero was told about his Miranda rights to remain silent and legal counsel. They do not mention the Vienna Convention, however. Under that treaty, law enforcement agencies worldwide are required to inform arrested foreigners that they can contact their embassies. But the treaty does not provide any rights not given to the arresting country's own citizens. The United States is one of 163 countries that have signed the convention, but recently it has been criticized by other governments. They say U.S. police agencies routinely violate the pact. "Everyone should be told of their rights," said Roberto Saladin, the Dominican Republic's ambassador to the United States. "It's a fundamental thing that everyone knows throughout the world." Amnesty International has tried unsuccessfully to stop several U.S. executions by claiming the condemned foreigners were not told their Vienna Convention rights. The State Department complains to foreign governments when arrested American travelers are denied their Vienna Convention rights, and it has sent numerous memos to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies reminding them of their obligation. The State and Justice departments say that while the right to speak to one's embassy if arrested clearly exists, there is no legal recourse if police violate it.
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