Prosecutor Dumps Case Against Migrant Charged With Murder Just Because One Of The Officers Assaulting Him Died After This Assault

Legal Issues

from the officer-died-doing-what-he-loved dept

Just imagine how petty and vindictive you have to be to change someone with murder just because they weren’t arrested easily. Imagine how self-centered you have to be to present someone as an assailant just because they were unable to comprehend your instructions. Imagine just how inhumane you have to be to present a false narrative about a weapon wielded against officers just so you can charge a migrant with no English skills with aggravated murder, just because an officer died of natural causes after being involved with this arrest.

That’s what happened to Virgilio Mendez. Mendez, a native of Guatemala, was standing near a hotel room (where he was staying with other migrants employed in the area) when he was accosted by St. Johns County officer Michael Kunovich.

Dispatch had alerted officers to a “suspicious Hispanic male,” a vague description that allowed Kunovich (and other officers who arrived later) to justify their violent actions. Mendez did not speak English or Spanish. Instead, he spoke Mam, a derivative of the Mayan dialect spoken by a half-million Guatemalans.

It took a bit of time to subdue Mendez, someone who likely had no idea what was happening or why this was happening to him. Shouted instructions in English and Spanish did nothing to clarify what was happening. He was thrown to the ground. Although he continued to struggle, Mendez — at 5’4″ and 115 lbs. — was easily outclassed by his law enforcement opponents. In addition, he was tased six times in a little over 120 seconds.

This was all caught on (body) camera by Sergeant Kunovich. The post-arrest narrative presented by the sheriff’s office claimed Mendez “pulled a knife” on the officers. The recording makes it clear this never happened. Following the struggle, Kunovich began experiencing pain and shortness of breath. He was rushed to a hospital and expired shortly thereafter.

The coroner’s report makes it clear this was not a result of anything Mendez did. (And, indeed, the video shows Kunovich removed himself from the struggle long before it was over.)

“These cardiac changes, while recent, predate the struggle with the subject,” the report said. “The circumstances do not fully meet the criteria for a homicide manner of death.”

The coroner said no homicide. The St. John’s Sheriffs Office (along with the local prosecutor) said something else entirely:

[T]he St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the State Attorney for the 7th Judicial Circuit of Florida charged Aguilar Méndez with aggravated murder, which is punishable by life in prison.

For the moment, that’s how it went for Mendez. His lawyer told the court Mendez shouldn’t be charged with this and noted that he possibly couldn’t even be tried for this, due to his inability to understand commonly-used languages like English or Spanish, not to mention his unfamiliarity with the US legal system.

The court agreed at first, although that did not result in the release of Mendez, who was held without bail for eight months, despite being found incompetent to stand trial.

After having Mendez held even longer while taking time to “mull the complicated issues,” prosecutors have decided to dismiss the charges against Mendez.

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the charges against Aguilar Mendez were dismissed “based on concerns about the intellectual capacity of Vergilio Aguilar Mendez and the recent ruling finding him to be incompetent.”

Not that Mendez is free to go. The same article notes Mendez is still detained while he awaits the outcome of deportation proceedings initiated by the federal government.

This dismissal is welcome. So is the statement issued by Mendez’s attorney, Jose Baez, who went after the sheriff’s office for its abuse of the justice process to bring these charges against someone who had the misfortune of interacting with officers employed by the sheriff.

“Culture that starts and ends with the sheriff, who not only doubled down and tripled down by creating a false narrative that this young man, who came in at 17, was someone who failed to follow instructions,” Baez said in a press conference following Aguilar Mendez’s dismissal.

“He says if he only followed instructions Kunovich would still be alive,” Baez said. “I want to one day see him comply to orders given to him in Mam or Spanish and I would guarantee you that he would not comply. Then claim Vergilio Aguilar Mendez was going to use a knife, knowing that was a lie,” Baez said.

He’s not wrong. Law enforcement officers routinely claim failure to comply with orders is a criminal act — something that often happens when subjects don’t understand the language being spoke or (as is equally often the case) when officers shout contradictory orders simultaneously, forcing arrestees to ignore at least one officer’s orders so they can comply with another officer’s shouted commands, thus giving all officers on the scene permission to start brutalizing the arrestee.

This last minute dismissal was likely provoked by Mendez’s civil rights lawsuit, which was filed less than 10 days before the charges were dropped. But, as anyone browsing American jurisprudence can tell you, dropping charges doesn’t make rights violations disappear. Trying to moot the case by pressing eject on prosecution isn’t the “EASY” button the St. James government appears to think it is.

Finally, there’s this defensive statement by the St. John’s Sheriff’s Office, which tries to cover itself in the reflected glory of a dead officer by (once again) invoking things that didn’t happen as a defense for its own actions.

“There have been attempts by some to portray Aguilar Mendez as a victim and vilify Sergeant Kunovich. I continue to stand behind Sergeant Kunovich’s actions on the night of May 19, 2023,” St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick said in a statement. “The danger associated with law enforcement is a risk we assume when we enter this profession. Sergeant Kunovich died a hero protecting the citizens of St. Johns County and there is nothing more noble than that. Please continue to hold our agency and Sergeant Kunovich’s family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Let’s be perfectly fucking clear, Sheriff Rob Hardwick, since it’s been clear from the start you and your office are willing to be deliberately obtuse when not actively lying about what happened in this case. No one “vilified” the dead officer. They vilified your department and local prosecutors for deciding to charge someone just because an officer happened to die (but probably not a “hero”) shortly after affecting an arrest. He was dead. He had zero say in the determination of criminal charges.

Sheriff, your willingness to transfer your own vilification to the corpse of your former employee speaks volumes about your willingness to take responsibility for your own actions or the actions of your officers. And what it says it that you will pass the buck the moment it crosses you desk while taking credit for anything these officers achieve with or without your (lol) leadership. Get fucked, buddy. You suck.

Filed Under: michael kunovich, virgilio mendez