Politics & Government
Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit Against Department of Homeland Security
Fatal car crash involving the death of a nun caused by a drunken driver facing deportation has Judicial Watch suspecting a cover-up.
A watchdog group called Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security in an attempt to uncover details of how a twice-arrested drunken driver facing deportation was released to work and ended up getting in a fatal crash that killed a nun on Aug. 1.
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered an investigation on Aug. 2. Prince William County had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for details of that investigation into the handling of the case of Carlos Martinelly-Montano, a twice-convicted drunken driver in the country illegally from Bolivia. DHS denied the county's request for expedited processing of the FOIA request.
Prince William County Chairman Corey Stewart is backing the watchdog group's efforts to uncover more details about Montano's case.
"This information is vital to our public safety, and my ability as local leader to ensure our community remains safe," said Stewart in a prepared statement.
Montano is accused of being intoxicated when his vehicle struck another car with three nuns in western Prince William. The 23-year-old is charged with drunken driving, involuntary manslaughter and felony driving on a revoked license.
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Sister Denise Mosier, 66, died at the scene, and two passengers, Sister Charlotte Lange and Sister Connie Ruth Lupton, were seriously injured.
Prince William County police were able to start the deportation process on Martinelly-Montano after his second DUI arrest. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement released him with an Employment Authorization Card in January 2009, which allowed him to drive again, a loophole that Governor Robert F. McDonnell has since fixed.
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Judicial Watch released a politically charged press release about its lawsuit that attacks the Obama Administration for how the federal agents handled the case.
"The Department of Homeland Security's refusal to release the results of its investigation of Montano smacks of a cover-up," stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
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