Her Mothers’ Day In Prison the Last Six Years! In September of 1995, Stephanie Mohr and her partner, Sergeant Anthony, were on patrol, with Mohr’s police dog, Valk.  They were in  Takoma Park, an area known to many for its frequent burglaries.

They received a call for backup from an officer who informed them he’d spotted two suspicious-looking men on the roof of a nearby shop.  They knew they may have found criminals.

Ricardo Mendez and Herrera Cruz were the two suspects who were ordered to get down and face the wall. Mendez then made a move that looked as if he were about to flee the scene.

Mohr released her canine.  Valk  the police dog, was trained to perform the police department’s standard “bite and hold”, and that is exactly what he did.  Valk bit Mendez on the leg and held him until the officers could apprehend him.

Mendez and Herrera were convicted of 4th degree burglary before being deported to their country of birth.  The two illegally re-entered USA again and were arrested for selling cocaine. They were then deported a second time.

Trouble was far from over.  S. Mohr and two fellow-officers were charged with violating Ricardo Mendez’s civil rights.

At the trial,  a  jury voting 11 to 1 in favour of Mohr, failed to reach a unanimous verdict on the civil right charges.  Officer Mohr was found NOT guilty of conspiracy.

The prosecutor sought a re-trial in 2001, even though the jurors from the first trial said that the case lacked merit.  At this trial, the prosecution convinced the jury that Mohr had released her canine on innocent minority citizens for racial reasons!!

Above: Stephanie Mohr and her son Adam just before the second trial which placed her in maximum of 10 years of Jail when she was only DOING her job!

In this second trial, the judge allowed prejudicial testimony into evidence that Mohr had used racial epithets in making a prior arrest using her canine. The charges did not start out as racial but the prosecutors needed to do something desperate to save their case. This questionable evidence should not have been allowed into the courtroom! The jury was stacked with minorities who would be sympathetic with illegal immigrants. Mendez was even FLOWN BACK into the U.S. at taxpayers’ expenses, to have Mendez testify against Mohr despite the fact that he was a convicted felon.

Due to the racial tactics the prosecution used, Stephanie was convicted of a federal criminal rights violation and given a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

More than 2,000 days apart from her son, Stephanie Mohr is now serving her sixth year of the ten year prison sentence. Last Mothers’ Day, she was not re-united with her son.  In fact I would say that such a sentence was served on BOTH mother and son!

Did the judge blindly follow the recommendation of the Civil Rights Division to impose a draconian ten-year sentence that both Stephanie and her son Adam are both serving?

There is definitely something wrong here unless I am missing something.

Is there justice in the USA?

The Law Enforcement Defense Fund (LEDF) believes that Mohr has been wrongly accused and innocent of this crime. Stephanie Mohr followed all the police procedures as she was trained to do. She was only performing her job the way she was trained how. Mohr released her dog to ensure that Mendez could not escape and could not pose a further threat to the community. Mendez is an illegal alien while Mohr, a police officer who had protected the public for over nine years. Mendez is FREE while Mohr is in prison!

	LEDF is assisting Stephanie with all the legal costs for the appeal and for a new trial. Would you please join in helping Mohr so she may at least be re-united by Mothers’ Day 2010…would you? (Donations from Americans are tax-deductible.)

It is not known about the status of Mohr’s two fellow-officers.  If you have news of them, please comment or blog about it and trackback!

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