Nation: “We Are Very Worried”
FARM WORKERS ARE NOT PROTECTED WHILE WORKING IN YOUR FIELDS
“I’m scared of getting sick. I don’t have any type of health insurance, anything to help me.”

Adolfo FloresBuzzFeed News Reporter
Hamed AleazizBuzzFeed News Reporter
 Posted on April 6, 2020

Andrew Cullen for BuzzFeed News

As many in the US stayed at home to protect themselves from the global coronavirus pandemic, Teresa Mendoza, a 58-year-old undocumented farmworker from Mexico, spent six days a week picking green onions in Kern County, California, cleaning them, and tying them into bunches, just a few feet away from others like her.

Faced with the possibility of having to spend weeks in quarantine, people across the US have rushed to grocery stores to panic-buy food and supplies to tide them over while hunkered down.

Yet the agriculture and food processing plants, like meatpacking facilities, have been deemed essential by the federal government amid the pandemic, creating working conditions that most people in the US have been told to avoid. And it’s only going to get worse as thousands of migrant workers are expected to return to the US as the summer harvest picks up.

Meanwhile, for employees at food processing plants, some of which have already had cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, social distancing is virtually impossible. And farmworkers with few safety nets should they fall ill say they are toiling in fields with no information on how to protect themselves.

“We are very worried,” Mendoza, who lives in Kern County and has worked in the agricultural industry for 15 years, told BuzzFeed News. “I’m scared of getting sick. I don’t have any type of health insurance, anything to help me.”

In recent days, Mendoza switched jobs and began weeding in the blueberry fields, a more lucrative job that also allowed her more space from other workers. Still, she’s afraid: “I don’t know if someone will come to work who is sick — I just don’t know.”

BuzzFeed News spoke with multiple fieldworkers who agreed to only use their first names because of their undocumented status.

There are an estimated 2.4 million farmworkers in the US, and about half are undocumented. One of the precautions health officials have instructed people take against the coronavirus, social distancing, is difficult for them. In addition to working close to one another, they often travel to work sites in packed buses or other shared vehicles, advocates said.

Over a third of the US’s vegetables and two-thirds of the country's fruits and nuts are grown in California, according to 2018 figures from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Mendoza said she’s continuing to work because she needs the income to survive. She also realized that her work helps a supply chain struggling to feed a country during a pandemic.

“I feel proud,” said Mendoza, who makes just over $500 a week. “I know that we are doing important work that is feeding the rest of the country. There are a lot of workers in the field. We are essential workers that this country needs.”


Andrew Cullen for BuzzFeed News
Teresa Mendoza, a vegetable picker in California's Central Valley.

Teresa Romero, president of the United Farm Workers union, has been calling on agriculture employers to extend sick leave and provide easy access to health services, since many workers are undocumented and live in rural areas.

“Some of us are blessed with the opportunity to work from home and maintain social distance to protect ourselves. Unfortunately not everyone is that lucky,” Romero said on a call with reporters. “Unfortunately, farmworkers are uniquely vulnerable in the pandemic because they work in cramped, substandard, and unsanitary conditions.”

If farmworkers are deemed essential because they help get food to the public, Romero said, then it’s important to extend protections for them because it not only affects them and their families, but the food supply.

“Farmworkers have been deemed essential workers, and they’re right — they’re the people that produce all of the food in the country,” Romero said.

The United Farm Workers union (UFW) is also asking employers to eliminate the 90-day waiting period for new workers to be eligible for sick pay, stop requiring doctors’ notes when farmworkers claim sick days, clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces multiple times a day, and arrange for daycare assistance since schools are closed.

“Many farmworkers are single mothers,” Romero said. “They have to continue working to provide for their families, so they’re being forced to leave children at home … because they don’t have family support.”

Jim Cochran, owner of Swanton Berry Farm, an organic strawberry operation and a UFW-represented grower outside of Santa Cruz, California, said his farm is fortunate enough to provide housing for the 25 year-round employees in an isolated area, which could help decrease the chances of someone contracting the coronavirus.

Even before President Trump signed a sick pay bill, Cochran told his employees that if they got sick and needed to stay home for a few weeks, he would cover their wages.

"I couldn't afford to do it, but I offered to do it anyway," Cochran said. "It's a constant balancing act and that's what makes it interesting, because you have the human needs of your employees and the market needs and every day something is changing."


Andrew Cullen for BuzzFeed News
Farmworkers install irrigation pipes in a lettuce field in California's Central Valley during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak.


Leticia, a 31-year-old mother of four in Bakersfield, California, normally works as a mandarin orange picker in the winter and picks blueberries in the summer. In recent days, however, she stopped working because of fears she would bring home the virus and potentially expose her 3-year-old boy, who has asthma.

Leticia, who is undocumented, said that the decision costs her family upward of $600 a week, but it was the safer choice. The family has had to cut down on expenses and rely solely on her husband, who works as a forklift driver.

“I’m really worried. I was afraid something might happen to my son,” Leticia said. “It’s been very difficult.”

Paula Schelling, acting chairperson for the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals for the American Federation of Government Employees, said her 6,500 members want to continue to do their jobs, but they're not being given any protective gear against COVID-19 by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

"The one thing the agency keeps saying is follow the CDC guidelines, follow the CDC guidelines," Schelling told BuzzFeed News. "But social distancing is virtually impossible."

A food safety inspector has already died of COVID-19 in New York City, Schelling said. Four additional inspectors have since tested positive for COVID-19 at other sites.

"Ultimately, there's people out there ensuring the food is being processed safely and they need to be protected," Schelling said.

At least eight employees at a date packinghouse in Coachella, California, tested positive for COVID-19, said Lee Ellis, accounting manager at SunDate. After conducting a deep cleaning, which the company does every day, Ellis said, the packinghouse reopened.

Salvador, an undocumented 31-year-old mandarin picker also in Bakersfield, said work has picked up in recent weeks, forcing him to show up each day in the orchards. While he is separated from others while picking citrus, the drives to work are crammed with up to seven workers in a van.

“If I don’t work, my family does not eat,” said Salvador, who has four young children at home. “If the farmworkers don’t work, then the fruits and vegetables don’t arrive.”


Andrew Cullen for BuzzFeed News
Mandarin trees in California's Central Valley are shrouded in netting that keeps bees from pollinating their blooms, resulting in seedless fruit.

Earlier this month, Salvador’s children have asked him why he’s going to work if others are being told to stay home. Among his biggest worries is what his family would do if they get sick from coronavirus.

“What would happen to our expenses? How would we deal with bills? We don’t have family,” said Salvador.

While the agriculture industry is expected to receive $23.5 billion in aid as part of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, half of farmworkers won't qualify for federal stimulus benefits because they're undocumented.

The New American Economy, an immigration think tank, estimated that in 2018, undocumented immigrants contributed $20.1 billion in federal taxes and $11.8 billion in state and local taxes.

On Wednesday, Trump was asked how undocumented immigrants, millions of whom pay taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, will survive the economic slump caused by COVID-19.

“We have a lot of citizens right now that won't be working, so what are you going to do?” he told reporters. “It’s a tough thing, it’s a very terrible, it’s a very sad question. I must be honest with you, but they came in illegally.” ●


MORE ON IMMIGRATION
Trump Ordered All Immigrants Caught Entering The US Illegally To Be Turned Back To Ward Off Coronavirus SpreadAdolfo Flores · March 20, 2020
The Trump Administration Is Now Deporting Unaccompanied Immigrant Kids Due To The CoronavirusHamed Aleaziz · March 30, 2020
Three Unaccompanied Immigrant Children In US Custody Have Tested Positive For The CoronavirusHamed Aleaziz · March 26, 2020

Adolfo Flores is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in McAllen, Texas..

Hamed Aleaziz is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in San Francisco.

SEE  

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=SMITHFIELD

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=TYSON

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=MEAT+PACKING

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=COVID19

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=JBS


https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=UFW

Amazon Will Give Partial Pay To Employees It Sends Home With Fevers During The Coronavirus Pandemi

The decision is a departure from the company's previous policy.

Caroline O'DonovanBuzzFeed News Reporter Posted on April 7, 2020


Angela Weiss / Getty Images
Workers at Amazon's Staten Island warehouse protest after the company refused to shut down the facility for a deep cleaning after one staffer tested positive for COVID-19 on March 30.

Following outcry, Amazon is now providing some pay to employees sent home with fevers during the coronavirus pandemic, the company confirmed to BuzzFeed News Tuesday.

Last week, an Amazon spokesperson said that employees sent home with fevers were "welcome to use paid and unpaid time off options.” After BuzzFeed News reported last Thursday that some employees with fevers were being sent home without pay, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders posted on Facebook Friday calling on the company to change its policy, saying, “Jeff Bezos, the single richest man in the world, can damn well afford to guarantee paid sick leave to all of his workers.”

The new policy, according to a spokesperson for Amazon, is that “if an employee has a fever they will be sent home and will be paid up to five hours of their scheduled shift that day.” 

( LABOUR LAW IN CANADA IT IS THE STANDARD THAT IF THERE IS NO WORK AND YOU ARE SENT HOME YOU GET PAID THREE HOURS OF WORK)

Amazon instituted fever screenings last week in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, through its fulfillment centers and delivery stations, which have been deemed essential and remain open during the pandemic. As traditional retail stores remain closed and more and more Americans avoid the grocery store, demand for Amazon deliveries has surged, and with it, growing fears that the virus could spread among its employees. “Implementing daily temperature screenings in our operations sites is an additional preventative measure Amazon is taking to support the health and safety of our customers and employees, who continue to provide a critical service in our communities,” the Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.


A human resources employee at an Amazon facility in the Midwest told BuzzFeed News that she was instructed in a meeting on Monday to authorize up to three days' worth of “non-working paid time” for employees who show up at work with fevers above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

But human resources staff elsewhere received written instructions on Friday saying “an associate who is sent home for a fever at or above 100.4°F / 38.0°C degrees is paid for their scheduled shift that day, up to five hours maximum.”

“During that time,” the instructions continue, “they can use paid time off (if available) and may be eligible to take leaves of absence as appropriate.

Amazon declined to comment on whether staff at some facilities were instructed to give more than five hours of pay to employees sent home with fevers.

“No one is on the same page it seems,” said a Pennsylvania-based Amazon employee who’s been in contact with Amazon human resources locally.

More than 50 cases of COVID-19 have confirmed Amazon facilities, with one facility in Staten Island reporting more than a dozen infected employees.

Despite the new policy, some employees still haven’t been paid. An Amazon employee at the Staten Island facility who was sent home with a fever told BuzzFeed News that her paycheck last week did not include paid time off even though she had missed work after being ordered to self-isolate by a doctor. She opened a case with Amazon human resources last week but hadn’t heard back as of Monday afternoon. Other employees awaiting some type of payment reported similar delays.

When Amazon warehouse associates report to work, they must wait in line 6 feet apart to have their temperatures taken at so-called fever stations. These are operated by Amazon employees in some facilities and by third-party contractors in others; temperature testers stand behind a piece of plexiglass that separates them from employees being screened. Employees are also being asked to bring masks from home or wear those provided by Amazon, if available.

Despite these measures, many Amazon employees and labor advocates say they fear the company isn’t taking stringent enough measures to protect them from the coronavirus. The World Health Organization says that infected people can be asymptomatic but contagious — and able to infect other people — for up to 14 days before symptoms appear.

Employees in Staten Island walked off the job in protest of Amazon’s refusal to close the warehouse for sanitation for the third time on Monday, while employees in Chicago held their fourth walkout over the weekend.

Amazon has said that it’s taking “extreme measures” to protect workers such as staggering shifts and rearranging break rooms to encourage social distancing, providing masks, and conducting “enhanced cleaning.” So far, all of its facilities except one shuttered by health officials in Kentucky remain open for business.

Caroline O'Donovan is a senior technology reporter for BuzzFeed News 

and is based in San Francisco.

MORE ON THIS

Some Amazon Employees With Fevers Are Being Sent Home Without Pay

Caroline O'Donovan · April 2, 2020

As More Amazon Employees Contract The Coronavirus, Workers Are Walking Off The Job

Caroline O'Donovan · March 31, 2020

The Coronavirus Is Continuing To Spread Through Amazon's Facilities

Caroline O'Donovan · March 25, 2020

Amazon Is Scrambling To Improve Warehouse Safety Following Employee OutcryCaroline O'Donovan · March 18, 2020

Coronavirus In The Workplace: BuzzFeed News looks at how companies and employees are handling the coronavirus pandemic.

As More Amazon Employees Contract The Coronavirus, Workers Are Walking Off The Job

Amazon Said That During The Pandemic, Sales Are Soaring. Workers Say They Feel Unsafe.

These Retailers Have Been Staying Open. Employees Say They’re Afraid For Themselves And Others.

Starbucks Employees Got Sick. Starbucks Stores Stayed Open.

Costco Made Corporate Staff Come To The Office. An Employee Died Of COVID-19. The Office Is Still Open.

HONG KONG

Finally officials have woken up to the need for wage subsidies
For some it may be too little, too late but at least the government now is willing to share the pain that this unprecedented lockdown has brought to businesses and workers
SCMP Editorial
Published: 8 Apr, 2020

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, meets the 

press at the Central Government Offices in Tamar.

 Photo: May Tse

The need for financial subsidies had become ever more evident as Hong Kong extended a sweeping lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections.

The HK$137.5 billion (US$17.74 billion) rescue package announced on Wednesday is the biggest move yet by the government to support the floundering economy. But for many who have already been hardest hit by the pandemic, the relief may be too little, too late.

Describing the impact as “disastrous”, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said such an unprecedented challenge called for extraordinary measures.

The lion’s share of the second round of support goes toward subsidising up to HK$9,000 in wages for each worker affected by the lockdown to help prevent mass lay-offs. Industries that were omitted in the first round of relief measures will also be covered. Together with the support in the first package and the budget, the total cost has reached HK$287.5 billion, or 10 per cent of Hong Kong’s GDP.


Hong Kong domestic helpers adapt to life under coronavirus restrictions

With Singapore, Britain and Australia having adopted similar measures, the latest step, along with a 10 per cent pay cut for the ministerial team for a year, is overdue. But the direct subsidy is a remarkable shift from the targeted approach of the past. It is also the most encompassing yet in terms of scope and spending.

This would not be possible without the robust fiscal reserves accumulated over the years. Even though it is going to push the budget deficit to a record high of more than HK$276 billion, the reserves will still sit comfortably at HK$900 billion after the spending.

The lukewarm response underlines the depth of the discontent in society. Many businesses and workers have been left struggling on their own for months. The wage subsidies will take weeks to reach the affected businesses and account for a fraction of the operating costs. Many also find the details and eligibility clauses confusing.

Separately, the extended restrictions on social distancing, including another U-turn to
ban beauty and massage parlours for 14 days, have understandably fuelled concerns.


Coronavirus: Hongkongers clap to support health care workers on front lines of Covid-19 fight

The two industries were initially spared despite a small number of infections linked to a beauty centre. But they are nonetheless required to shut down as part of an extended ban until at least April 23.

Thankfully, the number of new daily infections have somewhat eased. But the threat is far from over. With double-digit rises every day, it is not the time to lower our guard. The thousands of warnings for breaches of compliance show the rules on social distancing are still not being fully observed.

With more financial support and stronger antivirus measures, the city has a greater chance of rebounding from this unprecedented health crisis.

Children at low risk for COVID-19, but can get seriously ill, new data show

Children are less likely to be infected by COVID-19, but still can become seriously ill, new data suggests. File photo by Peter DaSilva/UPI | License Photo

April 8 (UPI) -- Children seem to be at lower risk for catching COVID-19, but they still can become seriously ill, a new study from Spain has found.

Fewer than 1 percent of more than 4,695 confirmed cases of the disease in the Madrid region -- epicenter of the outbreak in Spain -- in early March involved patients under age 18, according to research published Wednesday by JAMA Pediatrics.

Of these cases, 60 percent were hospitalized, and nearly 10 percent needed ventilators to address breathing problems, researchers said.

The findings from Madrid mirror those reported earlier this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which suggested that some 2 percent of COVID-19 cases across the country involved children, and that up to 20 percent of them required hospitalization.

However, the agency emphasized that its findings were based on limited data available for younger patients with the disease.

"The amount of children with severe disease is much smaller than adults, but a few children need hospitalization and intensive care -- around 1 million children live in Madrid, and less than 100 have been hospitalized due to COVID-19," Dr. Alfredo Tagarro, co-author of the Spanish study and a physician and researcher at Hospital Universitario Infanta Sofía, told UPI.

Globally, through Wednesday, nearly 1.5 million people have been diagnosed with the disease caused by the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. More than 80,000 have died.

As in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic started, the vast majority of those infected have been adults. Those with severe disease tend to be older, and have underlying health conditions, like diabetes and heart disease.

However, the analyses from Madrid and the CDC indicate that children are hardly immune to COVID-19.

Tagarro and his colleagues assessed data from the nearly 5,000 suspected cases recorded between March 2 and 16 in the Spanish capital. The total included 365 children, 41 of whom, or 0.8 percent, later were found to have test-confirmed COVID-19.

The percentage of confirmed cases in children was much lower than the nearly 4 percent reported in Wuhan, the authors noted. However, Tagarro said, this is because the Spanish researchers "only tested children with a high likelihood of hospitalization or children with previous diseases."

In other sites, like China or Korea, researchers also tested children with few symptoms or asymptomatic contacts, or even just asymptomatic children living in an epidemic area," Tagarro added.

In all, 25 of the 41 children -- median age 3 years -- were hospitalized, and four were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit and required ventilator support. Only one of the four had a prior health condition, which was recurrent wheezing, and none of them died, the authors said.

In terms of symptoms and disease progression, the Spanish researchers found that 14 of the 41 confirmed cases in children had an upper respiratory tract infection, while 11 had a fever, six had viral-like pneumonia, five had bronchiolitis, two had gastroenteritis or vomiting, and two had bacterial-like pneumonia. In addition, two patients had a co-infection with influenza type B.

Meanwhile, among the nearly 2,600 COVID-19 cases in children in the United States assessed by the CDC -- with a median age of 11 -- data on signs and symptoms was available for only 291.

Of these, the agency noted, 56 percent reported fever, 54 percent had a cough and 13 percent had shortness of breath, while for adults, these figures were 71 percent, 80 percent and 43 percent, respectively.

The CDC estimates that between 6 percent and 20 percent of children infected with COVID-19 require hospitalization, while up to 2 percent need to be treated in the ICU. For adults, up to 33 percent need to be hospitalized and up to 5 percent need to be admitted to the ICU.

Notably, children less than 1 year of age accounted for the highest percentage -- up to 62 percent -- of hospitalizations among pediatric patients with COVID-19.

Early CBD patient Charlotte Figi, 13, dies of cardiac arrest, family says

Charlotte Figi, 13, whose epilepsy seizure relief from CBD was an early inspiration for medical cannabis treatments, died Tuesday. Photo by Nichole Montanez, courtesy of Greg Iafeliece

DENVER, April 8 (UPI) -- Charlotte Figi, 13, the Colorado child whose seizure relief inspired Charlotte's Web medical marijuana and CBD, died in Colorado Springs of cardiac arrest, her family said.Charlotte had been hospitalized after flu-like symptoms struck the family, her stepfather, Greg Iafeliece, said. The child then was released to go home. On Tuesday, she was found unresponsive and taken back to the hospital, where she died, Iafeliece said. While no cause of death was given, the family believes she suffered cardiac arrest due to her fragile health condition, he said.

Family members had been dealing for weeks with symptoms that could have been related to COVID-19, Iafeliece said. The rest of family has recovered, he said.

After symptoms worsened earlier this month, Charlotte was hospitalized "in a regular nursing unit," Iafeliece said.

"Her mother had been traveling on airplanes, and we knew what we had our symptoms, but we were told, 'Well, you haven't come into contact with anyone from China, so you're not going to get tested,'" Iafeliece said.

RELATED FDA inches closer to CBD rules for dietary supplements

"[Charlotte] was a light that lit the world. She was a little girl who carried us all on her small shoulders," a statement on the Charlotte's Web website said.

Charlotte's life "created a revolutionary movement in legitimizing cannabis as a therapeutic option," said a Facebook post from Realm of Caring, a non-profit medical marijuana advocacy group founded by Paige Figi, Charlotte's mother.

"Charlotte is no longer suffering. She is seizure-free forever," family friend Nichole Montanez posted on Facebook.As an infant, Figi suffered from grand mal seizures from a severe form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome. Her parents turned to CBD, then a low-THC-strain of hemp-derived medical marijuana, after years of trying other medications.

The CBD cure had reduced her seizures to three or four per month, her family said.

RELATED Vaping-linked lung injury less common in states with legalized marijuana

CBD is derived from hemp, a cousin of the cannabis plant that contains psychoactive THC. Charlotte's Web sells products made of strains of medical marijuana with low THC and CBD, with little or trace amounts of THC.

Charlotte's story inspired other families with seizure-prone children to move to Colorado after the state legalized marijuana in 2014.

Boulder-based Charlotte's Web's low-THC medical marijuana was developed by six southern Colorado siblings, and is now one of the best-selling CBD brands in the United States.

RELATED Conflicts of interest common in CBD research, study says

French economy records 6% decline in Q1; worst dip in 75 years

Residents wear masks to protect themselves from the coronavirus as they visit the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France on March 26. File Photo by Eco Clement/UPI | License Photo

April 8 (UPI) -- The French economy declined 6 percent in the first quarter of 2020 caused by reaction to the coronavirus -- its greatest decline since the end of World War II, the Bank of France said Wednesday.

The contraction, brought on by a collapse in supply and demand in response to the pandemic, was France's largest since 1945. A lockdown began March 17 and is to remain in place until at least April 15, but the restrictions could be extended by the French government.

The Bank of France had projected a 0.1 percent growth in gross domestic product for the first quarter, following a 0.1 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2019. Now, with two consecutive quarters of negative growth, France is technically in a recession.

The central bank said the strongest losses occurred in the trade, transportation, accommodation and restaurant sectors.

"Each fortnight [two-week period] of confinement is set to reduce the level of annual GDP by almost 1.5 percent," the Bank of France said in a statement. "It is indeed possible that the loss of GDP per fortnight may change as the cumulative duration of confinement lengthens."

Germany, Europe's greatest economic power, reported a 1.9 percent decline in its first quarter GDP. A joint forecast by five leading German think tanks project a near 10 percent contraction in the second-quarter, which would be the country's largest quarterly decline since record-keeping began in 1970.

INJUSTICE TOO
Court drops rape, other charges against megachurch leader

FILE - In this Monday, July 15, 2019 file photo, Naason Joaquin Garcia, the leader of a Mexico-based evangelical church with a worldwide meCalifornia app
mbership, attends a bail review hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court. On Tuesday, April 7, 2020 a eals court has dismissed the criminal case against the Mexican megachurch leader on charges of child rape and human trafficking. The case was dismissed on procedural grounds. García, the self-proclaimed apostle of La Luz del Mundo, has been in custody since June. He is currently being held without bail in Los Angeles. The attorney general's office said it was reviewing the court's ruling. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California appeals court ordered the dismissal of a criminal case Tuesday against a Mexican megachurch leader on charges of child rape and human trafficking on procedural grounds.

Naasón Joaquín García, the self-proclaimed apostle of La Luz del Mundo, has been in custody since June following his arrest on accusations involving three girls and one woman between 2015 and 2018 in Los Angeles County. Additional allegations of the possession of child pornography in 2019 were later added. He has denied wrongdoing.

While being held without bail in Los Angeles, García has remained the spiritual leader of La Luz del Mundo, which is Spanish for “The Light Of The World.” The Guadalajara, Mexico-based evangelical Christian church was founded by his grandfather and claims 5 million followers worldwide.

It was not clear when he would be released.

The attorney general’s office said it was reviewing the court’s ruling and did not answer additional questions.

García’s attorney, Alan Jackson, said he and his client are “thrilled” by the decision.

“In their zeal to secure a conviction at any cost, the Attorney General has sought to strip Mr. Garcia of his freedom without due process by locking him up without bail on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations by unnamed accusers and by denying him his day in court,” Jackson said in a statement.

La Luz del Mundo officials in a statement urged their followers to remain respectful and pray for authorities.

“(W)e are not to point fingers or accuse anyone, we must practice the Christian values that identify us, such as patience, prudence, respect and love of God,” they said.

The appeals court ruling states that the Los Angeles County Superior Court must dismiss the 29 counts of felony charges that range from human trafficking and production of child pornography to forcible rape of a minor.

The appeals court ruled that because García’s preliminary hearing was not held in a timely manner and he did not waive his right to one, the complaint filed against him must be dismissed.

In June, García was arraigned on 26 counts and waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing — a common move. The following month, he was arraigned on an amended complaint that included three additional charges of possession of child pornography. That time, he did not waive the time limits for a preliminary hearing.

His hearing was postponed several times — in some instances, because prosecutors had not turned over evidence to the defense — as he remained held without bail, prompting his attorneys to file an appeal.

The appeals court ruled that a preliminary hearing on an amended complaint for an in-custody defendant must be held within 10 days of the second arraignment — unless the defendant waives the 10-day time period or there is “good cause” for the delay.

The appeal only mentioned the dismissal of García’s case and not those of his co-defendants, Susana Medina Oaxaca and Alondra Ocampo. A fourth defendant, Azalea Rangel Melendez, remains at large.

It was not immediately clear if the co-defendants’ cases would also be tossed.

In February, a Southern California woman filed a federal lawsuit against the church and García. In it, she said García, 50, and his father sexually abused her for 18 years starting when she was 12, manipulating Bible passages to convince her the mistreatment actually was a gift from God.

The lawsuit will continue despite the dismissal, the woman’s lawyers said Tuesday in a statement.

The dismissal is the latest in a series of blunders on this high-profile case for the attorney general’s office.

Mexico-based megachurch La Luz del Mundo, leader and self-proclaimed apostle Naasón Joaquín García's 50 birthday celebration portrait, is displayed on the side of the East Los Angeles temple on Friday, June 7, 2019. On Tuesday, April 7, 2020 a California appeals court dismissed the criminal case against the Mexican megachurch leader on charges of child rape and human trafficking. The case was dismissed on procedural grounds. García, the self-proclaimed apostle of La Luz del Mundo, has been in custody since June. He is currently being held without bail in Los Angeles. The attorney general's office said it was reviewing the court's ruling. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Attorney General Xavier Becerra himself pleaded with additional victims to come forward — a move defense attorneys said could taint a jury pool.

“It would be hard to believe that, based on the information that we’re collecting, that it’s only these four individuals,” Becerra said in June, repeatedly calling García “sick” and “demented.”

Prosecutors Amanda Plisner and Diana Callaghan also said multiple times in court that they expected to file additional charges based on more victims as the case continued to be investigated. But ultimately they only added three counts of possession of child pornography to the original complaint.

Plisner and Callaghan were additionally sanctioned by a Superior Court judge in September, who said they had violated a court order in failing to give defense lawyers evidence. The judge later rescinded the sanctions and overturned $10,000 in fines she had levied.

FILE - This June 5, 2019 file photo shows Naasón Joaquín García, the leader of fundamentalist Mexico-based church La Luz del Mundo, appearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court. On Tuesday, April 7, 2020 a California appeals court has dismissed the criminal case against the Mexican megachurch leader on charges of child rape and human trafficking. The case was dismissed on procedural grounds. García, the self-proclaimed apostle of La Luz del Mundo, has been in custody since June. He is currently being held without bail in Los Angeles. The attorney general's office said it was reviewing the court's ruling (AP Photo/DamianDovarganes,File)

California court dismisses case against Mexico megachurch leader

Members of Light of the World congregate at its headquarters of Guadalajara, Mexico, on June 5. File Photo by Francisco Guasco/EPA-EFE

April 8 (UPI) -- A California appeals court has dismissed the human-trafficking and child rape case against the leader of a Mexico-based megachurch.

California's 2nd District Court of Appeal ordered Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George Lomeli to dismiss the charges against Naason Joaquin Garcia on Wednesday.

The appellate court said the case had to be dismissed because Garcia's preliminary hearing wasn't held in a timely manner.

His lawyer, Alan Jackson, said the court "struck a major blow for justice."

"This is a long-overdue recognition that the government has violated Mr. Garcia's constitutional right to a speedy trial and reasonable bond," Jackson said in an email to UPI.

"In their zeal to secure a conviction at any cost, the attorney general has sought to strip Mr. Garcia of his freedom without due process by locking him up without bail on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations by unnamed accusers and by denying him his day in court.

"This is a good day for justice."

Authorities arrested Garcia and two co-defendants in June for alleged crimes committed between 2015 and 2018. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra's office charged him with 17 counts, including human trafficking, possession of child porn, child rape, forcible oral copulation, extortion and conspiracy.

Garcia, also known as Joaquin Garcia, leads the La Luz Del Mundo (Light of the World) evangelical church in Guadalajara, Mexico, which has many members in Los Angeles and 1 million members worldwide.

Prosecutors said in the complaint that García and his co-defendants coerced victims into performing sex acts by telling them that if they refused, it would be going against God.
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The church considers Garcia to be an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Three of the four alleged victims were children. An adult and child were raped, according to the complaint. The accusations include human trafficking and forcing children to perform oral sex.

According to the complaint, Garcia in September 2017 allegedly coerced a group of minors to perform "flirty" dances while in "as little clothing as possible" and gave them speeches about kings having mistresses and said an apostle cannot be judged for his actions.

INJUSTICE
Cardinal Pell freed after winning appeal over child sex abuse

AFP / William WESTCardinal George Pell leaves Barwon Prison near Anakie, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) west of Melbourne

Cardinal George Pell was released from prison Tuesday, hours after Australia's High Court quashed his conviction for child sex abuse, bringing an end to the most high-profile paedophilia case faced by the Catholic Church.

The 78-year-old left Barwon Prison near Melbourne after the court overturned five counts of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys in the 1990s.

Pell, who maintained his innocence throughout a lengthy court process, left the jail where he has been held for the last year and issued a statement saying a "serious injustice" had been remedied.

Hours later, without referencing Pell, Pope Francis decried "unjust" sentences against "innocent" people.

"In these days of Lent, we've been witnessing the persecution that Jesus underwent and how He was judged ferociously, even though He was innocent," the pope said on Twitter.

"Let us pray together today for all those persons who suffer due to an unjust sentence because someone had it in for them."

A jury convicted Pell in December 2018, a decision upheld by a three-judge Court of Appeal panel last August in a split verdict.

But Australia's High Court found there was "a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof".

The seven justices unanimously found a lower court had "failed to engage with the question of whether there remained a reasonable possibility that the offending had not taken place".

AFP / William WEST
Pell was taken to a Carmelite monastery in Melbourne after
 his release from Barwon Prison


Pell's legal woes, however, may not be at an end, as he faces possible civil action, including from the father of one of the alleged victims -- now deceased -- who is planning to launch a claim for damages.

The prosecution's case had relied heavily on the testimony of Pell's surviving accuser, who told a closed-door hearing that Pell had sexually assaulted the two boys in a Melbourne cathedral while he was archbishop of the city.

- 'Utter disbelief' -

The second choirboy -- who is not known to have ever spoken of the abuse -- died of a drug overdose in 2014. Neither man can be identified for legal reasons.

Lisa Flynn, the lawyer for the deceased man's father, said her client was "disgusted" and "in utter disbelief" at the outcome.
AFP / Janis LATVELSAustralian Cardinal

"He is struggling to comprehend the decision by the High Court of Australia. He says he no longer has faith in our country's criminal justice system," she said.

"He is furious the man he believes is responsible for sexually abusing his son was convicted by a unanimous jury only to have that decision overturned today."

The Blue Knot Foundation, a victim support group, said the decision would be "crushing" for survivors of abuse.

"The child sexual abuse pandemic within the Catholic Church has threatened the safety of millions of children, the adults they become and the very moral fibre of what it means to be human," said Blue Knot president Cathy Kezelman.

In his statement, Pell thanked his lawyers, supporters and family and said he held "no ill will" toward his accuser.

"I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough," he said.

AFP / William WEST
Social distancing because of the coronavirus kept media crews apart outside Barwon Prison where Cardinal Pell was held


"However my trial was not a referendum on the Catholic Church; nor a referendum on how Church authorities in Australia dealt with the crime of paedophilia in the Church.

"The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not."

Local media footage showed Pell being driven from prison to a Carmelite monastery in suburban Melbourne.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said even the "discussion of these topics brings back great hurt" for victims, and his thoughts were "always with them".

"But the High Court, the highest court in the land, has made its decision and that must be respected," he said.

Coronavirus restrictions meant the verdict was delivered to a near-empty Brisbane courtroom -- in stark contrast to earlier hearings that drew large crowds of his supporters and detractors, the world's media and members of the legal profession.

Pell's lawyers had argued there were "compounding improbabilities" in the case, including that Pell would not have had the time or opportunity to molest the boys in the sacristy after Mass, when he would usually be on the cathedral steps greeting members of the congregation.

Pell's trial was held under a court-ordered veil of secrecy, but at the same time he was quietly removed from top Church bodies -- although the Vatican resisted launching an internal investigation.

The former Vatican treasurer remains in the priesthood, but his future role in the church remains unclear.

Also unknown is whether the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will continue its own investigation into the charges made against PelHome

Cardinal Pell accuser 'accepts' acquittal

A former choirboy who accused Australian Cardinal George Pell of molesting him said Wednesday he accepts the top Vatican cleric's acquittal, but urged survivors of child sex abuse to keep coming forward.

A day after Australia's top court quashed Pell's conviction and released him from jail, "Witness J" said he understood and accepted the court's verdict.

"There are a lot of checks and balances in the criminal justice system," the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said in a statement issued by his lawyer. "I respect the decision of the High Court. I accept the outcome."
AFP / Janis LATVELSAustralian Cardinal


The court found that the jury that convicted the cleric of molesting Witness J and his friend, both 13 years old at the time, should have had a reasonable doubt about his guilt.

"It is difficult in child sexual abuse matters to satisfy a criminal court that the offending has occurred beyond the shadow of a doubt," Witness J said. "It is a very high standard to meet –- a heavy burden."

Regardless, he said: "I would hate to think that one outcome of this case is that people are discouraged from reporting to the police."

"I would like to reassure child sexual abuse survivors that most people recognise the truth when they hear it."

As many activists expressed concern that Pell's case would compound survivors' pain, Witness J also said he was doing "OK" and was relieved the years-long case was over.

"I have my ups and downs. The darkness is never far away. I am OK. I hope that everyone who has followed this case is OK," he said.

"This case does not define me. I am not the abuse I suffered as a child."Crime

Cardinal Pell welcomes court’s dismissal of abuse conviction

1 of 3

Cardinal George Pell sits in the back seat of a car as he leaves prison in Geelong, Australia Tuesday, April 7, 2020. Pope Francis' former finance minister Pell had been the most senior Catholic found guilty of sexually abusing children and has spent 13 months in high-security prisons before seven High Court judges unanimously dismissed his convictions. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Cardinal George Pell welcomed Australia’s highest court clearing him of child sex crimes Tuesday and said his trial had not been a referendum on the Catholic Church’s handling of the clergy abuse crisis.Cardinal Pell welcomes court’s dismissal of abuse conviction

Pell, Pope Francis’ former finance minister, had been the most senior Catholic found guilty of sexually abusing children and spent 13 months in prison before seven High Court judges unanimously dismissed his convictions.

“I have consistently maintained my innocence while suffering from a serious injustice,” Pell said in his first public statement since he was convicted in December 2018. It was released before he left prison and was taken to the Carmelite Monastery in Melbourne, where he was greeted by a nun.

The Vatican welcomed the decision, while saying it reaffirmed its commitment “to pursuing all cases of abuse against minors.”

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Francis appeared to refer to Pell’s acquittal in his morning homily, saying he was praying for all those unjustly persecuted.

Pell said, “I hold no ill will toward my accuser,” a former choirboy whose testimony was at the core of the 78-year-old cleric’s prosecution.

The High Court found there was reasonable doubt surrounding the testimony of the witness, now the father of a young family aged in his 30s, who said Pell had abused him and another 13-year-old choirboy at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in the late 1990s.

“My trial was not a referendum on the Catholic Church; nor a referendum on how Church authorities in Australia dealt with the crime of pedophilia in the Church,” Pell said.

“The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not,” he added.

A judge and lawyers had urged two juries in 2018 to try Pell on the evidence and not on his senior position in the church’s flawed responses to clergy abuse in Australia. The first trial ended in a jury deadlock and the second unanimously convicted him on all charges.

The Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement they were “dismayed and heartbroken” by the decision.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher called for the ruling to end the pursuit of Pell in the courts.

“I am pleased that the Cardinal will now be released and I ask that the pursuit of him that brought us to this point now cease,” Fisher said in a statement.

“The cardinal’s vindication today invites broader reflection on our system of justice, our commitment to the presumption of innocence, and our treatment of high-profile figures accused of crimes,” Fisher added.

But Pell’s record on managing clergy abuse could come under further public scrutiny, with Australian Attorney General Christian Porter responding to the verdict by announcing he will consider releasing a redacted section of a report on institutional responses to child molesting.

Pell gave evidence by video link from Rome in 2016 to a royal commission, Australia’s highest level of inquiry, about his time as a church leader in Melbourne and his hometown of Ballarat.

Full Coverage: Religion

The royal commission found in its 2017 report that the Melbourne Archdiocese had ignored or covered up allegations of child abuse by seven priests to protect the church’s reputation and avoid scandal.

The royal commission was critical of Pell’s predecessor in Melbourne, Archbishop Frank Little, who died in 2008. It made no findings against Pell, saying then that it would not publish information that could “prejudice current or future criminal or civil proceedings.”

Where Pell will go and whether he will return to Rome has not been announced. Melbourne residents have been told to stay home except for essentials due to the coronavirus pandemic. He had stayed at a Sydney seminary when he was free on bail awaiting trial.

He is no longer a member of Francis’ Council of Cardinals or a Vatican official and will lose his right to vote for the next pope on his 80th birthday next year.

The Vatican has previously said Pell would face a canonical investigation after all his appeals had been exhausted in Australia, but it is not known what effect his acquittal will have on any church investigation.

Many Australians had already accepted Pell was guilty before the High Court decision. Judge Peter Kidd had berated Pell in a nationally televised sentencing hearing last year for a breach of trust that had an element of brutality a sense of impunity.

“I see this as callus, brazen offending — blatant,” Kidd said.

St. Patrick’s College, where Pell was educated in Ballarat, removed his name from a building and from the school honor board.

But the Australian Catholic University kept its Pell Center on its Ballarat campus until the appeal process was completed, angering academic staff.

The university’s president, Greg Craven, said Pell should never have been charged.

“This was a case that always had a reasonable doubt a mile wide,” Craven said. “The High Court unanimously — seven-nil — said the Victorian justice system got it hopelessly wrong.”

Pell had been serving a six-year sentence after he was convicted of sexually assaulting the two boys in December 1996 and convicted of indecently assaulting one of the boys by painfully squeezing his genitals after a Mass in early 1997.

Pell was regarded as the Vatican’s third-highest ranking official when he voluntarily returned to Melbourne in 2017 determined to clear his name of dozens of decades-old child abuse allegations.

All the charges were dropped or dismissed over the years except the cathedral allegations.

He did not testify at either trial or at the subsequent appeals.

But the juries saw his emphatic denials in a police interview that was video recorded in a Rome airport hotel conference room in October 2016.

The complainant first went to police in 2015 after the second alleged victim died of a heroin overdose at the age of 31. Neither can be identified under state law.

Lawyers for the father of the dead man, who also cannot be identified, said the verdict left him “in utter disbelief.”

Lawyers for the complainant said he was likely to make a statement on Wednesday.

Much of the hearing at the High Court last month had focused on whether the jury should have had a reasonable doubt about Pell’s guilt and whether he could have time to molest the boys in five or six minutes immediately after a Mass.

The Victorian Court of Appeal found in a 2-1 majority in August that Pell had had enough time to abuse the boys and that the unanimous guilty verdicts were sound. But the High Court found the appeals court was incorrect.

Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd told the High Court last month that the surviving choirboy’s detailed knowledge of the layout of the priests’ sacristy supported his accusation that the boys were molested there.

The High Court referred to the “unchallenged evidence” of witnesses in the trial to Pell’s practice of talking to the congregation on the cathedral stairs after Mass, church practice that required him to be accompanied in the cathedral while robed and the “continuous traffic in and out of the priests’ sacristy” as causes for reasonable doubt.

The High Court statement said, “There is a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof.”

___

Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.