Published Oct 16 2008
A jury cleared Rio Arriba County and two of its senior program employees of accusations that a senior had been beaten at the Dixon Senior Center.
Española attorney Rudy Martin (the former Congressional candidate) filed a complaint Dec. 18, 2007, on behalf of Arsenio Sanchez, 76, of Dixon, alleging senior program employee Viola Gonzales struck Sanchez in August 2007. According to the suit, Gonzales slapped Sanchez three times, shook him and threatened him unprovoked in front of 15 or 20 seniors.
Named in the suit were Gonzales, center employee Julia Romero, who allegedly had a conversation with Gonzales that caused Gonzales to strike Sanchez, and the County for a failure to properly train and supervise its employees. Sanchez sought monetary damages: $100,000 in punitive damages from Gonzales, $50,000 in punitive damages from Romero, and court costs plus unspecified “other relief” from the County.
The defendants claimed the incident was completely fabricated, saying Gonzales “never at any time touched (Sanchez),” and Sanchez only spread rumors saying he had been hit.
The response also states Sanchez “has a history of being verbally abusive,” and his “episodes of bad behavior” are well-documented by senior program staff.
The jury gave its verdict Oct. 6 in which it found none of the defendants negligent. Juror Lawrence Garcia said it took the jury about 15 minutes to make a decision. He said the County brought 20 seniors as witnesses who said they didn’t see the altercation.
“There was no case. I don’t know why it went as far as it did,” he said. “It should have been settled way, way before it went to court.”
Garcia also said he thought there was some “animosity” between Martin and Gonzales. Martin said he and Gonzales are neighbors in Dixon and had fought before over a mutual boundary and other issues. Martin said Gonzales even threatened to slap him on one occasion.
“Ms. Gonzales is not a very nice person,” he said. “Do I believe that she hit Mr. Sanchez? Absolutely. She was willing to do it to me.”
Martin said he thinks the witnesses who denied seeing the incident were intimidated into testifying the way they did.
“From my personal perspective, I think there was some politics involved,” he said. “I was extremely disappointed.”
Martin said he would be in favor of appealing the verdict, but Sanchez has indicated he just wants to get on with his life.
“I think he’s tougher than I am,” Martin said. “I seriously think that an appeal would be successful.”