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Michael M. Raheb, P.A.
1421 SE 47th Terrace

Cape Coral, FL 33907

tel: 866.339.6617

fax: 866.428.5829

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Woman Faces Deportation after Daughter Tells Lie

June 2008

Woman Faces Deportation after Daughter Tells Lie

 

Attorney Michael M. Raheb is representing a Poinciana Village resident, Bertha Martinez, in her fight to keep from being deported to Honduras. Ms. Martinez was convicted of child abuse in Collier County in 2004, and through another attorney she had filed a motion to get her conviction and no-contest plea rescinded.

 

An Appeal of an Adverse Decision
Judge Elizabeth Krier denied this motion, and Mr. Raheb, as Ms. Martinez’s new attorney, plans to appeal the judge’s decision. He noted that the State’s original case against Ms. Martinez was weak, and he questioned why Ms. Martinez even agreed to plead no contest.

 

Ms. Martinez was arrested for child abuse and child neglect in the fall of 2003, after her then-14-year-old daughter said that Martinez had beaten her. When the case came to court in the spring of 2004, Martinez pleaded no contest to child abuse and was sentenced to two years of probation. Her probation was terminated after 1-1/2 years.

 

A Daughter’s Retaliation
The daughter, Nohelia Fernandez, testified in Judge Krier’s court that she had made up the allegation about her mother beating her to get back at her mother for ordering Nohelia to stop seeing her adult boyfriend and threatening to have him arrested. Judge Krier ruled that Nohelia’s statement was not credible, and she implied that Nohelia had changed her story simply because her mother is facing deportation.

 

Mr. Raheb has said that he has not yet filed a motion to appeal Judge Krier’s decision because of Ms. Martinez’s impending final deportation hearing. As he noted, “This wasn’t some sort of immigration hustle…we’re doing it because the daughter lied.”

 

The Law Offices of Michael M. Raheb, P.A.
Mr. Raheb practices both criminal law and immigration law, acting on behalf of clients throughout the Cape Coral, Fort Myers, and Port Charlotte area. He has an excellent track record of helping individuals and families who are caught in the web of the immigration and criminal justice systems, and he firmly believes in protecting the legal rights of individuals such as Bertha Martinez and her family.

 

If your circumstances would benefit from the attention of a skilled and experienced criminal or immigration attorney, please contact the Law Offices of Michael M. Raheb today.