Man Who Resisted Arrest Feared Deportation

LUFKIN — The man sentenced to 30 days in jail last week for resisting arrest in his Lufkin home was fighting police because he feared deportation to his native country of Honduras, according to a Lufkin Police offense report released Friday. That’s according to KETK and the Lufkin Daily News. Marco Sauceda, 30, who does not speak English, told a Spanish-speaking officer he stayed silent during the March 15, 2009, incident in spite of being pepper-sprayed and shot with a pepper ball gun because, as an illegal immigrant, he was afraid he would be deported. During the scuffle, Sauceda suffered a gash to the top of his head that required medical attention.

The jury of five men and one woman who found Sauceda guilty of resisting arrest Wednesday made its decision without knowledge of his immigration status due to a motion filed by Sauceda’s attorney, Ryan Deaton, and granted by County Court at Law No. 2 Judge Derek Flournoy on July 15, according to records from the trial. The motion, called a “motion in lemine,” claimed Sauceda’s alien status could have prejudiced the jury. “We could not go into that without the court’s permission at trial, whether he was legally in the country or not,” said Angelina County Attorney Ed Jones, who assisted in the prosecution of Sauceda’s case.

Attempts to reach Deaton for comment on his client’s immigration status Friday afternoon were not successful. With credit for time served, Sauceda is now a free man, as no immigration hold was placed on him Wednesday when he booked in and out of the Angelina County jail, according to jail records.