(Des Moines, IA) Newly-revealed documents show that Attorney General Tom Miller was on yet another trip to Washington, DC in the days leading up to a missed deadline for filing charges in a vicious kidnapping case in Sac County, Iowa.
In this case, migrant farm worker Raphael Trevino was allegedly tossed into the back of a truck, driven to the edge of town, and viciously beaten while racial epithets were screamed at him. Because the attorney general’s office missed the three-year deadline for filing charges, the alleged assailants received no criminal punishment.
The three-year statute of limitations expired on August 3, 2012. A review of records recently disclosed by the Attorney General’s office shows that Miller was in Washington, DC on August 1 and 2, the days leading up to the deadline. These were just two of the over 100 days Miller spent in Washington since President Obama was elected. Further, on the day the statute of limitations expired, he was out of the office on a long weekend starting Friday, August 3, 2012.
Johnston attorney and Republican Attorney General candidate Adam Gregg today made the following statement:
“I have stated since I started this campaign the choice before Iowans this November is about who will stand up for Iowans each and every day. Iowans deserve an Attorney General they can be proud of, and one who independently and fairly administers justice in this state.
Nothing brings into focus Tom Miller’s tenure as Attorney General more clearly than this horrible case in Sac County, Iowa. It’s something you would expect to see in a novel, but never here in Iowa.
Unfortunately, this crime was committed in Iowa, and Tom Miller’s sloppy work in failing to meet a simple deadline cost the victim his only chance at justice.
Adding insult to the victim’s considerable injury is the fact that while the clock was ticking on these serious criminal charges, Tom Miller was once again on a junket to Washington, DC.
Records obtained through an open records request of the Attorney General’s handwritten schedule prove he was in Washington, DC in the days leading up to the legal deadline for filing these charges. While Tom Miller was stashed away at a luxury hotel, the chances for justice expired.
Tom Miller has admitted that the failure to meet this simple deadline was his fault, plain and simple. The only remaining question is whether Iowans will hold him accountable for this egregious error.
As Iowa’s Attorney General, I will put Iowans first, every day. I will not pursue some national agenda to the exclusion of my duties in Iowa, or to the exclusion of enforcing the laws fairly for every Iowan.
Justice was betrayed for Mr. Trevino. Iowans can ensure that justice will be enforced when I am elected Iowa’s Attorney General.”
