Death Sentence

When are we all going to grow tired of the touchy feely BS that makes everyone forget that CRIMINAL ACTS were actually commited!! Everyone has got some hard luck story to tell. We could all make excuse after excuse. Drunk drivers HAVE NO EXCUSE!!! If you drink and drive you are a selfish bastard to be sure, and there should be dire consequences for doing so. The fact that he walked around for years free without paying his debt to society is but a gift he hopefully enjoyed to the fullest. I for one am sick to death of drunk drivers killing and permanently maiming their fellow human beings and crying foul when locked up!!

I understand the crime is serious however just like the article said- jail is to have people learn from their mistakes and to rehabilitate. This man hasn't even driven in almost a decade- seems like he learned his lesson to me. Also, is worth the tax payer's dollar to incarcerate an old man who is rehabilitated?

Yes I agree that drunk drivers have to commit to the crime... however Greggy, the system never followed up and nine YEARS later they want to lock him up with no repetition..? I have to disagree with putting him away especially with all of his ailments! I'm sorry for families that have lost there love ones do to someone's irresponsibleness. I would want that person to pay! I feel that karma has caught up to phil... so what good is it to pay for him to sit in jail and teach him what now? this time spent now, he gets it! Okay now lets move on! FREE PHIL!

Yes I agree that drunk drivers have to commit to the crime... however Greggy, the system never followed up and nine YEARS later they want to lock him up with no repetition..? I have to disagree with putting him away especially with all of his ailments! I'm sorry for families that have lost there love ones do to someone's irresponsibleness. I would want that person to pay! I feel that karma has caught up to phil... so what good is it to pay for him to sit in jail and teach him what now? this time spent now, he gets it! Okay now lets move on! FREE PHIL!

It is indeed unfortunate what a life he has been through. Fact of the matter is, he was already through the system 3+ times when he committed the DUI that he didn’t show up to court for. Most people (having a DUI or not) know that when you get one you WILL go to court for it. I would be hard pressed to believe that he could use this same if he were to hit and kill someone while driving drunk. Plain and simple, he has been dealt some very bad cards, but he did not learn his lesson, he should be off the streets and the only way the judicial system can guarantee that is to incarcerate him. Maybe at his age he should have been in house arrest at the very least.

During the time of his drinking, thank God he injured or killed anyone. Obvioulesy he had many issues to deal with and his family should of made sure he got the conceling needed. Even the system let him down, 3 offences should have been mandatory councelling. Putting him behind bars serves NO ONE but an alto ego for the state. He should not be used as an example, that you can never flee :Sherriff Joe: and his system. Yes there should be some punishment for what he did, but probably in the form of community service.

I would hope that the criminal justice system’s main focus would be reform. The point of incarcerating someone is so that they may learn from their mistakes and reenter society as a law abiding citizen. It’s unfortunate that Judge Duber’s intention is, obviously, to set some sort of precedent. The man is 83 years old and due to his illnesses, will never drive, much less drink and drive, again. What is imprisonment going to do to him? Punish an old man by making him watch his wife battle cancer from behind bars? Seems more like the wife is the one being punished. Or, better yet, let’s let a few child molesters or drug dealers roam our streets due to prison over-population. Why imprison someone who is clearly NOT a threat to society? Good to know that the State of Arizona’s tax dollars are being well spent……Globe must have a great education system to so easily allow their money to go towards this kind of crap rather than education….

One former Supreme Court justice remarked that "this is not a court of justice, it is a court of law." Another quote that comes to mind is "the law is an ass." I think both of those fit this situation perfectly...

If the Judge and Prosecutor of Gila County want to make an example of this 83 year old man, let them. Let them penalize the tax paying public to the tune of $65,000.00 a year to pay for his medical needs and another $45,000.00 or more that it takes to keep him in prison. Apparently Mr Cisneros is a danger to the publice and to himself that we must incarcerate to make a living example of what it means to drink and drive, then run from the consequences...... YEAH RIGHT. I will pull my tongue out my cheek now.

To: Presiding Judge Peter J. Cahill

RE: Article re: Phillip Cisneros (copy attached)

Subj: MADNESS!!

Date: June 27th, 2007Dear Judge Cahill:

I am not an attorney, nor a judge. I am a simple physician, by training - although I no longer practice medicine, who manages surgical centers in New York City.

However, I went to school in Arizona and my family still lives in and around Phoenix and Scottsdale. I was looking for a home to buy for my child (who is presently attending ASU) tonight, and happened to look at the online version of New Times that will hit the newsstands tomorrow.

I read the attached article about the sentencing of Mr. Cistneros, and I was SHOCKED to the very fiber of my being at the vicious sentencing of this man! At 83 years of age, and given the circumstance as outlined in the article - which I hope have been vetted for accuracy by the publisher and researched by the author - this man has been the recipient of a wretched and horrible misapplication of justice.

I am normally NOT a bleeding heart liberal. Okay, I'll admit I've voted for a couple of democrats over the years, but not many. However in this case, the Shakespearian quote about "the Quality of Mercy" comes to mind. In case you've not seen it (as I had not) in many years, I'm quoting it for you below.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'T is mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's,
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.

William Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice", Act 4 scene 1
Greatest English dramatist & poet (1564 - 1616)

The man, Phil Cistneros, who is the subject of the article appears to be a barely middle class senior with a history of tremendous strain in his life - strain of loosing a spouse a second time among others - to which he has reacted very badly in the past. The key words here are "in the past." What differentiates him from you and I? Probably education and income. Men of our ages and educational levels would go to the court, hire counsel as needed, and probably extricate ourselves from a DUI (heaven forbid!) as needed. Oh, it would be humiliating and we'd privately scream bloody hell about the legal fees. (Just as patients yell about the cost of medical care!) But in the end, the matter would be dealt with, probably by our paying a fine that paled in comparison to the legal fees. End of case.

This man, however, did not and does not have our education, nor our income level (I assume) nor the knowledge that he could and should have hired counsel to handle this matter for him. It is possible in the stress and strain of his life then (1995) he simply didn't think about this situation nor about finding a solution for it, because of his circumstances at that point in time.

Given the apparent law abiding life this man has led for the past decade, I cannot understand sentencing him to prison. Not for a day! He is OBVIOUSLY too old and too frail to undergo and survive this kind of treatment. Arizona is known for being somewhat "back-woodsy" all over America. What your fellow judge did has made Arizona a LAUGHING STOCK to the rest of the country! It's absurd to treat a human being this way at this age. I've visited Globe many times. My sister and her husband own property there. I cannot believe one of your esteemed fellow judges would deal with a man in the way that Mr. Cistneros was dealt with, nor can I believe this would be allowed to have happened - if for no other reason than the fact that it makes the entire Gila County judicial system look like vengeful hate-filled morons! I know you are judges, but you're also men and human and (hopefully) elected officials of the court, too. How could you ignore or overlook the public relations storm you're about to unleash on yourselves? What madness is sitting on the Superior Court in Gila County these days? Moreover, how does it serve our society, our state, or our government to kill this elderly man for a mistake he made in the midst of loosing a spouse and at a time when he obviously was not in complete control or possession of his right mind?

While this man lived in a small community and got caught driving under the influence of alcohol, how many times have you or I driven home from a dinner party or a cocktail party when we perhaps should not have done so under the strict interpretation of the law? Perhaps you are not guilty of such a lapse of judgement, but I certainly am and did so with far less provocation than this man

While the US Attorney General may have authored a position paper to justify White House approved Torture, I was under the impression this could only be done to enemy combatants. I did not now it was applicable to American Citizens. In spite of the AG's office best efforts, I believe that torture is still forbidden by law, if used on US citizens. What else do you call incarcerating an 83 year old man in a tent in the middle of the 100 - plus degree heat in an Arizona Desert? If that's not torture, then your Honor, I don't know what else you may call it!

Your Honor, I think you should censure in the strongest of terms the judge who sentenced this man. This is a gross miscarriage of justice, a societal horror, and probably a abuse of power granted to the bench, in my opinion. I also beseech you to reverse this unjustified and unjustifiable sentencing. Surely there must be something that will serve both the law and the circumstances of this individual, too?

I can only encourage you to reverse this miscarriage of justice if you can. I hope you will SERIOUSLY discuss with your subordinate Judge. While this must be reversed in some way or another, legally; it should never have happened in the first place, IMHO!!

Mark Issacs
New York, NY

I hate to say it but the old guy is guilty (times nine). He truly doesnt deserve any pitty at all. Drunk drivers are the worst law breakers just under drug pushers. I think its horrible he waited or forgotten about it for nine years. The fact that he's an aging senior means nothing to me except he shouldve known better. This isnt like a parking ticket, and the fact that he hasnt been driving since means he WAS trying to evade law enforcement cause of the warrant. I cant stand Arpio or some of the crooked judges but sorry guys, this guy is guilty X9!

Slimeball Judge Orest Jejna should be investigated for untruths in the courtroom and his bias. Scottsdale judges aren't looked at enough. The entire city is a bastion of corrpution.