Judge considers application for Americans' release
The fate of a Yuma resident and a winter visitor arrested earlier this month in Los Algodones, Baja Calif., could be in the hands of a judge who is reviewing an application for their release.
Gary Lee Chrisman Jr., 40, of Yuma and his grandfather, Edward Chrisman, 88, a Washington state resident and winter visitor to Yuma, were arrested earlier this month in Algodones by police, based on accusations that Gary Chrisman offered to pay two minors to pose nude.
An attorney for the detained Americans has filed an amparo, a legal protection offered in the Mexican judicial system grants defendants freedom from incarceration pending a court date.
Judge Sandra Sofia Rubio of the Court of First Instance in Ciudad Morelos, Baja Calif., said there is sufficient grounds to proceed with a trial based on testimony from two witnesses, but that if the amparo is granted, the Chrismans could be released from custody in Mexicali, Baja Calif., pending trial.
The application for the amparo is in the hands of a federal judge, she said.
Family members of the Chrismans previously have denied the allegations, saying Gary Chrisman Jr. had brought a camera to Mexico to take cultural pictures but that he never made any request to photograph two girls, ages 13 and 17, nude. He and his grandfather were arrested on allegations by one of the girls and by the mother of the other.
His father, Gary Chrisman Sr. of Yuma, declined to comment to The Sun on Tuesday about his efforts to secure the release of his son and his father.
Hector Guzman, municipal delegate of Los Algodones, said he has been following the case out of concern about the possible economic impact on the border town, which relies on revenue from shoppers from Yuma.
The arrests "haven't impacted" tourism, he said. "Tourism has dropped from prior years, but it is more because of the long lines to return to the United States and because of the economic situation" overall.
He added that the municipal government is concerned that the case be pursued fairly and that the Americans' rights be assured, but "we are not trying to influence (matters), so that they are let free. But we don't want this case to have a negative impact on the town."
Guzman said the Chrismans will be visited at the Center of Social Redaption, a prison In Mexicali where they are being held, to see how they are being treated, but "we have heard no complaint of mistreatment toward them."
Business owners in Algodones said publicity surrounding the case has not hurt tourism so far.
"I didn't even know about that case," said Edith Duran, a merchant in Algodones. "Business is down but not because of that. It is down because the economy is bad everywhere."
Added merchant Guadalupe Jimenez: "There's no guarantee that judges in Mexico are impartial, and tourists come here come from a culture that we don't always understand. They have expressions that for us can be misinterpreted."
