Becenti checks in at jail Seven-day term
starts
S.J. Ludescher
Staff Writer
GALLUP — A letter of apology from McKinley County Commissioner
Chairman Earnest C. Becenti Sr. to his battered female victim and
letters from area citizens asking for leniency failed to sway District
Court Judge George A. Harrison during sentencing.
On Wednesday, Harrison sentenced Becenti to 364 days jail time, with
357 of them suspended, as well as supervised probation. The conditions
of his supervised probation call for him to complete an evaluation
and follow any recommendations by the probationers.
Harrison ordered Becenti to report to the McKinley County Adult Detention
Center at 5 p.m. Wednesday to begin his seven days behind bars.
During the Aug. 17 bench trial, Harrison told David Pederson, Becenti's
lawyer, that he would "look favorably in sentencing if he (Becenti)
had sought and completed some kind of counseling."
At Wednesday's sentencing hearing, Pederson explained to Harrison
that Becenti had failed to locate suitable counseling and therapy,
adding, "We didn't find the right solution."
Pederson told the judge that appropriate sanctions and punishments
could be found for Becenti and suggested a monetary contribution to
an area charity such as Battered Families.
"A harsh sentence serves no viable purpose," Pederson said.
"It's the holiday season and a season for forgiveness and time
to atone for mistakes."
Harrison reminded Pederson that the verdict had been handed down four
months ago enough time to seek counseling or therapy options. "The
fact that he (Becenti) sought no counseling says that he thinks he
did nothing wrong and that sends a powerful message to me," Harrison
said.
Pederson read a letter of apology into the record from the 74-year-old
Becenti to his victim, Marcella King-Ben, an attorney:
"I wish to sincerely apologize to Miss King-Ben and her family
for any harm which came to them as a result of my conduct. I also
offer my apology to my own family for the embarrassment this situation
caused them. Finally, I want to apologize to all of the residents
of McKinley County who I have represented in various ways for lowering
their confidence in me as an elected official.
"I did not mean any offense to Miss King-Ben by the way I acted.
I am very sorry that my actions toward her were misinterpreted. I
did not intend to harm her in any way. I fully and completely respect
the legal process which took place in my case.
"I hope that you will take into account my long record of public
service to the people of McKinley County. The public humiliation of
a trial and conviction have punished me severely. I would like you
to consider the traditional Navajo way of restoring harmony and peace
in the community as part of your decision. I am a senior citizen who
honorably served his country in my youth. As a medicine man I have
many times participated in healing ceremonies to help community members.
Please allow the healing to begin in this matter."
Harrison called Becenti's letter "as weak of an apology letter
as you can get."
Edward T. Begay, speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, wrote a letter
to Harrison on Becenti's behalf. His letter read in part: "I
deeply respect the contributions he has made to his community as a
public servant. These contributions as well as his personal traits
of kindness and helpfulness should be given priority in your sentencing
considerations.
"As I believe you are aware already, Navajo values place a great
emphasis upon reconciliation and the restoration of harmony over retribution
and revenge. Navajos, including myself, view jail sentences as serving
only the purpose of retribution without providing any restoration
of harmony. I think the incarceration of Mr. Becenti would do nothing
to restore harmony between Mr. Becenti and the Navajo victim of this
offense."
When Pederson finished reading letters from Begay and other area leaders,
King-Ben stood up to address Harrison, her voice quivering, fighting
back tears. "Talk about humiliation," she said. "What
about my humiliation? All of the letters written on his behalf were
written by men in power and position. I speak for the women who are
weak and powerless and who can't speak for themselves."
Pointing to Becenti, King-Ben said, "He hasn't
had counseling, but I did because of this. He hasn't had ceremonial
prayers, but I had prayers. As a public servant he does need to respect
people."
After the sentence was announced, King-Ben's only comment was that
she "was glad it was over."
Neither Becenti nor Pederson would comment on the sentence.
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Life cut short Grief, regret clutch Zuni
boy's family
Bill Donovan
Staff Writer
ZUNI — Every morning Robert Duran wakes up from
a restless sleep, realizing he is one day closer to Dec. 15, the day
his son, Daniel Lewis Duran, would have celebrated his 11th birthday.
"I think about it all the time," Duran said
earlier this week. "Could we have done anything differently?
I go over everything that happened that day and go over the possibilities.
If we have done this or that, would he have been shot?
"But in the end, I realize that we did everything
right," he said.
When it is all said and done, Duran admits there was
no way he or anyone else could have imagined on the morning of Sept.
5 that Daniel's life would be cut short later that day by an 8-year-old
boy whom his son probably thought of as a friend. Daniel's friend
lived only a couple of blocks from the Duran home in Zuni.
The boy who is accused of the shooting came over to
the Duran home that morning with his bother after they had tried unsuccessfully
to wake a neighbor's child. Daniel agreed to play with them, but his
father told him to eat his breakfast first.
The children his son was going out to play with that
morning were grandsons of a long-time Zuni police detective by the
name of Harry Gaspar. Duran said he had seen the Gaspar children in
his house for the first time a few days earlier.
"They seemed normal and happy, not at all devious,
and definitely not violent or anything like that," he said.
Just normal kids who wanted to get to know his son a
little better. Like so many other children in Zuni. "Everyone
liked Daniel," his father said. "He liked to make people
laugh. He was always teaching his friends about the Bible."
A friendly boy
Daniel made friends constantly, so his father didn't think anything
about the Gaspar children being at his house or Daniel going to play
with them at theirs.
Several accounts have been told about what happened at 1:15 p.m. that
afternoon in the Gaspar back yard. Those accounts agree on only one
thing: When it was all over, Damiel was dead, a bullet in his right
eye.
The FBI version says there was an argument, with Daniel on one side
and the Gaspar boy on the other.
"The (Gaspar) boy, who is almost 9 years of age, obtained a gun
which was in a dresser in the house. He fired one shot which struck
the deceased in the right eye, killing him instantly," the FBI
report says.
Robert Duran said he talked to a couple of other boys who were eyewitnesses
to the shooting. They had a somewhat different story.
According to their version, Daniel was in a swing in the Gaspar back
yard. The 8 year old told him to get off the swing, which belonged
to a Gaspar sister. The Gaspar boy then went into the house, found
a gun, came out, aimed it at Daniel and fired.
But the gun didn't go off. At that point, Duran said, the boy yelled
at Daniel that he was going to get another gun. A few seconds later,
he reportedly aimed a 9 mm handgun that belonged to his grandfather
out the window and fired one shot that killed Daniel instantly.
"It was premeditated," Duran said. But he said he is as
clueless about why it happened today as he was when he first heard
about the shooting later that afternoon.
The boy who shot Daniel ran to his grandmother's house. Daniel's body
was discovered later that day by the boy's mother, Melissa Gaspar,
who found his bloody body in her back yard. She reportedly left her
home and didn't come back until police were at the scene, Duran said.
Court hearing set
The boy's court hearing is still a few weeks off, but Robert Duran
went to a court hearing for Melissa Gaspar, who at first pleaded innocent
to charges of neglect and then decided to plead guilty. Zuni court
officials declined Wednesday to release anything about the case, but
Duran said he was told she received a fine of $500 and was ordered
to undergo counseling.
The grandfather spent a short time on administrative leave from his
Zuni law enforcement agency for leaving his gun where his grandson
could get it.
As for the boy accused of doing the shooting, a lot of people probably
think he is in a juvenile detention center, Duran said.
"He's not. People have told me they have seen him in the area.
Some of my neighbors told me that when they hear he is out playing,
they keep their children inside of their homes because they are afraid
of him."
Duran said he couldn't understand why the boy, who has undergone some
counseling, is allowed to roam freely through the Zuni village.
"I haven't seen him, but I wouldn't recognize him if I did,"
Duran said. "I didn't pay that much attention to him when he
came over to my house before the shooting."
Lives touched
Daniel's death has affected a lot of people.
A number of Daniel's friends, Duran said, wrote letters to him after
his death as part of therapy to allow them to get over Daniel's death.
Many of the letters mentioned Daniel's fondness for laughing and general
happiness.
The friends said they will miss him and never forget him. His father
agrees sadly that Daniel was not a boy who could easily be forgotten.
"I've become numb. I can't cry anymore. The shooting has cost
me everything," he said.
Duran said he is seeing a psychiatrist, taking antidepressant pills
and trying to control his anxiety. "I'm trying to get it together,
but it's too hard," he said.
A silversmith by trade, he spends a lot of time at his home, looking
at the pictures of Daniel that are located throughout the house.
"I'm not looking forward to his birthday or this Christmas. It
doesn't mean anything anymore." he said.
His wife and two other sons, both older than Daniel, have fared a
little better. His wife is undergoing counseling but doesn't like
taking the medicine she is told will help get her over her pain. What
would help, he said, is for justice to be done and those responsible
for his son's death to be punished.
'Dangerous to others'
He wants the boy who is accused of the shooting to be put in a juvenile
detention center, not for the sake of punishment, but as a safety
precaution.
"He needs to be considered dangerous to others in the community,"
Duran said.
There also needs to be some form of punishment for the mother and
the grandfather, but Duran said he's not certain what should be done.
He's filed a civil suit in the matter, but he doesn't
know whether this will be enough.
"I have this professional friend who had the same thing happen
to his teen-ager. Ten years later, he's still affected by it,"
Duran said.
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Tribe offers loans
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Navajos can now get a personal loan from the tribe
for twice as much money as before up to $5,000 on approved credit.
"We feel a lot of Navajo people are credit worthy but don't want
to go off the reservation because of the high interest rates,"
Louise Naize, manager of the Credit Services Department, said.
Most of the loans go to the tribe's 6,000 employees who pay back the
money through a payroll deduction plan. Naize adds that employees
of tribal enterprises, Sage Memorial Hospital in Ganado and some of
the public school districts also qualify.
In the past, the program has come under attack because
of its low payback rate, in part because many of the borrowers looked
upon it as a grant program.
The tribe also made things worse by not aggressively going after delinquent
borrowers or looking into a person's credit history before approving
the loan.
Today, officials for the program check a credit reporting bureau before
the loan is made, and the interest rate is based on that credit rating.
Like a car dealer, the worse the credit rating, the higher the interest.
A score card, the Fair Isaac Credit Score Model, will be used to determine
the maximum amount a person can borrow, with the smallest loan being
$500 to be repaid within six months. A $5,000 loan qualifies for a
maximum repayment period of 48 months.
People who score 500 or lower will be limited to $1,500 and will pay
18 percent interest. Those who score 501 to 700 can borrow up to $3,500
at 15 percent, and those who score 701 or above may get up to $5,000
at 12 percent interest.
To apply, a Navajo or spouse must have worked the previous two years
in a permanent job or, if self-employed or seasonally employed, submit
income statements for the past two years.
The department worked with the Budget and Finance Committee
of the Navajo Nation Council and the Navajo Department of Justice
for more than a year to prepare the new 16-page policy, which the
committee approved Tuesday.
Under the old philosophy, which came from the original program that
gave emergency loans, the Division of Finance made about 550 loans
for about $600,000 during fiscal year 1999, Naize said. The rate was
12 percent, and the largest amount that could be obtained was $2,500.
Applications are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at the department
on the second floor of Administration Building 1 on Window Rock Boulevard.
The telephone number is (520) 871-6749.
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Area in brief
Legal education course
WINDOW ROCK The Navajo Nation Bar Association will
present a continuing legal education course on Navajo law Dec. 29
at the Navajo Nation Museum, Library and Visitor Center in Window
Rock. The sessions are on consumer protection law and attorneys' and
advocates' role in Navajo peacemaking. Early registration is $75 by
Dec. 23 and $125 after that. Credits are approved for three Navajo
law or general and two ethics or Navajo or general law. Information:
(520) 871-2211.
Bar examination
WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation Bar Association will hold an
examination on March 25, 2000. Application packets are available from
the Navajo Nation Bar Association, P.O. Box 690, Window Rock, Ariz.
86515. The NNBA has copies of previous bar examinations available
for $20. Information: (520) 871-2211...
Former council delegate Larry Beck dies
at 65
Bill Donovan
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Larry Beck, one of the most popular and respected
members of the Navajo Nation Council in recent years, died Tuesday
after a long bout with Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was 65.
A tireless worker for his constituents in Pinon, Beck served on the
council from January 1983 until he was forced to resign because of
illness in May 1997. But council delegates thought so highly of him
that for the first and only time so far they agreed to allow him to
continue drawing his council delegate salary, which he did until he
died.
Navajo Nation President Kelsey Begaye, in a statement released Wednesday,
said Beck was the type of person who would never say an unkind words
about anyone, a rare trait in a council that in recent years has been
factionalized over a number of issues...
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Navajo artist invites people to view
his work and life attitude
Nancy Watson
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Navajo artist Elmer C. Yazzie combines his Native American
spiritual heritage and Christianity in his life and his art.
On Saturday, Yazzie and his wife, Sharon, will host an open house
7-10 p.m. at their home at 3 Pill Hill St. in Rehoboth. It is appropriate
that Yazzie would invite people into his home to view and purchase
his art. The gesture reflects his attitude about life and art.
Yazzie grew up on the Navajo reservation in Shiprock. His mother was
a teacher, his father a Christian Reform minister. "During my
parents' day, there was not much interaction between the two worlds,
those who were Christians and those who practiced traditional Navajo
religion," Yazzie said...
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Grants prison grows
Facility to be only women's center in N.M.
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — Cibola County came perilously close last summer to losing
its women's prison in Grants, one of only two in New Mexico, but today
the picture has changed dramatically.
The Corrections Corp. of America Women's Facility in Grants, currently
undergoing a large expansion, will become the only women's prison
in the state. And in the process, jobs will be added to the local
economy.
This strategy was born thanks to an 11th-hour deal worked out between
CCA and state prison officials within days of the Grants inmates being
moved...
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Five people hurt in 1-vehicle rollover
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Five people suffered serious injuries and had to
be flown about 50 miles by helicopters to the Flagstaff Medical Center
following a one-vehicle rollover on Navajo Route 2 near Tolani Lake
in Arizona, according to Navajo police.
On Nov. 27, a 17-year-old driver was headed south about 9 a.m. when
he ran off the road, overcorrected and rolled, ejecting his four passengers,
according to police.
Police identified the passengers as Jonathon K. Klah, 25, Doris Klah,
39, Stanley Shirley, no age listed, and a 17-year-old boy. All four,
plus the driver, live 8.5 miles south of Pinon, or about 60 miles
northeast of the accident scene...
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