Santiago Ventura Morales
Encyclopedia
Santiago Ventura Morales is a social worker in the state of Oregon
. Born in Mexico, he was falsely convicted of murder
in Oregon in 1986. The conviction drew national attention when some jurors worked to overturn the conviction, and he was released from prison in 1991. He later graduated from the University of Portland
.
where he completed school through the sixth grade. At the age of 14 in 1982, Morales left his hometown in Mexico along with five cousins. An indigenous Mexican of Mixtec
heritage, he moved to the United States to work as a migrant farm worker.
. Morales was arrested and out on trial in September. He was convicted on October 2, 1986, and sentenced to ten-years to life in prison after a trial in which he was provided a Spanish
interpreter, despite the fact that as a Mixteco, Spanish was not his native language. He maintained his innocence and several jurors later had second thoughts about the conviction and began advocating that he be released from prison. Morales repeatedly appealed after the conviction, but these appeals were denied, with future Oregon Supreme Court
justice Virginia Linder
opposing the appeals for the state of Oregon. However, the lack of an appropriate interpreter and other deficiencies in his trial led to his conviction being overturned when it was shown that a different person was responsible for the murder.
While in prison he learned English and hoped to become a lawyer. The reinvestigation drew intense media
attention locally and nationally. Current Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul De Muniz
was Morales’ primary defense attorney on the successful appeal. On January 9, 1991, Santiago Ventura Morales was released from prison, and all charges were dropped in May. Oregon governor Neil Goldschmidt
had offered a conditional pardon for Morales after the conviction was overturned in case Oregon Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer appealed the decision that overturned the conviction. In 1995, the state of Oregon passed a law that requires testing and certification of court interpreters as a result of the Morales case.
in Portland, Oregon
. Morales briefly returned to Mexico before moving back to Portland, where he accepted a scholarship to the University of Portland
. While imprisoned he had earned his GED and taken some college level classes, which along with the injustice led to the school offering him a full-ride scholarship to the Catholic university. He graduated in May 1996 from the school with a bachelors degree in social work and a minor in political science. The legal injustice to Morales led the Oregon Supreme Court
to adopt changes in the way language issues are dealt with to avoid future problems. Morales would work in Oregon briefly before returning to Mexico. He later worked for the California Rural Legal Assistance in Fresno, California
, before returning to Oregon to work at the Oregon Law Center.
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Born in Mexico, he was falsely convicted of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
in Oregon in 1986. The conviction drew national attention when some jurors worked to overturn the conviction, and he was released from prison in 1991. He later graduated from the University of Portland
University of Portland
The University of Portland is a private Roman Catholic university located in Portland, Oregon. It is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross and is the sister school of the University of Notre Dame. Founded in 1901, UP has a student body of about 3,600 students...
.
Early life
Santiago Ventura Morales was born in 1968 and grew up in San Miguel Cuevas in the Mexican state of OaxacaOaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
where he completed school through the sixth grade. At the age of 14 in 1982, Morales left his hometown in Mexico along with five cousins. An indigenous Mexican of Mixtec
Mixtec
The Mixtec are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla in a region known as La Mixteca. The Mixtecan languages form an important branch of the Otomanguean language family....
heritage, he moved to the United States to work as a migrant farm worker.
Murder conviction
In 1986, Morales was accused of murdering a 19 year-old migrant farm worker in an Oregon strawberry field after a fight. Ramiro Lopez Fidel was found dead on July 14, 1986, from a stabbing in Sandy, OregonSandy, Oregon
Sandy is a city located in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, and named after the nearby Sandy River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 5,385, however the 2006 estimate shows 7,070 people....
. Morales was arrested and out on trial in September. He was convicted on October 2, 1986, and sentenced to ten-years to life in prison after a trial in which he was provided a Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
interpreter, despite the fact that as a Mixteco, Spanish was not his native language. He maintained his innocence and several jurors later had second thoughts about the conviction and began advocating that he be released from prison. Morales repeatedly appealed after the conviction, but these appeals were denied, with future Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
justice Virginia Linder
Virginia Linder
Virginia Lynn Linder is an American judge from Oregon who has served, since January 2007, as the 99th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. She had previously served since 1997 on the Oregon Court of Appeals...
opposing the appeals for the state of Oregon. However, the lack of an appropriate interpreter and other deficiencies in his trial led to his conviction being overturned when it was shown that a different person was responsible for the murder.
While in prison he learned English and hoped to become a lawyer. The reinvestigation drew intense media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
attention locally and nationally. Current Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul De Muniz
Paul De Muniz
Paul J. De Muniz is an American judge in the state of Oregon. He is the first Hispanic Chief Justice in the history of the Oregon Supreme Court. He was elected to the court in 2000, and elected as Chief Justice in 2006. He won re-election in May 2006 for another six-year term on the state's...
was Morales’ primary defense attorney on the successful appeal. On January 9, 1991, Santiago Ventura Morales was released from prison, and all charges were dropped in May. Oregon governor Neil Goldschmidt
Neil Goldschmidt
Neil Edward Goldschmidt is an American businessman and former Democratic politician from Oregon who held local, state, and federal offices over three decades. After serving as the governor of Oregon, Goldschmidt is widely considered the most influential figure in the state's politics, both as an...
had offered a conditional pardon for Morales after the conviction was overturned in case Oregon Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer appealed the decision that overturned the conviction. In 1995, the state of Oregon passed a law that requires testing and certification of court interpreters as a result of the Morales case.
Aftermath
After his release, but while waiting for the charges to be dropped, he enrolled at Portland State UniversityPortland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. Morales briefly returned to Mexico before moving back to Portland, where he accepted a scholarship to the University of Portland
University of Portland
The University of Portland is a private Roman Catholic university located in Portland, Oregon. It is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross and is the sister school of the University of Notre Dame. Founded in 1901, UP has a student body of about 3,600 students...
. While imprisoned he had earned his GED and taken some college level classes, which along with the injustice led to the school offering him a full-ride scholarship to the Catholic university. He graduated in May 1996 from the school with a bachelors degree in social work and a minor in political science. The legal injustice to Morales led the Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
to adopt changes in the way language issues are dealt with to avoid future problems. Morales would work in Oregon briefly before returning to Mexico. He later worked for the California Rural Legal Assistance in Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
, before returning to Oregon to work at the Oregon Law Center.