Giovanni Ramirez, Dodgers Fan Accused of Beating Bryan Stow, Could Be Exonerated
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| Come to think of it, he doesn't really match the description |
Prosecutors are waiting to see whether police actually file charges against the new suspects. If so, Ramirez will be free. That raises some questions about the overall investigations, considering LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has insisted -- until now -- that Ramirez was the "primary aggressor" in the attack on Stow. Police have spent more than two months trying to build a case against Ramirez, but the evidence wasn't there.
The Los Angeles Times reports today that Mayor Antonio Villariagosa is defending the police department's slippery investigation, saying that it's been difficult to crack this case with so few witnesses.
"We followed hundreds of thousands of leads in a case that was difficult" because police were working with only a general description of the suspects, the mayor told reporters.
Police arrested Ramirez in May, just three miles from Dodger Stadium where two men brutally beat Stow, a 42-year-old Bay Area resident, into a coma. Ramirez insisted he had an alibi that proved that he was at home babysitting his 10-year-old daughter at the time of the beating. Ramirez has remained in jail for violating his parole after police found a gun inside his apartment.
Ramirez's parole officer tipped police off after noticing Ramirez had a fresh neck tattoo, which police thought was a clear attempt to cover up an old marking that had been described by witnesses.
Ramirez's attorney, Anthony Brooklier, told the LA Times that he was pleased with the
results. "There was a lot of pressure on LAPD. I believe that they were
operating in good faith and made a good-faith mistake," he said.
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