WHEN DEPARTMENT OF Public Safety officer Juan Cruz died the night of December 8, 1998, he was doing his job, protecting the public. He was working a crappy late-night shift on a dangerous stretch of I-10 north of downtown Tucson, when the parked patrol car in which he was sitting was rammed from behind by a car coming at a high rate of speed. It’s not fair to say it was being driven because that would give the person sitting behind the wheel too much credit. And Marissa Rodriguez doesn’t deserve any credit; she’s already caught the break of a lifetime courtesy of a system of justice gone haywire.
It had been legal for Rodriguez to drink alcohol for only a few hours, but I’m guessing it wasn’t her first time. Out “celebrating” her 21st birthday in a manner befitting the pathetic, she drank herself silly and then got in the car. She had consumed enough alcohol to push her blood-alcohol content up to a point roughly twice Arizona’s legal limit of .10. (Most states have adopted a more responsible .08). She probably wouldn’t have been able to stand up straight or walk very well, but she thought nothing of getting behind the wheel. Heck, she thought nothing, period.
Besides, God wouldn’t take her on her birthday. No, God’s a joker; He took somebody else, instead. She barreled down the highway, shit-faced and oblivious to her surroundings, until her car plowed into the back of Officer Cruz’s vehicle. The collision may or may not have knocked Cruz unconscious; we can only pray that it did. What the collision did do is rupture the fuel tanks in the police car, set off a series of explosions, and quickly engulf the cruiser and its occupant in flames.
Still not done with the carnage, Rodriguez’s car skidded sideways and struck DPS officer John Talatke, who suffered neck and shoulder injuries when he was thrown into the median. Talatke somehow managed to scramble to his feet and race back to the burning car, where he suffered burns on his hands trying to rescue the doomed Cruz.
Inside the flaming cruiser, Cruz was being burned alive. His skin would be crackling from the heat and any attempts to breathe would be stymied by the fact that voracious fire would be sucking the oxygen out of his lungs to help feed the inferno which was causing his painful, needless death.
For all we know, Marissa Rodriguez looked over and her few functioning brain cells formed the thought, “Ooo, pretty colors.”
Juan Cruz had served the state of Arizona, and Marissa Rodriguez, for 18 years. He had five kids and was only a couple weeks away from getting married to a woman he’d been dating for a while. His car was off the road, his warning lights were on, and he was doing everything by the book when Marissa Rodriguez took his life.
All of this, however, apparently means nothing because some guy who works in a government building somewhere likes to look at pornography. I don’t see the connection, either, but it’s real clear to lawyers who, in this day and age, all view the world through kaleidoscope eyes.
Law and Justice used to be synonymous in the public mind and sometimes even in practice. At the most liberal interpretation, they were symbiotic, with one being used to arrive at the other. They used to be worshipped as twin pillars of a great civilization. But somewhere along the line — I’m not really sure where — they diverged. Nowadays, the former is but a tool to be manipulated and the latter is a fuzzy concept to be taught in schools and then largely ignored and snickered at by the practitioners of the former.
It seems that the only rule for lawyers is that you get to try to make up new rules as you go along. It wasn’t her fault that she was drinking; the drinking made her drink. Society made her drink, her ancestry made her drink, TV commercials made her drink. And if that doesn’t work, maybe the car malfunctioned or maybe the dead officer screwed up somehow.
And if that doesn’t work, maybe some guy whose job it is to turn on a machine which determines blood-alcohol content likes to look at dirty pictures. Still don’t see the connection? You’re not squinting hard enough.
Marissa Rodriguez, not looking particularly remorseful nor worse for wear from the collision (in my brave new world, we won’t allow the misuse of the word “accident”), accepted a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault. It should have been murder.
She got a relative slap on the wrist. Relatives and her lawyer spoke of how her life was ruined. They don’t get it. She still has a life. She’ll still be able to see the sunset, listen to the birds, and dream about that next drink. Even in the highly unlikely case that she has to spend the next 12 years in prison being mistreated by chain-gang women who are a whole lot less attractive than Pam Grier, she’ll be only 34 when she gets out, with half a life pissed away but the other half still ahead of her.
I’m betting that Officer Cruz would trade her, head-up.
We’ve got to stop this. Do away with the diminished-capacity defense. How did we ever arrive at a place where a person can break the law by drinking too much and killing someone while behind the wheel, and then use that first crime to lessen the punishment for the second crime? It’s insane, yet it’s our system.
In every case, the drunk driver was sober when he/she started drinking that day or night. That is the point when the clock should start on the crime. It’s all criminal behavior and one exacerbates the severity of the other.
Stop letting lawyers create new laws in a process akin to sewage flowing downhill, inexorably seeking tiny cracks and crevices into which it might flow. There isn’t a human being alive who can see how the possession of pornography by one person can make things easier for another person who happens to be a killer.
Drunk driving used to be a wink-and-nod thing, wrong but not criminal. Things are changing and drunk-driving homicides are going down. But not fast enough nor far enough.
We should all be outraged by this. We should do whatever’s necessary to see that the drinkers don’t drive and the drivers don’t drink. But we won’t. Some will shrug, some will mourn, and some will go out and have a drink, knowing — just knowing! — that it will never happen to them.
This article appears in Apr 20-26, 2000.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for writing this article. Officer Juan N. Cruz was my uncle and we still miss him dearly. I was only 9 years old when he passed and I still remember Marissa showing no remorse in court. She has no sympathy from me and I only hope that she will never do this again.
For all of you that don’t know Marissa, I know Marissa and she is the most wonderful person that I have ever known and remorse for that night is not even a strong enough word to express what I know in her heart she feels, she did not leave home that night with an intent to kill someone, she just made a tragic mistake when she decided to get behind that wheel and drive, but I am not hear to convince you of this only to share with you the fact that people do make mistakes.
In response to “Magic”. If Marrisa Rodriguez is such a wonderful person why didn’t she call you when she was ready to leave the bar that night? Wouldn’t you have gone to pick here up and drive her home? Why couldn’t she have called a cab or someone else? Why did she need to drive home that night?
As someone who works in traffic for a living I have seen things that scare me to death. I see people who talk on a cel phone and scream at their kids on the way to dropping them off at school on their way to work.
Remember, you’re in a 2,00 pound vehicle that is going 40 to 50 miles an hour. I know it can’t stop on a dime. I have on an orange-colored vest as my only protection.
I do my job becuase I feel it’s important. Everyone always bitching about the delays, but no one complains later when the road or intersection is safer for pedestrianss and cars. This is especially true in school zones.
Next time you see a work zone or a road construction area please slow down and pay attetion. We have families too.
IN Response to xochi who are you to condem someone for a mistake they made?
I fully understand that a life was taken but how dare you say she is a horrible person, but excuse me i’m sure your perfect. They only thing worse then losing someone dear to you is being a good person with a great heart who killed them. You have no idea what a person like her had to suffer.She never complained because she knew she has caused irreversible damage a great officer, a hero was lost but if that was your child or cousin or niece or even friend, you would not speak so harshly, you would awknowledge that she did make a bad mistake.A horrible choice but who are you to completely judge her? That is up to God.
This woman KILLED another person while commiting a criminal act. “She made a mistake’ just doesn’t quite cut it.
Those of you defending Marissa obviously don’t get it. A “mistake” is when you back up and scratch your car or you don’t offer a drunk friend a ride. Taking a life is not a “mistake” that can happen to anybody. You try telling Juan Cruz’s 5 children that Marissa is a wonderful person, you tell them that “people make mistakes.” Noman, don’t ask who we are to judge. Juan’s children have every right to judge her, criticize her, condemn her actions and even damn her for the rest of their lives.
I know this is a little late but I never really had a chance to speak out during the whole trial being that I was 12. I am Juan’s youngest daughter, and after almost 11 years without my father I am now 24 and still unable to digest the whole horror of the situation. First of all, I would like to thank the author of this article. Thank you for remembering my father and his dedication and thank you for seeing the injustice of our system. Secondly, people do make mistakes. Unfortunately, this was not a mistake but a very ignorant decision made. I am not one to judge but one who sets the facts out and sees them for what they are. I am not sure if I have forgiven those involved and let me remind you it is not just the girl that killed my father but those who were with her that night in december whom allowed her to drive. I guess I just want to say that six lives were changed that morning but many more after my nephews and nieces were born and when my children are born. I don’t get to have my Dad at my wedding, watch me receive my degree from my university, or give me advice on life. I will never be the same. Literally everyday my heart breaks and I cope with the absence of him. I can only hope my Dad did not suffer too long. I hope lessons were learned on my fathers behalf. Please do not drink and drive.
Mr. Danehy should be ashamed. He used the death of Officer Cruz to demonize Marissa and present himself as a “crusader”. It’s obvious he has never met Marissa or bothered to read the transcripts of her case. He bases his article on suggestions and implications instead of facts. His “personal” description of the last moments of Officer Cruz’s life is both insensitive and disrespectful to the Cruz family. He goes as far as speaking on behalf of God ie: “God wouldn’t take her on her birthday” and “God is a joker”, as if we are suppose to believe he actually knows what God is thinking. It’s obvious the Cruz family has never healed from this tragedy and part of the reason why is because of articles like this. The Cruz family thinks Juan was killed by some sort of monster who got off with a “slap on the wrist”. On the contrary. Marissa is a very kind, soft-spoken person who could never intentionally hurt anyone. If she could trade her life for Juan’s she would gladly do it. There was no intent to harm Officer Cruz. This was a serious lapse in judgement by a young woman who had no criminal history. Eventually someone from the Cruz family will make contact with Marissa. It needs to happen. When that day comes they will find a woman who is the exact opposite of what they have been led to believe. With a heart as gentle as Marissa’s, she didn’t get an 11 year sentence, she’s doing “life without parole”.
Totally agree with John Henry! God Bless you. No one knows if Ms. Marissa was trying to escape from something earlier. Ever wonder if she was fleeing for her life from something (maybe she tried to stay the night somewhere to avoid a tragedy of what was expected as an innocent night of (we all looked forward to our 21st birthday)! I may not know any of you involved in this, but No one knows the real story, I believe there are two sides to every story. I was curious if there was more to this story so to find out I looked it up on court and news, the police car was built faulty and the female involved helped the case so the Cruz family could win a settlement from the manufacturer of the vehicle (which determines this was a tragic accident (that could happen to any one of us). Looks like God was looking out for the Cruz family all along.