May 31, 2013 -- Updated 1630 GMT (0030 HKT)
A Mexican court released an Arizona woman detained over allegations she
tried to smuggle 12 pounds of marijuana under a bus seat. FULL STORY
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SHAKEDOWN 'JUSTICE' IN MEXICO
May 31, 2013 -- Updated 1822 GMT (0222 HKT)
Mom released from Mexican jail
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Yanira Maldonado calls for those who arrested her to "repent"
- Maldonado's attorney cites security camera footage as crucial evidence
- Maldonado was accused of smuggling drugs on a bus
- Mexican court determines prosecutors did not provide evidence.
Mexican authorities
detained her last week and put her behind bars over allegations she
tried to smuggle 12 pounds of marijuana under a bus seat.
She and her husband,
Gary, were traveling from Mexico back to the United States when their
bus was stopped and searched. Yanira Maldonado allegedly was sitting
above the illegal stash.
Maldonado's case sparked
widespread media coverage and attention from U.S. lawmakers as family
members pushed for her freedom. At a press conference early Friday in
Nogales, Arizona, she thanked journalists, crediting them for her
expedited release.
The quality of her conditions in jail also improved as the media coverage increased, she told CNN affiliate KPNX-TV in Phoenix.
Arizona mom: 'I'm free now!'
Yanira Maldonado released from jail
Defense: Video proves woman's innocence
How dangerous is it to travel in Mexico?
A court official delivered the good news to her in jail Thursday. "I screamed," Maldonado said.
The Arizonan and mother
of seven had consistently denied the charges against her, and the court
determined that the prosecutors did not provide evidence.
Her husband, Gary, tearfully embraced his wife after her release.
Though the court released
her back to the United States, legal proceedings are not completely
over, Gary Maldonado said. But his wife's attorney in Mexico will take
care of them in her absence.
Security footage revealed
Security camera footage
revealed in court Thursday shows Maldonado and her husband boarding a
bus in Mexico last week. They are carrying a purse, two blankets and two
bottles of water.
It's an everyday scene
that plays out at bus stations around the world. But in this case,
defense attorney Francisco Benitez argued that the images were a crucial
piece of evidence.
Why? Because nothing they're carrying, he said, could hold the amount of marijuana that Maldonado was accused of smuggling.
Video footage suggests that someone else brought the marijuana aboard the bus, the lawyer said.
Packages of the illegal substance allegedly recovered from under Maldonado's seat would not have fit in her purse, Benitez said.
Big relief
Her attorneys also presented documents that show that she and her husband have no criminal records in the United States, Benitez said.
Word that the surveillance video had been shown in court was a big relief, her husband said.
"That was the key that would help us prove her innocence," he said.
"It showed right on the film clear as day there's no way you could carry 12 pounds or 5.7 kilos with one arm," he said.
The Mexican military
officials who arrested Maldonado didn't make their case in court. The
soldiers were scheduled to appear Wednesday but didn't show.
Official: She was framed
Mexican authorities arrested Maldonado, a U.S. citizen, on May 22 as she and her husband were on their way back to Arizona.
Gary Maldonado said he
believes Mexican soldiers at the checkpoint wanted a bribe. A Mexican
state official also told CNN it appears that Maldonado was framed.
Yanira Maldonado does
not necessarily think she was directly targeted. "Someone smuggled those
in there, and I probably sat in the wrong seat," she said.
Nonetheless, she called on those who arrested her to "repent," find "respectable work" and stop making people suffer.
A regional office of
Mexico's defense ministry said troops conducting a routine investigation
stopped the bus Maldonado was riding in and found 12.5 pounds (5.7
kilograms) of a substance that appeared to be marijuana under her seat.
Troops turned the case
over to the Mexican attorney general's office, the defense ministry
said. Maldonado was held in a women's prison in Nogales, Mexico.
Tearful pleas
In an interview Wednesday with CNN, Maldonado, a Mormon, said she turned to Scripture to survive the ordeal.
"Reading the Scriptures,
reading the Book of Mormon, praying, fasting," Maldonado said. "And all
the support that I've been getting from my family, my husband, my
children and everybody out there reaching out to help."
Family members' tearful pleas for her release drew widespread media attention and caught the attention of U.S. officials.
U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon,
R-Arizona, said he had spoken about the case with the U.S. ambassador to
Mexico and Mexico's ambassador in Washington.
State Department officials said consular officials met with Maldonado on Wednesday and May 24.
U.S. diplomats did the
same things they would when a U.S. citizen is arrested in a foreign
country, but maybe to a higher degree because of the high-profile nature
of the case, a senior administration official said.
CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.
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