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A Ready Defense
By Brandy Campbell
Compassion staff rallies to defend a teen falsely accused of a crime in El Salvador.
How much time had passed? There were no windows in the small jail cell, just damp cement walls.
Jose's only clue of time passing was the numbness that crept into his cuffed hands.
Was it just today that he and his brother had gone to a corner store on a dusty road to buy corn flour for his family? He had reached into his pocket to pay the vendor when police flooded the area. An officer ran toward Jose.
"It's him!" the officer shouted. Jose glanced around. Who were they talking about? The next moments were a blur of fists and weapons.
"Where is the gun?" the policeman shouted at 17-year-old Jose. "Where is your gang now?"
Jose stammered, unable to answer the officer's questions. One officer struck him across the back while another clamped handcuffs tightly around his wrists.
Jose's identity instantly changed. He was no longer a churchgoing teen. The police had rushed into the dusty road looking for a gang member who had attacked a police officer and found Jose.
If Jose had been any other teen in El Salvador, falsely arrested but with no resources for justice, he would still be in jail today.
But Jose had the support of Compassion. Jose had a protector.
"Please help me find my son."
When Jose's mother, Maria, found out that her son had been arrested, she rushed to Compassion's Jesus El Buen Pastor Church.
"Please help me find my son," she said frantically, tears streaming down her face. She knew the church would rescue her son. They had done it before.
As a boy Jose found hope through Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program and for 12 years he excelled. At 17 he was on the verge of becoming one of the first people in his family to complete high school.
But his arrest threatened everything. "When Maria came to us, we were extremely concerned because we knew Jose was innocent," says Sonia Hernandez, director of Jose's student center.
Sonia and other staff members quickly tracked down Jose and took his mother and father to the jail more than 20 miles away.
When Maria finally saw her son — tired, dirty but alive — she nearly collapsed.
"It's OK, Mama," Jose said softly. His cuffed hands bumped clumsily against the bars as he reached for his mother through the cell door.
Jose's Hidden Weapon
Meanwhile, other staff from the Compassion student center mobilized, hiring attorney Juan Soto for Jose. They knew that without a lawyer Jose would sit in jail for months, awaiting a trial where he would surely be found guilty.
Juan worried that prosecutors in a sometimes corrupt and always overextended judicial system would spend little time listening to the case of a teenager with no money.
When Juan arrived at the student center, church workers described Jose's life in detail. Report cards overflowing with excellent grades. Glowing testimonials from teachers and tutors. Photographs of Jose leading Bible studies.
This was not the life of a gang member. "Do not take away his dreams." A few weeks later, Jose stood nervously in a courtroom, squirming in his ill-fitting suit.
He knew that if the judge found him guilty, he could spend the next 10 years in jail. But he also knew that just outside the courthouse Compassion staff, family and friends were kneeling in prayer.
The District Attorney's office presented its case. The lawyer said Jose fit the description of the gang member who had attacked a police officer.
He had been in the vicinity of the crime. Jose was guilty, the prosecution maintained, and he deserved the strictest sentence possible.
But Jose's lawyer was not fazed. He pulled out a thick folder and one by one, presented pieces of evidence that would free Jose.
"See here," Juan said, showing a stack of photographs. "Jose teaching his friends. Does a criminal preach the Bible? And please look at these words Jose wrote about his future. Does a criminal dream of becoming a mechanical engineer?
"Does a gang member make plans to go to college? Please, do not send this innocent boy to jail. Do not take away his dreams."
As Juan returned to his seat next to Jose, he watched the mood in the courtroom change. The once bold prosecuting attorney couldn't look at Jose. The police, there to testify against Jose, looked confused. In a few hours, the judge had dropped all charges. Jose was free.
"God saved my life because He has plans for me," says Jose. "Although being in jail was really awful, we saw many people accept Jesus because of the miracle of my trial.
My family also sawhow the center staff loved me. … I am happy after all."
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