No word on fate of men jailed in Mexico

Published 11:16 pm Monday, February 9, 2009

ARLINGTON — After a month of trying to get his son and his father freed from a Mexican prison, Gary Chrisman Sr. said he’s heard the word manana — tomorrow — way too often.

He heard it again Monday night, this time from his lawyer, after a Mexican federal judge put off for another day announcing a decision on the release of his father, Edward Chrisman of Arlington.

“We’re just playing the waiting game right now,” Gary Chrisman Sr. said Monday from Mexicali, the site of a Mexican federal courtroom and the prison where his 88-year-old father is held.

The Chrismans’ lawyer told the family a federal judge has decided what should happen but the decision won’t be announced until other officials weigh in.

Maybe tomorrow, Chrisman’s family was told.

The family is frustrated and losing hope, Shannon Perkins, Chrisman’s granddaughter said Monday.

“You can’t count on anything anybody says,” she said. “You wait until manana, until they feel like getting it done.”

A judge Monday began reviewing whether the elder Chrisman has been jailed in violation of his civil rights. Chrisman’s attorney filed an emergency hearing request because of the World War II veteran’s health and age. The family believes he contracted pneumonia in prison.

The judge also will consider the men’s case together as part of a separate amparo proceeding, a Mexican federal hearing to examine whether their constitutional rights have been violated.

The family hopes the judge will bring an end to the ordeal.

Edward Chrisman, a longtime resident of Arlington, was wintering in Yuma, Ariz., when he decided to take a trip Jan. 8 across the border to Algodones with his grandson, Gary Chrisman Jr., who lives in Yuma.

His grandson stopped at a convenience store. While inside, he offered money to photograph a teenage girl. Gary Chrisman Jr., 40, said he had been taking cultural pictures with a new camera and he gave the girl’s mother $25 for a few head shots of the fully clothed girl.

Mexican police allege the pair tried to pay for nude photos. The Chrismans were arrested the same day, after the mother of the girl called police. The 13-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman told KSWT-13 news in Yuma that Gary Chrisman Jr. asked the girl to sit on a sofa and open her legs.

In the television interview, the girl said the elder Chrisman was not involved, and was out waiting in the car.

The family said both men are innocent and the case is really about authorities trying to shake them down for cash.

Relatives in Arlington are poised to buy plane tickets and fly to Arizona as soon as one or both of the men are released, Perkins said. She and her father have traveled nearly every day across the border to free the men. Her father racked up a $1,000 phone bill last month.

“They just want to see their dad and grandpa,” she said. “They just want to support and love him.”

An Arlington resident for most of his life, Chrisman is described by family as a religious man who has attended the Arlington Assembly of God Church for decades. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He worked as a civil service machinist for the Navy before retiring years ago.

Edward Chrisman was married to his wife, Norma, for 63 years. He cared for her until her death from Alzheimer’s in 2007.

At his Arlington church, the phones have been busy with people calling for news, said Kathy Carlin, who works there.

“We’ve been on pins and needles today waiting for a report,” Carlin said Monday.

Every service includes an update and everyone with a friend or relative in Mexico is trying to help.

“We’re just waiting and praying and believing something will break,” she said.

Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.