Motion Filed Against Deputy in Beating of Illegal Immigrants

Alicia Sotero Vasquez, the woman whose beating by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies earlier this month was recorded on videotape and shown worldwide, filed a motion Tuesday to intervene in a lawsuit filed by one of the deputies.

Deputy Tracy Watson, one of two officers being investigated in the beating of two illegal immigrants April 1, filed suit to prevent his report on the incident from being turned over to Los Angeles investigators, who are considering criminal and civil charges against him. Watson’s suit charges that his superiors coerced him into writing a potentially self-incriminating report.

If Sotero’s motion to intervene is granted, she would have access to evidence, including Watson’s report. It was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California and other lawyers representing her. Sotero’s lawyer said the motion is necessary to keep Watson’s report from being suppressed.