We previously told you the story of Beatrice Munyenyezi, here, who is being charged with lying to get into the US by lying about her alleged role in the Rwandan genocide. Two weeks ago her trial ended in a mistrial, but the government will retry the case beginning in September.
From the Union Leader (hat tip: Jeanine):
One of the attorneys who defended a Manchester woman accused of lying about her role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide to gain U.S. citizenship estimated her recent prosecution and trial in federal court in Concord cost taxpayers between $2.5 million and $3 million.
Manchester attorney Mark Howard, a former federal prosecutor who represents Beatrice Munyenyezi, 42, said taxpayers will bear the cost of both her defense and her prosecution because the court deemed her to be indigent.
The three-week-long trial in U.S. District Court ended in a mistrial two weeks ago when jurors couldn’t reach a verdict, but the government said Friday she will be retried.
That trial will likely cost an additional $1 million, Howard said.
If to this point in the story you are thinking maybe it isn’t worth it (the re-trial), read on. So much for the much vaunted screening we supposedly do on refugees entering the US:
Munyenyezi came to the United States with her three daughters in 1998 as a refugee and had worked for the Manchester Housing Authority for $13 an hour.
Munyenyezi has been jailed since her arrest in June 2010.
At trial, the government alleged Munyenyezi controlled local militia in the area of Butare, Rwanda, and oversaw roadblocks being constructed. The government further asserted she controlled those roadblocks and directed others to identify people who were Tutsis, then segregated them to be raped and killed.
Two witnesses testified she killed people, including a nun, shooting the nun herself after ordering her to be raped.
In earlier reports on this case we had learned that Ms. Munyenyezi had been resettled in the US by Catholic Charities.