This crime story encompasses so much that is objectionable in Mexican culture that it is hard to ignore.

The central fact is that six-year-old Bryan Mendoza was killed as a result of the criminal recklessness of his father, with the complicity of his mother in a drunk driving crash.

The father, Rodrigo Mendoza, argued with his wife that he was not too drunk to drive the family home from an Escondido swap meet on May 5 and she relented. The accident occurred as he swerved over the highway at speeds estimated to reach 80 mph. He had a blood alcohol level of .30, nearly four times the legal limit, hours after the crash.

The vehicle rolled down an embankment and little Bryan, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the car and killed. A nine-year-old brother had fastened his seatbelt and survived. An 18-month-old girl who was in a car seat that was not secured to the car also lived.

Incidentally, Hispanics are culturally uninterested in using seatbelts, which goes against their progress-resistant, fatalistic view of life. They believe that children should be held tightly on their laps in the front seat of the car and regard American safety constraints as cold and unloving.

Rodrigo Mendoza, an illegal alien, was sentenced in late July to six years in prison.

A judge told Rodrigo Mendoza at a sentencing hearing Thursday that his behavior was "despicable."

"It was simply your reckless behavior that resulted in this terrible tragedy," Superior Court Judge Aaron Katz said. [Man sentenced 6 years in drunken driving crash that killed son, San Francisco Chronicle 7/27/07]

Mendoza's wife, Rosa Carachure, could have gotten a year in county jail but received only probation.

"In my culture, you do what the husband says," Carachure told court officials.

Carachure, who initially lied to authorities about the circumstances of the May 5 wreck, pleaded guilty to child endangerment in June and was spared a jail term. [...]

"Your actions that day failed to protect the children that rely on you to keep them safe," Katz told Carachure as she cried. "You should have taken the appropriate steps to protect your children." [Mother gets 4 years' probation , San Diego Union-Tribune 8/03/07]

So we have an arrogant macho Mexican male who insisted on driving drunk and his culturally obedient wife acting in collusion. An innocent little boy is dead as a result, and taxpayers are stuck with the tab for years of imprisonment and a lot of social service costs as well.