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Turk
Forum Elder
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 3340
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 Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 2:58 pm Post subject: Appeals process started for border patrol agents |
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Its about time the appeals process has been started for border patrol agents ramos and compean the 5th circuit court of appeals may soon hear the case.
I hope that for justices sake that the appeals court overturns the border patrol agents conviction and aquits them of all wrong doing.
The two agents would not of even served time if all they would of done was report the shooting, they did nothing wrong other than a procedural error of not filing a report.
Judge: Prosecutors May Have Overreacted in Case Against Border Patrol Agents
Monday , December 03, 2007
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NEW ORLEANS —
Federal prosecutors may have overreacted in their case against two Border Patrol agents who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms after jurors convicted them of shooting a fleeing drug suspect and hiding evidence of the incident, an appeals court judge said Monday.
Judge E. Grady Jolly, one of three judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing the case of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, questioned whether the two agents would have been charged if they had reported the shooting.
"For some reason, this one got out of hand, it seems to me," Jolly said of the agents' prosecution.
A federal jury in Texas convicted Ramos and Compean of assault, obstruction of justice and civil rights violations in the wounding of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila on the Texas border near El Paso in 2005. A federal judge sentenced Compean to 12 years in prison and Ramos to 11 years.
The agents' attorneys are asking the 5th Circuit to throw out the convictions. The judges didn't indicate when they will rule on the appeals.
"It does seem to me like the government overreacted here," Jolly said, noting the severity of the charges and the lengthy sentences prosecutors sought, as he questioned Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Stelmach.
Jolly said that if the agents had reported the shooting, as required, "this prosecution never would have occurred, in all likelihood."
Compean's lawyer, Bob Baskett, said he was encouraged by Jolly's comments.
"They certainly were aware of the significant issues in the case," Baskett said after Monday's hearing.
Ramos' attorney, David Botsford, said he didn't read anything into the judges' remarks.
"The court is going to follow the law," he said outside the New Orleans courthouse.
U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, in a written statement following the hearing, said he expects the appeals court to "resolve the disputed legal issues in accordance with the rule of law."
"Some in the media and on the Internet have tried to portray agents Compean and Ramos as heroes, but that narrative is false," Sutton said. "The actions of Compean and Ramos in shooting an unarmed, fleeing suspect, destroying evidence, and engaging in a cover-up, are serious crimes."
The convictions of Ramos and Compean caused a national firestorm among conservative lawmakers and others. Critics have repeatedly called the prosecution unjustified and the sentences extreme.
Aldrete survived the February 2005 shooting. He was arrested last month following an October indictment on various drug charges.
In exchange for his testimony against the agents, Aldrete was given immunity from prosecution for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs the day he was shot. Jurors didn't hear evidence that Aldrete allegedly smuggled marijuana in the United States several months after the shooting.
Botsford said Judge Kathleen Cardone, who presided over the trial in El Paso, Tex., should have allowed jurors to hear evidence that Aldrete was "not a (drug) mule, a simple one-time (border) crosser."
"He basically left a false impression for that jury," Botsford said of Aldrete.
Judge Patrick Higginbotham, who heard the appeal with Jolly and Judge Edward Prado, said evidence that Aldrete made multiple attempts to smuggle drugs across the border "strikes me as very relevant."
Stelmach acknowledged that Aldrete told "some lies" to investigators, but he said jurors rejected the agents' argument that they acted in self-defense when they shot at Aldrete.
During his trial, Compean testified that he shot in self-defense after seeing what he believed to be a gun in Aldrete's hand. Ramos said he fired in defense of Compean. Aldrete denied having a gun. Both agents acknowledged not reporting the incident.
Baskett said Cardone failed to properly instruct jurors on the legal principles governing the use of deadly force by law-enforcement officers.
"What you basically have is an equivocal direction to the jury on a basic charge in the case," Baskett argued.
The agents' wives and several Border Control agents attended Monday's hearing.
"I'm still very guarded about it, because you never know what to expect," Ramos' wife, Monica, said.
Compean's wife, Claudia, said the judges' remarks gave her a "little hope."
"It was very encouraging, considering the luck we've had in the past," she said. |
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chevydriver1123
Veteran
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
Posts: 981
Location: New York
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| Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 3:58 am Post subject: |
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| They shouldntve been in jail in the first place. |
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exton
Forum Elder
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 4218
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| Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:50 am Post subject: |
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Shooting an unarmed, fleeing man, and then hiding the evidence?
No, that's jail time. Maybe not too much, since he didn't die, but still jail time. |
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Turk
Forum Elder
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 3340
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| Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 2:24 pm Post subject: |
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| exton wrote: | Shooting an unarmed, fleeing man, and then hiding the evidence?
No, that's jail time. Maybe not too much, since he didn't die, but still jail time. |
Procedural error for not reporting it.
They just picked up that piece of shit again for entering the us illegally and trafficking drugs.
The worst thing that they did was give that piece of doo immunity to come back and testify against the agents, and get arrested again for drug trafficking. |
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exton
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Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 4218
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| Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 6:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Maybe you missed the part, turk, where they shot an unarmed man. |
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Turk
Forum Elder
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 3340
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| Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:48 pm Post subject: |
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| exton wrote: | | Maybe you missed the part, turk, where they shot an unarmed man. |
Maybe shot an unarmed man maybe not they said that he appeared to be armed and turned around to face them, but nonethe less he was here illegally. |
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exton
Forum Elder
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 4218
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Turk wrote: | | nonethe less he was here illegally. |
You believe that it is acceptable to shoot illegal immigrants, merely because they are here illegally? |
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Turk
Forum Elder
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 3340
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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| exton wrote: | | Turk wrote: | | nonethe less he was here illegally. |
You believe that it is acceptable to shoot illegal immigrants, merely because they are here illegally? |
Yes why not maybe that will deter them from coming over here illegally.
And peddling drugs and more riffraff over here.
Well maybe i was a bit rash about speaking too soon.
Maybe if our law enforcement would do its job there are laws in place to enforce our borders and deport illegal immigrants. |
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Lynx
Forum Elder
Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 1182
Location: Cincinnati, OH
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Oh hell, just start executing anyone that isn't a white landowner! That'll teach them that we white landowners are in control! |
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exton
Forum Elder
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 4218
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| Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| Turk wrote: | | exton wrote: | | Turk wrote: | | nonethe less he was here illegally. |
You believe that it is acceptable to shoot illegal immigrants, merely because they are here illegally? |
Yes why not |
Because shooting people who aren't going to shoot you is both morally wrong and very illegal. |
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Turk
Forum Elder
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 3340
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| Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:08 pm Post subject: |
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| exton wrote: | | Turk wrote: | | exton wrote: | | Turk wrote: | | nonethe less he was here illegally. |
You believe that it is acceptable to shoot illegal immigrants, merely because they are here illegally? |
Yes why not |
Because shooting people who aren't going to shoot you is both morally wrong and very illegal. |
Very morally wrong and illegal immigrants to be here they entered here illegally and steal our money through social programs and raise the crime in the states that they flock to. |
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Lynx
Forum Elder
Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 1182
Location: Cincinnati, OH
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| Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Spew. That's all you have left. |
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Turk
Forum Elder
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 3340
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| Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:52 am Post subject: |
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Ramos and Compean’s Accuser Now the Accused
On November 15, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton announced the arrest of Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila on drug-smuggling charges. Aldrete-Davila was taken into custody at the Ysleta Port of Entry, El Paso, Texas. He is charged with “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and with possession with intent to distribute marijuana in September and October 2005,” having been fingered for another drug drop of 753 pounds of marijuana. Sutton is the same prosecutor who sent Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean to jail and offered immunity to Aldrete-Davila in exchange for his testimony against the agents.
Ramos and Compean were in a confrontation with Aldrete-Davila at the border in February of 2005; at that time he was trying to smuggle $1 million worth of marijuana into the United States. Aldrete-Davila could be jailed or heavily fined or both for his latest smuggling attempts. Unfortunately, Johnny Sutton will be the prosecutor. In his statement Sutton pointed to the supposed “crimes” of Ramos and Compean with this statement: “Just as Aldrete’s alleged illegal conduct did not excuse the crimes committed by Compean and Ramos, likewise, their crimes will not excuse his.”
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who has been one of the most active defenders of the border agents, called Sutton’s “self-congratulatory” statement about the arrests “shameful.” He said: “If Mr. Sutton had arrested and prosecuted Davila the first time instead of choosing to falsely portray this smuggler as a victim, then 100 kilos of narcotics wouldn’t have made it onto American streets and Ramos and Compean would not be languishing in solitary confinement in federal prison.” |
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Lester
Forum Elder
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 4650
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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Well technically anym is right, illegal aliens have no rights in america.
That being said, they shot a guy!
It's wrong. |
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Turk
Forum Elder
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 3340
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| Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:52 am Post subject: |
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| Lester wrote: | Well technically anym is right, illegal aliens have no rights in america.
That being said, they shot a guy!
It's wrong. |
Id say it was wrong for them to give him immunity to testify against our border patrol.
And than arrest that piece of shit again for entering here illegally and muling more drugs. |
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