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Title: Ramos and Compean Lose 5th Circuit Court Appeal
Source:
JBS
URL Source: http://jbs.org/index.php/jbs-news-f ... -lose-5th-circuit-court-appeal
Published: Jul 31, 2008
Author: Ann Shibler
Post Date: 2008-07-31 23:34:00 by farmfriend
Keywords: None
Views: 902
Comments: 48
Written by Ann Shibler Thursday, 31 July 2008 10:45 In a fresh outrage, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has rendered a 46-page decision upholding the convictions of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. All convictions were affirmed except those for tampering with official proceedings, which has been remanded for resentencing. In his opinion Judge E. Grady Jolly (a Reagan appointee) wrote: “We leave the major conviction with the major sentence … untouched.” He continued, “The underlying crime of violence with which the defendants were charged is assault within the special territorial jurisdiction of the United States. Once the defendants were charged by the government and convicted by the jury under this statute, the district court had no discretion but to impose at least a ten-year sentence.” Court observer Edd Hendee’s analysis raises some concerns. Being present at the December 2007 hearing Hendee says this overly late decision — which should have been rendered in 60 days, not eight months — is not compelling and contains “conflicts of common sense and clear intent of the law.” Hendee recorded these observations back at the December 2007 hearing: Regardless of their sentiments back in 2007, the court has raised a red flag with their opinion, and by not agreeing that the defendants should have been able to introduce evidence of Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila’s second alleged drug-trafficking incident in October 2005 (months after the February 2005 incident.) And regardless of their own 60-day goal for reaching a decision, the black robes’ eight-month hiatus could also be viewed with great suspicion, given that their previous statements are contradicted by their conclusion, that: Heartbreakingly, Ramos and Compean remain in solitary confinement, their wives and families devastated emotionally and financially. Unless enough pressure comes to bear on the White House, this stomach-wrenching affair may never be righted. Pardons and commutations are political and not based on merit. So, even with top republicans now demanding a commutation, the White House continues to sidestep the issue. When Sen. John Cornyn approached White House spokeswoman Dana Perino on the subject, she responded: "There is a process in which people in our country can ask a president of the United States for a commutation of their sentence and that process can take place if those individuals want it to." How likely is a presidential pardon? The answer: not very. While the president found time to pardon his pal, Scooter Libby, and to contemplate pre-emptive pardons for administration officials in the increasingly unlikely event Congress might demand accountability for wrongdoing in the areas of torture and illegal wiretapping, he is unlikely to get around to pardoning officers Ramos and Compean. Petitions for commutations are submitted to the Justice Department for investigation and review, but the Justice Department is presently two or three years behind in authorizing the first step of investigations. Meanwhile, the most egregious perversion of the American legal system in recent memory remains, a mockery of the idea of justice.
Ramos and Compean Lose 5th Circuit Court Appeal
• Judge Jolly openly stated it “does seem the Government over-reacted” in this prosecution"
• All 3 judges aggressively went after the 924C gun charges pointing out that there are no other cases where law enforcement officers were charged with this crime
• Judge Higginbotham asked U.S. attorney if every policeman who was accused of using unreasonable force should face 924 C charges or were they discretionary; Judges strongly disagreed with the application of the 924C charges.
• The judges further raised questions that the witness Davilla was not a low level mule but routinely ran drugs and would have likely carried a weapon in the daily activities of smuggling drugs.
• There was NO indication that the judges considered the U.S. Attorney’s discretion reasonable or that the 924C gun charges were warranted.For the most part, the trial of this case was about credibility, and although the jury could have gone either way, it chose not to believe the defendants’ version of the crucial events of February 17. The trial of the case was conducted fairly and without reversible error.
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#10. To: farmfriend (#0)
I understand that the guy who got shot was an illegal but, unless I am mistaken, they guy was also unarmed and was running away from the 2 heroes. Also, there was no way for the 2 heroes to know that the guy running from them was in illegal. What if he was an American? How comfortable is everyone with the idea of uniformed G-men shooting unarmed civilians in the ass?
#11. To: a vast rightwing conspirator (#10)
You just cited the government version. They gave him immunity to lie under oath.
Are you johnny sutton's lap bitch? I would have shot the illegal drug running intruder at the border before he ever got in. You're supporting Fobama, correct? ;-)
As I said before, you are buying into the government account of what happened? It amazes me that on this forum of all places where people routinely promote and believe the government lied about 9/11 then turn around and buy into the government line on everything else. Sigh. http://ramos-compean.blogspot.com/2006/12/ramos-compean-affair- what- really.html The details. With Ramos and Compean in hot pursuit of this drug smuggler, Davila was forced to ditch his van loaded with 743 lbs of marijuana. In attempting to escape, Davila assaulted and cut BP agent Jose Alonso Compean and left him on the ground bleeding. While Compean was chasing Davila on foot, Ramos had been trying to outflank Davila to cut off his escape into Mexico. Hearing gun shots and calls for help from his fellow agent, Ramos raced to the scene and found Compean on the ground bleeding. He saw Davila racing towards the Rio Grande, about to cross into Mexico and escape. Agent Ramos began to chase after the smuggler who had just assaulted his fellow officer. Then the smuggler turned and pointed something at Ramos that he believed was a gun. The time was approximately 1:15pm. It was broad daylight. Ramos, fearing for his life and believing that Davila had already been shooting at his fellow officer, took a single shot at the smuggler. At this time, nobody knew that the smuggler had been wounded. The smuggler turned back towards the border and kept running. He disappeared into the tall, thick brush along the river. Later, Davila was spotted running across the dry river bed and jumping into a waiting vehicle with two other suspects. This was witnessed by four Border Patrol agents, documenting that Davila was not some “innocent” illegal alien, but a bona fide drug smuggling operation. The three smugglers took off and the agents walked back to the abandoned van where they discovered the 743 pounds of marijuana. BP supervisor, Jonathan Richards, who had arrived on the scene, was very angry that the smuggler had gotten away. Richards ordered everyone to report to the station. He also told them to load the 743 lbs of marijuana onto their vehicles and take it to the station. Richards never went across the canal to investigate the assault or to check on agent Compean. Ramos and another agent, named Yrigoyen later testified they told Richards that Compean had been assaulted. At the station, another agent, Mendez, stated that Compean had cuts on his face and hand. He said this in the presence of Supervisor Richards. This is significant because Richards denied having any knowledge of Compean’s injuries. The BP supervisor lied on the witness stand, testifying that no one told him Compean had been assaulted, which is his excuse for never notifying the F.B.I. of this fact. The truth is that he offered Compean medical attention and had asked Compean several times if he was OK. The physical evidence was apparent as Compean was cut and covered with dirt. Richard's failure to notify the F.B.I. of the assault is the reason why the case was never investigated. Because of the supervisor’s actions, none of the agent's filled out firearms discharge reports. This administrative policy violation calls for a five day suspension without pay. After checking again on Compean’s condition and asking him if he wanted to file assault charges, according to testimony, Richards then made a statement saying, “If we call the F.B.I. we are going to be here all night doing paperwork. We will never know who the person was that assaulted you although we've got the van and the marijuana." After than, everyone went back to work.
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Replies to Comment # 10.
#14. To: a vast rightwing conspirator (#10)
#36. To: a vast rightwing conspirator (#10)
How comfortable is everyone with the idea of uniformed G-men shooting unarmed civilians in the ass?
Kanof alleged that the smuggler was an innocent person who was shot by the agents as he ran away from them, fearing the agents were trying to beat him up.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 10.