National Border Patrol Council Rebuts Compean-Ramos Prosecution Claims

rohrabacher.house.gov ^ | January 19, 2007 | Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R)

[calcowgirl]

Washington, Jan 19 - The National Border Patrol Council, which represents the United States Border Patrol, released a rebuttal today to U.S. Attorney to the Western District of Texas, Johnny Sutton. Sutton, who was in charge of prosecuting Border Patrol Agents Compean and Ramos for shooting a drug dealer during a scuffle at the border, has been defending himself in the press against charges that this prosecution was unjustified. The NBPC document, in answering Sutton's defense point by point, shows why this prosecution has outraged so many people.

NBCP Rebuttal to Sutton (PDF FILE)

[calcowgirl]

In the long letter to Congressman Walter Jones by Ignacio Ramos's father detailing the incident, Joe Loya mentions that the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case (Debra Kanof) has quite a reputation in the El Paso legal community. ["... After interviewing at least twenty persons in El Paso, including attorneys and people that have worked with her and against her, I found that she is well known for her lies and unethical behavior in the courtroom. Her favorite saying is “when we are in that courtroom, it’s my lies against your lies.”]

For the heck of it, I did a news search. Boy was he right! Her reputation even prompted the WSJ to publish a whole article about her history and background. Apparently Kanof also had a history with Ignacio Ramos's attorney, Mary Stillinger, who is quoted in the article. [Note, while some at Columbia/HCA were prosecuted and convicted of wrongdoing, they were from areas investigated by other AUSA's in offices other than El Paso. I could find no reporting that the witch hunt Kanof's initiated in El Paso resulted in any convictions.] The article is heavily excerpted to comply with FR excerpting rules, but the remaining portion of the article was no more flattering:

Columbia Prosecutor Probes a City's Elite

By Lucette Lagnado. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Feb 24, 1998. pg. B.1
People: Kanof, Debra

When federal agents raided Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. offices last week, defense lawyers here shook their heads and uttered a one-word lament: "Debra."

"Debra" is Debra Kanof, the federal prosecutor leading the local investigation of Columbia/HCA. ... The broad fraud investigation ...got its start in El Paso. ... A year ago, Ms. Kanof staged the first dramatic raid on the company's facilities, dispatching more than 100 agents...

Ms. Kanof has since become known to her critics as the Kenneth Starr of El Paso. ...she is depicted by her adversaries as a relentless pursuer who goads potential targets into submission. Her blunt threats of indictment have roiled the ranks of local doctors. Her focus on the tiniest details -- agents are even examining what Columbia spent on party refreshments -- frustrates defense attorneys. [she even interviewed party-goers as to what hors d'oeuvres people ate, trying to string together trivial matters to build a case that Columbia gave doctors illegal favors.]

In the eyes of some in Texas's tight-knit community of defense attorneys, Debra Kanof is, in a word, mean.

...She is investigating more than 20 local physicians. ... In recent weeks, she has warned some physicians' attorneys that she plans to indict their clients... Many of these doctors had counted themselves among El Paso's most respected citizens. Now they live in fear of imminent indictment, jail time and perhaps the loss of their medical licenses and careers. Unless, that is, the doctors help Ms. Kanof in her probe. Defense lawyers involved in the investigation say the prosecutor is offering to intercede on behalf of the doctors who cooperate, keeping them out of jail and in good standing with the local medical board. ...

..."Debra really hates to lose," says Mary Stillinger, an El Paso defense lawyer who has crossed swords with Ms. Kanof more times than she cares to recall.

Ms. Kanof's aggressiveness became the stuff of legend. ...

Says Ms. Stillinger, "She goes for the dramatic, and if that involves what was in the hors d'oeuvres, and if it was pate, she will want to go into it before a jury, because the jury does not get to eat pate."

[calcowgirl]

Yeah, I agree. Juries know everything. They never, ever make mistakes. Everyone convicted by them is guilty as sin, everyone acquitted is innocent as a newborn baby, and anyone who raises questions should be ignored.

LOL I've got some beachfront property in Arizona for sale... Interested?
There seem to be some potential buyers on this thread. ;-)

[calcowgirl]

Do you think the prosecutor was correct in indicting Compean and Ramos for "Assault with Intent to Commit Murder, and Aiding and Abetting"?
[18 U.S.C. §§7(3),113(a)(1) & 2]

That would have brought them up to life in prison, or the death penalty.

[La Enchiladita]

Yes, but how good of a baseball player is she?

*Grin*

[La Enchiladita]

Granted, but aiming for the head is out of bounds, not necessary for a talent like Ryan anyway.

*Smiling sweetly, of course*

[rednesss]

What do you think their intent was after tossing 15 bullets at the guy??? Do you think that's akin to asking him if he wants a cup of coffee???

[calcowgirl]

Does that mean your answer to my question is "yes", that they should have been convicted for attempted murder?

[calcowgirl]

LOL. The virtual baseball bat is used in the back alley to break witnesses knees and to get the desired testimony. ;-)

[La Enchiladita]

Thanks for playing along with my little "joke." Kanof comes across as a socialist goon... I have to ask: does this "prosecutor" ever go after real criminals or is it her specialty to bring down the most esteemed and law-abiding citizens?

[calcowgirl]

I think she finds "victims" and then goes after whoever harmed them, in this case Davila.

The article said "[Kanof] has pointed out in the past that she is appreciated by crime victims and their families, some of whom remain in touch a decade or more after a case has been tried." It also mentioned that when she worked for the State D.A.'s office, she prosecuted "some high-profile, controversial cases of child abuse."

[rednesss]

I don't know if they should have been convicted of attempted murder, I wasn't in court, I wasn't a juror, I didn't get presented the facts of this case, and I wasn't instructed on the meanings of the charges and what I would need to believe before voting to convict. 12 people were there, and with the facts presented to them, they voted to convict on the charges that they did. That's all I know.

[supremedoctrine]

"Not to derail the thread too much further...."
---NOW you've done it! NOW you've unspooled my train of thought!

[loboinok]

If the jury convicted them based on the facts of this incident, then I tend to believe they screwed up or had really bad lawyers.

How do you know what the facts of the case are if, as you say, Personally, I don't trust the Union to tell the truth anymore then I trust the prosecutor to do so.? I'm going to assume that you don't believe the testimony of the drug smuggler either.

[Marine Inspector]

I don't believe the prosecutor, the union or the drug smuggler. Until the actual court transcripts are available, I'll put my faith in the jury.

[loboinok]

I'll put my faith in the jury.

Okay...but even three of the jury members did not want to convict and were led to believe that they had no choice.

[phrog]

You are aware o the recent controversy at the U.S. Border in El Paso. Two Border Patrol agents, Ignacio Ramos, and Jose Compean, were sentenced to 10+ years in Federal Prison for shooting an alien, drug smuggler...in the line of duty.

Much of this controversy swirls around the lead prosecutor in this case....U.S> Assistant Attorney (AUSA) Debra Kanof... and her role in the conviction of these two agents. An article in the El Paso Times on October 11, 2006 titled "Judge turns down delay in sentencing agents" by Louie Gilot, outlines allegations by the two convicted agents that Ms. Kanof fabricated lies in their case/trial which led to their conviction.

At 1st blush, these allegations seem to be the normal fodder of offense vs defense. However, in Ms. Kanof's case, this is not the first time that her unethical and deceptive practices in courtroom proceedings have been called into question. With her, it would appear all too common, and she has a widespread reputation in the El Paso legal community for dishonest and shockingly atrocious courtroom behavior.

One recent revealing case which she prosecuted with her infamous, dishonest prosecutorial style, has been published on the Internet under the site name

www.doctorbfiles.com. This site has an exhaustively complete filing of the entire case which AUSA Kanof brought against a prominent El Paso doctor. What is so

disturbing about this particular case is that this doctor has been able to prove, through the use of extensive case documents, that AUSA Kanof , alone and in conjunction with other federal agents including the District Court Judge David Briones, repeatedly lied to the grand jury and to the petit jury, encouraged prosecution witnesses to lie to the court with their testimonies, and geerally sought to undermine the integrity and fundamental fairness of the criminal proceedings. You have to read the allegations and the evidence that supports them to believe the extet to which AUSA Kanof attempted to bend the proceedings to her personal will, justice be damned. This all can be appreciated at this website, at the following locations:

SectionV: exhibit i under the subsection of the

Lies of AUSA Debra Kanof .

exhibits j. and k. which are the

affidavits and the other proofs that support

the allegations i exhibit i.

Section V. exhibit k.,k.,k.,k.,k. which is a copy of the El Paso Times news article of October 11, 2006.

Updates 23 and 38 will give you a general flavor of what has, and is transpiring in this ongoing saga, as this case is still on appeal.

I am making you aware of this website, and these facts about AUSA Kanof, because it is very likely that a more than cursory examination of her tactics and

behavior in the case of the Border Patrol agents will reveal many lies, deceptions, and inconsistencies...which these agents have said are there. This doctor's website and his information concerning AUSA Kanof would appear to corroborate that AUSA Kaof is a conspiratorial liar and that her participation in the Border Patrol case needs to be scrutinized in a more minute fashion. Could it be that her over zealousness and her need to co-opt the justice system have led to dangerous precedents being set on

the behavior of our Border Patrol at the worst possible time in our history? Please look into this. You will not be disappointed by the story you initially find as concerns AUSA Kanof, nor the potential for a much bigger exposistion of our problem with a renegade prosecutorial system on one section of our border.

[varon]

This fellow/attorney Johnny Sutton must have a gruge against the USBP to be actively engaged in what he is doing to these Border Patrol agents.

Either that or the drug cartel payoffs, that may go all the way to the upper pay grades, are bearing fruit.

[calcowgirl]

Thanks for the info. I've looked at some of the files you referenced.
There seem to be quite a few familiar names.