Don't you think?
Ramos testified that he heard the other agents talking about gunshots as they were walking back up the ravine. I believe him.
When he heard other agents talking about shots, did he say, "We fired them and tossed the shell casings into a ditch"? Why not?
Tossing them on the ground is one thing. Simple carelessness under the circumstances. Not right. But still plausible under the circumstances. They figured that the smuggler had escaped. The most plausible scenario is that other agents that were following right behind R&C had to have heard at least some of the shots that were fired by the two agents. You can hear ten .40 caliber rounds being fired a mile away out there in the open desert. Easily. Any veteran LEO can immediately recognize the sound of gunshots. The FOS gets arrives there at the scene, immediately asks what's going on and no one says anything about a single shot being fired....?? There's even a good chance that the FOS might have heard some shots himself.
I believe that Ramos' testimony that he heard the other agents talking about gunshots. I think that the FOS was aware that shots had been fired when he arrived or right after he arrived at the scene (informed by other agents). All of the agents at that point had figured that the smuggler had escaped but had left the van with the "cargo". Remember, it is actually the FOS that has to write out all of the paperwork and process it. The FOS probably figured that they weren't going to see OAD ever again and so what was the use in having to go back and do all that writing...?
When OAD had the bullet fragment removed at the hospital, his friend, agent Sanchez took the fragment home with him. A major no-no as far as the chain of evidence is concerned. But, they just let that slide. Oh well.
“When he heard other agents talking about shots, did he say, “We fired them and tossed the shell casings into a ditch”? Why not?”
Probably not since Ramos did not toss shell casings anywhere. He did not even pick any up. Also, he did not know at the time that Compean did, or was going to pick up the shell casings.