Border agents shoot suspected drug smuggler in N.M.

KTAR.COM ^ | February 20th, 2009 @ 8:49am | Associated Press

[AndrewC]

Any dispensation?

Haha. That too. I meant disposition.

The situation is definitely different, but as in the other cases I mentioned, the federal government actively pursued their own.

The Ramos and Compean case is special to me since I was challenged to read the testimony and come to a conclusion. I did so. I have also travelled to the site. I drove over the route from Fabens to the ditch. I measured the ditch to verify the conclusions I had drawn from the testimony. I conclude that the jury was dead wrong in believing the testimonies of Juarez and Vasquez. Then the judgement is entirely whether you believe Davila, the drug runner, or Ramos and Compean. I believe the officers. Since I believe that an officer eating lunch at the office and then participating in a continuous chase measured in minutes and seconds has no measureable time to plot and coordinate a crime and its coverup with a cohort who is miles away until the final few seconds of the event.

[deport]

That is an outcome of the jury system which is a part of our justice system. I've also read the transcripts albeit not with meticulous detail. I've come to conclusion the jury reached. I have no respect for either Ramos or Compean as LEOs. There are right things to do and wrong things to do. I think they shirked their duty and failed to follow protocol and close the situation by dotting the I’s and crossing the T's. Just my opinion and obviously yours differs and is your right.

Take care and have a great evening.

[csmusaret]

More info here...http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_11747627?source=most_viewed

[AndrewC]

Same to you. God bless.

[AndrewC]

Thanks for the additional story.

Between Oct. 1 and Jan. 31, Border Patrol agents in the El Paso section, which includes Southern New Mexico, have sustained 20 assaults, including rocks thrown and shots fired at agents, Mosier said.

The prosecution in the case of Ramos and Compean successfully kept this kind of information out of their trial. The defense wanted it introduced to give background as to the motivations for the agents actions. It was and is a dangerous place(over one assault a week).

[csmusaret]

And it is getting worse. Check out the blue inset in the attached story....http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_11735422?source=most_viewed

[Tammy8]

On the not so bright side- Santa Theresa is in the El Paso sector for the BP- this whole area of NM is in that sector. I don’t know how the jurisdiction issue works when something like this happens.

[Tammy8]

There really does need to be an investigation into the whole matter. I have been told by BP working in the same sector that when shots were fired in the field- if no one was hit (as the BP believed was the case that day) then no reports were ever filed; so what Ramos and Campeon did that day was SOP at the time in the field whether it was considered wrong by the desk bosses and the DA later it was common practice to not report shots fired. I have also been told by BP that all the supervisors that were involved in that incident in the field were promoted while Ramos and Campeon were in jail. Whether or not many here choose to believe it something really does stink about the whole incident and it does need to be thoroughly investigated by someone. The BP and other agencies that work the border issues are often given one set of guidelines and then given verbal orders by supervisors in the field that contradict what the directives say about how to handle a given situation. I see this happen all the time, and it is the agents in the field that find their neck on the line when things go wrong. It is a no win situation when incidents occur and no one has their back or will support them. This needs to change.

[Tammy8]

I just talked to someone that was on the scene right after this incident happened. He said the smuggler ran over a BP agent’s ankle and it appeared to be badly broken. I was also told that after the smuggler was shot the BP closed Highway 9 and everything was done strictly by the book with all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed so hopefully the agent that shot this smuggler will not be in trouble for doing his job.

Smugglers think they can do whatever to our BP agents and nothing will happen to them- there has been incidents of shooting, trying to run over agents, and rock throwing yet many times the agents do not respond as strongly as they should to the crap for fear of being in trouble themselves.