Posted on 01/13/2007 9:25:57 PM PST by Mr. Mojo
Those who have been lobbying for a presidential pardon or other intervention from the government on behalf of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents sentenced to prison for shooting an escaping drug dealer in the buttocks should review the evidence in their cases, White House spokesman Tony Snow told WND.
"They (agents Jose Alonso Compean, 28, and Ignacio Ramos, 37) eventually went before a … jury – and were convicted on 11 of 12 counts, by a U.S. attorney who has prosecuted any number of cases. But the facts of this case are such that I would invite everybody to take a full look at the documented record," Snow said.
"This is not the case of the United States saying, we are not going to support people who go after drug dealers. Of course we are. We think it's incumbent to go after drug dealers, and we also think that it's vitally important to make sure that we provide border security so our people are secure," he continued.
"We also believe that the people who are working to secure that border themselves obey the law. And in a court of law, these two agents were convicted on 11 of 12 counts by a jury of their peers after a lengthy trial at which they did have the opportunity to make their case," he said.
His response came to a question from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House:
"A nationally syndicated columnist, Phyllis Schlafly, reports the following, and this is a quote: 'President Bush pardoned 16 criminals, including five drug dealers, at Christmastime, but so far has refused to pardon two U.S. Border Patrol agents who were trying to defend America against drug smugglers.' And my question: If Mrs. Schlafly was at all inaccurate in this statement, you would surely rebut, wouldn't you?"
Snow said he couldn't comment about the specifics of pardons. But he said Schlafly's reference should include the details, how "according to the facts presented in court, you had an incident in which there was an attempt to pull somebody over. He finally got pulled over; somebody holds out a gun. Sort of scuffling ensues. And what happens is you've got a fellow running away, and a couple of agents eventually in pursuit, firing 14 shots at him – I think 15, actually. Fourteen by one agent missed, one did strike him in the fleshy hindquarters."
At that point yet, Snow noted, the agents "did not know if he was an illegal. They did not know that there were 700 pounds of marijuana …"
"They also have rights of appeal. So I don't want to be acting here as – I'm not going to be judge and jury, but I do think that there's been a characterization that somehow the government is turning a blind eye toward the law in enforcing the law. And … I think that's the important thing. So take a look at the facts of the case."
He said questions about the fact that the government brought the man back from Mexico and gave him immunity on charges to testify against the agents would have to be answered by a lawyer.
As WND has reported, five congressmen recently issued a call to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to intervene.
The lawmakers have asked President Bush to pardon Compean and Ramos, who were sentenced to 12 years and 11 years, respectively, in October. But the sentences are scheduled to begin Jan. 17, and in lieu of a pardon, the congressmen are asking Gonzalez to request the Justice Department to direct federal prosecutors not to oppose a court motion to keep the agents free on bond during the appeals process.
Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.; Ted Poe, R-Texas; Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C.; Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; and Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.; announced their request in a news conference at the nation's capitol.
The lawmakers cited "discrepancies" in the government's case that they said raised questions as to whether justice was being served. The members of Congress were joined by former Border Patrol agent Andy Ramirez of Friends of the Border Patrol and T.J. Bonner and Rich Pierce of the National Border Patrol Council.
Bush also has received a letter about the case from more than 50 Congress members, and Grassfire.org has an online petition calling on the president to pardon the agents.
"Two brave Border Patrol agents trying to enforce the president's nonsensical border policy ending up being sent to prison, while an illegal alien drug smuggler is given immunity and walks free," Rohrabacher said.
As WND has reported, a federal jury convicted the two after a two-week trial on charges of causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and a civil rights violation.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas issued a statement in September arguing "the defendants were prosecuted because they had fired their weapons at a man who had attempted to surrender by holding his open hands in the air, at which time Agent Compean attempted to hit the man with the butt of Compean's shotgun, causing the man to run in fear of what the agents would do to him next."
The statement said, "Although both agents saw that the man was not armed, the agents fired at least 15 rounds at him while he was running away from them, hitting him once."
Ramirez of Friends of the Border Patrol said the drug smuggler has "fully contributed to the destruction of two brave agents and their families and has sent a very loud message to the other Border Patrol agents: If you confront a smuggler, this is what will happen to you."
Snow followed up after the press briefing by faxing 12 pages of comment about the case of the border guards, including the statement from U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, as well as a guest column he wrote for the El Paso Times in October.
"Agents Compean and Ramos were not railroaded by some over-zealous prosecutor, they were unanimously found guilty by a jury in a United States federal district court after a trial that lasted more than 2 ½ weeks," he wrote in the newspaper. "The problem for Mr. Compean and Mr. Ramos is that the jury did not believe their stories because they were not true."
"In America," he wrote, "law-enforcement officers do not get to shoot unarmed suspects who are running away, lie about it to their supervisors and file official reports that are false. That is a crime and prosecutors cannot look the other way."
Snow also faxed a six-page analysis of the case, with a list of unsigned myth-fact comparison statements.
On another related question, Kinsolving asked Snow: "What is the White House reaction to The Washington Times reporting that our National Guard troops in the Mexican border near Sasabe, Arizona being required to be disarmed, and who had to evacuate due to incursions by armed Mexicans?"
"Talk to the Border Patrol about that," Snow said.
What irony.
Illegal invaders do not need to follow the law.
Tony Snow has no respect for American laws when it comes to illegals.
ROTFLOL! provide border security...did he say this with a straight face?
"We also believe that the people who are working to secure that border themselves obey the law.
Rule of law = joke.
Dude.
Read the information at your own link.
Aldarte was given immunity from being charged with driving 743 pounds of Marijuana into the United States in exchange for testifying against the border agents.
It appears you are the one saying "Let the facts be damned!"
Foreign policy has always been the big problem area for Presidents.....Bush & Snow would much rather talk about the low unemployment rate, declining inflation, and record levels of home ownership.
Will the last Bushbot turn off the lights when they leave. Snow is defending the indefensible.
Remember oj simpson? Our system is busted when he could be found not guilty by the jury.
This just makes me sick. These guys were top of the line agents. Since when is it in the US interest to go to Mexico, grant immunity to a criminal so they can testify against our border patrol agents? I've always despised those that hide behind "the law" when the law is wrong. The reason the Bush administration is in the situation it is in now is because of its refusal to acknowledge the plight of our soldiers and our border patrol agents. Also who was on this jury? Illegals?
Read this excerpt of the Prosecuting attorney justification of (why are we wasting US tax payers dollars prosecuting these men).
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_4141723
[ The version of events presented by the U.S. Attorney's Office during the agents' trial differed markedly from Ramos'.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it is a violation of someone's Fourth Amendment rights to shoot them in the back while fleeing if you don't know who they are and/or if you don't know they have a weapon," said Kanof, the assistant U.S. attorney.
Ramos testified during the trial that he saw Aldrete-Davila with something "shiny" in his hand, she said, and though Ramos said in the interview for this report he thought it was a gun, he couldn't be sure, she said.
Moreover, the agents "did not know who this individual was or what he had in the van," Kanof said. "They just decided or guessed."
She then reiterated her contention that pursuing Aldrete-Davila or anyone else fleeing border agents is not part of the Border Patrol's job.
"Agents are not allowed to pursue. In order to exceed the speed limit, you have to get supervisor approval, and they did not," she said.
The prosecutor also said the men destroyed the crime scene when Compean picked up his shell casings and attempted to cover up their actions by not reporting they'd fired their weapons. ]
I can barely wait for the day when we can sweep these abominations from our courts and our nation. I do not care the means by which it is done only that they cry to God for mercy while it is being done. When the law becomes a twisted stump with which to batter the just over minor technicalities while the unjust roam free we are nearing the brink of the collapse of a civilization.
See post 24. The DOJ did take a really hard line against these agents. It looks like the State Dept. is very concerned about Mexico turning into another Venezuela and utlimately a threat to our national security. There was a shooting by the BP just a couple days ago in Arizona. Let's see what happens to that agent.
And it seems many here on FR support the illegal!
Wonders never cease.
I understand what you're saying, but I would't call it a "minor technicality" to shoot somebody in the back. A BP agent is only supposed to shoot somebody who is an immediate mortal threat to the agent.
In the beginning these guys were made out to be "victims" in some of the press and here on FR as well. I felt sorry for them too and angry that they might have been unfairly charged. However, as more and more information trickled down to the feet of "reality", they lost their victim status and became rogue cops, so to speak. "Border Bots" are just as blinded by their agenda as "Bush Bots" are. I hate both of those terms but the fact remains that some people refuse to admit truth and facts because they have become as biased as the MSM.
Snow has become an administration stool pigeon.
Sad.
If Bush can pardon all those vermin, he should pardon these two guys also.
But because the Administration is dedicated to a policy of kneepads when it comes to illegal Mexicans violating our borders, the response to the petition is no more surprising than the repsonse to the majority of Americans who don't want these illegal invaders granted amnesty, the majority of Americans who didn't want the Dubai Port Deal and the majority of Americans who didn't want Harriet Miers on the Supreme Court.
This Administration, in its six years of office has done more damage to the consrvative movement in America than the worse Rats.
Sometimes OBEYING the law means ENFORCING IT!!!
geesh...
They're FROBL, and yes, we have our share of them.
It seems our government and a jury takes the word of illegal aliens with 743 pounds worth of pot over Border Patrol agents whose job it is to protect American citizens.
Don't I feel safe./sac
"I do not know why they are hanging these two guys but it is BS IMO."
Bush II + Rove + Mehlman + Gonzales + Mexican political pressure = screwjob on border agents and an example of what happens to border patrol agents who take their jobs too seriously.
Travis was right.
Was the decision appealed? I read this:
" Stillinger, the lawyer, said she saw some jurors crying after the guilty verdict and later got in touch with them.
The problem was that the jurors were under the impression that a hung jury was not an option. Gourley, a special education teacher, and Torres said that the foreman of the jury told them that Cardone would not accept a hung jury. Woods said she heard the same statement but could not remember which juror said it.
"Essentially, when they saw they could not convince the majority in favor of voting guilty, they conceded their votes, believing that they did not have the option to stick to their guns and prevent a unanimous verdict," Stillinger wrote in the motion."
excerpt from http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4508579
And when a majority of citizens figure this out, vigilantism will become the norm.
Yes he was.
The real solution to the drug smuggling problem is for Americans to stop smoking all that stuff and jamming all that white powder up their noses that shortens their lives and gives them heart disease.
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