Posted on 02/01/2007 9:01:42 AM PST by calcowgirl
Suspect in case against border guards given free pass on charges
The judge in the high-profile case of two U.S. Border Patrol officers imprisoned after shooting and wounding a Mexican drug smuggler allegedly sealed key testimony and issued gag orders preventing the defendants, their families and trial participants from discussing the smuggler's involvement in a second drug bust – for which he again was granted immunity in order to testify against the agents.
According to Andy Ramirez, chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol, and reliable sources close to the case, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila was apprehended in an October 2005 drug bust with 1,000 pounds of marijuana. That incident followed the Feb. 17, 2005, confrontation with Ramos and Compean in which Aldrete-Davila drove a van illegally across the Texas border into Mexico with 743 pounds of marijuana. Ramos and Compean were convicted for their actions surrounding the shooting of drug smuggler and sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison respectively.
Ramirez told WND that Aldrete-Davila had been positively identified in a drug bust just prior to the Ramos-Compean trial, which began Oct. 17, 2005.
"When Johnny Sutton learned that Aldrete-Davila was involved in this second bust, he panicked," Ramirez said. "If the public learned that Aldrete-Davila came back to the United States a second time with another load of marijuana, Sutton was sure that would blow his case against Ramos and Compean."
The prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, previously has denied there was a second arrest. But sources say Aldrete-Davila technically was apprehended for the second incident, and not arrested, on condition he testify against Ramos and Compean.
Yesterday, Sutton's spokeswoman, Shana Jones, declined to answer specifically whether there was a second border incident of any kind involving Aldrete-Davila. She told WND the attorney's office is standing on its original statement that there was no arrest, no indictment and no prosecutable evidence.
According to reliable sources close to the case, Sutton asked Judge Kathleen Cardone to seal the records involving Aldrete-Davila's participation in the second drug bust. Subsequently, Aldrete-Davila's name was expunged from the law enforcement records concerning the October 2005 incident at the request of Sutton's office.
Cordone's gag order in the trial covered any discussion by the attorneys or the families of the officers concerning Aldrete-Davila's second drug bust.
WND was told that Sutton withdrew a Resident Alien Card, commonly known as a "green card," from Aldrete-Davila after the October 2005 drug bust. The green card originally had been given to Aldrete-Davila as an inducement to return to the U.S. and testify as a star witness against Ramos and Compean under a grant of immunity from prosecution.
WND has learned the witness who identified Aldrete-Davila in the second drug incident was identified as "Toquinto."
Toquinto is the surname of Border Patrol agent Rene Sanchez's mother-in-law, as noted in the Department of Homeland Security Memorandum of Activity report filed by DHS Special Agent Christopher Sanchez, dated March 14, 2005.
As previously reported by WND, Renez Sanchez and Aldrete-Davila grew up together in Mexico. The information that Aldrete-Davila was the Mexican drug smuggler involved in the Feb. 17, 2005, incident with Ramos and Compean originated in a phone call between Sanchez's mother-in-law, Gregoria Toquinto, and Aldrete-Davila's mother, Marcadia Aldrete-Davila.
Prosecutor Debra Kanof of Sutton's El Paso office told the defense counsel and the court at the Ramos-Compean trial, without the jury present, Aldrete-Davila was pleading a Fifth Amendment privilege not to testify against himself in "any other criminal activities."
The indictment against Aldrete-Davila for the October 2005 drug incident reportedly was sealed at Sutton's request in order to preserve Aldrete-Davila's credibility as the government's star witness against Ramos and Compean.
Sanchez testified at the Ramos-Compean trial as a character witness for the drug smuggler, with whom he had grown up in Mexico.
WND has asked several Ramos and Compean family members to verify this account, but all declined, expressing fear that Cardone would then have reason to prosecute them for violating the gag order.
Both wives told WND that Sutton would prosecute them for contempt of court and would not hesitate to put them in prison if they talked about any information covered by the gag order.
Ramirez said that after Sutton learned about Aldrete-Davila's second drug bust, he "made sure nobody would ever be able to prove anything about it."
"Sutton took back the green card he gave Aldrete-Davila as an inducement to testify against Ramos and Compean under immunity, and he refused to give Aldrete-Davila any more medical care at government expense at the Army hospital in El Paso."
Ramirez asserted that on the day the jury was being picked, the prosecution asked for postponement of the trial – not because Aldrete-Davila needed additional medical surgery in El Paso as the prosecution claimed, but because the prosecution needed time to cover up the second drug bust.
"Aldrete-Davila never was taken to El Paso for another operation," Ramirez told WND. "It was all a lie. All Sutton wanted to do was to seal and then expunge the criminal records on the second drug bust, so nobody would ever be able to prove anything against his drug smuggler witness. If the second drug bust had come out to the jury, the jury would never have believed a word he said."
At Sutton's request, the Ramos-Compean trial was postponed from its originally scheduled October 2005 date to February 2006.
In his Jan. 19 interview with WND, Sutton claimed he would have been willing to prosecute Aldrete-Davila if he could prove a second offense.
"If I had a provable case that Aldrete-Davila had committed other crimes, I could prosecute him."
WND called Cordone's office but was told the judge would answer no questions from the press about the Ramos-Compean case.
Her office refused to tell WND when or if a trial transcript would be available, or how much a copy of the trial transcript would cost.
The judge's office also refused to explain why the court was taking nearly a year to prepare and release the transcript.
I don't recall any articles on the gag order. I don't recall reading that BP Agent Rene Sanchez testified as a character witness for Aldrete-Davila. And I certainly don't remember reading elsewhere the new parsing of words coming out of the U.S. Attorney's office yesterday regarding the (alleged) 2nd drug bust that involved Aldrete-Davila.
Why is any of this information classified? We are talking about 2 employees of the federal government and a lowlife alien drug-smuggler, Aldrete-Davila. This doesn't involve national security... all of the information should be made public.
The continued secrecy and shrouding of evidence by DHS and the US Attorney are what is fueling the distrust, not just in this case but of our entire judicial system. What do they have to hide?
If it was all on the up and up, release the transcripts. Release the reports. Unseal all court documents. Put it all online for the world to see.
ping
The DHS and the prosecuter are in separate parts of the government. The prosecuter isn't holding up anything, the court transcripts are under the control of the clerk of the court, and DHS under control of somebody in Washington (is it still Chertoff?)
We don't know why it is classified, because it is classified. It's nice to know though that some information about border security is classified.
Yes, and I guess you'd say that every day Sutton's office "declines to speak" about this, it's another breaking story.
Sutton wasn't talking about this last week, or the week before. He issued his statement, and stands by it.
And yes, we read about the speculation of the gag order when the information first came out about the alleged "2nd drug bust". And it's still speculation, as there is no new information about what exactly is covered by the gag order.
I suppose what could be considered "new" is the change in story of the defense, from the "he was arrested and indicted a 2nd time, but was granted immunity and the indictment quashed", to "he was arrested and granted immunity", to "he may have been detained, but the incident was hushed up".
I'm not sure why we should believe sources that can't get their stories straight, but instead change them to fit whatever facts come to light that discount their previous stories. Of course, it is within the realm of possibility that he WAS detained, but on the other hand it's just as likely that Sutton realises that answering THAT question will just allow the defense to draw ANOTHER line in the sand, and he might find it better not to keep giving them the time of day.
Anybody who shoots or otherwise harms in any way a Mexican drug dealer or someone aspiring to become an illegal alien, that person is a hero.
No. I wouldn't.
Welcome to FR...bump!
How can a judge unilaterally cancel the First Amendment?
Do not forget the real villain in all of this: Alberto Gonzalez, who is rapidly proving himself the worst Attorney General in U.S. history. Republicans should support a move to impeach Gonzales immediately.
Then, you are obviously not paying attention.
"The Department of Homeland Security's assertions that two El Paso Border Patrol agents knowingly shot an unarmed suspect appear to be countered by the department's own documents, the Daily Bulletin has learned. "
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5108915
"Exactly. When will FReepers stop calling these guys heroes???"
When Bush and the Open Border fans stop calling Illegal Alien Drug smugglers victims.
Eggzachary
THe "document" is a leaked memo which shows that Compean claimed to the investigator that he shot in self-defense.
Ooh. The assertions are countered by, the statement of the accused. Stop the presses.
I read the AFL-CIO "rebuttal" days ago. It was extensively discussed on this forum. Nothing new here.
That argument smelt like BS when I heard Sutton say it the first two times. I hope Sutton at least paid you to repeat his talking points.
There are many opinions people can express about another.
But "not paying attention" is something few of the BP agent supporters will assert about me. I've read every link posted to me since I started following this, and one thing that is clear is that there is SOMEBODY circulating the same stuff to multiple sources, and they are all publishing the same rumors and assertions from the same place. It is coming from the AFL-CIO, the union of the BP agents (the NBPC chapter).
Most of the "news" is simply press releases and opinions from two people, Ramirez and Bonner, neither of whom are witnesses to the shooting, the aftermath, the ballistics tests, OR the trial itself.
In other words, we are reading news articles written about quotes from people who themselves were merely collecting information. We rarely see ANYTHING from the people involved in the case other than the defendants and their families.
No you won't. If all talk about the smuggler stopped today, the BP agent supporters would still post here and call for pardons and celebrate them as heroes.
Witty rejoinders are better when they are factual. Also when they are witty.
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