Posted on 02/27/2007 3:21:08 AM PST by calcowgirl
The Mexican national shot by two Border Patrol agents in a drug-related incident in February 2005 brought a second van load of drugs into the U.S. while he waited to testify against the agents, according to Drug Enforcement Administration reports obtained by the Daily Bulletin.
Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila - who was given immunity by U.S. prosecutors in exchange for testifying against former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean - is the focus of a November 2005 DEA report that identifies him as the person responsible for stashing more than 750 pounds of marijuana in a van parked at a house in Clint, Texas, in October of that year.
"(A witness) stated that Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila was the individual that dropped off the 1990 Chevy Astro van," according to the DEA document. "This van contained approximately 6 bundles of marijuana."
DEA interviews with the Clint house's owner, Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez, led to Ortiz-Hernandez's brother, Jose Ortiz, who told DEA agents that Aldrete-Davila had moved the narcotics from Juarez to El Paso, adding that the van Aldrete-Davila was driving needed work, so he referred him to his mechanic brother, Cipriano.
"Jose Ortiz thought for a minute, and then stated that we should know Davila's identity because he is the person who was shot by Border Patrol agents six months ago," the report states.
Cipriano Ortiz-Hernandez also identified Aldrete-Davila as the van's driver after seeing a photo array, according to the DEA documents.
Aldrete-Davila was shot in the buttocks after fleeing a van filled with marijuana and running away from Border Patrol agents in a February 2005 incident near Fabens, Texas, about seven miles from Clint.
Ramos and Compean are now serving 11 and 12 years, respectively, in federal prison after being convicted in March 2006 of assault with a deadly weapon, attempting to cover up their actions, and violating Aldrete-Davila's civil rights.
Both men testified that they thought Aldrete had a gun in his hand while they were chasing him, and feared for their lives when they fired on him.
Aldrete-Davila was given immunity to testify against the agents, along with a special border crossing pass and free medical treatment at a U.S. Army medical center.
Western District of Texas U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, whose office prosecuted Ramos and Compean, has denied numerous times that Aldrete-Davila brought a second load of narcotics into the United States after being granted immunity.
Sutton said in a Jan. 17 "Myths vs. Reality" press release that "Aldrete has not been subsequently arrested for drug smuggling. Our office is in the business of prosecuting drug traffickers and alien smugglers ... If we had a provable case against Aldrete, we would prosecute him."
Sutton's assertion that Aldrete-Davila has not been arrested is accurate. However, an Oct. 25, 2005, DEA report shows that DEA investigators believed they had sufficient evidence to indict Aldrete-Davila, but their requests to do so were denied by prosecutors.
According to a high-level source close to the investigation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Gregory was notified in October 2005 that Aldrete-Davila was being investigated by the DEA and that the agency had new evidence against him.
Gregory dismissed the warning, the source said.
Shana Jones, special assistant to Sutton, said she could not comment on Gregory's meeting with the DEA, or on the DEA documents.
"We have posted the transcript of the (agents') trial," Jones said. "We are not going to comment about matters that are under seal or are ongoing investigations."
"Along with that high respect, the jury had high expectations."
This I don't doubt for a minute. What I want to know is if they had the correct expectations based on the reality of being out in the field--as opposed to expectations pulled out of a government lawyer's ass.
I want to know what law enforcement people say about this. I respect what my fellow attorneys who do this kind of work say about the record on appeal--but I do not believe that the transcripts necessarily represent transcendent truth or the reality in the field.
Your comments have been right on as to how an appellate court would look at things. I'm going somewhere different.
>>In spite of what the conspiracists say, the shooting of the smuggler was not the big issue. In fact, the authorities have said they would not have prosecuted them for the shooting if they had not tried to cover it up. They probably would have lost their job, but not prosecuted. For the Border Patrol, the cover up was worse than the shooting.<<
You, like the Ramos/Compean jury, have swallowed the prosecution's lie that if they had reported it, they would have been cleared. However, Deputy Gilmer Hernandez reported the accidental shooting of an illegal Mexican immigrant. The sheriff was not going to file charges against Hernandez. Mexico wrote a letter and Johnny Sutton prosecuted. Sound familiar? He is going to be sentenced on March 12. Hmmm, Bush will be in Mexico on that date with Mexican Pres. Calderone, who will probably toast Bush with a Viejo Vergel brandy for doing him that favor. In my view, it was despicable for the prosecutor to lie to the jury in the summation.
From Kanof's summation to the jury:
20 You know, Mr. Compean testified that the reason he
21 didn't tell anybody that -- well, he told Luis Barker -- the
22 reason that he didn't tell anybody about the shooting is
23 because, well, they always side with the aliens.
24 Of course, the agents are always cleared when they do
25 it in an hour. The agents are always cleared. Oh, but, you
David A. Perez, CSR, RPR
100
1 know, we're going to shoot somebody in the back and not talk
2 about it, because it's too much paperwork.
"Of course, the agents are always cleared when they do
it in an hour. The agents are always cleared."
>>Perhaps Sutton only loves certain smugglers and maybe he hates only the BP agents who interfere with those smugglers.<<
He loves the ones that the Mexican Government want to protect.
You start with Ramos & Compean, then jump to Hernandez, then jump back to R & C.
Border Patrol Agent reports shooting and gets cleared in 3 days.
No, I brought up Hernandez to show that Sutton, and other working for Alberto Gonzalez, will put law enforcement officers in jail if Mexico complains, whether they report the shooting or not. You claimed that is "faultly logic" without any explanation.
Some BP agents are cleared if Mexico doesn't complain. I never claimed that Sutton prosecutes all shootings. In the future, I would expect Mexico not to leave a paper trail when it demands prosecution of our citizens.
Sorry, typos. Should say "and others" and "faulty logic"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.