Senate to interrogate border agents' prosecutor[U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton](Ramos-Compean)

The Washington Times ^ | 17 July 2007 | Jerry Seper

[BGHater]

A Senate hearing today into the convictions of two U.S. Border Patrol agents who shot a fleeing drug-smuggling suspect is expected to spark heated debate as the U.S. attorney who brought the charges defends the prosecutions.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton will tell the Senate Judiciary Committee that a jury in Texas heard all the evidence against agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean in their shooting of Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila and ruled it was not justified.

"This case is not about illegal immigration but the rule of law," said Mr. Sutton. "After a 2½-week jury trial, these former agents were convicted of shooting at and seriously wounding an unarmed, fleeing suspect who posed no threat to them."

Another witness, T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Counsel (NBPC) who has angrily denounced the prosecution, will challenge the government's case, saying there were only three witnesses to the incident and prosecutors believed Mr. Aldrete-Davila over the two agents.

"The only way to conclude that Agents Ramos and Compean should have been prosecuted is if the word of the known drug smuggler is given more credence than the sworn statements of two law-enforcement officers," said Mr. Bonner, whose union represents all 11,000 of the agency's nonsupervisory personnel.

The committee also will hear from Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar, Border Patrol Deputy Chief Luis Barker and Ramos' appellate counsel, David L. Botsford.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat and chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on terrorism, technology and homeland security, first raised questions about the prosecutions in February. Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, has ruled she will preside over the hearing.

[samtheman]

This is Bush’s greatest shame.

I can’t believe he refuses to do the right thing and pardon these to agents.

[samtheman]

This is Bush’s greatest shame.

I can’t believe he refuses to do the right thing and pardon these two agents.

[Perdogg]

These guys don’t deserve a pardon, maybe a commutation, but not a pardon.

[kidao35]

Bush is a puppet of the Mexican government. Give up on him.

[samtheman]

Ok, I’ll bite. Why not?

[normy]

If only for the political benefit Bush should commute their sentence. If Feinstein and Co. get in front of the GOP on this it will be trouble. This could do wonders for Bush and the GOP in general. I can’t believe the major GOP players are too blind to see this.

[Perdogg]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1863953/posts?page=114#109

It’s all in this thread.

[stopem]

This prosecuter is akin to the Duke case prosecuter and should suffer the same fate.

[Perdogg]

Well, Borders Guards are not above the law. They committed a crime, and tried to cover it up, lied, and then refused a deal.

[TexasCajun]

I'm not happy with this prosecutor, but one also has to look at the jury that convicted them.

I would be interested to know more about them and why they believed an illegal immigrant drug smuggler over our border agents.

[From One - Many]

This prosecutor needs an attitude adjustment. Twenty years in prison, for abuse of his office would be my recommendation. If congress allows this low-life to walk without punishment, then congress deserves the same fate. Twenty years for abuse of office.

[samtheman]

ok, i'm going to read the whole thread later today

but right now i'm going to throw this back at you, from sioux-san, from that same thread, a question he asks someone else...

can you answer it?

I am just saying that Sutton had a choice and he went for charges way out of proportion to the crime — do you agree with that? What am I missing?

[kabar]

I spoke to a retired BP agent with almost 40 years service about this case. He said they should have been fired but not tried for a crime. According to him, once a weapon is fired, it becomes a crime scene. They picked up the spent shells and tried to cover up what happened. That was their mistake, not the shooting itself.

[xzins]

Not a commutation or a pardon because those both imply they’re being forgiven for something they did wrong.

They should be released immediately because of false prosecution....whatever the fancy word is for such a thing, I don’t know.

[samtheman]

I'm not happy with this prosecutor, but one also has to look at the jury that convicted them. I would be interested to know more about them and why they believed an illegal immigrant drug smuggler over our border agents.

Juries do get it wrong. Sutton did have the power of the presidency behind him. I'm not sure if or how that power actually manifested, but it was definitely there. Maybe it was a subtle check on the judge during the trial, making rulings favorable to the prosecutor. I don't know. I wasn't there. But the hand of The President was definitely in this prosecution and it quite possibly had its intended effect.

[Perdogg]

Yes. Had they shot him and came clean about it, I would be against any prosecution in the case.

[TommyDale]

Refusing a deal is more often a good sign that they are not guility as charged. The coverup seems to be from the Bush Administration’s Hispanic Border Patrol Chief and the Hispanic Attorney General. The fact that they are accepting the word of a drug smuggling illegal border invader over their own law enforcement officers is a travesty.

[samtheman]

This prosecuter is akin to the Duke case prosecuter and should suffer the same fate.

Exactly. These two Border Patrol agents were Nifonged.

[normy]

I've discussed this with you before and I know your view on it, but Libby also committed a crime and the V.P.'s aides are also not above the law. The punishment doesn't fit the crime and I will go back to what I have told you before, cops kill innocent people in the line of duty all the time. It happens in the heat of the moment and rarely do they get 11 years hard time. Most of the time they are exonerated. This sentence smacks of intimidation.

That is not my point however. As a purely political move, I can't understand how Bush can let the Dems get out in front of him on this. Commuting these guys sentence would put him back in the good graces of the base and probably improve his standing among the voting Hispanic population.