Secondly, they couldn’t convict Davila on the first charge due to the inept handling by R&C, Davila escaped back to Mexico were he was out of reach of the justice system.
For what it’s worth, there were indications that OVD might have agreed to act as an confidential informant for the DEA. Doesn’t anyone have the slightest curiosity how the DEA was able to nab this second smuggler so quickly with all the drugs sitting right there in his house? Stop believing everything you read in WND and start thinking with your brain.
Regardless, The judge ruled correctly on allowing that testimony into trial. First, it was only an allegation from another arrested smuggler, second it had no bearing on whether the shoot by R&C was good. Davila admitted he was smuggling on the stand...everyone, the judge, the jury the lawyers knew it. What impact would admitting to a second load have? That Davila REALLY REALLY was a drug smuggler?
I do not understand why supporters of R&C believe this to be the Rosetta Stone of their case. It’s meaningless in the context of whether or not R&C had justifiable cause to shoot OVD. OVD could have been a suspected jaywalker, a suspected thief or a suspected murderer, until he is convicted in a court of law he has the same constitutional rights not to be deprived of his life and to a fair trial as anyone else.
I know this may come as a surprise to some here, but LEO’s are not allowed to shoot unarmed fleeing SUSPECTS (at the time R&C didn’t know anything about OVD except that he evaded arrest) in the back. They are not judge jury and executioner, their job is to arrest suspected perps so they can be subject to the justice system.
Once you take the position that it was okay for R&C to kill OVD because they SUSPECTED him of being a drug smuggler, where does it end? Next week will it be okay for LEO’s to shoot you because they SUSPECT you of selling an illegal sawed off shotgun (Ruby Ridge) or the leader of a religious cult (Waco) or cheating on your taxes?
As for the “black shiny object” R&C said they saw, nobody, including the jury and most people who have read the trial transcripts believes that story. There was just to much evasion, contradictory evidence, unbelievable testimony and attempted cover up to make it credible.
What evidence did they have that Compean and Ramos had shot at an unarmed man, rather than an armed criminal fleeing the scene of a crime? They had the word of a drug smuggler, the drug smuggler that had fled, and was seeking to cash in through a civil lawsuit.
In the court transcript the prosecution wasn't questioning the authenticity of the report that he had brought in drugs a second time, the information was simply suppressed.
Secondly, they couldn’t convict Davila on the first charge due to the inept handling by R&C, Davila escaped back to Mexico were he was out of reach of the justice system.
WHAT?!?! Ramos and Compean are responsible for Davila escaping back into Mexico? Talking about completely having things backwards. Ramos and Compean were the only agents who even attempted to apprehend Davila. The other agents were satisfied to let him go after they had captured the van. They didn't even bother to try and follow the suspect or render aid to the agents who did. They didn't even bother to follow or run and try and help after they heard shots fired. They just sat back at the van full of dope hoping to get credit for the drug seizer without having to do anything as strenuous as chase a suspect.
Davila was able to fell to Mexico despite the efforts of Ramos and Compean, not because of them. They were not able to prosecute Davila because they didn't know who he was, and even once they found out who he was they couldn't prosecute him, because the Mexican government never extradites such people to stand trial in the US.
For what it’s worth, there were indications that OVD might have agreed to act as an confidential informant for the DEA. Doesn’t anyone have the slightest curiosity how the DEA was able to nab this second smuggler so quickly with all the drugs sitting right there in his house? Stop believing everything you read in WND and start thinking with your brain.
I didn't read it in WND. I don't read WND, it's a worthless waste of my time. I read it in the court transcripts released by our government.
Regardless, The judge ruled correctly on allowing that testimony into trial. First, it was only an allegation from another arrested smuggler, second it had no bearing on whether the shoot by R&C was good.
There were no witnesses to the shooting other than Ramos, Compean, and Davila. The whole criminal prosecution (as opposed to an investigation over violated procedures) was based on Davila's testimony about what happened.
Davila admitted he was smuggling on the stand...everyone, the judge, the jury the lawyers knew it. What impact would admitting to a second load have? That Davila REALLY REALLY was a drug smuggler?
I recommend you take the time to read the court transcripts of Davila's testimony. He was allowed to present himself as a pour soul who had made one mistake of smuggling the van and it contents because he needed the money to get his permits renewed to drive a commercial truck and earn an honest living once again.
He even claimed that he did not know there were drugs in the vehicle. He said that he didn't know what the strong odor of marijuana was.
He was just an honest truck driver that fell on hard times, and made once bad choice when trying to get back on top of things and be a productive member of society again.
The defense didn't have the resources to investigate Davila throughly in Mexico. The US Government had far, far more resources, but wasn't interested in investigating Davila throughly because they decided Ramos and Compean were the criminals. They didn't even know that Davila had contacted a lawyer seeking to sue the government over the incident. They didn't even know that it was the border patrol agent that knew Davila's family, and had reported the incident, that had helped Davila find a lawyer for that civil suit. That same border patrol agent that was another of the prosecution's witnesses.
What the US government did find out about Davila that was unfavorable, they managed to get suppressed. They only investigated things that supported their side of the story.
Read the transcripts. You'll find that the prosecution was doing it's best to win, not to present the truth of what happened and let the jury decide. They were doing their best to only present what favored the prosecution and presented a good number of things in a misleading way.
What chance do individuals have when the United States Government is using it's resources to find them guilty. Not to find out what happened, but searching to find evidence that points to their guilt and not investigating things that might contradict that.
I do not understand why supporters of R&C believe this to be the Rosetta Stone of their case. It’s meaningless in the context of whether or not R&C had justifiable cause to shoot OVD. OVD could have been a suspected jaywalker, a suspected thief or a suspected murderer, until he is convicted in a court of law he has the same constitutional rights not to be deprived of his life and to a fair trial as anyone else.
When officers tried to pull over OVD, he fled in the van. He then jumped out of the van and ran through a deep gully and toward the border.
Both OVD and Compean agree that he was on the far side of the gully, and that he intercepted Davila, Davila claims he slowly walked up the steep bank with his hands above his head and Compean waited until he got close and then tried to hit him with the shotgun.
It was a little more vague if Compean was claiming that Davila assaulted him, or if he just lost his footing as Davila got to him and fell down. In either case, Davila then fled towards the border. Compean started shooting. He claims it was because he thought he saw Davila with a weapon. Davila denies that.
What is clear is that Davila was not fleeing directly away, because the bullet struck him in the side. Davilasays explains that by saying that he was zig-zagging back and forth as he ran.
By the time Ramos got up out of the gully, Compean was already firing at Davila, and he fired a single shot at the suspect his partner was shooting at. That was the shot that struck Davila.
The difference between a justifiable shooting and attempted murder is completely based upon the testimony of Davila, and that Compean and Ramos, as well as no other officers that were in the area, reported that shots were fired.
There is no question that Compean and Ramos failed to report that they had fired their weapons. However, Compean also gathered up his brass, disturbing the scene. Ramos did not.
There is no evidence that they knew they had hit Davila. He claims they shot him and then left him to die. That's not very credible since his body would be evidence that they had shot him.
The suspect had gotten away. The Mexican government doesn't extradite such suspects even if they could figure out who he was.
If you read the transcripts, you'll see that the border patrol is a dysfunctional organization where the procedures generally prevent the officers from doing anything resembling protecting the border, and definitely make it extremely difficult to actually apprehend a fleeing suspect.
It was also obvious that procedures were often generally ignored. Reporting the incident would not make it possible to capture Davila, he was long gone out of their jurisdiction. It was not part of building a case against the suspect, it was a bureaucratic procedure which only had a purpose if this criminal who fled custody later came back with accusations that he was innocent and was wrongly persecuted, and someone actually believed such a crazy story.
Once you take the position that it was okay for R&C to kill OVD because they SUSPECTED him of being a drug smuggler, where does it end?
I never claimed that it was ok to shoot an unarmed, fleeing suspect that presented no threat. Neither did Compean or Ramos. They claimed he was armed. The only evidence you have that he was not armed is his word. If he was armed, Compean and Ramos' actions were justified, and despite the way you are switching things around, Compean and Ramos are the defendants, and it is up to the prosecution to prove their case, or does your assumption of innocence only apply to fleeing suspects?
They say Davila had something shiny in his hand that they though was a gun. Since Davila got away, there isn't any physical evidence. It is simply their word against his. Apparently the word of a drug smuggler that they aren't even allowed to properly investigate his credibility holds more weight than the words of the agents.
He smuggled a van full of drugs into the country. They failed to file a report that served no other real purpose than to cover their rears in the event that he claimed they persecuted him, and if they had persecuted him, they could have simply filed the report and there would have been no reason to question its authenticity or evidence contradicting it. It would have just been their words against the word of a fleeing criminal. So why exactly do you think they didn't report the incident?
As for the “black shiny object” R&C said they saw, nobody, including the jury and most people who have read the trial transcripts believes that story. There was just to much evasion, contradictory evidence, unbelievable testimony and attempted cover up to make it credible.
I saw lots, and lots of evasion by Davila, yet you seem to think his testimony that he walked up a steep embankment with both hands in the air, and that he was then assaulted without provocation, and that he then fled zig-zagging at sharp angles so that when he was shot he was shot in the side, not the back, and that he had nothing in his hands.
The burden of proof is in the hands of the prosecution, and their "proof", since the issue depends on if his hands were empty, is the word of a man who obviously lied on the witness stand. Even if you believe some of his story, other parts are obviously not factual or credible.
You can point to all the evidence you want that Compean and/or Ramos acted like they had done something wrong when they were later questioned. They had done something wrong by failing to report the shooting. However, the only evidence that the shooting was a criminal act, is the word of a liar and a drug smuggler that is looking to make a fortune from suing the US government for the consequences of his own criminal actions.