Replies

So you can believe that two BP agents lied and perjured themselves to put a veteran fellow officer in jail or you can believe an officer got mad about being dumped into a smelly ditch and made a bad shooting decision, then engaged in a concerted effort to cover it up and lied about it on the stand.

Yes those two agents lied, it is a known fact that they are liars. Plus, unlike you, I have read the testimonies. I have written simulations and I have actually gone to Fabens and viewed the scenario for myself. I plan on going again within the next few days to make measurements of the ditch.

Calcowgirl, the ditch is a doozy. It might have been altered since Feb, 2005, but it is quite an obstacle.

I drove to Phoenix for this vacation and stopped in Fabens on my way here(I am now in Phx and I will soon be headed back home). I had hoped to enter Fabens in daylight, but got there after the sun had set so my camera with flash could not get a good representation of the area. I did however, travel the path from Fabens to the ditch, and the prosecutions tale is just that, a tale. The total distance from the light at Fabens(there are now two lights) was 4.1 miles. It took me 5 minutes and 26 seconds to traverse that distance driving at posted speed limits. The speed limits were 45 mph within a couple of blocks of the traffic light then 55 mph a block or two later. The speed limit dropped to 10 just before the infamous S curve and then went up to 15 mph at the S curve. There was no posted speed limit after that. No school signs. No deer crossings. No handicapped crossings, etc. The area on either side of the road was clear farming area(cotton from what I saw). I hit the dirt road going 55 mph and slowed to 40/45 with no problem. I could see I was leaving dust, but when I slowed to 35 for a moment, I could not see a trail(it was dark however). The dirt portion was .8 miles long and it took me one minute and 17 seconds to cover the .8 miles to the Sierra Delta. I could smell the ditch way before I got there even with my windows rolled up. I had no problem stopping at the ditch even though I was travelling at 40 mph at night. I did not slide into the ditch like Davila did.

At the ditch I was astounded by what I saw. It is no wonder that Juarez and Vasquez did not come to the aid of Compean and it is admirable that Ramos did. The ditch is at least twenty feet deep with sloping sides of at least 75 degrees. It was as I had first envisioned it except deeper. My simulations are based upon a wider and much shallower ditch, but I suspect that the time to traverse it will remain the same if not longer. The one thing that it vividly demonstrates is that Juarez is a liar. Compean could not have fallen in face first without going into the water(Compean was not wet) since the sides were so angled and falling from upright to a face down position in the ditch would have probably knocked him unconscious or senseless.

At the ditch, I could not see where the van's tires stopped, but there was an old tire at the presumed location.

It is pretty evident that Vasquez was at the ditch within seconds of Juarez and would have seen Compean shooting from the levee had Juarez seen him shooting. Vasquez did not see Compean shooting.

The cock and bull story about Ramos and Compean not KNOWING that Davila was an illegal or drug mule is preposterous. Nearly the whole station showed up for this "crystal pure" individual's apprehension. The boss even showed up with a camera. And the proof is in the pudding. He was illegal and he was transporting over 700 pounds of drugs.

Ya mean Sutton lied in his sworn testimony before the Senate? I'm shocked! (Of course, we know that Compean did not testify as Sutton states so definitively -- that "he took a header into the ditch." Agent Juarez simply gave the testimony that Johnny Sutton wanted to hear, given under immunity and only after changing his story at least four times after threats of prosecution.)

Little Johnny Sutton has got to go (straight to prison!)

FEINSTEIN: Are you saying Agent Compean was not on the ground?

SUTTON: Yes. He was not on the ground. And that's the difficulty in having a discussion like this, is that we had a two-and-a-half-week jury trial. All these people testified, including Agents Compean and Ramos. There was another Border Patrol agent who was standing right there, standing with Agent Ramos on the ditch. He testified at trial. He observed the entire confrontation. He observed Agent Compean go over the levy. He testified at trial ... that Compean tried to strike Aldrete in the head with a shotgun. Aldrete ducked. Compean fell headfirst into a ditch and then Aldrete takes off like a rabbit over the levy. And he...

FEINSTEIN: But you're saying Compean falls into the ditch. The ditch was 11 feet deep.

SUTTON: Right. He fell straight headfirst down into that ditch. Aldrete, the drug smuggler...

FEINSTEIN: So he was on the ground.

SUTTON: He was on the ground. But what Mr. Botsford was talking about is what Compean testified at trial. Compean's testimony was that he took a header into the ditch, was able to get up, run back up the ditch, catch Aldrete, wrestle with him, he fell to the ground. That is absolutely false.

FEINSTEIN: Who fell to the ground?

SUTTON: Compean.

FEINSTEIN: OK.

SUTTON: What the agent at the scene saw Compean fall, the smuggler take off like a rabbit over the levy and said he was halfway to Mexico by the time Compean got over the levy ...

"Yes those two agents lied, it is a known fact that they are liars."

How dare you call 2 of our finest Border Patrol agents liars, agents who daily put their lives on the line protecting America from the invasion of illegals and druggies from the south (/sarcasm).

I love your "known fact..liars" comment. Juarez and Vasquez were fired from their jobs because they at first tried to hide the shooting and under pressure relented. Where is the outrage that these two fine officers lost their jobs because they tried "the blue line of silence" to protect Compeon and Ramos? Instead you defame them and sully their reputations. Oh, I forgot, neither Vazquez or Juarez shot anyone, so they aren't worthy.

Way to go Mr. #1 defender of Border Patrol agents.

"Calcowgirl, the ditch is a doozy...The ditch is at least twenty feet deep with sloping sides of at least 75 degrees."

You mean this one? The one that several agents testified was 10-12 feet deep? I don't know but it looks to me from this photo that it IS about 10-12 feet deep, but I wasn't looking at it in the dark like you so I could be wrong.

Someone must have gotten a shovel out and dug it 10 feet deeper since the incident.

"At the ditch, I could not see where the van's tires stopped..."

Funny, it's only been 2 years since the shooting, I can't understand why tire tracks in dirt still aren't visable.

"It is pretty evident that Vasquez was at the ditch within seconds of Juarez and would have seen Compean shooting from the levee had Juarez seen him shooting. Vasquez did not see Compean shooting."

For once I agree with you. Vasquez said he heard the shots as he was getting out of his car, but it is also quite possible he fudged this a bit because he didn't want to get dragged further into this obviously bad shoot by Compean or he didn't want to admit that Compean shot from the levee. Neither did Vasquez until it was obvious he was first on the scene and couldn't miss it. They both lost their jobs. All because Compean couldn't say "I got angry and shot, but wasn't trying to hit the guy". In that case only Compean would lose his job and neither him nor Ramos would be in prison.

So let's add it up. Because Compean wanted the shooting covered up we have to agents in prison and two that lost their jobs. Ya, Compean is a hero all right.

"The cock and bull story about Ramos and Compean not KNOWING that Davila was an illegal or drug mule is preposterous."

Knowing is a lot different than probable cause or even reasonable suspicion, but I don't expect you to understand the difference. Not only did they not KNOW, they didn't have probable cause.

"The one thing that it vividly demonstrates is that Juarez is a liar. Compean could not have fallen in face first without going into the water(Compean was not wet) since the sides were so angled and falling from upright to a face down position in the ditch would have probably knocked him unconscious or senseless."

Funny, Compean testified he fell into the side of the ditch, as did Juarez. Neither claimed he fell all the way to the bottom. You're conclusion that Compean must have is only a guess, maybe you should have testified at trial, what with your night vision accuracy and all.