Posted on 09/12/2008 6:00:19 AM PDT by kellynla
EL PASO, Texas — Two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug smuggler and trying to cover it up have been denied a request for a new hearing.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied the request by Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean on Wednesday. The same court upheld the men's convictions in July.
No reason was given for the Wednesday's denial.
Ramos and Compean are each serving sentences of more than 10 years for shooting Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks while he was fleeing from an abandoned marijuana load in 2005.
Aldrete was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison for his role in two seperate smuggling efforts later that same year.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Yeah, I posted that before I read your initial response.
They clearly did break some laws but their sentences were way out of line. President Bush has the executive authority to commute their sentences to time severed and put an end to this embarrassing debacle.
Not for that crime.
He was sentenced for a separate crime that he committed afterward - and he probably would have gotten a harsher sentence if the evidence of his earlier crime had been admissible in court.
I don’t understand wtf is going on with this case...Bush had better pardon these guys ASAP before he leaves office. This makes NO SENSE.
Most people would say that cops shouldn't mistakenly shoot anyone ... and when they do, they shouldn't lie about it, and try to cover up what they did.
Are you suggesting that you conditionally approve of LEO misconduct, when it aligns with your personal biases?
kinda like at the berlin wall?
Do you have any conception of what went on at the ditch? We are talking about seconds to observe and make judgements. Compean had no certainty about Davila, except that he did not see a gun in his hands while Davila climbed through the ditch. There are valid reasons why people in custody are patted down even though no one sees them with a weapon in their hands.
Compean was blinded and disarmed and down, why did Aldrete-Davila not take Compean's shotgun that was lying on the ground? Or why did Aldrete-Davila not produce and fire his weapon?
You haven't read the testimony, have you?
See post 97.
Davila's own testimony indicates that he was running directly away from Compean and Ramos. So he was not running at an angle nor side to side.
From the distance that Ramos was firing from, one or two degrees off of a pure beeline would allow the bullet to enter from the side and pass forward toward his urethra.
Thought experiment: if you put a box 100 feet directly in front of you and then you move one or two inches from dead center you can see the side of the box.
Hence the forensic testimony that it would be impossible to tell if Aldrete-Davila was turning or not.
And I bet they'd strongly condemn "situational ethics" (when others do it)....
I think it’s more a function of that crowd avoiding the Ramos/Compean threads altogether. These can get rather emotional.
Indeed I have. If I'm wrong, quote Compean's testimony.
Here's the Fifth Circuit's summary of the testimony:
"Compean was holding his shotgun and testified that he told Aldrete-Davila to stop and put his hands up, an order that Compean testified Aldrete-Davila failed to obey. Compean testified that he tried to push Aldrete-Davila back with his shotgun, but slipped. According to Compean, Aldrete-Davila then ran towards the Mexican border and Compean threw down his shotgun and began pursuit. Compean testified that he pursued and caught up with Aldrete-Davila, tackled him, but ultimately was unable to prevent Aldrete-Davila from escaping his grasp. Aldrete-Davila presented a different version of these events."
" Agent Juarez testified that, after arriving at the scene, he saw Aldrete-Davila get out of the van and move quickly into the ditch and up the other side. Contrary to Compean’s account, Agent Juarez testified that Aldrete-Davila’s hands were raised and that Compean attempted to take a full swing at Aldrete-Davila with the stock of the shotgun. According to Agent Juarez, Compean missed, fell to the ground, and dropped his shotgun into the ditch. Agent Juarez testified that he saw Compean begin to pursue Aldrete-Davila and, thinking there was no danger, turned towards the van to begin an investigation of its contents. He testified that he then heard shots and saw Compean firing his handgun toward the border, although, apparently because of the slope of the land, he did not see Compean’s target. Agent Juarez further testified that he saw Compean change the magazine of his weapon and fire again.
"Compean testified that he was on the ground because Aldrete-Davila had thrown dirt into his face, but that he saw Aldrete-Davila run a short distance and then turn with something in his hand, putting Compean in fear for his life. Compean testified that he rose to one knee and began firing his weapon, but lost sight of Aldrete-Davila when he attempted to do a magazine exchange. Compean testified that he heard an additional shot, and then saw Ramos."
" Ramos testified that, after he had stopped his car behind Aldrete-Davila’s van, he saw Aldrete-Davila evade Compean at the ditch, but saw no confrontation of the type described by the other witnesses. Ramos testified that after he entered the ditch, he heard firing. Upon reaching the levee road, Ramos testified that Compean was on the ground and that he saw Aldrete-Davila with something in his hand. Ramos testified that he then fired a single shot."
See post 107.
From the distance that Ramos was firing from, one or two degrees off of a pure beeline would allow the bullet to enter from the side and pass forward toward his urethra.
The path of the bullet was a heck of a lot more than one or two degrees off of a beeline. It is more than 45 degrees. Hold a string on the bottom of your left buttcheek and route the string to the front of the middle of your crotch then to the front of your right thigh. That angle is not one or two degrees to the plane dissecting your body side to side nor front to back.
ping
“Davila’s own testimony indicates that he was running directly away from Compean and Ramos.”
More proof you never read the transcripts or are making it up as you go along. Both OAD and Compean testified OAD was running away at an angle...not straight.
The Bush domestic legacy is behind bars.
Again, this is why the forensic experts could not make a definitive finding either way.
Okay.
19 Q. Okay. And why would you do that? 20 A. I didn't know if he was going to stay and fight or if he 21 was going to try and take my weapon. I didn't know what he was 22 going to do. 23 Q. What did he do at that time? Did he take off? 24 A. Yes, sir. 25 Q. And then what? David A. Perez, CSR, RPR Compean - Direct by Mr. Antcliff 162 1 A. He started running. I looked up, and I saw him running 2 away. A few seconds later I saw him turn around, and he was 3 pointing -- he was pointing something at me. 4 MR. ANTCLIFF: I would ask that he be allowed stand 5 up, Judge. 6 THE COURT: Sure. 7 BY MR. ANTCLIFF: 8 Q. Show the ladies and gentlemen -- stand up. Show the ladies 9 and gentlemen of the jury how -- what you're talking about 10 right there. 11 A. He was running. He was -- he started running away from me. 12 And I saw him turn, and he started -- and he kind of did -- did 13 this (indicating). 14 Q. Did you see -- you can sit down. 15 Did you see a gun in his hand? 16 A. I couldn't tell for sure. It looked -- it looked like a 17 gun to me. 18 Q. What, specifically, did you see in his hand? 19 A. It was something black, shiny, in his hand. 20 Q. At -- black or shiny? 21 A. Well, it was like a shiny black. 22 Q. Okay. At that moment, were you in fear for your life? 23 A. Yes, sir, I was. 24 Q. What did you do? 25 A. I immediately drew my weapon. I was -- I believe I was David A. Perez, CSR, RPR Compean - Direct by Mr. Antcliff 163 1 down on two knees. I came up on one knee and began firing. 2 Q. So you -- on one knee, you're firing at him? 3 A. Yes, sir. 4 Q. Do you know how many times you fired? 5 A. It had to have been approximately -- from what I had 6 mentioned to Agent Sanchez, it was about 10 or 11 rounds. 7 My -- my gun never went empty, so it couldn't have been more 8 than 12. 9 Q. How many rounds does the magazine in your gun hold? 10 A. I believe there's 11, and there's one in the chamber 11 already loaded. 12 Q. Okay. Do you hit him? 13 A. No, sir. 14 Q. You're sure you didn't hit him? 15 A. I didn't think I had. He continued running, and he was 16 still pointing. 17 Q. Okay. What happens next? 18 A. The next thing I remember is I was trying to reload my 19 weapon. I had dropped the -- I had dropped the -- the 20 magazine. There's a -- there's a button on the side of the 21 weapon, where you can release the magazine. 22 I did that, and as I was reaching down to grab the 23 second magazine, I couldn't open -- get my belt open. 24 So then I began standing up. And, as I was standing 25 up to load it, I heard another shot. And I looked over, and I David A. Perez, CSR, RPR Compean - Direct by Mr. Antcliff 164 1 saw Agent Ramos standing a few feet ahead of me. 2 Q. Did you see Agent Ramos run past you? 3 A. No, I did not.Now where is Compean's testimony that he was sure that Davila was unarmed? And the Fifth circuit summary is not testimony. Neither is mine, but my citations are testimony from the transcripts.
“No reason was given for the Wednesday’s denial.”
Two words: George Bush
He as running at an angle to the levee, but not from Compean. Take a point on a paper. Put your pencil tip on that point. Draw a straight line in any direction away from that point. What angle does that line make with the point? Now place another point close to the original point. What is the angle to that second point? Consider that Ramos was within 10 feet of Compean and Davila was about 150 feet away. My Casio says that is around 3 degrees in the worst case.(the path from Davila to Compean with respect to the path from Davila to Ramos)
LOL! I love it when people refuse to use logic and their brain.
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