[Delphinium]

I believe that the sentence was outrageous and they should have gotten probation or simply lost their job. I hope Bush pardons them, but is it true what the prosecutor said:

1. Deadly force happens often on the border. 13 times last year. A report must be filed and use of deadly force investigated.

2. In almost all the cases, deadly force is held to be justified following an investigation.

3. The agents were convicted, NOT for shooting at the fleeing suspect, but for hiding the fact that a shooting even took place, even going so far as to police the scene for shell casings and blood.

4. Therefore, they are NOT innocent by virtue of simply doing their job. They covered up a shooting that might have been ruled justifiable.

5. The cover-up was presented to the jury as evidence that the agents believed that they had shot at an unarmed man, which is against the law.

So, these agents are NOT totally innocent.

[calcowgirl]

...but is it true what the prosecutor said

No. I'll just give you one example.

Sutton (from your post): The agents were convicted, NOT for shooting at the fleeing suspect, but for hiding the fact that a shooting even took place, even going so far as to police the scene for shell casings and blood.

Reality:

On the civil rights and "tampering" charges (a. picking up shell casings--Compean only--and b. failing to verbally report to a supervisor that there was a shooting--even though he was well aware of it) Ramos and Compean were sentenced to 1 and 2 years respectively for all charges.

BUT... for Use Of A Firearm In Relation To A Crime Of Violence, Assault With A Dangerous Weapon and Assault With Serious Bodily Injury, they got 10 YEARS each. It was characterized as these two going on a killing spree and not just excessive force in the course of attempting to arrest the alien.

Sutton lies.