Ramos and Compean loose their appeal
By reformedhippie. Filed in Border Control |
Following up on the case of Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean (see previous posts "Report: Did DHS Lie in Border Agents trial", "“Comprehensive immigration bill…” Let’s start with Compean and Ramon", "Border control agents running scarred… from our own Feds", "Bush lets Americans down… again", and most recently "Osvaldo Aldrete Davila finally pleads guilty"), on Friday, August 1st, both Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean lost their appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on the most serious of the charges of assault, discharge of a weapon in the commission of a crime of violence, tampering with an official proceeding, and deprivation of civil rights. However the charges of obstruction of justice were overturned.
In their opinion (
to Jurist Legal News and Research):
For the most part, the trial of this case was about credibility, and although the jury could have gone either way, it chose not to believe the defendants’ version of the crucial events of February 17. The trial of the case was conducted fairly and without reversible error. The exclusion of evidence relating to the size of the marijuana load and Aldrete-Davila’s alleged involvement in drug-trafficking events of October 2005 did not violate the defendants’ Sixth Amendment rights to present a complete defense nor did it deny them a proper cross-examination of a witness against them. They were denied no right of due process for lack of notice that § 924(c) could be applied to police officers while performing law enforcement duties. Nor was the § 924(c) indictment defective. Moreover, the defendants were properly convicted of substantive crimes, not for violating Border Patrol policies. In instructing the jury, no reversible errors were committed and, finally, the evidence fully supports the jury verdict. We therefore affirm the convictions for counts 1 through 5 and counts 11 and 12.
Yet another travesty of justice. I am not a legal beagle by any means, but it is incredibly obvious that any future/prior acts that demonstrate a criminal nature should be allowed in court. Let the jury figure out what it means. The appeals court takes notice of Aldrette-Davilla’s subsequent illegal activities in their decision:
… evidence of other drug activities, in the context of the credibility question before it, might prove to be
of some relevance, but because the evidence was so prejudicial to the trial of the case and so potentially confusing to the jury, its relevance was substantially outweighed by its prejudice and it could not be admitted.
This is the falacy of our justice system. Judges are allowed to determine what evidence the jury is allowed to see. In this case the judge felt that the jury was either too stupid or perhaps ignorant to distinguish between the acts committed by Aldrette-Davilla on February 17th (which is the date the agents shot Aldrette-Davilla) and October 2005. The appeals court even acknowledged that the events of October 2005 “might prove to be of some relevance“. Yet it was withheld from the jury. Oh, by the way, Aldrette-Davilla was later charged for those events of October 2005. Mighty convenient. In my opinion US Attorney Johnny Sutton allowed Aldrette-Davilla to remain uncharged on the October 2005 crimes until after the Ramos-Compean trial which began in 2006. Had he been charged the jury would have known about his subsequent actions and perhaps counted Aldrette-Davilla as a criminal and liar.
And let us not forget that Aldrette-Davilla is a criminal in the United States illegally.
Instead Aldrette-Davilla was allowed to assert Fifth Amendment rights out of the presence of the jury and therefore the jury never knew about the incident.
Several U.S. officials have voiced their displeasure and outrage at this miscarridge of justice. US Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) release this statement:
The drug dealer was continuing to run drugs into the U.S. while serving as the government’s star witness. The fact that the drug dealer’s criminal activity persisted even as he took the stand against these agents is reason enough to vacate these two convictions… I intend to appeal to the President once again and personally request that he review the facts of this case and immediately pardon Agents Ramos and Compean.
Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) have similar reactions:
While I am still reviewing this opinion, it’s clear that Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean will not receive the relief that they deserve. It’s been more than one year now since Senator Feinstein and I first called on the President to address this miscarriage of justice. With this court decision, it is now more important than ever for the President to act.
As I have long said, it is incomprehensible to me that an illegal alien drug smuggler was allowed to violate his immunity agreement, perjure himself and be granted a series of unlimited visas to roam free in our country while two border patrol agents were given excessive prison sentences. The sentences of 11 years for Agent Ramos and 12 years for Agent Compean were significantly higher than for many other serious crimes.
This administration has now had ample time to carefully gather and review the facts of this case. The facts, in my view, point to a clear case of prosecutorial overreach and a case where the sentence does not match the crime. This case cries out for a commutation that is fair and just, and I once again call on President Bush to act.
It appears that the only hope of these two Border Patrol agents lies within the Supreme Court. But don’t count on support there. And don’t wait on Bush to pardon them… he has more serious things to think about. Like Scooter Libbey’s future…
