Monday, December 03, 2007

Judge - prosecutors may have overreacted in Ramos, Compean case

After a hearing in New Orleans, an appeals court judge says federal prosecutors may have overreacted in their case against former border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. The two men are serving lengthy prison sentences for shooting a fleeing drug suspect.

Judge E. Grady Jolly is one of three judges in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing the appeals. He questioned whether the two agents would have been charged if they had reported the shooting. "For some reason, this one got out of hand, it seems to me," Jolly said of the agents' prosecution. He said it seems "that the government overreacted" in the prosecution that led to a 12-year prison term for Compean and an 11-year term for Ramos.

The agents' attorneys are asking the 5th Circuit to throw out their convictions. A federal jury in El Paso convicted the Border Patrol agents of assault, obstruction of justice and civil rights violations in the wounding of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila near El Paso in 2005. Aldrete survived the shooting, but was arrested in November after an October indictment on various drug charges.

There's no indication when the judges will rule in the appeals. Compean attorney Bob Baskett says he's encouraged by Jolly's comments, but Ramos attorney David Botsford says he's not reading anything into the remarks.

4 comments:

  1. Judge says may have overreacted??? I think it's just horrible what happened to Ramos and Compean!
    It's time things started going their way.
    I wish them the best of luck.
    They are in my prayers.

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  2. I agree, It's past time that this government, State, County,and City officials stop catering to big business and PAC groups. And get down to business and good common sense decision making according to our existing laws of this country. And forget political correctness and all the other influences that are pulling and keeping us apart of communicating with each other.
    Its past time for sure, about 30 years past time.

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  3. They beat the man so he ran. Hell, I would have run too even if I was innocent.Then they shot him. It boils down to a modern day lynching where the NeoKlan doesn't want to convict because the victim is not the same race. They're making up stuff that the victim had a gun etc. If true, why lie about the shooting? This type thinking is how the Holocaust began, the master race is the important one here, subhumans can be shot without repercussions.Pathetic psychos.

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Please be civil. Thank you.