America's Most Wanted - Miscarriage Of Justice At The Border

http://www.amw.com/features/feature_story_detail.cfm?id=1369

Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos- Miscarriage Of Justice At The Border
1/4/2007

Overview
This lonely dirt road is where it all began.
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For Border Patrol Agents Joe Compean and Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos, February 7, 2005 was just another day of endless watching and waiting for illegal immigrants to cross the Rio Grande into the U.S. But catching illegals was a piece of cake compared to their battle against the drug cartels who are better-armed and whose foot soldiers outnumber them.

Over the last ten years or so, agents have been involved in a growing number of gun battles with drug runners on this side of the border. To say the least, the bad guys are getting more brazen and trigger-happy. So far, at least four smugglers have been killed. Our guardians of the Border have suffered no casualties. But the thought is always there: "Is this gonna be my day? Will I make it home tonight?"

Compean and Ramos may have been wondering that very thing as the events of February 7 began to unfold. The following is what occurred, according to TJ Bonner, President of the National Border Patrol Council:

Checking on a tripped sensor near the river, Agent Compean discovers footprints and drag marks -- a tip off that a load of drugs has just been smuggled across the river. Spotting a vehicle leaving the scene, Compean radios its description to agents covering the road ahead. Realizing he's been spotted, the smuggler turns around and heads back toward Compean.

According to Bonner, when the smuggler bails out of his van to make a run for the river, he fails to obey Compean's numerous commands to stop. After a brief physical struggle, the smuggler begins running toward the river again.

When he turns and points something shiny at Compean, the agent, believing his life is in danger, opens fire. Agent Ramos, hearing gunshots, comes to Compean's aide. He too shouts for the smuggler to stop, but this man once again turns around and points at Ramos. Ramos fires one shot. He appears to miss as his target turns and dissapears into the bank of the Rio Grande.

Border Patrol agents return to the suspicious van and look wide-eyed at almost 800 pounds of marijuana, worth about a million bucks on the street. Agents seize the payload and it seems like they've done their jobs. But a bizarre turn of events and an apparent miscarriage of justice would soon find Ramos and Compean on the wrong side of the courtroom.

Two Border Patrol Agents seize a van full of marijuana as the smuggler flees across the border. So how did that seemingly common scenario result in the agents facing long prison terms?
A Different Story
Overview
At the center of this baffling miscarriage of justice is this man, illegal alien Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila. For some reason, the US Attorney's Office believed his story over two experienced Border Patrol Agents.
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According to the U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, Ramos and Compean are not heroes. In fact, charges filed against the two suggest they are in fact criminals. Thanks to an odd partnership and a series of curious decisions, Compean and Ramos face long prison sentences.

The man behind the wheel of the marijuana-packed van was Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, an illegal alien and according to The New American, an admitted felon and drug smuggler. After this encounter, according to court testimony, Aldrete-Davila's family contacted a friend of the family, Rene Sanchez, a naturalized U.S. citizen and Border Patrol Agent, for advice. Sanchez now had to choose between his brothers-in-arms and a boyhood friend.

According to court testimony, Sanchez tutored Aldrete-Davila on getting back at Ramos and Compean, helping him get counsel and working out the best immunity deal he could.

It now fell to the U.S. Attorney, who was forced to decide which story he believed. He opted to believe Aldrete-Davila's account of that day, not the stories of Ramos and Compean. According to his version of events, Aldrete-Davila did not have a gun and was shot while trying to escape two Border Patrol Agents whom he feared.

But according to TJ Bonner, the Army doctor who treated Aldrete-Davila (on the taxpayer's dime), that story doesn't hold water. According to Bonner, Aldrete-Davila's entrance wound was on the left side of his left buttock and the bullet was found in his right side.

That entry wound is not consistent with someone fleeing. Rather, it looks like someone taking the "bladed stance," i.e., pointing a gun at someone. The stance would come from somenone firing a gun in his left hand. Bonner says Aldrete-Davila is, in fact, left-handed.

Still, the prosecutor, described by Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas), as overzealous, continued to believe Aldrete-Davila's scenario.

On March 8, 2006, a Federal Jury convicted the two agents of assault with serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and civil rights violations. But that verdict is in question as well.

According to the National Border Patrol Council, "three of the twelve jurors later submitted sworn affidavits alleging that they had been misled into believing that there could be no dissent in the decision of the jury, and that the minority would have to accede to the will of the majority. Despite this cloud over the propriety of the process, the judge refused to overturn the verdict."

On January 17, 2007, both former agents walked into the U.S. Marshals Service office in El Paso, Texas to begin serving their time. Aldrete-Davila, on the other hand, is now suing the U.S. government for $5 million.

Questions Still Remain
Overview
US Attorney Johnny Sutton requested to tell his side of the story to America's Most Wanted producers. Despite the interview, questions still remain.
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This is an obvious case of he said/they said. On the one hand, there is an illegal alien, on American soil, driving a van full of about $1 million in drugs. On the other side are two experienced law enforcement officers.

The U.S. Attorney's Office contacted an AMW producer, offering to give their side of this story. While the U.S. Attorney reiterated his stance on the issue, he never answered the question of why he sided with Aldrete-Davila instead of Compean and Ramos.

The interview also contained conflicting information. At one point, when asked why Aldrete-Davila wasn't charged with any crime, Sutton says that because of Ramos' and Compean's actions, there was no evidence to charge the alleged drug smuggler. Yet, moments earlier, Sutton admitted that Aldrete-Davila's van was found with a large quantity of marijuana.

Did Ramos and Compean make mistakes? Yes, no one can disagree on that. Should they have been punished and reprimanded for their transgressions? Again, everyone agrees that they should. But the 11 and 12 year sentences are forcing Border Patrol agents and law enforcement in general to question everything they do, at the detriment of our safety.