Thread: AZ:Family of migrant slain by BP agent to receive $350K

Family of migrant slain by BP agent to receive $350K
By Jamar Younger
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.05.2009
A U.S. District Court judge ruled Wednesday that the 2003 shooting death of an illegal immigrant by a Border Patrol agent was not justified, in response to a civil lawsuit filed by the man's family.
The family of Ricardo Olivares Martinez, 22, will receive $350,000 after it was deemed that Border Patrol agent Cesar Cervantes used excessive force when he shot Martinez in the chest several times in June 2003, according to a decision written by Judge Raner Collins.
Martinez's family originally was awarded $1 million, but Collins reduced the figure because Martinez was fleeing a law-enforcement officer, the decision stated.
According to reports at the time, the incident began as a group of illegal entrants jumped a border fence and was found by Border Patrol agents near the Douglas Port of Entry.
The group scattered, with Martinez running back to the fence and trying to jump it.
He turned to confront the agent and began throwing rocks at him. Cervantes said he ordered Martinez to stop and shot him when he did not.
The incident led to a civil-rights investigation by the FBI, but no criminal charges were ever filed against Cervantes. The FBI dropped the investigation in October 2003.
According to the judge's Wednesday order:
Cervantes said during a court hearing in October that while he was drawing his gun, he warned Martinez multiple times to drop the rock.
After Martinez failed to jump the fence, Cervantes chased him across a U.S. road and into a desert area, which took no longer than seven seconds.
Cervantes then shot him, feeling his life was in danger.
But Collins said the scenario didn't make sense to him because there wasn't enough time for Martinez to make it across the road, pick up some rocks, get warned multiple times and get ready to throw the rocks before being shot.
Cervantes "was not in imminent danger from the deceased, and the deceased was not about to commit a felony that endangered the well-being of another," the judge's order read.
The attorney for Cervantes' family could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
The Border Patrol is working with the U.S. Attorney's Office to review the judge's decision, said Omar Candelaria, an agency spokesman.
"Once the review is completed by the Border Patrol and Attorney's Office, we will determine what measures, if any, are required," Candelaria said.
Cervantes is not working in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, but Candelaria did not say whether he was still employed by the Border Patrol in another sector.
The ruling likely won't cause the Border Patrol to review its policies because confrontations involving rocks are considered deadly-force encounters, he said.
However, the situation isn't likely to repeat itself, he said, because agents now have less-lethal weapons available, such as pepper-ball launchers, that weren't widely available in 2003.
"We have tools that we didn't have in 2003," he said. "We can use less-lethal means in those situations."
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/282936


Not a thing said about who represented Mexican Nationals in US court, not a thing said about how rulings like this effect Border Patrol recruitment!

This is a travesty, "less than leathel..."

And unlike private parties who can evade a civil judgement indefinitely, the US government will no doubt pay up.

dirty, corrupt, slimey politics - all to appease Mexico!
Insane.

Originally Posted by alamb

dirty, corrupt, slimey politics - all to appease Mexico!
Insane.

Ditto!

We have the most unpatriotic or anti-American people in charge I have seen in my life time, what a shame.