Thread: Senate hearing on Ramos/Compean announced

Pardon The Border Two
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 7/13/2007

Justice: The Senate will hold hold hearings this week on the imprisonment of two border patrol agents who took their jobs seriously. Will we finally treat them with the compassion and justice reserved for those they tried to apprehend?

As the Democrats continue their fishing expedition into the "political" firings of eight U.S. attorneys, something President Bush is legally and constitutionally allowed to do, we're pleased the Senate is finally going to take up the case brought by one U.S. attorney whose firing would have been completely justified.

That would be the case of former Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, who are serving 12 and 11 years, respectively, for the non-fatal shooting in 2005 of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila. The agents shot Davila in the buttocks as he was transporting more than 700 pounds of marijuana into the U.S. through Fabens, Texas, about 40 miles east of El Paso.

The rogue prosecutor would be the U.S. attorney for Western Texas, Johnny Sutton, who has shown the same propensity for manipulating and concealing evidence for the furtherance of his agenda as disbarred and discredited Durham, N.C., District Attorney Mike Nifong did in the case of the now-exonerated Duke lacrosse players.

Sutton's actions have been so egregious that they prompted Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security, to ask for hearings into the prosecution and sentencing of Ramos and Compean.

Feinstein stated that the purpose of the hearings to begin on Tuesday "is to examine the facts of the Ramos and Compean cases, the appropriateness of the charges brought against them and the very heavy sentences they received."

As she noted in a letter to Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., requesting the hearings, "These men were given sentences that some individuals convicted of murder would not receive." Sentences, we might add, based on the suppression of evidence and the government's reliance on and coddling of a repeat drug-runner.

Compean and Ramos thought they were fulfilling their duties on Feb. 17, 2005, when they shot an allegedly unarmed Davila in the buttocks during his attempt to smuggle 743 pounds of drugs into the United States. They were convicted of, among other things, violating Davila's civil rights and trying to conceal their "crime."

What was notable about their case and trial was the extent to which the government took the smuggler's word over theirs and how the government bent over backwards to find and assist Davila, to the point of granting him immunity, extending it to a subsequent felony, then concealing that second felony from the jury, something that might have shattered the accuser's credibility.

No sooner had Davila bandaged his buns than the Department of Homeland Security sent an investigator to offer him immunity for illegally entering the U.S., smuggling the dope and unlawful flight to avoid arrest.

To sweeten the deal, the feds paid for treatment of Davila's injured backside at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. He showed his gratitude by breaking his immunity agreement by attempting to smuggle 753 pounds of weed into the U.S. the following October.

So what did the feds do? U.S. Attorney Sutton extended his immunity to the second felony and then sealed the indictment for this crime from jurors. And what did Davila do? He promptly filed a $5 million lawsuit against the feds who granted him immunity — twice.

It's the second incident that Sutton successfully concealed from the jury. As Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R.-Calif., has pointed out, "the prime witness against these two border patrol agents was involved in another major load of drugs and the prosecution made a conscious decision to keep these facts from the jury."

Sutton is expected to testify at the hearings on what CNN judicial expert Jeffrey Toobin described as "one of the most unusual prosecutions I've ever seen." Toobin adds: "I'm baffled why this case was brought." So are we.

A resolution sponsored by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego, and calling for a congressional pardon for Ramos and Compean, has already attracted 82 co-sponsors. President Bush could strengthen border security overnight by pardoning the agents and firing Sutton.

http://www.investors.com/editorial/edit ... 9883659426

Originally Posted by zeezil

There will be a segment on Lou Dobbs Tonight on Wednesday, July 11:

The Senate Judiciary committee has finally scheduled a hearing
for next week to examine the case of imprisoned border patrol
agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. We'll be joined by one
of the congressmen leading the fight to free the men, Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher.

Transcript

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=73322