Thread: U.S. attorney defends prosecution of Border Patrol agents

Of course he has to justify himself! I'm sending this story to Rep. Rohrabcher!
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May 10, 2007, 9:39PM
U.S. attorney defends prosecution of Border Patrol agents


By ANNE MARIE KILDAY
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Despite months of criticism from the media and members of Congress, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of the Western District of Texas has stepped up his defense in a decision to prosecute two former Border Patrol agents who shot an illegal immigrant and suspected drug smuggler two years ago.

Sutton told the Houston Chronicle on Thursday that "the rule of law" required him to prosecute former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean who are appealing their March 2006 convictions on federal charges stemming from the February 2005 shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila. Aldrete-Davila was unarmed and fleeing the Border Patrol when he was wounded by one of 15 shots fired at him by the two agents.

The case has become a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration reform, with immigration-control advocates and conservative House Republicans hailing Compean and Ramos as heroes unfairly prosecuted by the government.

"The facts have been misrepresented as 'These guys are American heroes doing their job, and a drug dealer has been set free,'" Sutton said in an interview with the Houston Chronicle editorial board.

"All I want to do is get the truth out, and I think the way to get the truth out is to duke it out in the public sphere," Sutton said. "That's what I am trying to do now, is to get the facts out."

The former Harris County prosecutor said he came to Houston to appear on the Edd Henry talk radio show, where the host has taken to calling him "Johnny Satan."

"I'm giving him the benefit of a doubt," Sutton said. He added: "I try not to take it personally. I went on that show because I grew up on the west side. I know Edd doesn't have many listeners, but the listeners he does have are on the west side of Houston."

Despite repeated criticism by conservative Republican congressmen, Sutton also said that he had not been contacted by or corresponded personally with any member of Congress.

"No, not that I recall. I do not recall any contacts about this," Sutton said. He said that he has run into people who have expressed concern about his well-being, after reading about him on the Internet.

Sutton said, "There's been quite a bit of nastiness," including personal threats, since the case went to trial. He said a few of those threats were reported to law enforcement officials.

Sutton said the two agents failed to report the shooting, "chucked" shells from their weapons into the Rio Grande and covered up the shooting.

Compean and Ramos are appealing their convictions, and their sentences of 12 and 11 years, respectively.

Sutton said those sentences are "stiff" but were set by Congress, for criminal acts committed while using firearms.

"I think a lot of this comes down to disagreement about punishment," Sutton said. "All I can say is, it's a lot of time, it's a lot of years, but it is what Congress set in place."

The two Border Patrol agents claimed at trial that they believed Aldrete-Davila had "a shiny object in his hand."

"Nobody claimed that, until a month later, when the investigators finally arrested people," Sutton said.

More than 250,000 Americans have signed an Internet petition urging President Bush to pardon the two men.

Sutton said that he believes that most members of the Border Patrol are true heroes.

"The Border Patrol truly are American heroes. Most of them are doing it right, and we back them up in court every day. They are our star witnesses every day ...," Sutton said. "But, when they cross over the line and they commit crimes, we cannot look the other way. And that's what we did not do in this case."

Sutton said he probably should have responded sooner and more aggressively to the steady drumbeat of criticism.

"Hindsight is 20-20 vision," Sutton said. "In this case, the misinformation has been so extensive and has become a narrative far and wide," Sutton said. "It's important to get the true facts on the table, because at some point, if the misinformation is repeated over and over again without anybody rebutting it, then all of a sudden it becomes true — at least in people's minds."

Sutton said that it is not true that Aldrete-Davila has subsequently been arrested in connection with another attempted drug smuggling attempt in October.

That case "is under investigation," Sutton said. "He has never been charged, he has never been arrested."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 94596.html

What a shock, the traitor defends his decision. I wonder if Mexico could use a slightly defective US Attorney? I'd be happy to see him sent there.

Sutton told the Houston Chronicle on Thursday that "the rule of law" required him to prosecute former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean

The rule of law? Are we selectively following that?

Ramos and Compean's have children! What about family re-unification!
And those children will not see their dad for 12 years!
Is this racism? After all, Ramos and Compean are Hispanic and Sutton is white.
What about their American dream? After all, according to Lindsey Graham it is just an idea that belongs to the whole world.
Ramos and Compean were only trying to live the American dream and put food on the table doing jobs that Americans, the congress, the senate and the President will not do....
Defending the border.

And they are in jail for 11 and 12 years.....

The knife cuts BOTH ways....
Who is the dream killing, justice abusing, bigots now?

oops!
double post

For anyone interested in listening to this while they do other things, here's the entire audio track. I guarantee it's worth the time as Pat and Edd eat him alive. These renegade members of our judiciary have no oversight except the media. And due the leftwing bias of most media, and except for a few unknowns like these two, there would be no oversight at all.

"All I want to do is get the truth out, and I think the way to get the truth out is to duke it out in the public sphere," Sutton said. "That's what I am trying to do now, is to get the facts out."

This political hack wouldn't know the truth if it came up and bit him on his ass.

Hey Johnny Satan ( I like that nickname ),

If you want the TRUTH to come out lets see the transcripts of the trial, you lying, sniveling Bush lapdog!

Tell us how those two men could NOT have reported to supervisors, when supervisors were ON THE SCENE.

Tell us how bad they are for not submitting a written report, when written reports are ONLY done by supervisory personnel.

You lie, Mr. Satan, just like your (nick)namesake.

Originally Posted by PinestrawGuys

Hey Johnny Satan ( I like that nickname ),

Me too!

Originally Posted by PinestrawGuys

Hey Johnny Satan ( I like that nickname ),

If you want the TRUTH to come out lets see the transcripts of the trial, you lying, sniveling Bush lapdog!

Tell us how those two men could NOT have reported to supervisors, when supervisors were ON THE SCENE.

Tell us how bad they are for not submitting a written report, when written reports are ONLY done by supervisory personnel.

You lie, Mr. Satan, just like your (nick)namesake.

Excellent points Pine! Right on!

Johnny Satan...what a name - fits him perfectly.

Misinformation is not justification for 11-12 years in prison in solitary confinement, especially away from their small children that need their fathers. No way!

Giving immunity to repeat criminal drug dealers for testimony is criminal and unforgivable.

heartless bastard