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June 16, 2005

Kin searching for answers in youth's death
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen

Irvin Ramon, stepfather of Bennett Patricio, and Angelita Reino Ramon, Patricio's mother, say the government has offered them three settlements in Bennett's death.
Mystery shrouds the death of 18-year-old Bennett Patricio.
He was killed when a U.S. Border Patrol truck ran over him on the Tohono O'odham Nation just before sunrise on April 9, 2002.

Questions about that night haunt his family. How did he end up lying in the middle of the road when another agent had just seen him walking alongside it? Why did that agent fail to tell anybody he'd seen the man until months later? And why is there a 15-minute discrepancy between when agents say the accident occurred, and when paramedics were dispatched?

The accident crushed Patricio's skull, chest and legs.

The circumstances and the Border Patrol's silence led the family to file a wrongful death suit against the federal government two years ago. They are still fighting for their day in court.

"The government has offered us three settlements," said Patricio's stepfather, Irvin Ramon, "but they haven't come to any resolution about what happened. This isn't about money. This is about justice." Details of the offers were not divulged.

An attorney for the family, K.K. Graham, argued in U.S. District Court yesterday that the case should be allowed to go forward because evidence indicates Border Patrol agent Cody Rouse acted out of negligence when he ran over Patricio, who had been drinking but was not legally intoxicated.

An attorney for the government argued that the case should be dismissed.

"Although tragic," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Gordon, "our agent did nothing wrong."

Gordon said that the accident occurred on a dark night, and that the agent had little time to respond.

Graham recounted statements in which Rouse said he saw Patricio about 60 feet before he hit him.

If Rouse had so little time to respond, it was likely because he didn't have his high beams on, as Arizona guidelines call for when driving on rural roads with no vehicles within 500 feet, Graham said. An expert hired by the family's lawyers determined that with high beams, Rouse should have had 314 feet and ample time to have stopped or driven around the body, Graham said.

Graham also laid out inconsistencies in Border Patrol statements that he said raised questions about the credibility of the agents involved.

When Rouse first called in the death, he reported it to dispatchers as a body in the road, without acknowledging that he had run over it, according to Tohono O'odham police reports previously obtained by the Tucson Citizen. The report stated that the police department treated it as a hit-and-run before Rouse told officers he had run over the body.

Another agent, David Garcia, who was following Rouse and witnessed the accident, refused to provide any information to investigating officers, according to the Tohono O'odham police report.

Gordon said inconsistencies were not relevant, and the judge should focus on whether Rouse acted in negligence. Rouse, Gordon said, did what any reasonable person would have done.

U.S. District Judge Cindy Jorgenson did not indicate when she would rule on the government's motion for summary judgment.

Patricio's mother, Angelita Reino Ramon, sat in the back of the courtroom listening to the painful details of her son's death. Later she stood outside the federal court building, saying she has fought depression but has had to be strong for her family, especially Patricio's 5-year-old daughter, who stood nearby, legs crossed and head down.

The worst has been not knowing what really happened.

She hopes the case will go forward so the truth can come out.

For more border coverage, go to www.tucsoncitizen.com/border.