Legal News

Border agent won't be prosecuted for shooting Mexican teen in the back

By Jason Siegel

The federal government decided not to prosecute a Border Patrol agent who shot a 18 year-old Mexican man in the back, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division wrote the family of Guillermo Martinez Rodriguez, through their San Diego attorney, that they couldn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooting  near the San Ysidro port of entry on Dec. 30, 2005 was a violation of the federal criminal civil rights statutes.

Border Patrol officials first said the shooting by Faustino Campos was in self-defense, saying Martinez threw a rock that barely missed his head.Later they suggested Martinez was involved in human smuggling, which his family denies. They say the father of two, who'd been arrested 11 times for illegally crossing the border, was doing it to get work.

Martinez's brother Agustin, who was with his brother was shot as they were running away and no rocks were thrown, NPR reported (LISTEN). Then-President Vicente Fox ordered a full investigation.

There have been two agent-involved shootings in San Diego County, one fatal, in the three weeks, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on February 18, 2008 (boomark / email).