Judge Patrick Higginbotham, who heard the appeal with Judges Grady Jolly and Edward Prado, said evidence that Davila made multiple attempts to smuggle drugs across the border, evidence kept from the jury, "strikes me as very relevant."
"It does seem to me like the government overreacted here," added Jolly, noting the severity of the charges and the lengthy sentences prosecutors sought, as he questioned Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Stelmach.
Stelmach acknowledged that Davila told "some lies" to investigators, but said jurors rejected the agents' argument that they acted in self-defense when they shot at Davila. He did not note that by concealing evidence of a second offense, the jurors might have thought Davila was a one-time "mule" and not a career drug-running felon.
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."
"How," asked Compean's attorney, Bob Baskett, "could the U.S. attorney . . . take the word of an admitted illegal alien drug smuggler over two agents with 15 years of experience who have been involved in over 100 drug busts and never hurt anybody?
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=281749442850121
2007-12-06
05:25:09
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