Last Tuesday I posted saying that Pres. Bush should pardon Ramos and Compean. I have now decided I was wrong in asking that. Here’s why:

Last Tuesday Pat Patterson commented,

I couldn’t disagree more, both lied about the fight and the struggle, one returned and buried the casings a 1/4 mile away, both claimed that they were being supervised on the radio yet most of the reinforcements were anywhere from 8 to 12 miles away.

They both lied about whether Aldarte was shot even though trackers follwed his blood trail across the border the next morning and they did not file the required discharge of firearm report and they couldn’t convince a jury of their innocence and have since lost every appeal. A jury of locals who returned a verdict of guilty within an hour of being sequestered.

They beat Aldarte, one shot Aldarte they both lied in their sworn statements and lied under oath and most importantly no one in the Border Patrol has complained about the conviction.

Pat emailed yesterday and he explains the reasons why Ramos and Compean should not be pardoned:

Since a few months after 9/2005 there has been a steady drumbeat of pleadings from most notably Lou Dobbs of CNN, TJ Bonner of the union representing the Border Patrol agents and Jerome Corsi, of Unfit for Command, who are pushing the idea that Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were innocent of shooting an unarmed drug smuggler named Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila near Fabens Texas on the Rio Grande River. This is much like the Left’s undying fascination in probing for the littlest of contradiction in evidence or testimony and basically ignoring the facts of the case against Mumia Al-Jabar. The case of Ramos and Compean is generally repeated over and over by many that have never read any of the articles written at the time or any of the factual reconstructions of the shooting.

The best recounting of the trial is from an article by Pamela Coloff in the Texas Monthly of 9/2007 that provides a narrative of the shooting and the subsequent glossing over of the facts of the case.

Badges of Dishonor (available with free registration).

Then there is also a point by point refutation, of the wilder pro Ramos and Compean arguments, by the US Attorney for the Western District of Texas and lead prosecutor Johnny Sutton. His response came in a DOJ press release in April of 2007 after the first appeal and when at least 2 pardon bills had introduced in Congress. Which were subsequently tabled this year when Congress decided to spend Christmas at home. The last attempt is a petition that demands commutation of the sentences by the outgoing president. But considering the fate of Isaac Toussie’s pardon it would not be wise to hold one’s breath waiting for a commutation of the nearly ten year sentences.

United States Attorney Johnny Sutton Sets the Record Straight Regarding the Prosecution of Ramos and Compean

The last link is from an article from the online magazine Salon by Alex Koppelman, 9/2007, who after a brief recounting of the shooting investigates the characters who have taken advantage of the press’s laziness and the faith many have in the accuracy of the blogs the regularly read.

The ballad of Ramos and Compean
How the anti-immigration right — and Lou Dobbs — turned two rogue Border Patrol agents into heroes and got Congress on their side.

But to me the most damning thing of all is the utter depravity of ex-agent Ignacio Ramos when complaining about his sentence remarked, ” If anything , Compean and I should have gotten an administrative punishment–if that. As for Aldrete-Davila, you know what? …He got what he deserved?”

Fausta-I hope this is what you can use. If you need to make changes go ahead or I’ll rewrite if necessary.

I urge all my visitors to read these articles, especially the US Attorney’s office document. In view of this information, I was wrong in asking that they be pardoned. They shouldn’t be.

Special thanks to Pat for his reply.

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Bush pardons 19, commutes 1 prison term

Before leaving for the holidays, President Bush on Tuesday commuted the prison sentence of a drug offender and granted 19 pardons, including one to a man who helped the Jewish resistance in the 1940s.

With this latest batch, which includes forgiveness for convictions ranging from gun and drug violations to bank and mail fraud, Bush has granted a total of 191 pardons and nine commutations. That’s fewer than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their two terms.

I fervently hope President Bush will pardon Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean before he leaves office. Ramos and Compean should be set free.

More on Ramos and Compean here.

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