BOTCHED BORDER CASE

Mishandled Conviction And Imprisonment Of Two Border
Patrol Agents Clouds Their Unjustified Shooting Of A
Drug Suspect.

Very little has gone by the book since Border Patrol agents Ignacio
Ramos and Jose Compean shot a fleeing drug suspect two years ago and
then tried to cover up evidence of the incident. Each was sentenced to
more than a decade in prison by a federal judge in El Paso after a
jury found them guilty of charges including assault with a deadly
weapon and violation of civil rights. Both are appealing their
convictions.

The two former lawmen have become the object of a nationwide campaign
by mostly conservative lawmakers to get their convictions overturned
or to have President Bush pardon them. They demanded protection for
the two men after other prisoners in a federal prison in Missouri beat
Ramos.

The former border agents' convictions are based on the testimony of
admitted drug smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican national who
was attempting to smuggle more than 700 pounds of marijuana into the
United States when he was stopped by the agents on the border near
Fabens in South Texas. He testified he jumped from a van unarmed and
was shot while running toward the Rio Grande. He fled across the river
and escaped.

Under a grant of immunity, Aldrete-Davila later testified against
Compean and Ramos. They claimed they thought he was carrying a firearm
and feared for their lives.

U.S. Rep. John Culberson of Houston has been the former agents'
outspoken champion. Culberson claims the agents' prosecution was
unjustified and "weakens border security by discouraging all U.S. law
enforcement officers from drawing their weapons in self-defense or in
the defense of our nation."

Culberson is angry that staffers for Homeland Security Inspector
General Richard Skinner gave erroneous information to him and other
lawmakers months ago painting the agents as rogue cops who bragged
before the incident that they wanted "to shoot a Mexican." Last week
Skinner admitted there was no basis for those statements, and
Culberson has called for the Skinner and his deputies to resign. U.S.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., threatened to push for impeachment of
President Bush if either former border guard is killed in prison.

The president has taken a cautious approach to the case, telling an El
Paso television reporter that law enforcement officers must follow
standards, "and according to a jury of their peers, these officers
violated some standards." Bush also appealed for a calm analysis of
the case.

The U.S. attorney who oversaw the prosecution, Johnny Sutton,
maintains that the agents shot someone they knew to be unarmed,
covered up a crime scene and then filed false reports. That hardly
sounds like the profile of people whose supporters describe them as
persecuted heroes.

It's obvious there have been missteps and misstatements by Homeland
Security officials in this case. However, mistakes subsequent to the
former agents' action cannot justify those actions.

Two wrongs don't make a right. President Bush is wise to tread
carefully through this highly emotional minefield while avoiding any
endorsement of actions that a jury decided were crimes.

Other lawmakers should follow his example.