BORDER PATROL AGENTS' CONVICTION RILES UNION CHIEF

Two U.S. Border Patrol agents facing 20 years in prison for shooting
in the buttocks a drug-smuggling suspect should get a new trial
because they are "victims of prosecutorial misconduct," including an
unjust grant of immunity, says the head of the National Border Patrol Council.

NBPC President T.J. Bonner said exonerating evidence was withheld
during the March trial of Senior Agents Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and
Jose A. Compean, whose sentencing is set for Tuesday, adding that the
agents followed long-established Border Patrol policies in the incident.

He also said the suspect fled into Mexico after the shooting but
later was given immunity on drug-smuggling charges to testify against
the agents.

"This thing stinks to high heaven," Mr. Bonner said. "I am outraged
and at a loss to explain why there were so many irregularities in
this case. The only thing that is clear is that the prosecutors
pointed their guns at the wrong guys, the good guys, and they let the
bad guy walk. Now they want to send these agents to prison for doing their job.

"That offends me, and I believe most Americans would agree," he said.

On Friday, two of the 12 jurors who convicted the agents told the
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario, Calif., that they were
pressured by prosecutors to return guilty verdicts and that other
jurors sought a quick verdict because spring break was a week away
and they wanted to avoid a long deliberation.

Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila was wounded as he ran from the agents along
the Rio Grande near El Paso, Texas. The agents said he pointed what
appeared to be a gun at them as they tried to apprehend him. More
than 800 pounds of marijuana, worth $1 million, was found in the van
he abandoned at the river's edge.

Aldrete-Davila is suing the federal government for $5 million, saying
his civil rights were violated.

A federal jury in El Paso convicted Ramos, 37, and Compean, 28, in
March of causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon,
discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and a civil
rights violation. The shooting occurred Feb. 17.

Spotted in his van near the Rio Grande, records show Ramos gave chase
while Compean circled around to head off the suspect. When
Aldrete-Davila jumped out of the van and ran south to the river, he
was confronted by Compean, who was thrown to the ground as the two
men fought. Ramos said he saw Compean on the ground and chased
Aldrete-Davila to the river, where the suspect suddenly turned toward
him, pointing what looked like a gun.

"I shot, but I didn't think he was hit because he kept running into
the brush and then disappeared into it," Ramos said. "Later, we all
watched as he jumped into a van waiting for him. He seemed fine. It
didn't look like he had been hit at all."

Mr. Bonner said that two weeks later, Aldrete-Davila called a Border
Patrol agent in Arizona to say he was "forming a hunting party" to
track down and shoot some agents for revenge. Mr. Bonner said the
agent, who lived in Mexico and knew Aldrete-Davila before immigrating
to the United States and becoming a citizen, advised against the plan
and said he would report the incident to the Department of Homeland Security.

An investigator from the Office of Inspector General tracked down
Aldrete-Davila in Mexico, where he was offered immunity in exchange
for testimony. Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Kanof, who prosecuted
the case, was not available yesterday for comment. During the trial,
she argued it was a violation of Border Patrol policy for agents to
pursue fleeing suspects.

Mr. Bonner, a 28-year Border Patrol veteran, also said the NBPC,
which represents all 10,000 of the agency's nonsupervisory agents,
opposed efforts under way in California by Friends of the Border
Patrol and Grassfire.org to petition President Bush for a pardon,
saying that would suggest the agents did something wrong. He said the
NBPC "is confident the agents will be exonerated at a fair trial."

Border Patrol officials have declined to comment on the case, citing
pending litigation.