RANGER SAYS MILITARY OBSTRUCTED INQUIRY INTO SHOOTING

Corps stands behind report that found Marines' actions weren't criminal

SAN ANTONIO - A Texas Ranger who investigated the killing of an 18-year-old
goatherd during a Marine Corps surveillance mission contends the military
obstructed an inquiry into the death and says he wants a grand jury to
consider the case a third time.

"The federal government came in and stifled the investigation," Rangers
Sgt. David Duncan told the San Antonio Express-News. "It's really
depressing. The system we hoped would work failed at the federal level."

Sgt. Duncan says subpoenas were ignored, documents were hidden and Marines
at times were kept from him and others who wanted to question them. He said
Cpl. Clemente Banuelos, the Marine who shot Esequiel Hernandez Jr., and
Cpl. Banuelos' team had ample time to rehearse their stories and retrace
their steps before state investigators could question them the day of the
shooting.

"Law enforcement succeeds because people respect the system and fear the
consequences of their actions. I almost feel like the Marines never had
either one," Sgt. Duncan said.

Last month, the chairman of the House Judiciary immigration subcommittee
blamed members of the Justice and Defense departments for negligence that
set the stage for the May 1997 death of Mr. Hernandez. The teen had crossed
paths with a four-man Marine team doing surveillance near Redford, about
200 miles southeast of El Paso.

Cpl. Banuelos shot Mr. Hernandez once in the chest with his M-16 after Mr.
Hernandez fired twice through the brush and reportedly raised his
.22-caliber rifle.

Two grand juries that investigated the shooting issued no indictments. The
Justice Department, which conducted a six-month civil rights inquiry, did
not prosecute.

The Navy Department, which oversees the Marine Corps, agreed in August
without admitting wrongdoing to pay $1.9 million to the Hernandez family to
settle a wrongful-death claim against the government.

The dispute over the shooting was reignited by partial release of a
13,000-page Marine Corps report in September. It found fault with the
Marines' behavior and training but concluded the shooting wasn't a crime.

Maj. Gen. John Coyne, who headed the Pentagon's investigation, said no
evidence proved a crime was committed and disputed the notion of a military
cover-up.

A prosecutor said more evidence would be needed to resubmit the case to a
grand jury.

Gen. Coyne attributed the shooting to inadequate training and failures in
the chain of command.

Maj. Ken White, a spokesman for the Marine Corps, said that the shooting
has been reviewed thoroughly and that Gen. Coyne's report speaks for itself.

"We stand by the evaluation and hard work that went into our
investigation," Maj. White said from the Pentagon.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski