TEXAS RANGER SAYS MILITARY ACTED TO OBSTRUCT BORDER DEATH INQUIRY

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A Texas Ranger who investigated the killing of an
18-year-old goatherder during a Marine Corps surveillance mission contends
that 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."

Duncan maintains that 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 Banuelos' team had ample time to rehearse their stories and retrace
their steps before state investigators could question them the day of the
shooting.

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

Banuelos shot Hernandez once in the chest with his M-16 after 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 faulted the Marines'
behavior and training but concluded the shooting wasn't a crime.

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

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

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski