REDFORD SLAYING PROBE BLASTED

WASHINGTON — A congressional report to be made public today on the
death of a West Texan who was shot by U.S. Marines is critical of a
Justice Department investigation of the incident.

"They simply did not do their job," Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio,
said of the Justice Department's investigation of the May 20, 1997,
death of Esequiel Hernandez Jr., 18, of Redford.

Hernandez was shot by U.S. Marines on an anti-drug patrol along the
Rio Grande.

"The next step is for the Department of Justice to take some
additional actions," said Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary
subcommittee on immigration.

The report is being released following a 1 1/2-year investigation by
the subcommittee. Smith declined to release details until today.

No further congressional hearings are planned, he said.

"We have done all we can," Smith said.

Hernandez family members were notified Wednesday that the
congressional probe had ended.

Neither federal nor state grand juries returned an indictment against
the four Marines who shot Hernandez while he was herding his family's
goats. He died at the scene.

The Marines claimed Hernandez fired on the patrol, which was heavily
camouflaged and hiding on a ridge on the outskirts of Redford, a rural
agricultural town in Texas' sparsely populated Big Bend region.

Hernandez carried a .22-caliber rifle, and a Marine investigation into
the shooting concluded Cpl. Clemente Banuelos fired to protect the
life of a member of his patrol.

The Marine report also cited a lack of training for troops involved in
domestic operations and was critical of the poor radio communication
between Immigration and Naturalization Service officials in Marfa and
the patrol they were supervising 70 miles away on the border.

Banuelos has been honorably discharged from the Marines.

The Navy Department, which oversees the Marines, agreed to a $1.9
million, out-of-court settlement with the Hernandez family, which
filed a wrongful death claim against the government.

"It was a tragic, tragic event," Navy Secretary John Dalton said. "My
heart goes out to the family of that young man."

A Justice Department investigation following the shooting also cleared
the Marine patrol of criminal wrongdoing.

Smith launched his subcommittee probe into the incident when federal
agencies failed to turn over documents in the case.

Texas Rangers also charged military and federal officials hampered the
investigation by moving the Marines to out-of-state locations within
days of the shooting.

Smith said the subcommittee investigation focus was on INS and Justice
Department handling of the shooting, and not whether Marines were
criminally negligent in the death.

"We didn't want to second-guess the grand jury," he
said.

Smith said his subcommittee report will show that the Justice
Department failed to investigate the shooting thoroughly.

"In this incident, a number of actions were taken to prevent justice
from being carried out," Smith said.

The Marine investigation led to reprimands of supervisory
personnel.

The Justice Department probe produced no punishment for INS or Border
Patrol officials, who oversaw the Joint Task Force 6 military missions
along the Rio Grande.

Smith said the Justice Department investigation contained "glaring
omissions" and failed to address policy questions involving training
and supervision.

Meanwhile, the death of the young goatherd has drawn the attention of
human rights groups opposed to militarization of the U.S.- Mexico
border to staunch drug smuggling and undocumented immigration.

Amnesty International has documented incidents of abuse by U.S.
officials against Mexican and American citizens in a recent report,
"Human Rights Concerns in the Border Region with Mexico."

Nick Rizza, an Amnesty International spokesman in California, said
reports of escalating human rights abuses on the border violates
standards established by the international community and endorsed by
the United States and the United Nations.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry