FEDS WON'T PRESS CHARGES IN BORDER SHOOTING

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Marine who fatally shot a West Texas teen- ager during
a drug patrol along the border won't face federal civil rights violation
charges, the Justice Department informed a Texas congressman this week.

A spokesman for Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, said Justice officials
informed Smith that they wrapped up their civil-rights investigation
against Marine Cpl. Clemente Banuelos last month after a federal grand jury
in Pecos concluded its work in the shooting death of 18-year-old Esequiel
Hernandez Jr. of Redford.

Banuelos fired the shot last May 20 that killed Hernandez as he was tending
to his herd of goats near his home.

"The shooting death of Esequiel Hernandez remains troubling," said Smith,
who as chairman of the House immigration subcommittee has raised questions
about the Border Patrol's role in the shooting. "The public has a right to
know who is responsible for this death. But no one is being held
accountable."

Lee Douglass, a spokeswoman for Justice's Office of Civil Rights, today
declined comment. Attorneys for Banuelos and the Hernandez family didn't
return calls today.

Rev. Melvin LaFollette, a priest who heads a Redford committee examining
legal action in the matter, today expressed outrage at word of the Justice
Department's decision, which hasn't been officially given the community.

"It's outrageous that they should come to that conclusion,"

LaFollette said. "We've got to seek justice and if our own `Department of
Injustice' refuses to do anything, we will have to go the civil route."

Smith said he has initiated a new inquiry into the shooting now that
Justice's investigation is completed. Last fall, at the request of Attorney
General Janet Reno, Smith agreed to postpone hearings by his panel into the
shooting pending completion of the civil-rights investigation. He has
voiced irritation at what he terms a lack of Justice Department cooperation
and was angered by the department's month-long delay in notifying him about
the end of the civil-rights investigation.

End of the civil-rights probe would mark the conclusion of a second
investigation into the death of Hernandez, who was tending his goats when
he encountered the four-man camouflaged Marine patrol watching for drug
smuggling crossing the Rio Grande.

A Presidio County grand jury also declined to indict anyone after a state
criminal investigation into the shooting.

The shooting highlighted the controversial role of using armed military
personnel in anti-trafficking efforts along the U.S.- Mexico border. In the
wake of the death, the Defense Department suspended the use of armed
military personnel for missions along the border.

Hernandez was killed after crossing paths with a four-man Marine unit
assigned to watch a suspected drug smuggling route at the request of the
Border Patrol.

Military officials said Hernandez fired twice in the direction of the
Marines, who were in camouflage, with a .22-caliber rifle and was aiming at
one of the soldiers when Banuelos, the team leader, shot the teen once with
an M-16. The Hernandez family believes the youth, who was tending his herd
of goats and often carried a gun to protect the animals , had no idea the
Marines were there.

The Hernandez family is pursuing a civil claim against the government.