Headline: U.S. may file case against Marines in goatherd's(sic)death

BORDERS: A grand jury found Thursday that Cpl. Clemente Banuelos was
defending a fellow Marine when he killed the youth, 18.

By EDUARDO MONTES The Associated Press

EL PASO, TexasFederal prosecutors announced Friday they are looking into
possible civilrights violations in the fatal shooting of an 18yearold
goatherd who was gunned down along the border by a Marine.

A grand jury determined Thursday that Cpl. Clemente Banuelos was defending
a fellow Marine when he killed 18yearold Esequiel Hernandez Jr. near the
Rio Grande, where the teen had been grazing his goats.

The decision outraged his family.

"I think somebody should be held responsible for the death of my brother,"
Margarito Hernandez said Friday. "They made it look like it was his fault.
I don't know, the only mistake he did was to go pasture his goats on that
day."

Esequiel Hernandaz was killed May 20 after crossing paths with a fourman
Marine unit assigned to watch a suspected drugsmuggling route at the
request of the Border Patrol in Redford, a tiny community 200 miles
southeast of El Paso.

Texas Rangers and local prosecutors who investigated the shooting said they
had evidence that conflicted with the Marines' reports. The teen's family
said he carried a to protect his livestock from predators and occasionally
to shoot at targets.

The grand jury concluded that although Hernandez might have been shooting
in the direction of the camouflaged Marines, he probably didn't know they
were there.

Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Antonio,
said the Justice Department's civilrights division had been reviewing the
incident but was "taking a backseat role to allow the local district
attorney to complete his investigation first."

"Now...we will probably start picking up on our end," he said.

It is not unprecedented for federal charges to be filed against a person
who beat Rodney King were acquitted of state charges but later convicted of
violating his civil rights.

Meanwhile, the military is still reviewing whether it is appropriate to use
troops to help stem drug traffic or in any other way support domestic
police efforts.

The Pentagon has temporarily suspended surveillance missions such as the
one that ended in Hernandez's death, although the military continues to
assist civilian authorities by providing intelligence and other support.

Redford residents are also still expected to pursue a civil case against
the military.

Melvin La Follette, head of a committee that will lead the community's
legal actions, said that in Redford there is "quite a bit of disgust and
anger and a determination to press ahead."

"We know that we're taking on the most powerful government in the world,"
he said, "but it must be done."