Military:A Texas prosecutor is preparing to take the case of
the death of a teen near the Mexican border to a grand jury.
By MICHELLE KOIDIN
The Associated Press
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Accompanying photoDEFENDS CLIENT: Jack Zimmermann right, answers
questions about his client, Marine Cpl. Clemente Banuelos, in
photograph on table,on Wednesday in Houston.
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HOUSTON An attorney passed out 8by10 photographs of a baby
faced Marine on Wednesday and insisted the 22yearold broke no
laws when he shot and killed a Redford teenager near the U.S.Mex
ican border.

Jack Zimmermann, a civilian attorney retained by Cpl. Clemente
Banuelos, summoned reporters to respond to what he called "disin
formation" disseminated since the May 20 shooting.

Zimmermann, a retired Marine Corps colonel who took the case this
month, spoke out as Presidio County District Attorney Albert Valadez
prepared to present findings to a grand jury in the next week or two.

"Cpl. Banuelos fired only as a last resort and, in our judgment,he
did not violate any criminal law of the state of Texas or of the United
States," Zimmermann said.

The lawyer and military officials agree that Esequiel Hernandez Jr.,
a Redford high school student who was tending his goat herd,was shot
after firing twice at a fourman Marine surveillance team that was watch
ing a suspected drug route at the request of the Border Patrol.

The military maintains that the 18yearold had raised his .22caliber
rifle for a third shot when Banuelos fired his M16.

The Marine Corps has said it stands by its personnel, but civilian inves
tigators have said Hernandez might not have seen the camouflaged troops and
that the evidence doesn't match the soldiers' accounts. An autopsy indicated
that the teenager was not facing the Marines when he was shot.

"He was not shot in the back," Zimmermann said. "He was shot in the right
front rib cage."

There has been speculation that the teenager might have thought he was
shooting at an animal or a rock.

Zimmermann, who just returnned from visiting with his client at Camp Pen
dleton, dismissed that theory.

"They were clearly identifiable as people," he said. "They were carrying a
black water can...they had communications gear, they had full packs on, the
camouflage paint was off their faces, they didn't have helmets on."

He added: "In their view, there was no question that they had been
recognized."

Zimmermann said the Marines had been on duty for three days and had
sweated off
the Camouflage paint that helps them to blend into the West Texas
landscape. He con
ceded, however, that Hernandez was at least 200 yards away when he fired
his rifle,
and Zimmermann could not say how big the water can was.

He disputed reports that the Marines did not try to help Hernandez,
saying they
waited for the Border Patrol to arrive and did not move him because it
appeared he
was alive and had a broken neck.

The attorney contended it wasn't the first time Hernandez fired his
rifle in the
area. Zimmermann said the teenager shot at two Border Patrol agents in
February and
was warned not to do so .