U.S. Attorney Response To Ruling On Compean, Ramos Convictions

Statement of U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton regarding the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion in United States vs. Ramos and Compean:

I am pleased with today’s ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concerning the prosecutions of Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos.

By affirming the convictions of the most serious charges against Mr. Compean and Mr. Ramos, the court has validated what this office has said all along – this prosecution was about the rule of law, plain and simple.

The Fifth Circuit, in upholding the majority of Compean and Ramos’ convictions, stated that “[t]he trial of the case was conducted fairly and without reversible error.” With today’s decision, I would ask that those who have criticized the prosecution, generally relying upon misleading and at times false versions of what happened, will re-evaluate their positions in light of the court record, including the description of the evidence provided by the Fifth Circuit opinion.

I believe that those who understand the record and the evidence introduced at trial will realize that the actions of Compean and Ramos in shooting an unarmed and fleeing suspect were serious crimes which had to be prosecuted in order to maintain the rule of law.