Families Of Border Patrol Agents On Trial ‘Fear For Their Safety’

EL PASO, Texas (AP) – A U.S. Border Agent accused of trying to cover up the wounding of a suspected drug smuggler last year told jurors Friday he didn’t report the incident because he was afraid no one would be believe him.

“Agents are always to blame when something happens” at the Fabens station, Agent Jose Alonso Compean testified. “I thought nobody was going to be believe what had happened because the driver was gone.”

Compean, who along with Agent Ignacio Ramos is charged with nearly a dozen federal crimes including assault with intent to commit murder, answered hours of questions from prosecutors Friday.

He told jurors he shot at Osvaldo Aldrete Davila because he thought Aldrete pointed a gun at him after a brief foot chase and physical confrontation. Compean also told jurors that he picked up several bullet casings after the shooting and tossed them into a nearby drainage ditch.

“There was no reason,” Compean said of picking up the casings. “I saw them and just picked them up. I had them in my hand and just tossed them.” Ramos fired one shot at Aldrete, a Mexican national who has admitted smuggling about 700 pounds of marijuana on Feb. 17, 2005, hitting him in the buttocks.

After being hit, Aldrete ran across the Rio Grande into Mexico near Fabens. Compean and Ramos didn’t report the shooting, which was only discovered after Aldrete’s mother told the mother-in-law of an Arizona Border Patrol agent what happened. The agents were arrested about a month after the incident.

While testifying Friday, Compean several times seemed to contradict details of Ramos’ earlier testimony. For instance, Ramos said he found Compean on the ground near the river after hearing several shots fired.

But when questioned by a prosecutor Friday, Compean said he was on one knee and starting to get to his feet when Ramos ran past him and fired a single shot. Ramos also told jurors he yelled at Aldrete to stop but Compean said he never heard Ramos shout anything.

Ramos’ father-in-law, Joe Loya, said the inconsistencies were not significant. “There’s no way you can remember exactly what happened a year ago,” Loya said. Lawyers for both sides finished their cases Friday. Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments and begin deliberations on Monday.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-03-03-06 1944EST