Speech #1100149295

Attorney Johnny Sutton deliberately delayed the arrest of Aldrete for a subsequent drug smuggling incident that occurred 54. Pt. 4 April 2. 2008 while Aldrete was under the grant of Immunity but before the trial date. All of this Information. of course. was withheld because it would have revealed Aldrete as a professional smuggler. not an innocent victim of the Border Patrol agents. This is a flagrant abuse of prosecutorial discretion. These mistakes were compounded by asking for a mandatory 10year sentence for Ramos and Compean for the use of a firearm in the commission of a "crime." The law was never intended to apply to law officers who use their weapons in the performance of their jobs. The key question at the trial was whether the drug smuggler Aldrete had a weapon and had pointed It at one of the Border Patrol agents. Mr. Aldrete denied having such a weapon. It was his word against the testimony of the Border Patrol agents. so the credibility of each witness was critical to the jurys evaluation of the incident. yet the jury was kept in the dark about Aldretes other arrests and his history as a drug smuggler. The mistakes made by Ramos and Compean in trying to apprehend Mr. Aldrete should have been handled as a violation of agency rules. the failure to write and file a report of an incident involving Aldrete. and punished by a 5day suspension. not by criminal prosecution.