The US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that the parents of Sergio Hernandez, a 15-year-old Mexican teenager who was shot and killed by Border Patrol Agent Jesus Mesa on June 7, 2010, could sue Mesa in U.S. civil court for alleged excessive use of force. This was a reversal of the initial judgment made in Mesa’s favor in the lower Western District Court in El Paso, TX.
Jesus Hernandez and Maria Guereca brought a total of eleven claims against the U.S. government, Mesa, and several Border Patrol supervisors, according to the text of the Appeals Court ruling. The first seven claims were brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, based on “multiple allegations of tortious conduct,” and the next two claims involved allegations that Hernandez’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights were violated. The key claim, however, was that Mesa was liable under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics through his “use of excessive, deadly force.”
According to the text of the ruling, on the day of the shooting in 2010, Hernandez was allegedly gathered with a group of "friends" on the Mexican side of a cement culvert that separated the Texas border city of El Paso and the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez. Advocates for the group claim they were playing a game in which they would illegally cross onto U.S. soil, run up to the barbed wire border fence and then run back. Agent Mesa detained one of Hernandez’s friends (the ruling did not explain the circumstances), after which Hernandez retreated behind the pillars of the Paso del Norte international bridge. At some point, Mesa shot at Hernandez from the U.S. side of the border into Mexico, hitting him in the face and killing him.
On April 27, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release announcing it had closed the investigation into Mesa’s actions, and contained information that was markedly different than the court ruling. Along with several media reports, the release said a group of individuals were attempting to illegally cross the border and were throwing rocks at agents as a diversion. Mesa said he shot Hernandez in self defense as he was being pelted while attempting to detain a border crosser. The Justice Department investigation revealed that Mesa “did not act inconsistently with CBP policy or training regarding use of force.” Although they couldn’t succeed in criminal court, Hernandez’s parents chose to pursue a lawsuit in civil court instead. Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby previously reported how such rock attacks have caused serious bodily injury and risk of death to U.S. Border Patrol agents.
The 5th Circuit Court ruling affirmed the District Court’s decision that the claims brought against the U.S. government and Border Patrol supervisors should be dismissed, but reversed the dismissal of the claim against Mesa. The Appeals Court stated Hernandez’s parents could assert a claim that their son’s Fifth Amendment rights were violated and they had “alleged sufficient facts to overcome qualified immunity.” According to USLegal.com, qualified immunity “protects public officials from being sued for damages unless they violated ‘clearly established’ law, of which a reasonable official in his position would have known.” Furthermore, it “aims to protect civil servants from the fear of litigation in performing discretionary functions entrusted to them by law.”Read the rest of the story HERE and watch a related video below:
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4 comments:
There's a problem with this. While it is truly wrong for a border patrol agent or any other peace officer to use excessive force on anyone, the young man's 4th and 5th Amendment rights could not have been violated as he was not a United States Citizen and therefore is not protected by the rights contained in the U.S. Constitution. Should the parents sue? I probably would but not based on U.S. law.
I say its too bad for the Mexican family, but they were in the process of breaking US law & attacking US law enforcement
Just b/c we have a jackass for a POTUS that won't enforce our laws doesn't mean the rest of america is going to lay down & let the world walk all over us, like our cowardly POTUS
Take a look at the officer's face. He had no choice if he wanted to live.
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