Let’s consider an example in that you have gotten a speeding ticket of which there is some doubt whether the radar was calibrated, proper identification made or any other exclupatory event. But during the trial, you have decided to fight the ticket, you are given another speeding ticket. Is it ok then to bring the second ticket before the judge or the jury by the prosecutor? Do you think you would have gotten a fair trial on the initial charge if you were aware there was a second speeding charge? That is why judge’s rule on evidence and that is why the prosecution and the defense argue in from of a judge to exclude or admit certain information that they judge will help one side or the other. And as I keep pointing out all of these claims have been dismissed by two different appeals. Which means that any information the judge deemed inadmissable was also ruled inadmissable at the appelate level.

Plus, and this is most important, some prior acts are kept from a jury because they may prejudice the panel in one way or another. If all the information was submitted then it would have become known that Ramos had been arrested twice for domestic violence, had a restraining order against him at one time and suspended for lying about the incident and had to undergo court ordered anger management classes. This information is and was irrelevant to Ramos’s actions that day and were not allowed by the judge.

Secondly the transcript makes it quite clear, as the defense brought it up, that the jury knew of Davila’s grant of immunity for that particular day. The second so-called arrest never took place as the witness turned out to a member of another smuggling crew and considered not reliable and claiming that the jury was kept from this information is a leap considering this second incident occurred after the jury had rendered a verdict. I’m not too sure that there are grounds for overturning a verdict because the prosecution didn’t hire a fortune teller.

Something to keep in mind about the evidence you are presented with the next time you are on jury duty.

What agreement are you referring to as the grant of immunity only dealt with the shooting and nothing else. R&C had botched any chance of Davila being charged so it was essentially an easy grant as the case against Davila was nonexistent.

Here’s the official response to most of the claims,

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/press_releases/Compean-Ramos/Setting%20the%20Record%20Straight%204-25%202007.pdf

and again a narrative of the shooting and an overview of the trial itself,

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/press_releases/Compean-Ramos/Badges%20of%20Honor.pdf

I can only suggest that if people have strongly held positions concerning the shootings and the trial then perhaps reading the transcript(3,000+ pages makes that difficult) but there is an official government response to the fantasies being spun on the internet. Or one could read the coverage of local and Texas reporters who covered the trial from the start to the finish.

Lou Dobbs is hunting for an issue to garner ratings, the talk show Edd Hendee, the minutemen, Ted Poe et al are basically anti-Mexican nut cases and will milk this issue with no regards for the facts as long as there are believers with PayPal accounts.