Border agent not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Mexican boy's death

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

An Arizona jury has acquitted a US border patrol agent of manslaughter in the shooting of a 16-year old Mexican boy José Antonio Elena Rodríguez through a border fence, another loss for federal prosecutors in the second trial over the 2012 killing.

Jurors in Tucson found Lonnie Swartz not guilty of the involuntary manslaughter but didn’t come to a decision on voluntary manslaughter.

The verdict comes months after Swartz was acquitted of second-degree murder by another jury that had deadlocked on manslaughter charges, allowing prosecutors to pursue the case again.

“We fully respect the jury’s decision, and we thank every member of the jury for the time and attention given to this trial,” Elizabeth A Strange, first assistant US attorney for the district of Arizona, said in a statement. “This was a difficult case, and I commend the trial team and law enforcement officers who assisted in the prosecution.”

-snip-

Associated Press in Phoenix
Wed 21 Nov 2018 21.33 GMT


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/21/border-patrol-agent-not-guilty-involuntary-manslaughter-mexican-boys-death

[JI7]

1. just pack the jury with shitty people

[4du]

2. Prosecutors took the case to trial twice.

A jury found him innocent. If you believe in our system, justice was done. If not please explain what is the problem.

[atreides1]

3. The system is flawed

The system has always been flawed, innocent people go to prison, guilty people go free!

[angrychair]

4. Well, it's not the only verdict

Just one of two he has been charged with.

That said he shot a child...
who was standing in Mexico...
10 times...
In the back and head.

A hearing of this nature, given these basic concepts, in a very right-leaning state with a known racial bias, is hardly justice.

All across the country, our jails are filled with people that are innocent of the crimes they were convicted on.
Juries have racial bias, especially in certain areas of the country.
Being found “not guilty” doesn’t make him “innocent”.

Again,he shot a foreign national, while he was in his own country, from the US in the back, 10 times.

Throughout history, especially in the US, there has been a lot of things were justified as being “legal” but everyone knew that was just cover to be racist and bigoted assholes.

[4du]

5. So what would you replace the jury system with

There may be injustices, but what system will work any better

[angrychair]

6. It's not the jury system

It’s the members of that jury.

It’s the prosecutors.

It’s the police.

There is no simple answer. You can fix systems but unfortunately you can’t people.

[oneshooter]

9. Why don't we try the Mexican system, sa they semingly can do no wrong.

It is quite simple, you are guilty until and unless you can prove yourself innocent. The guilty stay in jail, and the innocent get out.

Napoleonic justice, I believe it is called.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

7. If a Mexican Border Guard had shot an American child in the back multiple times,

Does ANYONE think this would not have resulted in a full-blown International Crisis ?

We have allowed attorneys to "stack" juries. It is disgusting.

[LogicFirst]

8. Testimony

The jury must have heard a lot of evidence which the news outlets did not repot to us.