July 21, 2007

TO:       Mr. Johnny Sutton

United States Attorney

Western District of Texas

601 N.W. Loop 410, Suite 600

San Antonio, Texas 78216

Dear Mr. Sutton,

I was one of many Americans who watched on CSPAN yesterday while US Senators grilled you over your decision to prosecute US Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean for shooting an unarmed fleeing subject and then covering up the incident.

I must say that I was initially one of those millions of Americans duped by the initial inaccurate reporting of this incident by such media individuals as Jerome Porsi and numerous ill-informed radio talk show hosts and television commentators. The way this incident was portrayed made it appear that you and your team were incredibly inept, corrupt or operating on a completely different agenda than the rest of the criminal justice system. However, after watching your testimony and listening to you calmly and proficiently set the record straight under considerable (and unwarranted) animosity from various senators, (particularly Ms. Feinstein) I am relieved to say that my faith in our criminal justice system has been renewed.

As a retired law enforcement professional and one who has worked overseas running US Embassy security and Intel operations in third world countries for many years, I am acutely aware that the fundamental difference between the United States and most other countries is that we operate under the rule of law with a fundamental respect for the rules of evidence and careful regulation and scrutiny of the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers. Clearly, these two border patrol agents over-reacted and then stepped over the line by attempting to cover up their indiscretion.

Mr. Sutton; I commend you and your team for proceeding with prosecution and conviction of these two individuals. Corruption is rampant around the world in police agencies. The one thing that sets American Law enforcement officers apart from others is their commitment to transparency and the rule of law. Individuals like yourself and your team help us continue that tradition and I thank you for your efforts.

I personally see no problem at all with the charges filed against these two agents and see no reason to amend the law as Ms. Feinstein suggests. I also see no reason to alter the law to allow law enforcement agents the right to shoot unarmed fleeing suspects in the back as suggested by some of the other senators. I agree we have a very serious problem with our US/Mexican border but I believe you and the border patrol chief are correct that such changes in the law would open the door to the kind of indiscriminate killing that would backfire upon our culture. I am in fact stunned that any US Senator would suggest such a thing and I hope your office can manage to educate these individuals on basic rules of evidence and criminal procedures and the reason we have such restrictions and requirements.

Thank you again for your professionalism Mr. Sutton. America is indeed fortunate to have you in the US Attorney's office. Keep up the good work!

Sincerely,

Michael James Jaquish

Retired Police Chief, Author & International Security Consultant

STSI (Security Training Services International)

www.countrycopbooks.com