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Bruce Nichols bnicholas@dallasnews.com
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Diane Jennings djennings@dallasnews.com

Civil rights reviewed in border case
Family of slain teen says justice not done

By Bruce Nichols and David Mclemore / The Dallas Morning News

Federal prosecutors said Friday that they are looking into possible civil
rights violations in the shooting death of a teenage goat herder by a
Marine patrol near the Rio Grande.

The Justice Department's civil rights division has been reviewing the death
of Esequiel "Zeke" Hernandez but was "taking a backseat role" to allow the
local district attorney to complete his investigation, said Daryl Fields, a
spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in San Antonio, which oversees
West Texas.

Mr. Fields said that "we will probably start picking up on our end" now
that a grand jury in Marfa declined to issue criminal charges in the May 20
shooting.

"What may come out of that investigation is speculation ... but we are
looking into the matter," Mr. Fields said.

Mr. Hernandez, 18, was killed after crossing paths with a fourman Marine
unit assigned to watch a suspected drug smuggling route at the request of
the Border Patrol in Redford, a tiny border town 200 miles southeast of El
Paso.

Military officials said Mr. Hernandez fired twice at the Marines with a
.22caliber rifle and was about to shoot again at Lance Cpl. James M. Blood
when Cpl. Clemente Banuelos killed him with a single shot from an M16.

Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez said he turned over physical
evidence, including two guns, to the FBI on Friday.

Mr. Hernandez's family said they were outraged at the Presidio County grand
jury's decision.

"We waited for justice to be done and it wasn't," said Bill Weinact, an
attorney speaking for the Hernandez family. "We felt that the entire burden
of responsibility should not shift from the government to the individual
and we will pursue this issue with civil litigation and other measures
until the end of time, if necessary."

Meanwhile, Houston attorney Jack Zimmermann introduced Cpl. Banuelos, 22,
at a news conference but refused to let him answer questions because of the
potential for more investigations.

"I wanted to introduce you ... so you know he's a real person," Mr.
Zimmerman said, adding that the Marine feels bad about the shooting but
believes he did nothing wrong.

Mr. Zimmermann predicted that any Justice Department civil rights
investigation will conclude that the case was handled properly.

"They found no probable cause. ... I do not predict an indictment by the
federal authorities," he said.

Mr. Zimmermann said he was determined "not to permit Clemente Banuelos to
be a human sacrifice to some special interest agenda. Thank God it didn't
happen. The system worked."

It is not unprecedented for federal charges to be filed against someone
already cleared in the same case by local authorities. California police
officers who beat Rodney King were acquitted of state charges but later
were convicted of violating his civil rights.

Justice Department spokesman Lee Douglass said Friday that about about 85
percent of civil rights violation cases are law enforcementrelated but
said she didn't know how many cases, if any, have involved the military.

Another spokesman said the department "would not view it as the U.S.
government taking on the military. It's just an incident into whether there
were possible civil rights violations. It doesn't matter who is accused."

Presidio County District Attorney Albert Valadez, busy with another grand
jury Friday in Alpine, could not be reached for comment. Thursday night, he
said the grand jury had agreed with the Pentagon's contention that Cpl.
Banuelos fired once with his M16 rifle at Mr. Hernandez, who had raised
his .22rifle toward the Marines after firing at them twice earlier.

Texas Rangers and local prosecutors who investigated the shooting said
their evidence conflicted with the Marines' reports. The teen's family said
he carried a gun to protect his livestock from predators and occasionally
to shoot at targets.

Mr. Zimmerman said Mr. Hernandez undoubtedly knew he was shooting at
people, recalling that the young man had fired at a group of Border Patrol
agents in February and then explained to them he thought they were Mexicans
after his goats.

The Rev. Melvin LaFollette, head of a committee that will spearhead the
community's legal actions, said that in Redford there is "quite a bit of
disgust and anger and a determination to press ahead."

"We know that we're taking on the most powerful government in the world,
but it must be done," Mr. LaFollette said.

Mr. LaFollette said the makeup of the grand jury was a factor in prompting
residents to seek continued state and federal inquiry into the shooting.

The grand jury included a retired Border Patrol agent, two customs
inspectors and the current Border Patrol assistant chief in Marfa.

"In addition, only one of the 12 members of that jury came from the
Presidio area. The rest all live in Marfa, an unacceptable imbalance," Mr.
LaFollette said. "These are not people who were the peers of Esequiel
Hernandez." In Marfa, residents who have been watching the case predicted
further turmoil.

"The grand jury's actions won't bring any calm. The kid is still dead and
when someone dies, someone has to be punished. This will be with us for a
while," said Nora Lujan outside the post office.

A friend, Marjorie Fellows, said the case "isn't about race or ethnics.
It's about trust. How people react to the government and to how officials
are seen looking at their interests.

"I think most people feel sorry for Banuelos. He was just following orders.
He's just a kid himself," said Mrs. Fellows. "It's a terrible burden to be
responsible for killing someone. But it was the military who put him in a
strange environment, that's who's responsible."

In the aftermath of the killing, the military suspended surveillance
missions like the one that resulted in the confrontation with Mr. Hernandez.

They continue to provide other support, such as road construction and
intelligence analysis, but the use of armed patrols is under review.

In Marfa, chief Border Patrol Agent Simon Garza Jr. is conducting his own
review of the use of such patrols before deciding to request such help, if
it's available in the future.

"We're all going to try to work to ensure there's never a recurrence," he
said.

Staff writer Diane Jennings and The Associated Press contributed to this
report.