The Political Puppet Show - Starring Johnny Sutton

All but one of the above quotes were in Johnny Sutton's testimony before the

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which occurred on July 10, 2007. The only quote which was not heard in the testimony was: "This has always been about the rule of law". Although Sutton referenced the "rule of law" during his testimony before the Committee, the quote appeared in one of the many official press releases made by Sutton's office in reference to the Ramos and Compean case. The news release is dated December 3, 2007 and appears on the U.S. Attorney's Office - Western District of Texas website.

Here are the quotes used in the above graphic and an explanation as to why each quote was chosen:

1. "This has always been about the rule of law."

Clearly this has not "always been about the rule of law" because if this were true, then the U.S. Attorney's Office would have abided by the "rule of law" and not mislead the jurors by intentionally suppressing evidence about Aldrete-Davila's career as a drug smuggler.

2. "The jury heard all the evidence."

The jury DID NOT hear all the evidence. Thanks to Judge Cardone, the jury only heard the evidence that Sutton and his staff wanted them to hear. The jury did not hear the truth about Aldrete-Davila, the drug smuggler. The jury was mislead to believe that Aldrete-Davila was just some poor, innocent "mule", who was caught up in the middle of a drug war when in reality he is a career drug smuggler. The jurors would have been more likely to believe Aldrete-Davila was carrying a gun had they heard the truth about him.

3. "They deliberately shot an unarmed man in the back without justification."

Yes, Agents Ramos and Compean did deliberately shoot a career drug smuggler because as both agents testified, Aldrete-Davila pointed a weapon at Agent Compean. In addition to assault on federal officers, Aldrete-Davila illegally entered the United States, smuggled drugs into the United States, failed to yield to law enforcement vehicles, ignored all of the agents' commands, willfully resisted arrest, and fled to Mexico to evade arrest.

However, they did not shoot Aldrete-Davila in the back, they shot him in the buttocks. The evidence presented during the trial proved that the direction of the bullet was consistent with the agents' story that Aldrete-Davila was turned toward the agents as if he were pointing something at them.

4. "We were faced with two agents who had shot somebody and covered it up and a mule who was on the Mexican side where we had no evidence to make a case against him."

As previously explained, Aldrete-Davila was not a "mule" and the U.S. Attorney's office had sufficient evidence to make a case against him. Instead, Johnny Sutton and his staff chose to use the evidence they had against Aldrete-Davila to build a case against Agents Ramos and Compean.

5. "We don't know yet whether he ran another load of dope."

Yea, and we don't know yet whether Johnny Sutton lied about this case. Read two related articles:

WorldNetDaily: "Drug smuggler arrested for 2nd marijuana load" - 11/15/07

CNSNews.com: "AG Must Investigate Ramos-Compean Case, Senator Says" - 11/20/07

6. "The reason all this happened is because Agent Compean and Ramos shot an unarmed guy running away and covered it up."

The reason all this happened is because Mexico demanded the United States take action. Johnny Sutton and his staff took advantage of the fact that Aldrete-Davila absconded to Mexico and presented the lies of a career smuggler who claimed he did not have a gun.

WorldNetDaily: "Mexico demanded U.S. prosecute sheriff, agents." - 2/13/07

7. "It wasn't just the word of a drug dealer against them."

It was just the word of a drug smuggler against the two agents. The U.S. Attorney's entire case against the agents revolved around "the word" of a career drug smuggler. The three Border Patrol Agents who testified against Ramos and Compean at the trial were coerced and threatened with prosecution by the U.S. Attorney's Office, and subsequently changed their stories several times. After the case, one resigned in lieu of termination and two were terminated by the Border Patrol because their version of events changed so many times.

DailyBulletin.com: "Border Agents who testified against convicted co-workers will be fired."

8. "These guys committed serious crimes and should be prosecuted."

Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean did not commit serious crimes. There was no willful intent on the part of Agent Ramos or Agent Compean to commit a crime. The actions of Ramos and Compean were a direct response to the actions of Aldrete-Davila, who committed several serious crimes on that day and should have been prosecuted.

9. "The whole narrative of he has a gun is false."

The whole narrative of he has a gun is false only if you choose to believe a career drug smuggler who illegally entered the United States, smuggled a large quantity of marijuana into the U.S., failed to yield to law enforcement, resisted arrest, assaulted federal officers, and fled to Mexico to avoid being apprehended. The whole narrative of he has a gun is false if you suppress evidence about Aldrete-Davila's career as a drug smuggler and misrepresent him as some poor, innocent, unarmed, Mexican caught up in the middle of a drug war.