Annunciation House Newsletter

in places like El Paso, where the harsh realities associated with grinding poverty and immigration are a lived experience for most, and where the ubiquitous presence of the Border Patrol figures prominently in daily life, it is of the utmost importance that matters pertaining to both are treated with meticulous care.

It is nevertheless clear that, in Juan Patricio Peraza’s case, this did not occur.

The trial evidence presented to the court was shaped to a significant degree by the numerous actions and violations of fundamental Border Patrol policy and investigative procedures that transpired before and after the shooting—such as staking out a homeless shelter, failing to ascertain basic information before applying deadly force, the removal of witnesses from the scene before they could be questioned by the El Paso Police Department (EPPD), and the failure to gather information at the crime scene.

Ruling in full - PDF
Judge RICHARD P. MESA’S legal decision in the case of
CESAR PERAZA BARRAZA and,
RAMONA IRENE QUIJADA-SOTO,
Statutory Death Beneficiaries of
JUAN PATRICIO PERAZA, Deceased,
Plaintiffs,

v.s.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Defendant

In the cross-examination Enrique Moreno again went over the list of things that VB didn’t know, and didn’t find out, when he arrived on the scene. He didn’t know the number of officers, their position, who was in charge, whether progress had been made, whether the subject had a means of escape…the list went on. And all of those things were important, weren’t they?

VB agreed that they were.

According to his training, a Border Patrol agent was required to assess these things before resorting to deadly force, was he not?

He was

April 10, 2008. Today, Thursday, was the fourth day of the trial. The prosecution began by calling Irene Quijada to the stand. Before today I had known Juan Patricio through a single photograph (taken at Annunciation House shortly before his death) and through generalities—that he was nice, cheerful, so very young when he died. I [...]

April 8, 2008. The prosecution called Agent VB to the stand.
He walked up from his seat at the defense table, a few feet away from where the parents of Juan Patricio were sitting. I don’t think Cesar and Irene had realized before —I’m not sure I had realized—that this man, who had been sitting so [...]