02/26/2020
WIN AT SCOTUS 5-4 decision. About 6 years ago, after losing on the very 1st appeal in front of a 3 judge panel before the US 5th Cir. Court of Appeals, the trial team representing BP agent Mesa asked me to take over the appellate part of the case and begin writing the appellate briefs. After writing all 7 briefs, appearing twice before the 5th Cir. en banc, and SCOTUS, we finally won. In a 5-4 decision, the High Court ruled that foreign nationals harmed on foreign soil, by actions initiated by US Government actors on US controlled soil, can not sue in the US Courts. The decision doesn’t only protect our Border Patrol agents; but also protects our US Soldiers, drone pilots, embassy marine guards, and state department / CIA security teams. There are two sides to every story. What the public did not hear about was that prior to the shooting, BP previously detained Hernandez numerous times as a human trafficker but had to let him go due to his juvenile status. On the day of the shooting, bridge security video recorded Hernandez and “friends” exiting through a hole cut in a fence located on the US side of the border, fleeing from several US BP Agents. Once agent Mesa detained one of the illegal immigrants fleeing down the culvert, Hernandez hid behind a stone pillar and began to throw baseball size rocks at agent Mesa. (Rock throwing smugglers injure roughly 400 BP agents yearly.) As a result, agent Mesa fired his service pistol at Hernandez in self defense. The shot unfortunately killed Hernandez. After the shooting, an EP grand jury, as well as the US Department of Justice, cleared agent Mesa of any wrong doing. Hard to believe our EP community would absolve a “child” killer unless Mesa truly was acting within the lawful scope of his duty. I am proud to have worked with Mr. Gabriel Perez, Esq., Mr. Felix Valenzuela, Esq., Mr. Abraham Barraza, and the rest of the trial team, on this appeal. Congratulations to agent Mesa and the Border Patrol. My condolences to the Hernandez family especially his mom.