He’s been exonerated, with a ludicrous stipulation:
A federal jury on Tuesday afternoon ruled that an Arizona rancher did not violate the civil rights of 16 Mexican nationals he detained at gunpoint after they had snuck illegally into the United States in 2004, but the jury awarded $78,000 in actual and punitive damages to six of the illegal immigrants on claims of assault and infliction of emotional distress.
Emotional distress??? For trespassing into our country and being caught?? Jesustapdancingchrist.
After a nine-day trial, the eight-person jury — four men and four women — returned the verdict in U.S. District Court in Tucson, Ariz., after a day and a half of deliberation, also tossing charges of false imprisonment, battery and conspiracy against Douglas, Ariz., rancher Roger Barnett. Most of the award, about $60,000, was for punitive damages.
Mr. Barnett’s attorney, David T. Hardy of Tucson, described the decision as an “80 percent victory,” adding that he wished he and his client “would have gotten the other 20 percent.” But he said he would appeal the decision, citing what he called “solid grounds.” He also said U.S. District Judge John M. Roll had been “scrupulously fair” during the landmark trial.
Mr. Barnett owns the Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., where he maintains cattle on 22,000 acres of private and leased land. A $32 million lawsuit, brought by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), sought damages for civil rights violations and the infliction of emotional distress.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/17/jury-rancher-did-not-violate-mexicans-rights/
Not only should he appeal the monetary award, but he should send the MALDEF assholes the bill for the legal fees. Fuck them. Their little ‘human rights’ campaign for invading hordes of criminals has got to be stopped.
This is unfuckingbelievable. How in the hell can felons, illegal aliens at that, sue an American citizen over ‘civil rights’ not guaranteed in our Constitution? How in the hell is this shit even permitted to go to trial?
An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.
What civil rights??? If anyone can show me the parts in the U.S. Constitution or the American Bill of Rights that mention illegal aliens, I’d love to see it.
Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.
His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as “the avenue of choice” for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.
Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes. Also named are Mr. Barnett’s wife, Barbara, his brother, Donald, and Larry Dever, sheriff in Cochise County, Ariz., where the Barnetts live. The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday.
The lawsuit is based on a March 7, 2004, incident in a dry wash on the 22,000-acre ranch, when he approached a group of illegal immigrants while carrying a gun and accompanied by a large dog.
Attorneys for the immigrants – five women and 11 men who were trying to cross illegally into the United States – have accused Mr. Barnett of holding the group captive at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and saying he would shoot anyone who tried to escape.
The immigrants are represented at trial by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which also charged that Sheriff Dever did nothing to prevent Mr. Barnett from holding their clients at “gunpoint, yelling obscenities at them and kicking one of the women.”
In the lawsuit, MALDEF said Mr. Barnett approached the group as the immigrants moved through his property, and that he was carrying a pistol and threatening them in English and Spanish. At one point, it said, Mr. Barnett’s dog barked at several of the women and he yelled at them in Spanish, “My dog is hungry and he’s hungry for buttocks.”
Considering everything they’ve done to his property, aside from trespassing into this country, I’d have shot them all in the ass as I chased them back to Mexico.
The lawsuit said he then called his wife and two Border Patrol agents arrived at the site. It also said Mr. Barnett acknowledged that he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.
The lawsuit mentioned the 12,000 illegals? As if it were a crime to turn them in?
In March, U.S. District Judge John Roll rejected a motion by Mr. Barnett to have the charges dropped, ruling there was sufficient evidence to allow the matter to be presented to a jury. Mr. Barnett’s attorney, David Hardy, had argued that illegal immigrants did not have the same rights as U.S. citizens.
They sure as hell don’t.
……”This is my land. I´m the victim here,” Mr. Barnett said. “When someone´s home and loved ones are in jeopardy and the government seemingly can´t do anything about it, I feel justified in taking matters into my own hands. And I always watch my back.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/09/16-illegals-sue-arizona-rancher/
The lawsuit brought by the illegals’ representatives omitted all the damage caused by their clients, the fact that many of them are armed and often shoot at Border Patrol Agents as well as property owners, and that their mere presence in this country is a crime.
Where is Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and local Arizona law enforcement?
If someone breaks into my home and I shoot them as a result, do I have to worry about them suing me if they’re not in the country legally? Jesus Christ, what is our judicial system coming to when illegal aliens trump the rights of American citizens?
maldef go home & pick your fight with your own narco trafficking latino goverments
Up yours thomas sanenz