Mexican Teen Fatally Shot By Border Patrol Protected By US Constitution, Court Rules Juan E. Gastelum - BuzzFeed
go to original July 1, 2014

Sergio was a 15-year-old boy who was shot by US Border Patrol while he was on Mexican soil. Hear his story told by his family in April, 2012. (SBCC Media)

A federal appeals court Monday ruled that a Mexican teenager who was fatally shot by Border Patrol was protected by the U.S. Constitution despite being on Mexican soil when the incident occurred.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling means the teen’s family can go ahead with a lawsuit against the agent who shot him. It reverses a decision by a lower court that said the family could not sue because the victim was a Mexican citizen in Mexico when the shooting occurred.

The case involves the family of Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca, who died at age 15 after he was shot in the face by Border Patrol agent Jesus Mesa.

In 2010, Hernandez and some friends in Ciudad Juarez were playing a game that involved running up to the border near El Paso, Texas. When one of the boys was detained by a Border Patrol agent, Hernandez fled and hid behind a pole. Mesa fired at least two shots across the border, one of which hit Hernandez in the face, killing him, according to court documents.

The family sued agent Mesa, the U.S. government, the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and several of Mesa’s supervisors, claiming that Hernandez’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights had been violated. A district court dismissed the charges, and the family appealed.

The appeals court Monday upheld the majority of the lower court’s ruling, relieving the agencies and supervisors of responsibility, but said the claims against the federal government and Mesa were valid. Both the government and Mesa can appeal the decision.

Read the rest at BuzzFeed

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