By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
A federal judge has ruled that the mother of a Mexican teen killed in a cross-border shooting by a Border Patrol agent may sue the government, the Desert News reports.
U.S. District Court Judge Raner C. Collins denied the government’s motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the victim, a Mexican resident, was not protected by the U.S. Constitution.
In a similar case, a federal appeals court came to the opposite conclusion.
“The Court finds that, under the facts alleged in this case, the Mexican national may avail himself to the protections of the Fourth Amendment and that the agent may not assert qualified immunity,” Collins wrote.
Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz fatally shot 16-year-old Jose Antonino Elena Rodriguez for allegedly throwing rocks across the border .
