Testimony comes to end in federal profiling trial against border
Published: Friday, 6/26/2015
Testimony concluded Thursday in the federal ethnic profiling trial against U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Sandusky Bay Station in Port Clinton.
Attorneys wrapped up nearly two weeks of witness testimony from border patrol agents, expert witnesses, and people of Hispanic ethnicity who testified that they were targeted by border patrol because of their appearance.
The last day of testimony included Mario Martinez, who spoke of his experience as chief patrol agent of the border patrol’s Detroit sector, which includes the Sandusky Bay station. He said he did not tolerate improper profiling and would have known if it happened.
He testified that race and ethnicity are not used as a criteria for stops or law enforcement decisions without “exceptional circumstances,” such as a specific suspect description of a wanted person. Mr. Martinez is currently the interim chief patrol agent for the Laredo sector in Texas.
The defense rested after Mr. Martinez’s testimony. Judge Jack Zouhary requested more documents from the government, including agent training materials related to profiling policies and documentation related to an investigation or discipline of agents over perceived racial slurs.
This stemmed from the use of term “wet” in correspondence, which agents testified was used to describe a person’s immigration status and not as a reference to someone of Hispanic ethnicity. Both sides are to submit post-trial briefs by July 31.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/20...wb9PEiybe0i.99
