August 8, 2018

Border Agent's Attorney Considering Appeal in Shooting Case

The attorney for Lonnie Swartz said he's considering an appeal following a ruling opening Swartz up to a lawsuit from the family of the teenager he killed.

PHOENIX — The attorney for a Border Patrol agent who killed a Mexican teen says he's considering filing an appeal after a federal appeals court ruled the agent can be sued in civil court.

Attorney Sean Chapman said he is considering filing an appeal for a hearing before a larger panel of 9th U.S. Circuit Court judges, or with the U.S. Supreme Court.

A three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that the family of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez can sue agent Lonnie Swartz because the teen was constitutionally protected. A similar case out of Texas has made its way through a different appeals court, which found the Mexican teen in that case wasn't constitutionally protected.

Swartz was acquitted of second-degree murder this year but faces a retrial and also a civil suit filed on behalf of the boy's mother.

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