Lawyer Says D.A. Off-Target in 2 Killings

An attorney representing the families of two Mexican men killed by a now-defunct border anti-crime squad composed of San Diego policemen and U.S. Border Patrol officers has challenged the version of the deaths presented by the district attorney’s office.

Last week, the office of San Diego County Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller informed San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen that an investigation had determined that the shootings of last Dec. 21 were justified.

The district attorney’s office determined that officers opened fire near the border in self-defense after one of the two victims had shot a pistol at them in an apparent attempt to rob the five-member anti-crime unit, which consisted of three U.S. Border Patrol agents and two police officers.

However, C. Anthony Valladolid, a San Diego attorney who said he is pursuing the case on behalf of the families of the two victims, contended Tuesday that his inquiry showed the men were wrongly targeted.

“It’s our belief that the attack was not precipitated by a shot being fired or any violent act,” said Valladolid, who declined to provide further details. He said he is pursuing possible civil claims against the city and the U.S. government.

More Than 70 Shots Fired

The two dead men--Enrique Estrada Rodriguez, 28, and Luis Enrique Armena Corrales, 19, both of Tijuana--died of multiple gunshot wounds. The district attorney’s office found that the officers fired more than 70 shots at the suspects after Estrada fired at the officers “without warning.”

Two men who accompanied the victims that night later admitted to Mexican police that they had intended to rob the officers, whom they mistook in the darkness for undocumented border crossers, according to the district attorney’s office.

Near Estrada’s body, police say they found a small .22-caliber revolver from which one bullet had been fired, the district attorney’s office said. A toy gun was also found in the waistband of his pants, said Douglas C. Gregg, a deputy district attorney.

Less than nine months before the December shootings, authorities say, Estrada had been shot by the same anti-crime squad in about the same area--also when he and his companions attempted to rob the uniformed officers. Estrada was ultimately convicted of attempted armed robbery and placed on probation, the district attorney’s office said.

Members of Border Unit

The officers involved in the shooting were members of the Border Crime Prevention Unit, composed of U.S. border agents and San Diego police officers. The unit patrolled the border region for five years until it was taken out of action earlier this year, after the controversial shootings last Jan. 4 of two other Mexican men, who police say also attempted to rob the officers.

An attorney for the families of those two men also contends that they were wrongfully shot, and is planning civil suits.

During the life of the unit, officers assigned to it shot 44 people, killing 18. Authorities said all the shootings were justified.

The unit has since been replaced by a similar outfit composed entirely of San Diego policemen.

The shootings on both Dec. 21 and Jan. 4 took place just north of the U.S.-Mexico boundary line in San Diego, along a river levee that is a favorite crossing point for immigrants entering the United without papers. The area is west of the port of entry at San Ysidro.