Illegal aliens awarded $78,000 in damages against Arizona rancher who held them at gunpoint
posted at 7:49 pm on February 17, 2009 by Allahpundit
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Remember this? The verdict’s in and the vicious comments at the Chronicle’s website have already begun: “He should have just shot them and buried them on his ranch. Shoot, shovel, and shutup. Who’s gonna report them missing?” A fitting sentiment on the day Ramos and Compean were sprung given their own attempt to cover up their crime.
That said, how can a guy be liable for holding potentially dangerous trespassers on his property at gunpoint until the cops come?
A federal jury found Tuesday that a southern Arizona rancher didn’t violate the civil rights of a group of illegal immigrants who claimed that he detained them at gunpoint in 2004.
The eight-member civil jury also found Roger Barnett wasn’t liable on claims of battery and false imprisonment.
But the jury did find him liable on four claims of assault and four claims of infliction of emotional distress and ordered Barnett to pay $77,804 in damages — $60,000 of which were punitive.
Barnett declined to comment afterward, but one of his attorneys, David Hardy, said the plaintiffs lost on the bulk of their claims and that Barnett has a good basis for appeal on the two counts on which he lost.
I’m at a loss. All I can figure is that he somehow went above and beyond simply holding them. There was a dog involved. Maybe he gave them the Abu Ghraib treatment? The tort of assault typically involves fear of bodily harm while infliction of emotional distress turns on “outrageous conduct”; threatening to have a snarling pitbull tear their arms off would arguably qualify on both counts, if in fact something like that happened, but is that really any worse than pointing a gun at them? Enlighten me, ambulance chasers.
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I believe everyone on U.S. soil has Constitutional rights. Even illegals. Their rights were violated when this rancher played judge, jury and executioner in a cruel manner.
patriot1 on February 18, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Uh, am I missing something here? He didnt actually shoot them did he? They were on his property illegally. I’m pretty sure that if I, a legal resident alien (from Australia), were to trespass on someone’s property, I would be facing some kind of charges. Wake up!
fullogas on February 18, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Well America is no longer America. This is the death knell. Time for outright rebellion. Think I’m kidding? Once citizens have no ability to defend their property this experiment is over. The founding fathers deemed private property the fundamental element to a free nation. When are private property is no longer private game over folks. Time to take our country back.
chicagojedi on February 18, 2009 at 12:23 PM
You can believe whatever you want but the reality is, you’re wrong. Have you ever read the constitution?
Vashta.Nerada on February 18, 2009 at 12:25 PM
If the illegals were crossing into Texas after dark, they could have been legally shot. I hate to say it, but perhaps Arizona needs the same “After Dark Law” that Texas does…
darkmetal on February 18, 2009 at 12:26 PM
When are we going to stop complaining and do something? I am tired of watching Americans suffer at the hands of Government and Judicial idiocy! A number of people are calling for a march on Washington, here in the midwest. I believe this story is the final straw. I have had it!
kks321 on February 18, 2009 at 12:28 PM
Since when is it a crime to effect a citizen’s arrest?
Morris Dees, and his Southern Law Poverty Center is behind these suits. I was checking out their website a couple of weeks ago. They have deemed all anti-illegal immigrant groups as “hate groups”. What a crock!
Blake on February 18, 2009 at 12:36 PM
Mark Garnett on February 18, 2009 at 12:12 PM
I am a proud Independent who knows both parties suk.
getalife on February 18, 2009 at 12:43 PM
Further proof that our government has run amuck. Don’t tell me, the jurors were illegal immigrants.
WOLVERINES !
saiga on February 18, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Who did he execute?
Johan Klaus on February 18, 2009 at 12:45 PM
One more time, this law suit stuff is designed to be tried in Federal Court. The Feds will trump State and Local “After Dark” and “Castle” laws. The Feds won’t even back up the Constitution. This is way past State statutes.
Shep on February 18, 2009 at 12:46 PM
I wonder when they are going to start organizing Militias. We are being invaded from within by anti-constitution morons that will have the numbers to destroy our country and what it stands for in just a few short years.
The situation is getting very serious at breakneck speed. Something must be done if the America our founding fathers started is going to survive the evil onslaught.
saiga on February 18, 2009 at 12:50 PM
The certain result of this trial: more illegals trespassing more aggressively on ranchers’ property, hoping to provoke them into doing something rash, so the illegals can win the $70,000.00 lawsuit lottery.
This will be followed by collapsing ranch prices and reduced output from working farms, as the ranchers give up and flee the border area… leading inevitably to the multi-billion dollar Rancher and Cattleman Bailout of 2010.
Doctor Zero on February 18, 2009 at 12:51 PM
You think that criminal tresspassers should be patted on the head and told to run along and be carefull!
Go to the emergency room right away because your head is broken.
saiga on February 18, 2009 at 12:53 PM
For future reference:
“I felt that my life was in danger and I shot them to stop them from killing me”…
End of story…
Kuffar on February 18, 2009 at 12:57 PM
From this article:
“Mr. Barnett told The Washington Times in a 2002 interview that he began rounding up illegal immigrants after they started to vandalize his property, northeast of Douglas along Arizona Highway 80…Mr. Barnett acknowledged that he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.”
If true, this is an incredible feat.
maleman on February 18, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Who was executed here?
ErinF on February 18, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Behold the tragedy of American-style socialism: a government built on collectivist notions of economics, such as high taxes and gigantic spending programs, but is guided by the individual preferences and feelings of powerful politicians. Because some politicians feel that enforcing the border is ethically repugnant, or because they expect to gain political power from illegal immigrants, the titanic federal government does absolutely nothing to protect the border – even as border cities jockey for the title of Kidnap Capital of the World, and private landowners watch their ranches turn into something that looks like the aftermath of an Obama rally.
Collectivist societies always seem lawless from the perspective of the individual. Lonely landowners will never have anything like the collective power of ethnic immigrant lobbies or trial lawyers, so they will always lose legal and political struggles like this. It’s a bold example of why individual liberty absolutely requires the iron enforcement of constitutional restrictions on the government. As soon as you have a “living constitution,” you can rest assured it will begin mutating according to the desires of collectivist political entities, the way ours has done since the New Deal and Great Society.
Once upon a time, when he was scoffing at the notion he should take the Catholic Church seriously as an adversary, Stalin asked, “How many divisions has the Pope?” Today’s Democrat overlords ask, “How many votes has the rancher?”
Doctor Zero on February 18, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Huh, okay, so this guy now is being estentualy punished for defending his property. Got it. The message here is you either can’t leave them alive if you try to stop them, you call the cops who will never catch them, or you just let them do what they want.
Should have shot them and tossed them over the border onto the mexican side of the fence. Everyone would have blamed the drug lords. Mean I know, but do you honestly think that law enforcement was going to do anything to stop them from desroying his property???
sonofdy on February 18, 2009 at 1:08 PM
…and I take it you don’t think thousands of wreckless, irresponsible people tromping across someone’s property is cruelty? Tell us where you live so we can test this theory.
(Gimme a break!)
ErinF on February 18, 2009 at 1:09 PM
I believe you are wrong.
All citizens enjoy equal protection, not illegal aliens.
And who did he execute? How was he cruel? I normally avoid ad hominem statements, but you sir/madam either can’t read, are stupid and illogical in your thought processes, or you are lying on purpose.
riverrat10k on February 18, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Solution is simple. Concertina wire & land mines along the border. Sentry towers every few hundred yards. The border must be protected from one of the most dangerous places – Mexico.
Shreader on February 18, 2009 at 1:20 PM
Interestingly enough, didn’t Arizona just introduce a bill in the state legislature making unfunded mandates and certain other federal “requirements” non-binding to the State? Where did I see this data? Am I wrong? Maybe it was Utah.
riverrat10k on February 18, 2009 at 1:22 PM
Me too. I keep wondering why the hell the rancher just didn’t open fire lol.
bluelightbrigade on February 18, 2009 at 1:26 PM
Because, unlike the picture painted by The Race most Americans are not racists or monsters for being against illegal immigration.
He has more restraint than me. On the other hand, 12,000 bullets is pretty expensive, $4k-12k, depending on the round.
riverrat10k on February 18, 2009 at 1:29 PM
This is not the problem, but a symptom of the problem. The problem is the worthless government has run amuck to the point that it cannot secure our country’s borders. This guy needs to sue the worthless government for forcing him to have to deal with these criminal tresspassers.
saiga on February 18, 2009 at 1:34 PM
Most people don’t think too much about trespassers on their property bcs I wager if you live in town,you can just call the cops & wait for them to come.
Seems like city & town folks have been screwed over by holding trespassers at gun point in their homes,too. Though I wager not as bad as this.
The guy’s ranch is more than 20,000 acres & that’s a lot to cover. But ranches down there are big bcs it takes a lot to feed one cow/calf pair.
I feel loads of sorry for this poor SOB.
If Canadian illegals were trespassing across my few measly thousand acres here in ND, I’d be pointing a gun at them.
In fact, trespassing hunters have had guns pointed in their faces here before. Call the game warden & they are arrested.
So pray tell me how come my neighbor wasn’t prosecuted for that?
But illegal aliens can do the same & get awarded $$?????
I guess from now on when I point a gun at a trespasser on my land, I’ll just shoot him.
Dead.
Badger40 on February 18, 2009 at 1:35 PM
I’m betting he doesn’t have a pot to pi$$ in $$-wise. Ranchers are usually not rich.
So if he tries to sue the Feds he will lose his land & everything he’s worked for his whole life.
Not really a nice trade-off for ‘justice’, is it?
Badger40 on February 18, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Exactly.
bluelightbrigade on February 18, 2009 at 1:45 PM
I think it’s time for an invasion of Mexico, or a trade, we give them New Jersey and we take Quintana Roo, the state in which Cancun is located.
hip shot on February 18, 2009 at 1:45 PM
Why trade anything?
Let’s conquer them like the Spanish conquered Mexico, creating Mexico & Mexicans!
Badger40 on February 18, 2009 at 1:56 PM
All signs are pointing to Mexico becoming a narco-state. If that happens, we’ll see more of this. God bless this man for defending his property.
macummings on February 18, 2009 at 1:57 PM
I do believe your going to have to sweeten the pot on that deal.
N4646W on February 18, 2009 at 2:05 PM
It’s a lesson for future land owners along the border, or any land owner that is getting invaded whether by illegal criminal aliens or just your average criminal on your property to steal you blind and possibly do you physical harm.
Kill them and bury their stinking corpse in a remote area. If you report the incident, you’re an idiot.
Spiritk9 on February 18, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Sounds fine to me! How about we throw in California, and its debt, with the deal, and we get Baja California instead. An upgrade, if you will.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 3:53 PM
Remind me, whose country is this anyway?
redfoxbluestate on February 18, 2009 at 3:57 PM
The citizens in Juarez, Mexico are just now starting to protest what is going on there. Although the Mexican Government is probably ultimately to blame for their problems, the drug lords are warring against each other. Unfortunately, many in the police force and government are being paid off by the drug cartels and therein lies that problem. No one knows who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. The violence is so bad that those of us that live in El Paso, Texas have completely quit going to Mexico, I mean it is literally as close as downtown to drive there and we used to frequent it for business and pleasure. Now the only Amer. citizens that go are those that work in the Maquilas or somewhere in their city. There have been Americans killed there after going shopping or to visit relatives etc. Many of the “better off” Mexican nationals who can come to the US legally, are buying homes here, because they fear for their lives in Mexico. One good thing, it has helped our housing market. It is very scary as we see the report of how many were killed “today” on our local news everyday. We are afraid it could spill over into Texas, and if it does will our government defend us or just do more of the same?
Susanboo on February 18, 2009 at 4:35 PM
You’re not allowed to use the threat of deadly force against those who are merely trespassing. That’s the common law rule, anyway.
I can imagine a number of arguments in favor of the rancher, however, one of them being that these trespassers are illegal aliens and therefore not entitled to the same rights under American law.
But the decision, while bad, is not wholly without basis in our common law tradition.
axis_of_weasel on February 18, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Our Constitution is not an opinion. You can believe whatever you want. But the Constitution and it’s stated rights are for citizens. For that matter, how do you know he acted like judge, jury and executioner? Or in a cruel manner? Because he got sued? And I gotta tellya – if someone were to trash my home and property, don’t expect me to react politely about it or sing Kumbaya and try to understand why they did it.
jusgottabeme on February 18, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Here’s hoping the appeals court finds in favor of the plantiff and drops the award. The plantiff did NOTHING wrong, yet the defendents did EVERYTHING wrong. How on God’s green Earth can you award settlements to TRESSPASSERS?! Too many criminal rights and not enough victims rights. Unbelieveable!
bryan2369 on February 18, 2009 at 5:12 PM
Give Mexico to the Israeli’s….end a bunch of problems at one time…..I for one, would pay to watch the Mossad take on the drug cartels….
colonelkurtz on February 18, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Criminal trespass.
Johan Klaus on February 18, 2009 at 6:00 PM
This man will find no friend in the current US Department of Justice, he’ll probably be called a coward.
M-14 2go on February 18, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Not sure about this. I would have to do some research, but usually this has to do with the Feds forcing the state to provide health care to illegals without reimbursement.
The only thing Obamanation did right was pull Uncle Janet Napolitano out of Arizona. Unfortunately, the country will now suffer for her border incompetence. Glad she’s gone.
Shep on February 18, 2009 at 7:31 PM
It is going to be something just like this that WILL spark the beginning of civil war in this country!!!! The idiots on that jury need some education….
build the wall on February 18, 2009 at 7:32 PM
Erin, and all, I would go one step further and assert and attest, if the reports that he has turned over 10,000 illegals in to the BP are true, that “I was in fear for my life”.
Thousands vs. a family.
I am in fear for my life.
riverrat10k on February 18, 2009 at 9:32 PM
Funny thing, I drove by Harpers ferry twice this weekend. When you are neck deep in gasoline it doesn’t take all that much of a spark to set things off.
bullseye on February 18, 2009 at 9:37 PM
Maybe Nevada. Someone help here. I know I saw it here, or Malkin, or Reason, etc.
riverrat10k on February 18, 2009 at 9:37 PM
Hey! Great way to make money during the upcoming Obama Depression. Sue people for interfering when you attempt to trespass.Something for unemployed lawyers to think about now that law offices are closing.
If I break my arm attempting to burglarize your house-that ought to be good for a couple of mill.
MaiDee on February 18, 2009 at 9:57 PM
Don’t laugh, there was a case here a couple of years ago where a burglar got stuck in a garage and had to eat dogfood and drink soda for a couple of days. The idiot jury awarded him over a hundred grand.
bullseye on February 18, 2009 at 10:27 PM
The appeal will move forward -BUT- We should all be able to donate $$’s to this guy such that it costs him nothing in the end, and the ACLU is left with collecting lawyers fees from broke Illegals and footing the total Expense of their attack on America.
Make it COST the ACLU . . .100 % expense, no payoff for clients.
JayTee on February 18, 2009 at 11:11 PM
I believe everyone on U.S. soil has Constitutional rights.
As long as you are not violating anyone elses rights this should be the case.
Even illegals. Their rights were violated when this rancher played judge, jury and executioner in a cruel manner.
patriot1 on February 18, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Illeagals are violating someones rights. And i don’t believe he judged jurried(?) or exectuted anyone, he however acted properly upon finding someone who was on his property illegally.
Once citizens have no ability to defend their property this experiment is over. The founding fathers deemed private property the fundamental element to a free nation. When are private property is no longer private game over folks.
fullogas on February 18, 2009 at 12:18 PM
A truer statement i have not yet heard.
You’re not allowed to use the threat of deadly force against those who are merely trespassing. That’s the common law rule, anyway.
Explain to me just how in h*ll would you remove someone who is tresspassing on your property, i mean someone you don’t know and at night.
But the decision, while bad, is not wholly without basis in our common law tradition.
axis_of_weasel on February 18, 2009 at 4:41 PM
I call bullsh*t on this one. This is the reason that criminals get to get away with this crap, when we stick up for our rights the courts and liars… sorry lawyers… sue for everything the can get.
Criminal trespass.
Johan Klaus on February 18, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Yep.
ChristopherPack on February 18, 2009 at 11:15 PM
You want to see the border militarized quickly, (heck the entire US Southwest) start forming active militias and then have a shooting, even an accidental one. The Socialist in charge will have the 101st down there in a week looking for every militia member they can grab.
But the day is rapidly approaching, I think, that some kind of serious action will happen to ignite the wildfire.
El Cazador on February 18, 2009 at 11:41 PM
You can bet your boots.
Johan Klaus on February 19, 2009 at 12:04 AM
Barnett did what was appropriate and used the reasonable amount of force to affect a citizen’s arrest or detain these criminals until the law got there and took over. Mr. Barnett was the one who suffered emotional distress by having to do law enforcements job because they were either unwilling or unable to do the job themselves. Mr. Barnett has been failed by a PC government that is willing to sacrifice it’s citizens on the alter of political correctness rather than protect them from harm.
Dadzilla on February 19, 2009 at 1:22 AM
This story almost makes no sense.. how could ANYBODY vote against the rancher…. at least he and every other boarder rancher knows exactly what to do next time….. bang bang
zbunde on February 19, 2009 at 1:22 AM
The ACLU is the center of all evil in this country. Build a wall and throw the ACLU members and illegal alien sympathizers over to the Mexican side. Maybe they will have a little more respect for our constitution and American citizenship after taking a spin in that rats nest of a country.
Mr. Barnett should be celebrated as a patriot and others should follow his lead.
concuster on February 19, 2009 at 2:56 AM
There is a reason why you can’t find a AR-15 to purchase right now and Walmart is always out of ammo. People are getting ready for the next civil war in this country.
workingforpigs on February 19, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Kill them all, let God sort it out…
=
Not trial, less ILLEGALS, less crime, less welfare…
Win, Win, Win, Win…
Mark Garnett on February 19, 2009 at 9:33 AM
Had someone broke into my house and I called the cops, they would have pointed guns at the intruders and maybe even brought a dog. Would the intruder have the right to sue the city for assault and emotional distress? Of course not!!
I think the rancher should sue the judge claiming “emotional distress” for having to pay punitive damages!
jeffn21 on February 19, 2009 at 11:20 AM
I just don’t get this.
Hazmat on February 19, 2009 at 11:42 AM
April 15, 2010. A million man March in Washington has turned violent when police attempted to break up the march and protesters from the ‘Taxpayers Coalition’ fought back.
Initial press reports state now that thousands are dead and the city is in a state of siege. Calls for the military to quell the violence have been issued but some military commanders have actually refused to respond.
We will give more details as the news unfolds.
Chaz706 on February 19, 2009 at 11:43 AM
I believe most people cannot make the connection between an urban-city dweller’s prop0erty being = to a landowner’s property.
Many people think land owned by private entities is free to be trespassed upon, while they cry about kids trespassing on their lawn.
They are =.
Badger40 on February 19, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Ah, no. It’s not that all. It’s two things: a) just another phase in America’s national suicide, and b) our elevation of victimhood.
pussum207 on February 19, 2009 at 11:53 AM
When they can bring this to trial and get judges, juries, and judgments like this, nobody is now safe from the wicked, Godless, evil, liberal, left.
cjk on February 19, 2009 at 12:46 PM
When they can bring this type of action to trial and supply these types of judges, juries, and judgments, nobody is safe from the destroyers of this once-great nation. The Godless, integrity-less, unprincipled, racist, fascist, thieving, evil liberal left has launched it’s final phase in the destruction of the last God-fearing major nation in history.
cjk on February 19, 2009 at 12:55 PM
The Godless, integrity-less, unprincipled, racist, fascist, thieving, evil liberal left has launched it’s final phase in the destruction of the last God-fearing major nation in history. We are living in the saddest time for any true American patriot.
cjk on February 19, 2009 at 12:57 PM
lol
patriot1 on February 19, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Wow that is one stupid jury.
Dave Rywall on February 19, 2009 at 1:49 PM
I don’t think the jury is stupid at all, they did exactly what was expected of them. They were carefully selected because of their views under the watch of a selected judge.
cjk on February 19, 2009 at 1:54 PM
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