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The appeals court refused to overturn rulings the late Judge Roll made during the litigation in Tucson federal district court. Following an eight-day trial with some 20 witnesses, a jury in 2009 found in favor of four plaintiffs who claimed a rancher named Roger Barnett assaulted them on public land on the border of Arizona and Mexico.

The appeals court upheld the jury’s verdict in favor of four of the plaintiffs on their claims for assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs called Barnett a “vigilante” who held the group of unarmed immigrants captive. The jury awarded a total of $73,352 in compensatory, punitive and nominal damages, according to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which filed suit on behalf of the plaintiffs.

Senior Judge David Thompson, Judge Barry Silverman and Senior Judge Robert Cowen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, sitting by designation, presided over the appellate hearing on Dec. 8 in San Francisco.

Tucson solo practitioner John Kaufmann argued for Barnett, who attended the hearing. David Urias of Freedman Boyd Hollander Goldberg Ives & Duncan, in Albuquerque, represented the plaintiffs.

“The jury heard compelling testimony of the distress that was endured by these plaintiffs when they were held at gunpoint by Roger Barnett with a loaded .40-caliber handgun,” Urias said in court. “The jury heard testimony about he berated them with racial slurs and obscenities. The jury heard testimony about how he pointed his gun at the heads of each of these appellees. The jury heard all this evidence.”

The appeals court upheld Roll’s decision not to issue a self-defense instruction to the jury, saying that Barnett conceded on the stand that none of the plaintiffs were armed or threatened him.

Roll, the appeals court said, was correct in denying Barnett’s motion for judgment as a matter of law. The plaintiffs testified about anxiety, depression and insomnia stemming from Barnett’s action, the court noted in its ruling. An expert diagnosed three of the four plaintiffs with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Upon review, we conclude that there is substantial evidence from which the jury could have concluded that the appellees suffered severe emotional distress,” the appeals court said.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio now wants to commission a posse whose only job will be to enforce illegal immigration and human smuggling laws.
Arpaio says the posse will be devoted solely to illegal immigration. He claimed he wanted a little specialized unit.

Details are sparse but, like the sheriff’s other posses, this one will be made up of armed volunteers who will patrol rural areas looking for border crossers and human smugglers. According to Arpaio, he wants to concentrate more in the desert before they get to Phoenix. In response, Latino activist Salvador Reza says volunteer posse members who do not have full police training will likely make mistakes.

While others are likening Arpaio’s latest posse to a vigilante patrol group much like the one lead by neo-Nazis that made headlines earlier this summer, Arpaio says his men are trained.

According to MCSO documents, posse members are required to get at least 16 hours of training in addition to firearms training.

The sheriff says that they do give posse training on law enforcement and they do have authority to make arrest when they are operating under supervision. Additionally, the sheriff says the new posse will be mobilized within three weeks outfitted with appropriate hardware and gear, but it is still not clear what exactly that will entail.

The Homeland Security Department expanded the use of unmanned drones along the U.S.-Mexico border this week, flying for the first time this sort of advanced technology in west Texas.

The Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle is providing support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to help interdict drug smugglers and detect people trying to cross the border of Mexico -United States illegally, key lawmakers said.

Texas lawmakers have been wanting for years to have an unmanned drone assist in border security operations, but the move had been delayed by bureaucratic wrangling between DHS and the Federal Aviation Administration. Drone flights along the Southwest border had been limited to regions in Arizona and New Mexico.

But several Texas lawmakers ramped up their efforts in recent weeks to get the FAA to approve flights in their state. In conclusion, the FAA signed off at the end of May on allowing drone operations over the western region of the Texas-Mexico border.

According to Senate Commerce committee ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, the beginning of UAV flights over the west Texas portion of the U.S.-Mexico borders marks an important advancement for border security in Texas.  Additionally, Hutchison stated that high-tech tools have been spread among the Southwest Border States for too long and that they are working hard to make round-the-clock aerial surveillance the standard for all the 2,000 miles of the U.S. –Mexico border.

House Homeland Security Border Subcommittee Chairman Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, also helped broker the agreement between DHS and FAA.

Now, Customs and Border Protection operates five Predator B drones, which have flown more than 1,500 hours and contributed to the seizure of more than 15,000 pounds of marijuana and the apprehension of more than 4,000 illegal immigrants, according to the agency.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano were critical Tuesday of Arizona’s new immigration law, which requires police to question anyone about their immigration status if they have reason to suspect they are in the country illegally. Additionally, SB 1070 would make it a state crime if anyone is in the country illegally.

Attorney General Holder said the federal government may challenge it.

The critical comments came four days after Arizona’s governor signed a law designed to crack down on illegal aliens.

The Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security are reviewing the state law, and are considering the possibility of a court challenge as one of the options.

Napolitano stated that they have deep concerns with the new immigrant law since it could drain federal money and staff from hunting down immigrants, concentrating on those who are in the country illegally, instead of those who have committed the most serious crimes.

If you are in the US illegally and want to know more about your rights and immigration situation, contact The Nunez Firm to schedule a free consultation. Managing attorney Jay Nunez will discuss your situation with you during a confidential consultation and help you better understand the options available to you.

Yesterday, that state’s House of Representatives passed what’s being called the most anti-immigrant bill in the country making it illegal for undocumented immigrants to live or work in the state, or for employers to hire them. The bill, entitled the “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” states that during any “lawful contact” with law enforcement, an officer shall attempt to determine the immigration status of any person they reasonably suspect to be in the U.S. illegally. The person may prove their citizenship by producing a driver’s license, tribal license, or federal ID card. The bill’s author, state Sen. Russell Pearce, said the law simply “takes the handcuffs off of law enforcement and lets them do their job.”

Police were divided on the matter, with police unions backing it but the state police chief’s association saying it could erode trust with immigrants. It requires law enforcement officers who have a “reasonable suspicion” that someone is an illegal immigrant to determine that person’s immigration status “when practicable.”
A provision in the bill states that race or ethnicity cannot be the sole grounds for asking about immigration status, but civil rights groups say authorities are not barred from using them along with other factors that raise suspicions.

The bill also puts the kibosh on any sanctuary city policies, stating any legal resident or citizen of the U.S.  can sue any entity in the state with a policy that impedes the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

Immigrant rights groups said Arizona had been transformed into a police state.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon told SF Weekly that he believes the bill is racist and will be struck down in the courts for being unconstitutional. Basically, he says, it’s reversing the burden of proof to make a person have to prove he or she isn’t an illegal immigrant.

Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Secretary Janet Napolitano conducted a closed-door session with representatives of several industries and advocacy groups that are typically impacted by immigration. This was the first time DHS Secretary Napolitano has held such a meeting. Monday’s “listening session” included immigration advocates, state officials, labor unions, law enforcement officers, business leaders and representatives of farm workers among others. The meeting was closed to the public including the media. The secretary is expected to hold similar meetings around the country in the future.