NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments over whether a federal border patrol agent can be sued in U.S. courts for shooting across the border and killing a Mexican teenager in 2010.
The case is before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court in New Orleans on Wednesday. That court sided with agent Jesus Mesa in 2015 but was told to take another look another look at constitutional issues in the case by the Supreme Court.
Mesa was in Texas when he shot 15-year-old Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca in June 2010. Issues include whether the teen, a Mexican on Mexican soil, could claim constitutional rights, including the Fifth Amendment right to due process; and, whether Mesa, as a federal agent, has immunity from lawsuits in the case.