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.
By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.