TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - The second-degree murder case against a Border Patrol agent accused of killing a Mexican teen in a cross-border shooting will move forward after a federal judge denied a motion to dismiss.
Judge Ranner Collins issued the ruling last week denying a claim by an attorney for Agent Lonnie Swartz that the federal government didn't have jurisdiction over the case.
Collins also agreed to suppress answers Swartz gave to a superior the day he fatally shot 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, saying Swartz was led to believe the answers couldn't be used to incriminate him. The questions standard under the agency's use of force policy.
Swartz is accused of firing through the border fence into Nogales, Sonora, and striking Elena Rodriguez about 10 times. He says Elena Rodriguez threw rocks at him, a claim his family denies.
