June 12, 1992
Dario Miranda Valenzuela, 26; Border Patrol agent: Michael Elmer, 30
Border Patrol agent Michael Elmer shot Dario Miranda Valenzuela twice in the back in Nogales, Ariz. The 30-year-old agent fired 12 shots from his semi-automatic, dragged the body and didn’t immediately report the incident.
Elmer was charged with second-degree murder and obstructing justice for allegedly trying to talk his partner into helping him cover up the shooting. He was acquitted in a state trial in 1992 and in 1994 was found not guilty in a federal civil-rights trial for which he could have faced life in prison if convicted.
The defense argued Elmer shot Valenzuela, 26, in self-defense after he heard shots fired. Elmer testified that after hearing the shots, actually fired by his partner, he saw Valenzuela run in his direction and dart behind several trees. He said he thought a canteen carrier on his hip was a gun holster.
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The prosecution said Valenzuela was running down the ravine and away from Elmer when he was shot and introduced evidence of two incidents in March 1992 when Elmer allegedly fired warning shots at groups of suspected drug smugglers to scare them into dropping drug loads.
