GLENN BECK PROGRAM
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

GLENN: David Botsford is an attorney. He represents, I believe Ramos and I don't tell Compean, or is it the other way around? David, welcome to the program.

BOTSFORD: Welcome. Thank you for having me. And I represent Ramos in connection with the appeal only, not Mr. Compean. But both are very similar.

GLENN: Yeah, I was going to say if one gets out, the other's going to get out as well, right?

BOTSFORD: It looks that way. I would suspect so Glenn, based on the appellate arguments. And counsel for Compean and I have coordinated extensively during the course of the appeal. So the arguments are interrelated and essentially applied to both of them with equal force.

GLENN: Okay, David, I've only got about four minutes before the bottom of the hour. I wanted to get your read on what happened yesterday. What does all of this mean?

Border Patrol Fundraiser Shirt ***All of Glenn's proceeds from the sale of this shirt will be donated to a legal defense fund for Agents Ramos and Compean.*** To quote Col. Nathan Jessep--Jack Nicholson's character from, A Few Good Men--"Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns." That's true, and some of the men guarding our walls are U.S. Border Patrol Agents. Thing is…if one of those Border Agents tries to protect our walls with their guns, they might just end up in prison for the next 11 years. That's what happened to agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. You've heard me talk about the injustice done to these brave men, and you know that I'm outraged. I invite you to join me in showing both your anger and commitment to setting them free by wearing one of these t-shirts: "U.S. Border Patrol…To Protect And Serve Time." It's the least we can do for two men who have done the most…men with families who are unfairly paying the price for doing their duty, showing their bravery, and trying to keep all Americans safe.

BOTSFORD: Well, it's hard to say what it means, Glenn, but we're certainly encouraged. The court, this is a very good panel of judges on the court. They were very responsive to the issues that we raised. They were obviously very, very concerned about them and although the Court will follow the law, you've got to be encouraged by virtue of the comments that they made during the course of the oral argument.

GLENN: Any idea how long it's going to take them to make a decision?

BOTSFORD: Typically would be roughly 60 days. That's kind of an internal guideline. It could be a little quicker, could be a little slower. They have to address the insufficiency of the evidence arguments that have been raised in the appeal as opposed to just addressing the two arguments and issues that were presented yesterday.

GLENN: Have you asked for them to be let out on bail on this based on what came out yesterday?

BOTSFORD: Well, not based on what came out yesterday, Glenn. We asked for bail back in January of 2007. The statute is very, very restrictive and says you have to be able to show exceptional circumstances when you've been convicted of a crime of violence, and this 924(c) conviction, the gun count, is a crime of violence. So a different judge on the court of appeals had denied that motion for bond and quite candidly, you know, the issue of whether there's, quote, exceptional circumstances is somewhat muddied.

GLENN: Really? Hang on, hang on. Hang on just a second. You're saying that the federal government admitting yesterday that the star witness lied under oath is not an exceptional circumstance?

BOTSFORD: I would say it should be an exceptional circumstance, Glenn, but there's no case law that would directly address that. The body of law dealing with exceptional circumstances is very minimal, but we're in the process of ascertaining whether we should be filing a motion for bond in the next week or so and whether the Court would reconsider its previous denial that there are no exceptional circumstances in the case.

GLENN: If they come back and say, you screwed this whole thing up, do they have to go through another trial, or is this then thrown out? What are you hoping is going to happen?

BOTSFORD: Well, I'm hoping that the case will be reversed on all counts, insufficient evidence on all counts and therefore that a retrial would be barred by double jeopardy. Absent that we're hoping a new trial on all counts and that Mr. Sutton would see the folly of his past ways and just dismiss the case, but I can't speak for what Mr. Sutton will do.

GLENN: Have you had any idea if anybody wants to go after Mr. Sutton or the federal government on this if they do reverse all charges and -- because it sure looks, it looks dirty to me from start to finish.

BOTSFORD: Well, you've got to be concerned about the line prosecutors that instigated this and why it was carried forward and, of course, it's got a life of its own now. And whether congress wants to investigate, I think that's super. I think there should be an investigation as to why border patrol agents who are -- you know, there are responsibilities to protect this country from terrorists and people entering illegally. I mean, I just can't fathom why this case was prosecuted. I really can't.

GLENN: Yeah. Well, read the last chapter of my book. David, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Say hi to Ignacio for me, will you? Tell him I'm not giving up on him.

BOTSFORD: I will do that later today.

GLENN: Thanks a lot. And another thing, you should tell him that I meet people from all across the country that have bought our border patrol shirts to protect and serve time. Every single dime goes right to the legal defense of our border agents, and I've seen them everywhere, from coast to coast on people who are coming out for the show and the book signings and everything else. If you'd like to buy one, every dime goes to their legal defense and you can find it in the merchandise section or the Glenn Beck web store at GlennBeck.com. More in just a second.

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