Brian Terry's Killer Has Conviction Vacated by Appeals Court

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and sentence of the man who killed Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes was convicted in 2020 for his role in the 2011 murder of Terry, which was made possible by the ATF-run gunrunning operation known as "Fast and Furious." Osorio-Arellanes was arrested by Mexican authorities on April 12, 2017, and subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

The appeals court said Osorio-Arellanes had confessed to “essential elements” of the U.S. government's case against him while being interrogated in a Mexico City prison.
On appeal, he argued that he was entitled to a new trial because his confession was taken in violation of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, as well as his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel. He also argued that he did not have a fair trial, and his attorney said he is illiterate and didn’t understand the proceedings.
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“Our holding does not decide Osorio’s ultimate responsibility for his actions. The Government can still retry this case,” the appeals court said in its new ruling. “Nevertheless, his direct appeal reaffirms the potency of our Constitution’s procedural protections for criminal defendants, which ‘are granted to the innocent and the guilty alike.'"

IANAL, but given the lack of forensic evidence, it is highly unlikely that Osorio-Arellanes will be tried again if the government can't use the confession that got this conviction thrown out. It will also call into question the convictions of some of the six other men also convicted in Terry's murder.

"Fast and Furious" was an ATF operation that then-Attorney General Eric Holder wanted to use to build a case for increased regulation of firearms in border states. The operation allowed straw purchasers, particularly in New Mexico and Arizona, to buy firearms illegally and transfer them to Mexican cartels. When these were recovered at crime scenes, they could be used as evidence that the cartels were getting their guns from the US. At least 300 Mexican nationals were killed, thanks to Eric Holder and the ATF.

Eric Holder caught in lie about when he knew about Fast & Furious. – RedState

The Great Fast & Furious... Fast & Furious Data-Dump. – RedState

Report: Fast and Furious Weapon Linked to Assassination Plot – RedState

Fast & Furious update: BATFE emails show stonewalling. – RedState

No one on the American side of this operation suffered personal or professional consequences because of this criminal act.