http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/0603/06ramirez.html
Cop shooter feared for his life, court told
By DAVID SIMPSON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the day he was arrested, Bautista Ramirez told police detectives he shot a Doraville police officer because he was afraid that "if I don't kill him, he's going to kill me."
Jurors in Ramirez's death penalty trial saw the videotaped interview, conducted in Spanish, and heard a simultaneous English translation for more than 90 minutes Thursday.
Doraville police investigator Hugo Arango was shot to death May 13, 2000, after approaching Ramirez, then 19, and his cousin, 16, outside the Eclipse nightclub.
The defense contends Ramirez acted in self-defense after Arango hit him in the head with a flashlight. Prosecutors say Ramirez killed Arango to avoid arrest for having a concealed weapon.
In his account to the detectives after his arrest May 18, 2000, Ramirez said Arango threatened his cousin, Alvaro Ramirez, for moving his hands after being frisked. "He shouted he was going to bust his head open," Bautista Ramirez said.
Moments later, the elder Ramirez said, Arango began frisking him and discovered the gun he had tucked into his waistband. Ramirez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, had no permit for the gun.
Ramirez said he turned away when the officer reached for the gun, "and he hit me on the head. And I thought, 'Well, he's going to kill me.' "
He said Arango shoved him to the ground and fell on top of him from behind. Ramirez said he could see the "security guard" -- actually club manager David Contreras -- lunging toward him.
"I said, 'Well, they're going to kill me. And I shot him [Contreras] . . . but I couldn't see very well," Ramirez said, adding later he was "half-dizzy" because of the blow to his head.
The struggle continued on the ground, he said, and he reached around his body to fire two shots under his armpit toward Arango. Ramirez said he then reached over his shoulder and "saw his face" and fired again.
A medical examiner has testified Arango was killed almost instantly by the final shot to the head.
Ramirez's account of being struck with the flashlight was supported in earlier videotaped testimony by Alvaro Ramirez. Several witnesses have said Ramirez was bleeding from his head as he fled.
Contreras has testified he never saw Arango with the flashlight and that Arango and Ramirez were grappling face to face when Ramirez opened fire. But he appeared to change that account in his second stint on the witness stand by saying the men fell to the ground, apparently before shots were fired.
Most of Bautista Ramirez's videotaped interview was conducted by John King, then a police captain who now is Doraville police chief. In cross-examination Thursday, defense lawyer Thomas West pointed out Ramirez said he was roughed up by the arresting officers and had not slept for more than a day.
Cop shooter feared for his life, court told
By DAVID SIMPSON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the day he was arrested, Bautista Ramirez told police detectives he shot a Doraville police officer because he was afraid that "if I don't kill him, he's going to kill me."
Jurors in Ramirez's death penalty trial saw the videotaped interview, conducted in Spanish, and heard a simultaneous English translation for more than 90 minutes Thursday.
Doraville police investigator Hugo Arango was shot to death May 13, 2000, after approaching Ramirez, then 19, and his cousin, 16, outside the Eclipse nightclub.
The defense contends Ramirez acted in self-defense after Arango hit him in the head with a flashlight. Prosecutors say Ramirez killed Arango to avoid arrest for having a concealed weapon.
In his account to the detectives after his arrest May 18, 2000, Ramirez said Arango threatened his cousin, Alvaro Ramirez, for moving his hands after being frisked. "He shouted he was going to bust his head open," Bautista Ramirez said.
Moments later, the elder Ramirez said, Arango began frisking him and discovered the gun he had tucked into his waistband. Ramirez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, had no permit for the gun.
Ramirez said he turned away when the officer reached for the gun, "and he hit me on the head. And I thought, 'Well, he's going to kill me.' "
He said Arango shoved him to the ground and fell on top of him from behind. Ramirez said he could see the "security guard" -- actually club manager David Contreras -- lunging toward him.
"I said, 'Well, they're going to kill me. And I shot him [Contreras] . . . but I couldn't see very well," Ramirez said, adding later he was "half-dizzy" because of the blow to his head.
The struggle continued on the ground, he said, and he reached around his body to fire two shots under his armpit toward Arango. Ramirez said he then reached over his shoulder and "saw his face" and fired again.
A medical examiner has testified Arango was killed almost instantly by the final shot to the head.
Ramirez's account of being struck with the flashlight was supported in earlier videotaped testimony by Alvaro Ramirez. Several witnesses have said Ramirez was bleeding from his head as he fled.
Contreras has testified he never saw Arango with the flashlight and that Arango and Ramirez were grappling face to face when Ramirez opened fire. But he appeared to change that account in his second stint on the witness stand by saying the men fell to the ground, apparently before shots were fired.
Most of Bautista Ramirez's videotaped interview was conducted by John King, then a police captain who now is Doraville police chief. In cross-examination Thursday, defense lawyer Thomas West pointed out Ramirez said he was roughed up by the arresting officers and had not slept for more than a day.
ers and throw them the hell out of my COUNTRY!!!!!!
