‘Humanitarian’ grounds for Tahmooressi release?
Congressional supporters of Andrew Tahmooressi, a U.S. Marine veteran on trial in Tijuana on firearms charges, said Wednesday they believe Mexican prosecutors could move to dismiss the case soon on humanitarian grounds.
The basis for the release would be findings by an expert witness for the prosecution this week that Tahmooressi suffers from combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder and requires treatment in the United States.
Tahmooressi has been detained in Baja California since he drove into Mexico on March 31 with three loaded weapons and more than 400 rounds of ammunition. He is on trial for possession of the weapons and ammunition; if convicted, he faces up to 21 years behind bars.
The Florida native, who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and had begun treatment for PTSD, had recently moved to San Diego at the time of his arrest. Though he had registered earlier in the day at a hotel in Tijuana, he has maintained that he drove into Mexico by accident later that night, after coming back across the border, retrieving his vehicle, and taking a wrong turn in San Ysidro.
During a House subcommittee hearing on Wednesday focusing on Tahmooressi’s case, U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., relayed that Mexico’s attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, told him last week that “he has the authority within Mexican law to dismiss Sgt. Tahmooressi’s case on humanitarian grounds once he has the expert testimony that verifies his combat-specific PTSD diagnosis.”
SOURCE: Read the full article at UT San Diego
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