Reply #39: Sheriffs daughters boyfriend at Ranch!

[bluedog]

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Meanwhile, law enforcement experts questioned the decision by sheriff's deputies to not interview Cheney or other hunters the day the shooting occurred.

"It is unusual," said James Stinebaugh, who retired as chief of law enforcement for Texas Parks and Wildlife last year. "Anytime you don't get an investigation done as quickly as possible, and talk to people on the scene, you give up some of the authenticity of the investigation."


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Stinebaugh and others said they were not questioning the outcome of the investigation, just the decision by investigators to wait a day before querying witnesses.

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Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas III, whose department investigated the shooting, has said he talked by phone to employees of Armstrong Ranch, including the boyfriend of his daughter, who assured him the shooting was accidental.

"They told me what happened," Salinas said. "I decided (to) let them sleep on it. I said we'll go in the morning."

On Sunday morning, Salinas' investigators talked to Cheney and questioned Katharine Armstrong, his host and fellow hunter, and Whittington at the hospital.

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And Ramiro Medellin, a county constable who also works at the ranch, said he had no doubts it was an accident.

But it did not surprise him that Salinas did not question anyone the evening of the shooting. Secret Service agents told the sheriff that it was an accident, and he trusted their word.

"This is the federal government, and they run the show," Medellin said Tuesday. "They say who comes and goes. They are in charge. I know from experience."

A spokesman for the Secret Service declined to comment about the sheriff's investigation. But he said federal agents acted properly by informing the sheriff of the shooting within an hour of its occurrence.

"It was at the sheriff's request that somebody come out the following morning, which we facilitated and passed through to the vice president's office," said Eric Zahren, a spokesman for the Secret Service.

And Cheney spokeswoman Jennifer Mayfield said "the vice president was available immediately after the incident for questioning."

"Our Secret Service (detail) reached out to the sheriff's office," she said. "The sheriff's office suggested 10 a.m. (Sunday). The vice president wanted to do it sooner and the meeting happened at 8 a.m. He was always available for questioning,"
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But Ronald R. Scott, a retired Massachusetts state trooper who now consults in ballistics cases, said the investigators erred by not going to the ranch on Saturday night. Investigators probably lost their chance to recreate the scene of the shooting, he said.

"I think that is improper to be quite honest," Scott said. "Even if there was no wrongdoing, it is still improper not to do it."


http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/13872544.htm