On Day No. 127 of imprisonment, Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi entered a federal court in Tijuana to face four border officials who were involved in his March 31 arrest on weapons charges.
In the Monday hearing that is expected to last several hours, defense attorney Fernando Benitez will grill the officials, looking for discrepancies in what they said and originally reported on the night of the arrest, according to Jill Tahmooressi, Andrew’s mother, who is in Tijuana for the hearing.
Benitez asserts Tahmooressi’s civil rights were violated because he was not provided a translator to adequately explain why he was being arrested. He also alleges the 26-year-old Marine was held at the port of entry, where her crossed from San Ysidro, Calif., for more than eight hours before being transported to the federal police headquarters and formally charged with the Mexican federal crime of bringing weapons and ammunition used by the military into the country. He was not charged with weapons trafficking. . .