Judge denies border agent request to move case to federal court

by Bob Kelleher, Minnesota Public Radio

Duluth, Minn. — A Border Patrol agent facing traffic charges has lost an effort to have her case moved from state court to Federal court.

Amanda Weber faces two misdemeanor traffic charges in the traffic death last year of Cook County doctor Ken Peterson.

Weber's Border Patrol vehicle struck and killed Peterson as he was standing in the roadway at night cutting up a fallen tree with a chainsaw.

The incident fueled local resentment towards the agency, but Weber had claimed immunity from state charges, since she was acting in her role as a federal officer essentially driving on patrol. She has also claimed local hostility towards the Border Patrol tainted the charges.

But Federal judge John Tunheim disagreed with that argument. Tunheim's decision says there's no evidence that a prosecutor manufactured charges for the purpose of harassing a federal employee.

In addition, he said the traffic evidence against her, while thin, does suggest a lack of attention on her part while driving that night.