Trial Begins for BP Agent Accused of Choking Immigrant

Testimony got underway Tuesday in the trial of a Border Patrol agent accused of using unreasonable force when he kneed an undocumented immigrant in Imperial Beach and choked him into unconsciousness.

Luis Fonseca is charged with deprivation of rights under the color of law in connection with the incident on July 26, 2011.

At the time, Fonseca, who joined the agency in 2007, was assigned to the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station.

The alleged victim, Adolfo Ceja Escobar, was caught with two other men in the Tijuana River Valley in an area known as Spooner's Mesa near the U.S.-Mexico border. Ceja was allegedly kneed and choked while he was being processed at the Imperial Beach station.

According to a one-page indictment, which refers to the alleged victim as "UA 1," Fonseca "kneed and choked UA 1, willfully depriving him of the right, secured and protected by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer, resulting in bodily injury to UA 1."

"UA" is short for "unidentified alien." Ceja regained consciousness on his own and was eventually deported to Mexico. Fonseca has been on unpaid administrative leave since May.

City News Service contributed to this report.