A U.S. appeals court has overturned the conviction of a man accused of pulling the trigger in the 2010 shooting of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, whose death exposed the botched Obama-era gun operation known as “Fast and Furious.”

The surprise reversal came after Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes was convicted of, among other charges, premeditated murder following his extradition from Mexico. He was one of seven defendants on trial for the killing of Terry on December 14, 2010.

On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced its decision to overturn the conviction after Osorio-Arellanes argued that his right to remain silent under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and his right to effective counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution were violated during his trial and subsequent conviction.

“Because Osorio had established his Sixth Amendment claim, the panel was not required to consider his Fifth Amendment claim,” the decision said. “The panel rejected the government’s argument that the absence of a Fifth Amendment violation would preclude Osorio’s Sixth Amendment claim.”

The man convicted of murdering border guard Brian Terry drew attention to “Fast & Furious”

Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes (right) was one of seven defendants in connection with the murder of 40-year-old Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry (left) north of Nogales, Arizona, on December 14, 2010. (US Border Protection)

In the doomed Operation Fast and Furious, federal agents allowed criminals to purchase weapons with the intention of tracing them back to criminal organizations.

But the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost track of most of the weapons, including two found at the scene of Terry’s death.

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The failed Obama-era plan was uncovered after Terry’s death, prompting his family to sue the government.

Terry’s murder brought to public attention Operation Fast and Furious, in which US federal agents enabled criminals to purchase weapons in order to trace them back to criminal organizations. (US Border Protection)

Terry was part of a Team of four in an elite Border Patrol unit that scours the desert of southern Arizona to track down members of a “rip-off” crew that robs drug smugglers.

They encountered a group and identified themselves as police officers when they tried to arrest them.

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The men refused to stop, so an agent fired bean bags at them.

The crew responded by firing AK-47 assault rifles. Terry was hit in the back and died shortly thereafter.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for comment.