Bajajack
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Judge declares mistrial of U.S. border agent
Reuters ^ | 3/7/08 | n/a
Posted on Friday, March 07, 2008 4:29:57 PM by kiriath_jearim
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A judge declared a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury on Friday in the case of a U.S. Border Patrol agent charged with killing a
Mexican man crossing illegally into Arizona.
U.S. District Judge David C. Bury canceled the trial of Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett after the jury had failed to reach a verdict since
starting deliberations on Tuesday, a court official said.
Corbett, 40, faced charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide for shooting dead Francisco Dominguez Rivera on January 12
2007, in a case closely watched by watched by pro- and anti-illegal immigrant groups.
The shooting occurred on an isolated stretch of the border between Naco and Douglas, where Dominguez Rivera, 22, had crossed from Mexico with his two
brothers and the girlfriend of one of the brothers.
Corbett said he fired after Dominguez Rivera threatened him with a rock, while prosecutors argued the shooting was unprovoked.
The incident drew an immediate rebuke by the Mexican government last year with that country's Foreign Ministry complaining of "disproportionate
violence." Diplomats at the Mexican Embassy in Washington called for a thorough investigation.
Two years ago, two Border Patrol agents in Texas were tried for shooting an unarmed Mexican drug smuggler in the buttocks in a case that drew
widespread attention. Ignacio Ramos received 11 years and a day in prison and Jose Alonso Compean was sentenced to 12 years.
\"take what you can, give nothing back!\"
We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the
American people.\'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
We can have no \"50-50\" allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all.
Theodore Roosevelt
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CaboRon
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Mood: Peacefull
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajajack
Reuters ^ | 3/7/08 | n/a
Posted on Friday, March 07, 2008 4:29:57 PM by kiriath_jearim
PHOENIX (Reuters) - |
Is there perhaps , something a little more recent ?
CaboRon
[Edited on 10-31-2008 by CaboRon]
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ELINVESTIG8R
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I want Ramos and Compeon released from prison now. What a crock that was.
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Bajajack
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Part 2 U.S. border agent faces new trial in slaying
U.S. border agent faces new trial in slaying
by Sean Holstege - Oct. 19, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
This week federal prosecutors will open a murder trial against an Arizona border agent. But for many people, the case also will put on trial the
nation's border security strategy.
The retrial of U.S. Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett in Tucson is inflaming the divided passions about immigration and border security.
Corbett's defenders say the case is about a man defending himself against a violent attacker in a dangerous place, and then being punished, for
political reasons, for doing his job.
They say the confrontation that led to Corbett shooting an illegal immigrant is reason for stricter security and tighter immigration laws.
Prosecutors say the case has nothing to do with border issues. Rather, it's about upholding the law to punish a man who abused his power to commit
murder.
Human-rights activists also say the case represents an overly severe border policy that needs stricter oversight.
The Corbett case has attracted attention on each side of the border, with Mexico calling for Corbett's prosecution.
The fact that Corbett, 41, fired a single fatal bullet into 22-year-old Francisco Dominguez-Rivera in January 2007 is not in dispute. The issue is
whether the shooting was self-defense.
Corbett, who remains on duty, is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide. He faces up to 20 years in prison if
convicted. In March, a jury deadlocked in the case.
The retrial begins Tuesday with jury selection.
What happened
On the afternoon of Jan. 12, 2007, Corbett was patrolling in his truck in a remote desert area near Douglas. He spotted, then chased, four illegal
immigrants who knew they had been discovered and were fleeing to Mexico.
Corbett cut them off within 100 yards of the border. He jumped out of his vehicle and ordered them to surrender.
Three illegal immigrants, Dominguez-Rivera's relatives, obeyed and lay down in the dirt. Dominguez-Rivera, who was from southern Mexico, was slow to
give up.
Corbett circled behind his truck and, moments later, shot from less than a foot away. The bullet entered Dominguez-Rivera's left armpit and punctured
his heart and other vital organs.
A bullet casing matching Corbett's ammunition was found next to his head. The slug recovered from the body matched Corbett's weapon. The shot came
from above and slightly behind the victim, the medical examiner concluded.
The incident was captured in grainy video by a camera attached to a border-fence pole.
That is where all agreement stops.
The controversy
Grant Woods, special prosecutor for the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, said the evidence clearly points to murder, not self-defense.
"The evidence is pretty overwhelming," Woods said.
According to initial police reports, Corbett told investigators he shot Dominguez-Rivera from about 4 feet away when the illegal immigrant raised his
arm to throw a rock at Corbett.
The video, gunpowder residue, autopsy data and eyewitness testimony from the victim's three relatives show the shooting could not have occurred as
Corbett described, prosecutors argue.
But the investigation was poorly handled, both sides agree. Investigators left evidence at the crime scene that had been contaminated for almost two
hours, officials later testified. Witnesses were not kept apart.
An official from the Mexican consulate met with the three family members before they gave statements and promised them government support. He told
them President Felipe Calderón was adamant that Corbett be made an example, according to a transcript of the meeting in court documents. A recording
of Border Patrol dispatch tapes was destroyed.
Critical to defense attorneys is what happened to a pair of gloves worn by Dominguez-Rivera. If his gloves had dirt and rock bits on them, they might
indicate that he had been threatening Corbett, Corbett's lawyers argued.
First, investigators said the gloves had been collected. Then, when the gloves were missing from the evidence log, officers said they had been given
to the family. When the gloves appeared at the crime scene a year later, investigators concluded they had given the family a different pair of gloves.
"He didn't do this," Corbett's lawyer, Sean Chapman, said. "He did what he had to do to protect himself."
Defense attorneys argued that investigators misrepresented Corbett's initial statements, that he didn't tell them he was 4 feet away. On the stand in
the first trial, Corbett claimed he shot Dominguez-Rivera at close range as the man started to smash a rock on the agent's head.
"The physical and forensic evidence is consistent with his testimony," Chapman said, referring to evidence about the bullet's path, the close range of
fire, the video and other evidence.
A judge disallowed evidence from the prosecution and the defense that questioned the character of Corbett and Dominguez-Rivera.
Border agents' jobs
The shooting occurred in one of the busiest smuggling routes along the U.S.-Mexican border. Encounters with heavily armed drug smugglers are
commonplace there, as are rock-throwing assaults.
Between Oct. 1 and June 30, agents were attacked 827 times along the entire border. Three-quarters of those were rock attacks, often to divert agents'
attention; those increased 40 percent over the same period a year before. Border agents typically patrol alone and arrest 20 or 30 illegal immigrants
at a time.
"It is an inherently dangerous job," said Border Patrol Assistant Chief Lloyd Easterling.
He said agents spend hours training on when to use deadly force. They are told to show discretion based on the risk to them and others.
During 850,000 arrests on the Mexican border last year, agents fired their weapons 51 times, a sign of restraint, Easterling said.
Corbett's trial comes months after two agents in Texas were convicted of shooting a drug smuggler and trying to cover up the crime. Both cases have
incensed border-security advocates.
Edward Truffly, president of National Border Patrol Council Local 2544, the union representing Corbett, highlighted the case in a letter to President
Bush in August complaining about a weak response to an incident in which Mexican troops held another agent at gunpoint near Ajo.
"Do the Mexican soldiers deserve to be treated better than our own agents?" Truffly wrote.
"Local 2544 is putting up Corbett's defense, and we are very proud to do it," a union Web site said about the case. "This could happen to any of us,
especially given the current political climate."
Rights advocates
Human-rights organizations view the case in terms of the border's increasing militarization and growing anti-immigrant sentiments.
"A guilty verdict is really important to sending the message to Border Patrol agents that nobody is above the law and that everybody is accountable,"
said Jennifer Allen, executive director of Border Action Network, a Tucson-based civil-rights group that held a vigil during the first trial. "The
Corbett trial is the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface is a whole labyrinth of issues."
Last year, Border Action Network alleged in a report that abuse, mistreatment and violation of the rights of immigrants and citizens is routine in the
borderlands.
In a three-month period, Border Action volunteers documented 116 cases of abuse, ranging from unlawful arrest and torture to verbal abuse. Border
Patrol agents were blamed in about a tenth of the cases, and local police and sheriff's deputies in much of the rest. The Border Patrol insists that
the maltreatment claims are exaggerated.
Amid the conflicts, the prosecution and defense must find a fair jury.
"Immigration is a hot-button issue, and there is a tendency to confuse the facts of this case with that debate," Chapman, Corbett's defense attorney,
said. But in this case, "Corbett acted in self-defense."
Woods, the prosecutor, said the case speaks to the state's and nation's respect for human rights.
"I can't think of too many countries that would look at the evidence and take the side of the people who are here illegally against its own officers
only because it's the right thing to do," Woods said. "In this country, we don't shoot people from behind during an act of surrender."
[Edited on 11-1-2008 by Bajajack]
\"take what you can, give nothing back!\"
We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the
American people.\'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
We can have no \"50-50\" allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all.
Theodore Roosevelt
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Skip_Mac
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Just curious, having been on several juries.. Bajajack...were you on the jury to have such specific "Facts". If not. it is not your place to
decide guilt/not guilty or even to decide on the "Facts" of the case.
Police Officers, convinced of their RIGHT to decide facts in life or death cases, have been known to twist the "Facts" to support whatever actions
they chose to take. A rational juror must decide whether the gunman was justified in murdering another person..knowing the gunman MUST try to put
his murder in a positive light.
Not a nice or easy situation to decide.
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Bajajack
Banned
Posts: 370
Registered: 5-20-2007
Location: Arizona
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What an idiot
| Quote: | Originally posted by Skip_Mac
Just curious, having been on several juries.. Bajajack...were you on the jury to have such specific "Facts". If not. it is not your place to
decide guilt/not guilty or even to decide on the "Facts" of the case.
Police Officers, convinced of their RIGHT to decide facts in life or death cases, have been known to twist the "Facts" to support whatever actions
they chose to take. A rational juror must decide whether the gunman was justified in murdering another person..knowing the gunman MUST try to put
his murder in a positive light.
Not a nice or easy situation to decide. |
have you ever tried actually reading an article before
responding.
\"take what you can, give nothing back!\"
We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the
American people.\'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
We can have no \"50-50\" allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all.
Theodore Roosevelt
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Bajajack
Banned
Posts: 370
Registered: 5-20-2007
Location: Arizona
Member Is Offline
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Jury still out in Border Patrol agent's trial
Jury still out in Border Patrol agent's trial
Associated Press - November 3, 2008 12:14 PM ET
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - After a weekend break, jurors have resumed deliberations in the retrial of a U.S. Border Patrol agent charged in the killing of
an illegal immigrant.
Jurors who deliberated about nine hours last week are being asked to convict or acquit Agent Nicholas Corbett on second-degree murder, manslaughter or
negligent homicide charges in the January 2007 death of Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera of Puebla, Mexico.
Three witnesses, including Dominguez's two brothers, testified during the U.S. District Court trial that he was kneeling to surrender when Corbett
shot without provocation.
Corbett's attorneys have contended he shot in self-defense as Dominguez tried to smash his head with a rock.
Corbett's first trial ended in March with a deadlocked jury.
\"take what you can, give nothing back!\"
We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the
American people.\'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
We can have no \"50-50\" allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all.
Theodore Roosevelt
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Bajajack
Banned
Posts: 370
Registered: 5-20-2007
Location: Arizona
Member Is Offline
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Part 3 Federal judge declares another mistrial
Tue Nov 4, 2008 6:06pm EST
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A federal judge declared a mistrial on Tuesday in the case of a U.S. Border Patrol agent charged with killing a Mexican man
crossing illegally into Arizona.
U.S. District Judge David Bury declared the mistrial after the jury failed to reach a verdict in the second trial of Border Patrol agent Nicholas
Corbett, an official at the Cochise County Attorney's Office told Reuters.
Corbett, 40, faced charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide for shooting dead Francisco Dominguez Rivera on January 12,
2007, in a case closely watched by pro- and anti-illegal immigrant groups.
The shooting occurred on an isolated stretch of the border between Naco and Douglas, where Dominguez Rivera, 22, had crossed from Mexico with his two
brothers and the girlfriend of one of the brothers.
Corbett said he fired after Dominguez Rivera threatened him with a rock, while prosecutors argued the shooting was unprovoked.
The killing drew a sharp rebuke from the Mexican government last year with that country's Foreign Ministry complaining of "disproportionate violence."
Diplomats at the Mexican Embassy in Washington called for a thorough investigation.
Corbett's first trial, in March, also ended in mistrial after the jury failed to reach a decision after three days of deliberations.
The jury in the second trial had been weighing the verdict since Thursday.
It was not immediately clear if prosecutors would seek a third trial.
\"take what you can, give nothing back!\"
We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the
American people.\'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
We can have no \"50-50\" allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all.
Theodore Roosevelt
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