Thread: AZ: Border agent who killed migrant back on duty

Published: 03.07.2007
Border agent who killed migrant back on duty
- The Associated Press

A U.S. Border Patrol agent who fatally shot an illegal immigrant during a January confrontation has been returned to duty as prosecutors in Cochise County weigh possible criminal charges in the case.
The unidentified agent returned to full duty at the Naco station, Border Patrol spokesman Jesus Rodriguez said Monday. He would not say when the agent returned from administrative leave, routine after shooting incidents.
The agent shot and killed Francisco Javier Dominguez-Rivera, 22, of Puebla, Mexico, during a Jan. 12 confrontation just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, between Bisbee and Douglas.
The agent was responding to a call about a group of seven migrants who were crossing the desert, agents said. The agent detained six people without incident, but then started fighting with Dominguez-Rivera and eventually shot him.
The shooting brought a storm of protest from the Mexican government, with President Felipe Calderón condemning the incident and demanding a full investigation.
Cochise County Attorney Ed Rheinhemier said last week that his office had begun reviewing evidence in the shooting. The evidence includes witness statements, an autopsy report and a surveillance video shot by the Border Patrol. It was collected during a six-week investigation by the Cochise County Sheriff's Office.
The Mexican consul in Douglas, Oscar De la Torre, said he did not want to comment while the investigation continues.
"The Mexican Consulate, as well as President Felipe Calderón, is paying close attention to the developing investigation and is awaiting its outcome," De la Torre said.
Rodriguez said Monday that agents are automatically given three days leave after a shooting, then can be returned to either partial or full duty once the investigation is mostly complete, depending on the facts.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/44074.php

"The Mexican Consulate, as well as President Felipe Calderón, is paying close attention to the developing investigation and is awaiting its outcome," De la Torre said.

Who gives a damn about this. They can both drop off a cliff for all I care as long as they don't do anything to try and stop illegal crossings into the US.

Rodriguez said Monday that agents are automatically given three days leave after a shooting, then can be returned to either partial or full duty once the investigation is mostly complete, depending on the facts.

Facts are facts!
I’ve been saying for years they need to film each crew down there so nothing is never left open to any question at all.
To leave room for interpretation has always been the Mexican Governments way of seeing our boarders and our laws.
You guys know what I mean, there’s a big sign that says no crossing. So the law breaking Criminal Immigrants go down the road a few feet to cross so they can’t see the sign.
I always wish some of the people that own the land personally, where this stuff happens , could find someone to help them sue the Mexican Government for trespass or unlawful entry on land that is posted....

I mean I read the stories about they Mexican government is willing to follow and respect our laws right, then they want to object when stuff like this is on film.... go figure....

I just hope the Agent will be alright, taking a life is never an easy thing and often they are unable to return to work.

MountainDog wrote:

I just hope the Agent will be alright, taking a life is never an easy thing and often they are unable to return to work.

I don't know about the "taking a life is never an easy thing" comment. I'm sure that comment applies to the BP agent, but there are some folks at there that have absolutely no respect for the sanctity of life.

Border Patrol agent back on active duty
Fatally shot migrant in January; investigation ongoing
Arthur H. Rotstein
Associated Press Writer
Mar. 28, 2007 12:00 AM

TUCSON - A U.S. Border Patrol agent who fatally shot an undocumented immigrant in January has been returned to active duty, although authorities were still determining Tuesday whether he should face criminal charges.

Agent Nicholas Corbett, assigned to the patrol's Naco station, returned to active duty about two weeks ago, said Jesus Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson sector.

Authorities said Corbett fatally shot Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera on Jan. 12 while trying to take Dominguez Rivera, his sister-in-law and his two brothers into custody near the Mexican border. advertisement




Xavier Rios, a Border Patrol national spokesman, said Corbett's return to work "doesn't mean he's been cleared.

"There's an investigation going on. The FBI is looking at the civil rights side of it, and Cochise County is looking at the criminal side," Rios added.

The County Attorney's Office released documents Monday from an extensive Sheriff's Department investigation of the shooting, and findings of the medical examiner along with testimony of witnesses do not appear to substantiate the agent's version of events as initially described by patrol spokesmen.

County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer said his office won't determine whether to file charges against Corbett, who has declined to be interviewed by investigators, until the FBI finishes trying to enhance a Border Patrol surveillance video of the incident and completes its own investigation.



FBI spokesman Richard Murray confirmed that the agency is conducting a civil rights investigation but declined to comment on any specific evidence.

Authorities initially said the shooting resulted from an apparent confrontation in which Dominguez Rivera reportedly threatened the agent with a rock. Mexican President Felipe Calderon and the dead man's family strongly condemned the shooting and demanded a full investigation.

Corbett's attorney, Daniel Santander, said he could not comment because he has not seen the reports. Mexican consular officials did not immediately return calls Tuesday.

T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said it is not uncommon to allow an officer involved in a shooting to return to active duty unless there is some question about the findings of the investigation.


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... 0328.html#

"There's an investigation going on. The FBI is looking at the civil rights side of it, and Cochise County is looking at the criminal side," Rios added.

Civil rights belong to citizens not illegal aliens.

This story about the guy being back on duty is several weeks old. They anounced he was back on duty at least 3 weeks ago.(more) I'm surprised the AP just ran this story.

"Corbett, who has been an agent since November 2003, returned to full duty three days after the shooting, said Gustavo Soto, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman." - AZ Daily Star

The shooting took place Jan. 12th.

Published: 04.18.2007

Border agent awaiting word in entrant killing
By Brady McCombs
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A U.S. Border Patrol agent who fatally shot an illegal entrant in January near Douglas could find out whether he'll face criminal charges within two weeks.
Cochise County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer said he won't wait much longer to review an enhanced version of a distant video of the incident from a Border Patrol surveillance camera that was sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Rheinheimer's office viewed the original blurry digital video on compact disc but was hoping to see an enhanced version before deciding whether to press charges against Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett, 39, who shot and killed Francisco Javier Domínguez-Rivera, 22, of Puebla, Mexico, on Jan. 12 about 150 yards north of the border between Bisbee and Douglas.
"You want to wait until you have all the evidence," Rheinheimer said. "But at some point you don't want to wait too long."
Rheinheimer plans to sit down with his staff and review all the evidence again this week. He hopes to make a decision by April 27.
FBI Phoenix spokeswoman Deborah McCarley said she doesn't know when the video will be ready but said the tape is evidence in the FBI's own civil-rights investigation, making it a high priority.
The shooting occurred while Corbett was trying to apprehend Domínguez-Rivera and three others who were trying to enter the country illegally. In the days that followed the incident, the Border Patrol said a scuffle had led to the shooting and the agent "feared for his life."
More than 300 pages of documents released March 26 by the Cochise County Attorney's Office revealed that Corbett's account of what led him to shoot and kill the unarmed Domínguez-Rivera didn't match witness testimony or forensic evidence.
Corbett, who never spoke with investigators, told colleagues he shot at a man at the back of his vehicle who looked like he was going to throw a rock. Three witnesses who were being apprehended along with Domínguez-Rivera — his two brothers and a sister-in-law — told investigators Corbett fired while pushing Domínguez-Rivera to the ground.
The bullet that killed Domínguez-Rivera entered the left side of his chest, passed downward through his heart and liver, and settled in the right lower abdomen, according to an autopsy report by the Cochise County Medical Examiner's Office. He was shot from between 3 inches and 2 1/2 feet, according to Arizona Department of Public Safety lab information included in the report.
The Arizona Chapter of the National Border Patrol Council, the union for agents, says Corbett committed no wrongdoing and accuses investigators of allowing the Mexican Consulate to speak with witnesses before U.S. officials, which would have tainted the investigation.
Cochise County Sheriff's Office and Mexican Consulate officials deny those claims.

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/178950%22