Comments are being left after this article at the source link.
~~~
Published: 08.15.2007
Border agent charged with murder still on the job
ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
The Associated Press
Facing trial on a murder charge, Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett still reports for work each day behind a desk at the agency's Naco station.
Rather than placing him on paid leave, the Border Patrol has had Corbett on administrative duty, handling desk chores, since shortly after he fatally shot an illegal immigrant on Jan. 12.
Last week, Corbett took a day off for a court hearing where a Cochise County judge found there was enough evidence for him to stand trial on charges of second-degree murder, negligent homicide and manslaughter. Then, he went back to work.
The Border Patrol said it is normal to keep an accused officer on duty while awaiting trial. But a well-known Tucson lawyer who has defended Border Patrol agents said that's not usually the case. And several major Arizona law enforcement agencies said they either fire officers accused of felonies or immediately place them on leave.
Border Patrol spokesmen in Washington and southern Arizona said standard practice is for an agent charged with a crime to continue working pending trial.
"He's innocent until proven guilty," said Washington spokesman Lloyd Easterling. "He is still able to come in and do any multitude of functions that are part of being a Border Patrol agent... pending the outcome of investigations or other proceedings.
"To my knowledge, that has always been Border Patrol policy."
Not so, says Michael Piccarreta, a Tucson criminal defense lawyer and a past president of the Arizona Bar Association.
More than 10 years ago, Piccarreta represented Michael Elmer, a Border Patrol agent charged in the fatal shooting of an unarmed Mexican national near Douglas. Elmer was acquitted of a murder charge and later of a civil rights violation.
Elmer was on a border drug stakeout and he said he believed the victim was an armed drug trafficker.
"They locked him (Elmer) up, they held him without bond," Piccarreta said. "The Border Patrol then instituted termination proceedings before the trial, and he resigned."
Piccarreta said federal law enforcement agencies most commonly place an employee charged with a serious crime on leave, either with or without pay.
"Normally, you're not working when you're accused of a felony. In fact, the Tucson Police Department has a policy — you are fired if you are accused of a felony."
"That's a correct summary," said Lisa Judge, legal adviser to the department. "If an officer is charged with a felony offense, we would move to terminate."
The fact that Corbett is continuing to work after a judge determined probable cause to believe he committed a felony is "what makes it unusual," Piccarreta said.
No other Arizona law enforcement agencies contacted said an officer would keep working while facing a murder charge, while the FBI said it would depend on how serious the charges were.
FBI spokesman Steve Kodak in Washington said decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and depend on the seriousness of the charges.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said an officer in his department charged with a crime goes on administrative leave, "and in serious circumstances, it's usually without pay. They're not working."
And in Cochise County, where the Corbett shooting incident occurred, the sheriff's office would place a deputy charged with a serious crime on paid administrative leave pending its internal investigation, said spokeswoman Carol Capas.
There have been cases of officers terminated before trial because of the outcome of an internal investigation, Capas said.
T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the Border Patrol's union, said he knows of cases where agents charged with a crime have been kept on administrative duty, and of others where they haven't, but isn't sure why.
Corbett is scheduled for arraignment Aug. 27 in Cochise County Superior Court, where he will plead innocent, one of the agent's lawyers said.
His lawyer, Sean Chapman, said Corbett's continuing to work demonstrates "a tremendous amount of support from the law enforcement community and from the Border Patrol in particular.
Easterling, the Border Patrol spokesman, declined to disclose whether the Border Patrol's internal investigation of the shooting incident remains ongoing, or what the results are if it has been completed.
"That in no shape or form should be publicized to influence a court. We want the trial to be fair, without outside intervention," he said.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/60146.php