Ex-Border Patrol agent pleads not guilty

By North County Times wire services
February 26, 2010 7:55 pm

A then-U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of breaking into an Escondido home and wielding a hatchet on a young man and his girlfriend in a bungled plan aimed at his estranged wife pleaded not guilty Friday to attempted murder, torture and other charges.

Gamalier Reyes Rivera, 33, faces multiple life terms in prison if convicted. His trial is scheduled for June 1.

In a Superior Court arraignment before Vista Judge Daniel Goldstein, Rivera pleaded not guilty to four counts of attempted murder, two counts each of torture and aggravated mayhem and one count of burglary. It is standard to formally rearraign defendants following the preliminary hearing; Rivera's preliminary hearing was in December.

The prosecution alleges Rivera intended to attack his estranged wife, but inadvertently chose the wrong room of an unfamiliar house in Escondido.

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