Thread: Nicholas Corbett - Another BP Agent being prosecuted

Grant Woods is New Hired Gun In BP Agent Nicholas Corbett Case
Monday, 19 November 2007

Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods has been hired and funded by Cochise County taxpayers to prosecute Border Patrol Agent Nick Corbett. Woods has a long history of anti-Border Patrol and pro-illegal alien behavior. Woods was also caught employing an illegal alien maid when he was the AG, which obviously hindered his political aspirations.

He had aspirations to be Governor and has also stated that he would like to pursue a seat in the U.S. Senate when John McCain retires. Woods is a McCain protégé, which partially explains his rabid opposition to enforcing this Nation's immigration laws. McCain has always been completely unsupportive of rank-and-file Border Patrol agents, and he has often been flippant when talking about enforcement of our immigration laws. McCain has also been a leading proponent of amnesty for illegal aliens, which has ruined his poll ratings, as well as his latest bid for the GOP presidential nomination. Woods was a leading opponent of Proposition 200 in 2004. Prop 200 was designed to deny many state taxpayer funded services to illegal aliens. The Proposition was passed by the voters, and Woods, as is typical among the pro-illegal alien activists, immediately started talking about lawsuits to stifle the will of the voters. Woods has never gained a higher political office than AG, and went into private practice after his second term.

In 1997, after an operation in Chandler, Arizona involving the Border Patrol and the Chandler Police Department, Woods called the actions of the agents and officers involved with the operation "outrageous". Woods was falling in line with pro-illegal alien groups who were filing lawsuits against the BP/INS and the City of Chandler over what they termed "round-ups" of illegal aliens. In reality, nobody did anything wrong. The anti-BP groups settled with the City of Chandler because the City of Chandler thought it would be cheaper to settle than to fight in court. The INS refused to settle and not one single "charge" by the anti-enforcement groups was substantiated, despite exhaustive investigations into the conduct of the officers conducting the operation.

The current Local 2544 President represented most of the Border Patrol agents involved with the Chandler operation, and not one of them was found to have done anything wrong. They did not break any rules, laws, or regulations during the entire operation. They used sound law enforcement methods throughout the operation. None of them were even disciplined administratively, even though there was a keen sense that the government was looking for a scapegoat. The investigation into their actions was thorough and included site visits to homes and businesses, interviews, and re-enactments. The INS did not pay a dime to the anti-BP groups. Former BP Chief Ron Sanders and the former PAIC of the Casa Grande station were sued, and both were cleared of any wrongdoing. The lawsuits failed. The Border Patrol agents assigned to this operation did a terrific job, and then they were chastised for it. It was disgraceful.

The only thing "outrageous" about the Chandler operation was the political pandering and the false allegations leveled by the likes of Mr. Woods and the other radical pro-illegal immigration activists.

In the Corbett case, the taxpayers of Cochise County are getting soaked for the ineptness and grandstanding of Cochise County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer and Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever. Hundreds of thousands of dollars will be wasted before this is over. Although they claim that the money for this pathetic prosecution comes from a "special fund", they fail to point out that those "special funds" could and should be used to prosecute someone who actually committed a crime (criminals walk free all the time because Cochise County lacks "resources" to prosecute them). Our view is that they did such a pathetic job of "investigating" this incident, that they now need someone to come in and try to clean up the mess. Witnesses weren't properly sequestered, the Mexican Consulate was granted access to witnesses and allowed to tamper with them prior to the witnesses being interviewed by law enforcement, friendly witnesses to Corbett were immediately sent back to Mexico, leaving only family members of the supposed "victim" to testify about what happened, and crucial evidence favorable to Corbett was overlooked and left at the scene of the incident. News accounts keep referring to "evidence" that disputes "Corbett's version" of events. The truth of the matter is that Corbett never made a statement, and his "version" of events hasn't even been heard yet. In what may come as a shock to some in the media, Corbett is afforded the same rights as anyone else in this country when charged with a crime. That would include the right to remain silent. This entire case has been built on what we consider the coached statements of the "victim's" family members. The bottom line is that Nick Corbett is being railroaded by the Mexican government with the cooperation of Ed Rheinheimer and Larry Dever. We stand behind Corbett 100% and we will continue to stand by him throughout his trial.

Read an article on Woods, Rappleyea, and the rest of Cochise County's hired guns here.
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2007/1 ... 205030.txt
http://www.borderfirereport.net/latest/ ... rbett.html

County hires help for Corbett case
By Shar Porier and Jonathon Shacat
Herald/Review
Published on Thursday, November 08, 2007

BISBEE, Arizona — A new team led by a former state attorney general is coming to Cochise County today to help prosecute the murder case against U.S. Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett.

The visit comes after the Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously during a special meeting on Tuesday to deputize two attorneys to handle the agent’s trial.

Corbett is charged with the second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide in the death of Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera, an illegal immigrant, in January.

County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer and Deputy County Attorney Britt Hanson talked with supervisors Richard Searle, Pat Call and Paul Newman in a session that was closed to the public.

When the executive session was ended, Searle reopened the meeting and the vote was taken to deputize attorneys Grant Woods and Tyrone Mitchell and to hire private investigator Lee Rappleyea.

Rheinheimer told the supervisors that with the retirement of the county’s two senior attorneys, Vince Festa and Gerald Till, in January and with one other attorney leaving in December, it would leave the department short-handed and place extra burden on the remaining attorneys.

“The office would be compromised if we handled this case ourselves,â€