Parents of immigrant shot by agent file suit

by Sean Holstege - Dec. 10, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

The parents of an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the agent Tuesday.

The lawsuit, the impact of which could be felt along the entire border, comes a month after an Arizona jury deadlocked for the second time in the prosecution of agent Nicholas Corbett on murder charges.

The suit, filed in federal court in Tucson, alleges that Corbett, 41, expressed a hatred of Latinos when he lived in Pennsylvania before joining the Border Patrol.
The suit also alleges he had a history of domestic violence and assaults.

That evidence was not admitted in the criminal cases because charges were never filed in the assaults and the testimony of his former Pennsylvania neighbors was deemed hearsay.

Corbett's attorneys have denied he harbored anti-Latino feelings and have maintained he acted in self-defense.

The civil case is certain to reignite passions inflamed by the criminal trials.

After the second non-verdict, border agents said they felt a good man was vindicated for doing a difficult job.

Immigrants-rights activists said the outcome showed border agents are above the law; the activists fear more attacks or killings will go unpunished.

Border Patrol agents have killed 12 people over the past two years as the job has grown increasingly violent.

In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, agents were attacked 1,085 times, an 11 percent increase from the year before, according to the Border Patrol.

On Jan 12, 2007, Corbett shot 20-year-old Javier Dominguez-Rivera from about a foot away as members of his family watched.

The family and prosecutors described it as an execution-style killing. The bullet entered Dominguez's left armpit and traveled downward and forward through his vital organs until becoming lodged in his right hip.

Corbett always contended that he shot Dominguez in self-defense because Dominguez threatened to attack him with a rock.

His supporters and defense team called the case against Corbett a farce because it was based on the testimony of relatives who entered the country illegally and a botched investigation that failed to collect evidence or keep witnesses apart before they gave statements.

Corbett was the second Arizona border agent tried for murder since 1994.

The previous case ended in acquittal.

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