Thread: Border Killing Retrial Goes to Jury

BORDER KILLING RETRIAL GOES TO JURY

Testimony pitted agent against trio with slain migrant

By Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.31.200

The fate of a U.S. Border Patrol agent on retrial on a murder charge is now in the hands of the jury.

U.S. District Judge David C. Bury handed over the case to a 12-person jury about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, after they sat through a morning of closing arguments that demonstrated contrasting accounts of what happened in the Jan. 12, 2007, shooting near the U.S.-Mexican border between Bisbee and Douglas that left an illegal immigrant dead.

Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett, 40, is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide in the shooting of Francisco Javier DomÃ*nguez Rivera, an illegal immigrant from Mexico. The shooting occurred after Corbett stopped DomÃ*nguez Rivera, his two brothers and one brother's girlfriend in the desert about 100 yards north of the border.

Prosecutors say Corbett shot and killed DomÃ*nguez Rivera while the 22-year-old was trying to surrender. They brought his two brothers and one brother's girlfriend to the stand to back that story and presented forensic and medical evidence to support it as well.

The deliberations and potential verdict the jurors reach — if they don't end up deadlocked like the jury in the first trial in March — are being closely watched by many people in both the U.S. and Mexico in this high-profile case that has illustrated the tensions surrounding the illegal immigration issue since the shooting.

It's anyone's guess when, and if, the jurors will emerge with a unanimous decision required by the courts. A jury in the first trial could not reach a unanimous decision after three days of deliberations, and a mistrial was declared.

During his approximately 50-minute closing argument Thursday morning and his 30-minute rebuttal in the afternoon, prosecutor Grant Woods implored the jury to find Corbett guilty based on the fact that he killed a man without provocation.

"That cannot stand in our country," Woods said. "We cannot look the other way, not today, not now and hopefully not ever. ... No man is above the law."

The defense says Corbett shot in self-defense after DomÃ*nguez Rivera tried to smash in his head with a rock. During his approximately one-hour closing argument, defense attorney Sean Chapman told the jury the three witnesses — DomÃ*nguez Rivera's two brothers and the girlfriend — are lying and under pressure from the Mexican government to help convict Corbett.

Their concocted story, coupled with a bungled investigation by the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, creates abundant reasonable doubt, Chapman told the jury.

"The combination of these two things mandates that you acquit Mr. Corbett of these charges," Chapman said.

"Does fundamental fairness and due process still mean anything?" Chapman said. "If it does, you must acquit the man."

Throughout the trial, which covered seven days over two weeks, the defense focused on errors it said were made in the investigation. Chapman called the Cochise County investigation "negligent," "incompetent" and a "travesty" and said it has prevented Corbett from having a fair trial.

Investigators failed to separate the witnesses after the shooting and didn't pick up DomÃ*nguez Rivera's gloves or rocks, which could have proved that he had a rock in his hand; the prosecution denies that.

"If they had collected that rock, we would not be here," said Chapman, pointing to a rock lying by DomÃ*nguez Rivera's body in a photo. "Some of the truth was left to rot on the ground."

The defense also repeatedly called DomÃ*nguez Rivera's brothers and the girlfriend liars. Their story that they were trying to surrender is absurd, he said. They were trying to evade apprehension, and DomÃ*nguez Rivera was frustrated, leading to his attack on Corbett, Chapman said.

The prosecution also suggested DomÃ*nguez Rivera might have been a gang member due to a tattoo on his hand.

Woods likened the defense attorneys to magicians trying to redirect the jury's attention from the truth. Their efforts to pick apart the investigation and smear the victim are classic techniques used by defense lawyers when the "truth is not on their side," Woods said.

"They are just throwing everything against the wall here because (Corbett's) story doesn't make sense," Woods said.

Chapman's decision not to read Corbett's testimony from the first trial during this trial — despite a promise to do so in the opening statements — proves his story doesn't match the evidence, Woods told the jury.
"Every time we examine one of those stories of his, it falls apart," Woods said.

Corbett did not testify in the retrial.

Woods asked the jury to consider how DomÃ*nguez Rivera's two brothers and the girlfriend could concoct a story that would match forensic evidence and have it hold up during repeated questioning from investigators and attorneys.

"How could that be?" Woods said. "Simple: They told the truth."
The prosecution reminded the jury of witnesses who testified that DomÃ*nguez Rivera was a calm and gentle man with no history of violence. They took extreme exception to the allegations he was a gang member due to the tattoo.

"That's not right to this family; they've been through enough," said Woods of the tactic, pointing to DomÃ*nguez Rivera's parents and brothers in the courtroom.

The family was seated in the front row of a courtroom filled to the brim Thursday. Border Patrol agents and Corbett supporters filled half of the room while members of immigrant-rights groups and other DomÃ*nguez Rivera supporters filled the other half.

Throughout the trial, Border Action Network has put up a standing memorial for DomÃ*nguez Rivera outside Downtown's Evo A. DeConcini Courthouse. On Wednesday, supporters of Corbett held a rally outside the courthouse.

â—

Related prior thread:
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-135731-corbett.html

Jean,
I thought this was worth posting since the case went to the jury yesterday. However, please remove it if it is redundant.

Originally Posted by Texas2step

Jean,
I thought this was worth posting since the case went to the jury yesterday. However, please remove it if it is redundant.

No need to remove, Texas2step, just linking together for uniformity.

They ended the day without a verdict and will resume Monday.

October 31, 2008, 8:11 p.m.
ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
The Associated Press

Jurors worked through lunch Friday deliberating the fate of a Border Patrol agent charged in the shooting death of a 22-year-old illegal immigrant, then broke off about 4 p.m. for the weekend.

Jurors got the case Thursday afternoon and are being asked to convict or acquit Agent Nicholas Corbett on second-degree murder, manslaughter or negligent homicide charges in the January 2007 death of Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera of Puebla, Mexico.

They will resume deliberations Monday.

Three witnesses, including Dominguez's two brothers, testified that he was kneeling to surrender when Corbett shot without provocation.

Corbett's attorneys have contended he shot in self-defense as Dominguez tried to smash his head with a rock.

Jurors deadlocked in March after an earlier trial.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/brea ... 101305.php

Thank you for the update mapwife.

Such trials are a nail biter.