Sean Chapman - Tucson Criminal Defense Attorney

Border agent’s retrial another mistrial

Sean Chapman — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:48:08 +0000

November 5, 2008
Section: TUCSON/REGION
Page: B1

Border agent’s retrial another mistrial
BRADY MCCOMBS, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Prosecutors now must decide whether to try case a third time or dismiss charges

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The retrial of a U.S. Border Patrol agent facing murder charges ended the same way the first trial did – in a hung jury.

Prosecutors must now decide whether to try the case for a third time or dismiss the charges against agent Nicholas Corbett.

After more than 17 hours of deliberations over four days, jury members on Tuesday afternoon told U.S. District Judge David C. Bury that they could not reach a unanimous decision. Bury thanked them and declared a mistrial.

Corbett, 40, was facing charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide in the Jan. 12, 2007, shooting of Francisco Javier Domínguez Rivera, an illegal immigrant from Mexico. The shooting occurred after Corbett stopped Domínguez Rivera, his two brothers and one brother’s girlfriend in the desert between Bisbee and Douglas about 100 yards north of the border.

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Source: www.azstarnet.com

Border-killing retrial goes to jury

Sean Chapman — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:51:59 +0000

October 31, 2008
Section: TUCSON/REGION
Page: B1

Border-killing retrial goes to jury
BRADY MCCOMBS, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Testimony pitted agent against trio with slain migrant

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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 Domínguez Rivera, an illegal immigrant from Mexico. The shooting occurred after Corbett stopped Domínguez 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 Domínguez 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.

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Source: www.azstarnet.com

Border agent’s murder retrial opens

Sean Chapman — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:53:38 +0000

October 23, 2008
Section: TUCSON/REGION
Page: B1

Border agent’s murder retrial opens
BRADY MCCOMBS, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Versions of events widely different in shooting death of illegal immigrant

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Two markedly different versions of events that led to the shooting death of an illegal immigrant in January 2007 emerged again Wednesday during opening statements in a retrial for a U.S. Border Patrol agent facing murder charges.

Lead prosecutor Grant Woods told the jury that Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett shot and killed Francisco Javier Domínguez Rivera while the 22-year-old illegal immigrant was in the act of surrendering. Forensic and ballistic evidence, as well as testimony from the dead man’s two brothers and a girlfriend of one of them, will back that account, he said. He said Corbett lied about the events and changed his story in an attempt to match the evidence.

Lead defense attorney Sean Chapman told the jury that Corbett acted in self-defense, shooting an “assailant trying to smash his head in” with a rock. He said Corbett is falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit. He called the witnesses liars and labeled the Cochise County sheriff’s investigation “rotten to the core.”

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Source: www.azstarnet.com

Retrial begins for Border Patrol agent facing murder charges

Sean Chapman — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:55:30 +0000

October 21, 2008
Section: NEWS
Page: A1

Retrial begins for Border Patrol agent facing murder charges
BRADY MCCOMBS, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

More than seven months after the first trial ended with a hung jury, the retrial of a U.S. Border Patrol agent facing murder charges is set to begin today at the U.S. District Court in Tucson. Here’s a breakdown of the trial:

The case: U.S. Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide in the Jan. 12, 2007, shooting of Francisco Javier Domínguez Rivera, a 22-year-old illegal immigrant from Puebla, Mexico. The shooting occurred after Corbett stopped Domínguez, his two brothers and one of their girlfriends in the desert between Bisbee and Douglas, near the U.S.-Mexico line.

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Source: www.azstarnet.com

Jurors can’t reach verdict in killing by border agent

Sean Chapman — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:50:49 +0000

March 8, 2008
Section: NEWS
Page: A1

Jurors can’t reach verdict in killing by border agent
JOSH BRODESKY, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Federal judge declares case a mistrial following three days of deliberations

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Prosecutors vow to retry it; vast gap between both sides’ versions of events

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With jurors deadlocked after three days of tense deliberations, a federal judge declared a mistrial Friday afternoon in the high-profile murder case against U.S. Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett.

The trial focused on two markedly different stories about what prompted the shooting last year of Francisco Javier Domínguez Rivera, stirring passions about immigration and border security while prompting numerous demonstrations outside the Evo A. DeConcini Courthouse.

Just before 3 p.m., jurors sent a note to U.S. District Judge David C. Bury saying they were deadlocked. Bury called them into the courtroom and quizzed the foreman, who assured him there was no hope of reaching a unanimous decision.

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Source: www.azstarnet.com

Agent: Entrant threatened me with rock

Sean Chapman — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:51:37 +0000

March 5, 2008
Section: TUCSON/REGION
Page: B1

Agent: Entrant threatened me with rock
JOSH BRODESKY, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Border Patrolman’s murder-trial testimony is in sharp contrast to that of 3 witnesses

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U.S. Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett testified in his murder trial Tuesday that he shot and killed an illegal entrant last year after he was threatened with a rock, while the two engaged in a hand-to-hand fight.

The testimony in federal court came near the end of the weeklong trial, which has stirred passions about border security and illegal immigration and prompted demonstrations outside the Evo A. DeConcini Courthouse.

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Source: www.azstarnet.com

Border agent’s attorneys cite use of hand signals in hearing

Sean Chapman — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:53:45 +0000

March 4, 2008
Section: TUCSON/REGION
Page: B2

Border agent’s attorneys cite use of hand signals in hearing
JOSH BRODESKY, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Throughout the murder trial of U.S. Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett, defense attorneys have claimed the three eyewitnesses to the shooting were corrupted by a Mexican consulate official.

To make their point Monday, defense attorneys called a Border Patrol spokeswoman, who said she saw the Mexican consulate official give the three witnesses “blatant” hand cues while they testified last summer at a hearing in Bisbee.

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Source: www.azstarnet.com

Agent’s lawyers fault border-death investigator

Sean Chapman — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:55:27 +0000

March 4, 2008
Section: TUCSON/REGION
Page: B2

February 29, 2008
Section: TUCSON/REGION
Page: B2

Agent’s lawyers fault border-death investigator
JOSH BRODESKY, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Defense attorneys for a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of murder blistered the lead investigator in the case Thursday for forgetting what they say is crucial evidence while also mishandling other evidence collected at the scene.

Nicholas Corbett is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide in the death of Francisco Javier Domínguez Rivera on Jan. 12, 2007, in the desert between Bisbee and Douglas near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Prosecutors have relied on witness testimony and forensics evidence to show that Corbett shot Domínguez Rivera from up close and behind while they say the 22-year-old man was surrendering.

But Corbett’s defense attorneys have said Domínguez Rivera threatened the agent with a rock, prompting a split-second shooting done in self-defense.

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Source: www.azstarnet.com

2 accounts of death are widely disparate

Sean Chapman — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:58:05 +0000

February 28, 2008
Section: NEWS
Page: A1

2 accounts of death are widely disparate
JOSH BRODESKY, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Murder trial opens for Border Patrol agent in shooting

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The trial of a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of murder began Wednesday, with attorneys from both sides offering drastically different accounts of what prompted the shooting of an illegal entrant.

Corbett’s attorneys said the Border Patrol agent made a split-second decision in defense of his life. Prosecutors said Corbett was reckless and killed Domínguez Rivera while he was surrendering.

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Source: www.azstarnet.com

BP agent faces trial today in slaying of entrant

Sean Chapman — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:00:23 +0000

February 26, 2008
Section: TUCSON/REGION
Page: B4

BP agent faces trial today in slaying of entrant
JOSH BRODESKY, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

The trial of a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused in the death of an illegal entrant last year will begin today, after a federal judge rejected several requests to dismiss charges.

Nicholas Corbett is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide in the killing of Francisco Javier Domínguez Rivera in January of 2007.

Corbett’s lead attorney, Sean Chapman, had filed two motions to dismiss charges. The first motion cited case law that says prosecutors must prove federal law enforcement officers have acted outside of what is required for them to protect themselves while doing their jobs.

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Source: www.azstarnet.com