June 16, 2007
Section: TUCSON/REGION
Page: B1
Transcripts dispute delays Cochise hearing stumbles on transcript dispute
BRADY MCCOMBS, ARIZONA DAILY STAR
FORMAL CHARGES VS. AGENT POSTPONED
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BISBEE – A preliminary hearing to decide if a Border Patrol agent should be charged with murder for fatally shooting a Mexican man just north of the border has been delayed until Aug. 6.
Sean Chapman, a Tucson attorney representing agent Nicholas Corbett, asked Bisbee Justice of the Peace David Morales for a continuance Friday because he had not received transcripts of the final two interviews of three key witnesses – two brothers and a sister-in-law of the victim, Francisco Javier Domínguez Rivera, 22, of Puebla, Mexico.
Chapman called the lack of disclosure “outrageous” and reminded the judge that Corbett is a federal agent who puts his life on the line every day and deserves a fair trial.
“In order to let him have a full and fair hearing we need the benefit of seeing what they said because they are all over the map,” Chapman said after Friday’s court session. “They are totally inconsistent about what happened.”
Source: www.azstarnet.com
