Border agent faces trial after Mexico intervenes

Border agent faces trial after Mexico intervenes
Murder charged for death of illegal alien
who allegedly threatened officer with rock

Defense attorney asks detective if case run by sheriff or consulate

An Arizona judge ordered a U.S. Border Patrol agent to be tried on charges of second-degree murder for the death of an illegal alien who allegedly threatened him with a rock, after the Mexican consulate in Washington investigated and consular officials discussed the case with witnesses.

WND has reported similar allegations of Mexican government intervention against U.S. law enforcement officers, including the cases of border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean Deputy Sheriff Gilmer Hernandez.

In the newest case, agent Nicholas Corbett has been ordered to be tried on charges of second-degree murder for the death Jan. 12 of Francisco Dominguez-Rivera, who crossed the border illegally in an Arizona desert area between Naco and Douglas.

Justice of the Peace David Morales of Cochise County said there was no support for first-degree murder, however, and dismissed the charge.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, defense attorneys questioned the decision by the sheriff's office not to separate the witnesses. They also alleged the Mexican government tried to influence the testimonies of the witnesses by giving them food, clothes and lodging, as well as arranging for visas to be in the U.S.

At one point, defense attorney Dan Santander asked sheriff's Det. Wendy Adney: "Who was in charge of this investigation? The Cochise County sheriff's or the Mexican consulate?"

But she said the decision to let consular officials speak with the witnesses was appropriate.

In the case against Ramos and Compean, a jury convicted the border agents last year of violating federal gun laws and covering up the shooting of a drug smuggler as he fled back to Mexico after driving across the border with more than 700 pounds of marijuana.

As WND reported, no criminal investigation of the agents began until after the Mexican consulate complained the agents violated the smuggler's civil rights by shooting him without warrant.

Hernandez was convicted of violating the civil rights of two illegal aliens and sent to prison after the Mexican consulate wrote demanding the prosecution. An investigation by the Texas Rangers had concluded Hernandez did nothing wrong in discharging his weapon at the fleeing van.

In his case, two illegal aliens were injured when he fired at the van's tires as the illegals escaped from a routine traffic stop, attempting to run over the officer as they drove away.

In all three cases, no prosecutions of the officers were contemplated until the Mexican Consulate intervened, demanding protection of the civil rights of nationals in the U.S. illegally.

Additionally, the prosecution in all three cases is relying on testimony of illegal immigrant witnesses who may have been coached by Mexican Consulate officials.

A Reuters report noted the Corbett case "drew criticism from Mexico."

"Following the killing, Mexico's Foreign Ministry complained of 'disproportionate violence' and instructed the Mexican Embassy in Washington to investigate the circumstances," the report said.

As WND reported, U.S. investigators from the Border Patrol were in the process of interviewing six illegal immigrants who were witnesses to the Corbett case when officials from the Mexican Consul's Office arrived at the Naco Border Patrol Station.

The Mexican consul demanded to speak with the witnesses, and Darcy Olmos, the patrol agent in charge at the Naco station, interrupted the U.S. investigation so the Mexican consul could interview the witnesses first.

The decision by Olmos has led to charges the Mexican consul was able to coach the three witnesses prior to the witnesses giving statements to the U.S. investigators.

Authorities say last year border police captured 1.1 million illegal aliens crossing into the U.S. from Mexico, and with that number came a soaring number of attacks on agents. Lawyers for Corbett explained he shot Dominguez-Rivera in self-defense after he was threatened with a rock, a technique that is becoming increasingly common, authorities said.

An earlier report from KVOA television noted Mexican President Felipe Calderson has ordered his consul to watch the case.

The shooting happened when Corbett caught Dominguez-Rivera, his two brothers and a sister-in-law crossing the border illegally. They were witnesses to the shooting, and said the agent either hit Dominguez-Rivera on the back of the neck or grabbed his neck and that's when the gunshot was heard.

Corbett has told his supervisors that "a male subject had a rock in his hand and that he felt threatened." He reported he had his weapon drawn and was holding it with the muzzle pointed to the ground and when "the subject made a motion to throw the rock … that's when he fired one shot."

Sean Chapman, one of the lawyers for Corbett, 41, said the judge's ruling was what "was expected."

But Brandon Judd of the Arizona chapter of the National Border Patrol Council contended the prosecution is part of a nationwide pattern of politically motivated prosecutions against border patrol agents. Judd said the matching testimony from the three witnesses is more because of their blood ties and influence from consular officials than what actually happened.

"I've looked over the reports, and I have a hard time seeing how they could do it unless of course this was politically motivated," Judd.

Dominguez Rivera was crossing into the U.S. illegally with his brothers Rene Dominguez Rivera, 21, and Jorge Dominguez Rivera, 24; and his sister-in-law, Sandra Vidal Guzman, 20, authorities said.