BISBEE - The upcoming preliminary hearing for Nicholas Corbett, the Border Patrol agent accused of murdering an illegal Mexican immigrant near Naco, has been relocated from Douglas to Bisbee.
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"This court agrees with you and Deputy County Attorney (Gerald) Till," Morales wrote to Chapman. "The ability to maintain a high level of security in and around the courtroom in the Douglas Justice Court would be very difficult."
The justice court in Bisbee is located in the same building as the Cochise County Sheriff's Office and next door to the county jail.
Its courtroom is slightly bigger than Douglas' and its lobby is substantially larger.
Morales confirmed that the hearing will be held June 15 at 9 a.m.
Corbett, 39, was charged last month by Cochise County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer with murdering 22-year-old Francisco Javier Dominguez-Rivera, a Mexican national who had crossed illegally into the U.S. on Jan. 12 with three family members.
Morales will hear evidence at the preliminary hearing to determine if there is probable cause to try Corbett for first-degree murder, second-degree murder, negligent homicide or manslaughter.
The hearing had initially been assigned to Alma Vildosola, Justice of the Peace in Douglas, but Corbett was granted a change of judge. Morales, the county's presiding justice of the peace, was assigned last week to preside over the hearing in Vildosola's courtroom.
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