BISBEE — A new team led by a former state attorney general is coming to Cochise County today to help prosecute the murder case against U.S. Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett.
 Marty West, designer of the proposed Decades music theme park, shows off a model of the planned 300-acre project near Eloy. West and his partners have hired lobbying and public relations firms to convince state lawmakers to let them take advantage of a 2005 law which permits amusement parks to set up their own taxing district as a method of attracting investors. (Capitol Media Services photo by Howard Fischer) |
Corbett is charged with the second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide in the death of Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera, an illegal immigrant, in January.
County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer and Deputy County Attorney Britt Hanson talked with supervisors Richard Searle, Pat Call and Paul Newman in a session that was closed to the public.
When the executive session was ended, Searle reopened the meeting and the vote was taken to deputize attorneys Grant Woods and Tyrone Mitchell and to hire private investigator Lee Rappleyea.
Rheinheimer told the supervisors that with the retirement of the county’s two senior attorneys, Vince Festa and Gerald Till, in January and with one other attorney leaving in December, it would leave the department short-handed and place extra burden on the remaining attorneys.
“The office would be compromised if we handled this case ourselves,” he added.
Further, he said, none of the attorneys left on staff are familiar with prosecuting cases in federal court.
Corbett’s case starts in February in Tucson federal court, adding a sense of urgency to find someone with the qualifications to take on such a case. The agent’s attorneys moved the case to Tucson and federal court with the hope of getting a fair trial.
Prosecution funded by CJE money
Funds to pay for the manpower will come from Criminal Justice Enhancement, or CJE, holding funds, which provides financial assistance for a variety of needs, including difficulties that may arise in prosecution of cases, Rheinheimer said. “These funds can be used for any purpose of enhancing the process of criminal prosecution,” he said.
The funds come in on an annual basis and due to frugality, Rheinheimer has managed to accumulate a sizable sum — around $350,000. Add to that the sum expected this year in December, and that figure jumps to $480,000.
County Sheriff Larry Dever said, “It’s fortunate the funds are available.”
Searle voiced his concerns. “This is an expensive case we have been saddled with,” he said. “The feds put it in our lap. I would rather raise salaries and get where we don’t have to hire outside help.”
Newman said Woods is a former attorney general and has prosecuted many high-profile cases. “We’re lucky to have him,” he added.
Rheinheimer said Woods was recommended to him via other county attorneys who have been in similar situations. “But the key here is to understand that no money from the general fund will be used in this,” he said. The fees needed for the case “won’t come anywhere close” to using up the amount available in the fund, Rheinheimer said. But, he added, “If you ask me how much it is going to cost, the answer is like trying to tell you how much it is going to cost to build a bridge when you don’t know how wide the river is.”
Though the deputized attorneys will be prosecuting the case, the County Attorney’s Office still will be involved, he emphasized.
“It’s still our responsibility,” he said.
Woods, Mitchell and Rappleyea have worked together previously. Woods said the team will come to Cochise County today to work on the case. “We are going to meet with the people who have been involved in it so far and also go down to the scene of the crime and check it out,” he said Wednesday.
Woods took office as the attorney general for Arizona in January 1991, and he served for two four-year terms. He is now in private practice in Phoenix and primarily does litigation.
“I have had lots of trials in the state court and federal court. Under civil trials, I am generally on the plaintiff side and sometimes on the defense side. I have taken a couple of criminal cases on the defense side in federal court, and I have taken a couple of special prosecutions on the prosecution side,” he said.
He is currently assisting in the prosecution of a murder case in Maricopa County. He also is prosecuting the now former Apache County Sheriff Brian Hounshell on public corruption charges and the case is pending sentencing on Dec. 7. Both Mitchell and Rappleyea have been involved in the Apache County case.
Mitchell also is currently in private practice in Phoenix. He used to work in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tucson, and he has prosecuted a lot of immigration cases. He also worked for Woods in the Attorney General’s Office.
Rappleyea has worked in law enforcement for more than 32 years, including 20 years with the Phoenix Police Department and 12 years as chief investigator for the Attorney General’s Office — eight years under Woods and four years under Janet Napolitano.
Rheinheimer said it remains to be seen how much work the investigator might need to do.
“In a case like this, it helps to have an investigator because as you go through the file, and as you look at the physical evidence, you may have follow-up questions for people, you may want to just go out and do more looking around,” he said. “We have a trial date of February, and it helps to have your own investigator on this because the sheriff’s department may not at any given moment be able to drop what they are doing and go out and do any additional investigation that needs to be done.”
Rheinheimer said Woods and Mitchell have done extensive work together. He said the Corbett case is following substantive state law and therefore Woods is an excellent choice because he was state attorney general and has worked so much with state law. Mitchell will make the team better because he is a former assistant U.S. attorney and he knows the ins and outs of the federal procedural system.
Corbett used his service pistol to kill Dominguez Rivera while patrolling the border about eight miles east of Naco. He has reportedly claimed the victim tried to assault him with a rock as he apprehended the man for violating U.S. immigration laws.
In April, the County Attorney’s Office charged Corbett in the death, based on evidence that includes FBI investigations and forensic reports that contradict Corbett’s original account of the events. Investigators contend the evidence shows Corbett shot Rivera from a close range while standing above and behind the illegal immigrant. The case was transferred to U.S. District Court in Tucson in September.
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