BISBEE — Attorneys representing a U.S. Border Patrol agent charged with murdering an illegal immigrant near Naco filed a motion Friday in U.S. District Court in Tucson requesting the judge dismiss the case.
|
|
Sean Chapman and Jim Calle, the attorneys defending Corbett, argue that their client was protected by the Supremacy Clause because he was working as a federal law enforcement officer.
“The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides immunity from state prosecution for federal agents who were acting under federal authority and whose actions were necessary and proper to carry out their law enforcement authority,” the motion says.
According to the motion, Dominguez-Rivera, his brothers, Jorge and Rene, and his sister-in-law, Sandra Vidal Guzman, illegally entered the United States with a group of other Mexican nationals on Jan. 12, 2007. At one point, the group spotted a Border Patrol vehicle and began to scatter.
The Dominguez brothers and Guzman talked with their coyote and decided to cross back into Mexico. The coyote ran back toward the border and many members of the group followed him. Guzman was unable to keep up and she told the brothers to stop running.
When they were within a few hundred yards of the border, they saw another Border Patrol vehicle. Some members of the group arrived back in Mexico, but some others were picked up by the Border Patrol. Corbett, who was driving a Border Patrol vehicle, pursued the brothers and Guzman. They continued to try to evade capture until Corbett eventually stopped them.
“As agent Corbett stopped his vehicle, he saw Francisco pick up a rock. Corbett already had three aliens in his vehicle that he had arrested moments earlier. Agent Corbett exited his vehicle and drew his weapon. Agent Corbett began issuing commands in Spanish for Francisco and his group to stop and get down. Three of the aliens complied. Francisco did not,” the motion says.
“As agent Corbett came around his vehicle, he was confronted face-to-face by Francisco who attempted to hit agent Corbett with the rock. Fearing serious bodily injury or death, agent Corbett fired one round from his service-issued handgun and killed Francisco,” it continues.
The Cochise County Attorney’s Office charged Corbett on April 23 based on evidence that includes FBI investigations and forensic reports that contradict his account of the events as told to his supervisors at the Border Patrol’s Naco Station.
Comments
T wrote on Jan 24, 2008 12:52 AM:
JanetP wrote on Jan 19, 2008 11:55 AM:
I would hate to see the headline on this story read: "Officer slain after being injured by rock." The criminals who put themselves in this position have to accept responsibility for their actions. "