BISBEE — A federal judge in Tucson has denied a motion seeking to change the venue of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett’s jury trial to Phoenix.

Corbett is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide for fatally shooting Francisco Dominguez-Rivera, a Mexican who illegally entered the United States near Naco last year.

Corbett claims he acted out of self-defense when he shot Dominguez-Rivera, but prosecutors claim he was not justified in shooting him. Judge David Bury declared a mistrial in March when a jury was deadlocked.

On June 22, the defense filed a motion to change the venue for the next trial due to extensive media coverage on both the Corbett case and immigration issues in general. On July 14, the prosecution filed a response stating it does not directly oppose the motion, but would like the court to use an extensive written questionnaire to pick the jury.

Bury issued an order dated Thursday denying the change of venue request. He also rejected the suggestion that a written questionnaire is needed to choose jurors.

“The court shall conduct voir dire as it did last time, which included one-on-one questioning by the court and both parties’ attorneys at side-bar of each juror who reported having heard any information related to the case. As it did before, this voir dire will enable the court to determine whether a fair and impartial jury can be selected to try the case,” he states.

The defense submitted two “disturbing examples” of “inflammatory representations” that took place after Corbett’s mistrial was declared.

First, Isabel Garcia, the Pima County legal defender, appeared on a Tucson television station and in the context of the Corbett case, equated the treatment of illegal entrants to the maltreatment of slaves freed after the Civil War.

Also, a prosecutor told the media that new information regarding prior incidents would be introduced in Corbett’s retrial that would show the defendant has a pattern of violent acts.

In the order, Bury states those comments are not significant enough to rise to a level of inflammatory publicity.

He concludes the media coverage surrounding the trial “was factual, and impressively fair minded in presenting both sides of the case. This publicity was noticeably devoid of speculative opinion pieces regarding the defendant’s guilt or innocence. The court anticipates that future publicity will be similar.”

The defense also argued media coverage of immigration and border issues in general has inflamed and polarized the community.

Corbett’s attorneys complain jurors were forced to walk by a shrine memorializing the victim outside the courthouse in Tucson. And they say a recent protest in Tucson against the immigration policies of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio shows the volatility of the subject there.

But, Bury ruled, the defense’s arguments would apply equally if the trial were held in Phoenix.

The second trial is scheduled to start Sept. 9 in Tucson. However, prosecutors filed a motion last week asking the court to postpone that date due to a trial conflict. Bury has not yet issued a ruling on that motion.

In an e-mail to the Herald/Review on Friday, Grant Woods, the lead prosecutor of the case, said he anticipates getting a firm trial date from the court soon and then working with law enforcement from Cochise County to prepare for it.

“We are happy the case will remain in Southern Arizona and look forward to presenting the evidence against Corbett,” he states.

Lead defense attorney Sean Chapman did not respond to an e-mail from the Herald/Review seeking comment Friday.

JONATHON SHACAT can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at