BISBEE — The cost to prosecute Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett’s murder case totaled more than $237,000, according to billing records obtained by the Wick News Service from the Cochise County Attorney’s Office.
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According to the billing records, the total cost of the prosecution was about $237,072. The bills include everything from preparations for and work during trial, to expenses for witnesses and attorneys.
Sean Chapman, the defense attorney who represented Corbett in the criminal case, said, “Regardless of the expense to the taxpayer, I am just glad that two juries were unwilling to convict an innocent man of something he didn’t do.”
In the past, the Local 2544 National Border Patrol Council in Tucson has been vocal regarding the cost of the prosecution for the case. At one point the group said “the taxpayers of Cochise County are getting soaked.”
Edward Tuffly, president of Border Patrol Union in Tucson, could not be reached for comment.
Cochise County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer stressed the money did not come from the county’s general fund, so it is not “taxpayer” money. Rather, the bills were paid with Criminal Justice Enhancement funds, which are distributed to the counties by the Attorney General’s Office and may only be used for prosecution purposes.
“Those funds are the proceeds of fines and court surcharges which have been collected from all courts around the state. The fines and surcharges are, of course, collected from individuals who commit both criminal and civil offenses against the state,” Rheinheimer said.
Last year, the Border Patrol Union’s Web site pointed out, “Although they claim that the money for this pathetic prosecution comes from a ‘special fund,’ they fail to point out that those ‘special funds’ could and should be used to prosecute someone who actually committed a crime.”
Rheinheimer said he does not make prosecution decisions on the basis of political popularity, nor the nationality, race, religion, gender or the social status of the victim or defendant.
Instead, he follows the Arizona legal and ethical standard that a crime was committed, the person to be charged committed the crime and the evidence is sufficient to ensure a reasonable likelihood of conviction if the case goes to jury trial.
“By anyone’s measure, $237,000 is a lot of money,” Rheinheimer acknowledged, adding that special prosecutors Grant Woods and Tyrone Mitchell and private investigator Lee Rappleyea “gave the county an enormous quantity of the highest quality of work in return for this money and they should be commended for their efforts and their dedication to this case.”
He explained that it became necessary to hire special prosecutors when the case was removed to U.S. District Court in Tucson because the government refused to appoint an assistant U.S. attorney to the case and the Cochise County Attorney’s Office did not have any prosecutors with prosecution experience in federal court.
“It is unfortunate that because of the decision of some nameless, faceless Department of Justice bureaucrat, or bureaucrats, in Washington, D.C., Cochise County had to incur the expense of this case. Under any concept of justice, however, it is simply wrong to not prosecute a case just because of the expense of prosecution. No family member of a homicide victim ever wants to be told that a case will not proceed just because prosecution will be expensive and I hope that will never happen in Cochise County,” he added.
U.S. Attorney Diane J. Humetewa responded in a statement by saying, “The Cochise County attorney charged agent Corbett and the defense counsel sought and received a change of venue. That does not change the fact that this was a county prosecution.”
“It is extremely rare for the U.S. Attorney’s Office to become involved in a county attorney prosecution. In this case, the decision of the U.S. attorney not to become involved in the county’s prosecution was based on a variety of factors, to include a myriad of potential conflicts of interest from our daily work with the Border Patrol,” Humetewa continued.
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