Government Implicated in Wrongful Death Suit
TUCSON, Az—After two federal trials resulting in hung juries, the parents of Francisco Javier Dominguez-Rivera have filed a $7.5 million wrongful death lawsuit against Border Patrol Agent Nicholas W. Corbett, and the government, for a fatal shooting that witnesses say could have been avoided.
Corbett’s history of violence made this case national news, but the lawsuit and Cochise County attorneys say that this case points to larger problems in the Border Patrol, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
On November 4th, after seventeen hours of deliberation, an all white jury – comprised of five women and seven men – ended in a second hung jury against Corbett. This second mistrial sealed the deal for Corbett to return to the field after over a year in an administrative position within Customs and Border Protection.
Sometime during the morning of January 12, 2007, Dominguez-Rivera, his two brothers and his brother’s girlfriend crossed a barbed-wire cattle fence that runs east and west, dividing the United States/Mexico border.
According to Federal Court testimony by Francisco’s two family members, and his brother’s girlfriend, Sandra, Corbett sped through the desert toward their direction. They considered running, but Sandra was tired from walking several miles early that day, so the four stayed together as others in the group fled back to Mexico. They reasoned they would all get arrested and deported together so they could cross again, perhaps at a later date.
At approximately 3 P.M., a video camera – stationed on a security tower about a mile away – caught the agent’s high speed chase on camera. The poor quality of the video recording depicts Agent Corbett, speeding north from Border Road at mile marker 7.5, cutting off the undocumented crossers. Agent Corbett, towering 6 feet 4 inches and weighing approximately 265 pounds to Francisco’s five foot four inches and 140 pound frame, exited his vehicle and went around the rear end of his vehicle, near the bumper, where he fatally shot Francisco.
According to two jurors, the vote to acquit Corbett was 11-1, a reversal from the first trial where the prosecution indicated a vote between 10-2 or 11-1 to convict.
Despite the second mistrial, questions remain regarding the United States Justice Department denying resources to Cochise County to try the case.