Death at Us-mexico Border Reflects Immigration Tensions

Javier Domínguez Rivera had worked at the New York cereal factory before. Now he was hoping to return, bringing his two brothers and a girlfriend with him.

But first the group had to negotiate the difficult journey from their home in Puebla, 60 miles south of Mexico City, across the US-Mexico border and on to New York.

They crossed on foot in the barren desert of Arizona, near the town of Naco, where anti-illegal immigration groups have erected their own fence to keep out unwelcome visitors.

But the crossing didn't go to plan. After spending hours hiking through the scrub and brush of the Sonora desert, the four had got just a mile and a half from the border. When they realized that the Border Patrol, the federal agency charged with policing the border, was close by, they decided to turn around and go back to Mexico to prepare to cross another day.

When they were just 150 yards north of Mexico, the distinctive markings of a green and white Border Patrol vehicle appeared.

What happened next is disputed, but the result is not: Domínguez Rivera lay dead on the ground, killed by a shot fired by Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett.

Last week, just over a year since the January 2007 shooting, Corbett went on trial in downtown Tucson, charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide.

Border Patrol agents have killed 12 people in the last two years; Corbett is the first to be tried for murder since 1994. Agent Corbett may take the stand for the defence today, probably the last day of testimony in his trial.

If convicted of second-degree murder, he faces a sentence of 10-22 years; the lesser charge of negligent homicide carries a sentence of four-eight years.

The trial comes at a time when tensions at the US-Mexico border are heightening.

With immigration reform stalled, the federal government has worked to increase border security, beefing up Border Patrol numbers, building a fence along parts of the border and spending more than $85m trying - with little success - to build a "virtual" fence.

In opening statements, Corbett's defence team portrayed the death of the 22-year-old as a case of self-defence by the 40-year-old agent.

"Nick Corbett had to defend himself, and he had to defend himself against Mr Domínguez, who was trying to crush his skull with a rock," said defence attorney Sean Chapman. "Nick Corbett did not want to shoot this man, but if he hadn't done it, he might be dead today."

The prosecution, led by former Arizona attorney general Grant Woods, told a different story.

"This young man - while surrendering, going down on his knees, putting his hands in the air - from behind was hit, yanked and shot through the heart," Woods told the jury.

"We all respect the Border Patrol and law enforcement, but you don't kill somebody who is trying to surrender," he said.

The three eye witnesses to the death took the stand for the prosecution, while Woods also called two Border Patrol agents who arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting, the lead detective on the case, and a forensics expert.

In testimony to the court, the victim's brother, Jorge Domínguez Rivera, said that when they saw Corbett's vehicle they decided to surrender, putting their hands in the air.

As Corbett approached, pointing his gun at them, he said, they dropped to their knees. Corbett skidded to a halt, he said, and ran towards them.

The agent put his gun in his left hand and it fired as he tried to push Javier to the ground with his right hand.

"The officer released him and took a step forward and my brother just held himself, said 'Ah' and just moaned", before falling onto his back and going into convulsions, Jorge Domínguez Rivera said.

Using a hand-held radio, Corbett called for help. Another agent, Steve Berg, arrived on the scene within 90 seconds, to find Corbett trying to remove the clothing from around Domínguez Rivera's wound.

Corbett appeared to be in shock, he said. When a supervisor subsequently arrived, Berg said that he heard Corbett explain that the man had tried to attack him with a rock.

The supervisor, Murray Adams, took the stand on Friday. He said that Corbett told him that he was holding his gun in both hands, came around his vehicle, saw a person moving to throw a rock at him, and shot him.

Another Border Patrol officer, called to the stand by the defence yesterday, said that agents are taught that a rock is considered a deadly weapon, and that therefore the killing was justified.

Forensic evidence from the scene shows that the gun that killed Domínguez Rivera was fired three inches to one foot away from the him, and that he was shot from slightly behind at a downward angle.

Defense attorneys argued that three Mexican witnesses had colluded in their account of the incident and had received guidance from the Mexican consulate.

Another Border Patrol agent called by the defence testified that she had seen an official from the local Mexican consulate coaching the three Mexican witnesses through hand signals during an earlier court hearing. The prosecution disputed the account.

In an earlier interview, Renato Domínguez, the father of the dead man, denied that his son had been a "delinquent" or that the family was looking for a cash payout.

"The idea that a person can be a federal agent and behave like a psychopath is really incredible," he told Wick News Service.

"They have the power in their hands, and they abuse their authority. In my point of view, this man was either demented or an abuser of authority, or a racist."