First Day of Murder Trial for BP Agent in Killing of Young Immigrant : AZ IMC

The trail against Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett for the murder of 21 year old Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera started today, February 26, 2008. In what has become an incredibly politicized trial, the first day of hearings was dedicated to selecting 14 jurors (12 & 2 extras) from an pool of 130 potential jurors. The final 12 are expected to make their verdict after two weeks of intense trial.
Outside the courthouse, at 8:30am Border Action Network set up a vigil in memory of Dominguez-Rivera. As people flowed in and out of the courthouse, many showed interest in the trial and supported Border Action's message that Javier's death and this important trial should pressure the Border Patrol to institute policies and practices to ensure that needless deaths like his never happen again.

In addition to Border Action's permitted vigil in the courthouse plaza, a small group of minutemen-like folks came for the beginning of the trial with signs saying "free Corbett" and waving American flags. Waiting on the sidewalk jeering traffic until Corbett and his legal team came through, they showered him with thanks and support as he went inside the courthouse. Soon afterward, they left.

Inside the packet courtroom, the selection of potential jurors was slowly narrowed. The judge trying the case, David Bury, asked, among other things, if potential jurors had ever had negative experiences with law enforcement officers, if they had family members who are law enforcement agents, if they had been convicted of a crime, as well as questions about their place of birth, place of residence, work history, membership in any clubs and organizations, marital status, and whether they had experience as a juror. Jurors who spoke Spanish were automatically disqualified as it was argued that they would unfairly understand witnesses directly instead of through court appointed interpreters like other non-Spanish speaking jurors.

As the 130 jurors were called back into the courtroom, the first item of business was to call up juror #38, an employee of Tucson Clean and Beautiful with a B.A. in Spanish was called up to the bench to speak with the lawyers and judge in secret. After going back to his seat, the judge announced that the trial had already lost 1 of the 14 jurors and announced the remaining 13.

Of the 13 jurors in the murder trial, 10 were born in the U.S., 2 are immigrants from the Phillipines, and 1 from Venezuela. Nearly all of the jurors have children the age of Francisco. 5 of them work for Raytheon, 2 have spouses in the military and 2 are self-employeed engineers. All live in the greater Tucson area, 8 are men and 5 are women.

The trial will start at 9:30 am on Wednesday February 27 with opening statements and testimony from Francisco's father who has traveled with his wife from Cuautla, Mexico for the trial. Before Tuesday's closing, the prosecution petitioned the judge to allow Francisco's parents to be present during the entirety of the trial as victims, which was granted in spite of protest from Corbett's attorney Sean Chapman.