U.S. border agents have killed 12 immigrants in the last 2 years, yet only one agent has been tried for murder since 1994. On Mar.7, U.S. District Court Judge David Bury announced a mistrial after 23 hours of jury deliberations. Ending in a hung jury, the trial of U.S. border agent Nicholas Corbett has been rescheduled for April.
Corbett shot and killed Javier Dominguez Rivera on Jan. 12, 2007. Rivera and two others had just crossed the Mexican border, headed for New York in search of work. Corbett confronted them about 150 yards inside the border. The three were surrendering, yet Corbett shot Rivera.
The jury could not come to a decision despite the overwhelming amount of testimony presented by the prosecution. Corbett’s case revolves primarily around a self-defense argument that is hardly credible—he claims Rivera threatened him with a rock.
