TUCSON — A jury was seated Tuesday for the retrial of a U.S. Border Patrol agent charged in the fatal shooting of an illegal immigrant.
The panel of seven men and seven women, with two alternates, was sworn in after U.S. District Judge David Bury and lawyers questioned prospective jurors for a full day.
The jurors will be given their instructions today and hear opening statements in the second trial of Agent Nicholas Corbett, charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide.
More than seven months ago, Corbett’s first prosecution ended in a mistrial after jurors told Bury they were hopelessly deadlocked.
Corbett is accused of shooting Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera without provocation in January 2007 just north of the Mexican border.
At the first trial, Corbett testified that Dominguez threatened to smash his head with a rock and that he fired in self-defense.
A number of witnesses who testified at the first trial may be called again. Prosecution witnesses are expected to include Dominguez’s two brothers and one’s girlfriend.
The three were with him Jan. 12, 2007, when Corbett confronted them as they headed south on foot, trying to cross the border back into Mexico to avoid being apprehended by the Border Patrol.
All three testified that Domin guez was in the act of kneeling down and surrendering when Corbett’s gun fired.
Eight members of the jury panel are from Tucson, two from Oro Valley and one each from Sierra Vista, Safford, Morenci and Tombstone. The group includes two nurses, three employees from large corporations, the owner of a small construction company, an engineering student and at least four retirees.
