 |
|
|
 News from Around the Americas | March 2007 
Border Shooting Case Now in County Attorney's Hands
 Jonathan Clark - Herald/Review
| | A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent keeps watch at the US side of the US-Mexican border in El Paso, Texas. (Mandel Ngan/AFP) |
BISBEE, TX — Local prosecutors have begun reviewing evidence to determine whether to file criminal charges against a Border Patrol agent who shot and killed an illegal Mexican immigrant near Naco earlier this year.
County Attorney Ed Rheinhemier confirmed on Thursday that he received a report this week from the Sheriff’s Office detailing its investigation into the Jan. 12 shooting of Francisco Javier Dominguez-Rivera. He would not, however, offer a timetable for reviewing what he described as a “pretty complex investigation.”
“A timetable is such an arbitrary way of approaching something like this,” Rheinheimer said, adding the case would take “as much time as needed to review it thoroughly and make the correct decision.”
Dominguez-Rivera, 22, originally from the central Mexican state of Puebla, was shot and killed during a confrontation with an unidentified Border Patrol agent as the agent attempted to detain seven people crossing the desert east of Naco.
The victim, a construction worker who was traveling with two brothers and a sister-in-law, was reportedly unarmed.
The agent is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.
Speaking immediately after the incident, Lt. Cmdr. Mark Dannels of the Sheriff’s Office said the shooting was triggered by a rock-throwing episode, and that the agent fired at Dominguez-Rivera because he feared for his life.
Few other details have been released in the case, which was investigated by both the Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. An FBI spokeswoman in Phoenix did not return a call on Thursday requesting a status report on the federal investigation.
Rheinheimer said that regardless of whether he decides to press charges, he expects to take some heat for his decision.
“Either way, it’s a no-win situation for one side or the other,” he said. “It’s going to be a real difficult case, and I hope people will be patient.” |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us