Judge grants access to records in BP shooting

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

BISBEE — A federal judge signed an order giving prosecutors access to files from an FBI investigation into the fatal shooting of an illegal immigrant by a Border Patrol agent.

Attorneys with the U.S. Attorney's Office had filed a motion asking the court to deny a prosecution request seeking the files.

They said federal privacy laws precluded FBI personnel from disclosing information concerning an individual without consent or a court order.

Judge David Bury's order allows the release of the materials.

The FBI conducted its own investigation into the January 2007 shooting of Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera by Agent Nicholas W. Corbett because of the possibility of civil rights violations.

Corbett faces trial Feb. 26 in U.S. District Court. Corbett, 40, has pleaded innocent to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide.

Corbett told a supervisor that he shot Dominguez near the border after the man had threatened him with a rock.

But the three people who were with Dominguez, including his two brothers, told investigators that he was shot without provocation.