Mistrial declared for agent charged with killing teen

PHOENIX — A mistrial was declared Monday in the case of a U.S. Border Patrol agent after an Arizona jury acquitted him of a second-degree murder charge in the killing of a teen from Mexico but deadlocked on lesser counts of manslaughter.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Raner Collins means prosecutors could seek another trial for Agent Lonnie Swartz on the manslaughter charges in the 2012 death of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was fatally shot as he threw rocks at authorities during a drug smuggling attempt. Prosecutors say they were evaluating whether to pursue a retrial.

Jurors had deliberated about 18 hours over five days in what human rights attorneys say was the first prosecution of a Border Patrol agent in a fatal shooting across the border.

Swartz fired 16 shots late on Oct. 10, 2012, through a 20-foot (6-meter) fence that sits on an embankment above Mexico’s Calle Internacional, a Nogales street lined with homes and small businesses.

Prosecutors acknowledged during the monthlong trial that Elena Rodriguez was lobbing rocks across the border during a drug smuggling attempt. But they say he did not deserve to die.

Defense attorneys countered that Swartz was justified in using lethal force against rock-throwers and shot from the U.S. side of the border in self-defense.

Defense attorneys Sean Chapman and Jim Calle didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment late Monday afternoon.

Art Del Cueto, head of the Tucson union for Border Patrol officers, said: “I believe that justice was properly served. The jurors took their time, and we’re pretty happy with it.”

Prosecutor Elizabeth Strange said her office respects the jury’s decision. “I am proud of our office’s work in presenting this difficult case to the jury,” Strange said.