  We report on the investigation of the population mechanism for the 454-KeV
level in 71Cu. This level was identified for the first time in a recent Coulomb
excitation measurement with a radioactive beam of 71Cu. The selective nature of
the Coulomb-excitation process as well as nuclear-structure considerations
constrain the possible spin values for the newly observed state to Ipi=1/2-. A
re-examination of the data set obtained in a beta-decay study at the LISOL
separator revealed that this state is also populated in the decay of 71Ni, most
probably by direct feeding from a newly identified 1/2- beta-decaying isomer
having a T1/2=2.34(25) s. In this paper we investigate the proposed scenario by
reanalyzing the beta-gamma and gamma-gamma coincidences obtained in the
beta-decay study at LISOL.
