I only post this as an update because the original thread was allowed to remain for a significant period of time.
Perhaps this one will not last so long...
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Per a recent news article...
Seven people who were among the armed occupiers of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon earlier this year were acquitted Thursday of charges related to the 41-day standoff.
Ammon Bundy; his brother, Ryan Bundy; and three other people were found not guilty of firearms charges and conspiracy to impede federal workers. Two others who were acquitted were charged only with conspiracy. The federal jury couldn't reach a verdict on a theft charge against Ryan Bundy.
There was a bit of drama in the courtroom after the decision, CNN affiliate KOIN reported. Ammon Bundy's attorney, Marcus Mumford, was taken down by US Marshals who reportedly used a stun gun on him after the lawyer argued with the judge that his client should be set free. Mumford spent a brief time in custody, KOIN reported.
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Makes you think a little bit about the entire situation. I will be watching to see how the remainder of the charges in Nevada turn out.
I just got though spending hours driving through Harney County (the day after they were acquitted). It was interesting to see the country in person. There were scattered run down mobile homes situated in the middle of miles and miles of nothing but sage brush and volcanic rock, then you would drive by a lush valley where ranchers had developed productive water wells...houses started to improve...barns full of hay....new farming equipment parked out front...Antelope and mule deer grazing, then back to sage brush and rocks for another 30 miles.
Scattered across the county were small "Re-Elect Dave Ward for Sheriff" signs, as well as large 4'x8' "No National Monument" signs. Interesting to be driving through at the same time there were developments in the case against the "occupiers".
I appreciate this update.
I don't know that you can say they got off scot-free. They all spent the last 9 months in jail. And one guy was shot and killed.
It appears moving the trial venue from Bend to Pendleton didn't work out as planned for the Feds.
Mike Marks, post: 398071, member: 1108 wrote: It appears moving the trial venue from Bend to Pendleton didn't work out as planned for the Feds.
The feds have a problem with juries and their 'mandatory sentencing'. Accidently hitting a bald eagle with your motor vehicle carries the same sentence as willful poaching of a protected species. Juries are usually faced with either giving the defendants 30 years or letting them go free.
One particularly painful example of federal "mandatory sentencing" was the elderly gentleman that had been convicted of a felony in his younger years. After that he had led a model life in the community. A police investigation of his wayward nephew discovered a few old shotgun shells (no gun) in a drawer of a desk stored in his garage. And although it was determined the desk actually belonged to the landlord he was convicted of violation of federal firearms possession after a former conviction. I believe the sentence was 25 years.
Remember this if you're ever called for federal jury duty....
Law enforcement had plenty of time to gather evidence and prepare their case before these guys were arrested/shot. Maybe you have something there with the mandatory sentencing
I do find it interesting that of all the "infamous" occupations of federally managed facilities, there doesn't seem to have been any convictions.
In my humble opinion the feds are very narrow minded when in comes to an 'occupational protest'. And I'm sure there are some distinctions between 'the right to assemble and protest peaceably' and armed occupation, but federal lands should belong to everyone technically. But trust me when I say that if the pipeline protest was anywhere near federal property the feds would have shot the whole bunch of them, quoting the Homeland Security Act between each round.
ok, it's turned to a political post...it's my fault if Wendell sends it to the garbage can...
One of our rights, to be tried by a jury of our peers, and one of the juries right is "Jury Nullification" Jp
Jury nullification occurs when a jury returns a verdict of "Not Guilty" despite its belief that the defendant is guilty of the violation charged. The jury in effect nullifies a law that it believes is either immoral or wrongly applied to the defendant whose fate they are charged with deciding.
Mike Marks, post: 398071, member: 1108 wrote: It appears moving the trial venue from Bend to Pendleton didn't work out as planned for the Feds.
The trial was held in Portland, which is far more "progressive" than either Bend or Pendleton.
