- Jul 9, 2009
- 10,758
- 2,086
- 136
Pretty clear prosecutorial misconduct to illegally suppress evidence that the FBI had procured.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/20/us/cliven-bundy-mistrail.html
'A federal judge declared a mistrial on Wednesday in the case of Nevada cattle ranchers and one of their supporters, whose dispute with the government over grazing rights turned into an armed standoff in 2014. The judge stated that prosecutors had improperly withheld evidence from the defense.
The ruling in Federal District Court in Las Vegas by Judge Gloria M. Navarro was the latest failure by federal prosecutors to convict participants in the standoff led by Cliven D. Bundy and his sons Ammon E. Bundy and Ryan C. Bundy. Two earlier trials against other defendants ended in hung juries.
The judge ruled that prosecutors violated the rights of the defendants — the three Bundys and a supporter, Ryan W. Payne — by failing to turn over an array of material ahead of the trial. That included video taken from within the Bundy ranch during the standoff by a federal informant, evidence that F.B.I. agents were involved in the standoff, and a threat assessment of the Bundys drafted by the government. She ruled verbally, and not in writing.
........
Among the withheld reports the judge mentioned, she said, was one in which government officials said the Bundys were not violent. “She cited all of that,” Ms. Bundy said. “At this point, I don’t know what kind of a case they have against us.”
............
The Bundys had long alleged misconduct by federal agents and prosecutors, and powerful evidence for their claims emerged last week in The Oregonian newspaper, which made public a complaint that a Bureau of Land Management agent had filed with the Justice Department. The agent alleged unprofessionalism, bias, heavy-handed tactics, and withholding of evidence by his colleagues during and after the standoff, and he said that after he informed prosecutors, he was removed from the case.
..........
"Andrea Parker, the wife of Eric Parker, an ally of the Bundys who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor related to the standoff, said, “It’s great that they’re showing the malicious prosecution that’s been going on — by the prosecution, the F.B.I. and the B.L.M. It’s finally getting out there, it’s something we weren’t afforded or allowed at our trial.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...ac0fd7f097e_story.html?utm_term=.5b4aa6662ca9
"U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro determined that the prosecution suppressed evidence from FBI surveillance cameras recording the Bundy family home and the presence of Bureau of Land Management snipers around the property in the days leading up to the standoff there. Additionally, the prosecution did not provide FBI logs, maps, reports and threat assessments that said the Bundy family was not dangerous.
Navarro pointed to assessments conducted by the FBI, the Southern Nevada Counter Terrorism Center and the BLM that said “the Bundy family is not violent” and that they “would probably get in your face, but not get into a shootout.”
The court “regrettably believes a mistrial is the only suitable option,” Navarro told the packed Nevada courtroom. “A fair trial at this point is impossible.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/20/us/cliven-bundy-mistrail.html
'A federal judge declared a mistrial on Wednesday in the case of Nevada cattle ranchers and one of their supporters, whose dispute with the government over grazing rights turned into an armed standoff in 2014. The judge stated that prosecutors had improperly withheld evidence from the defense.
The ruling in Federal District Court in Las Vegas by Judge Gloria M. Navarro was the latest failure by federal prosecutors to convict participants in the standoff led by Cliven D. Bundy and his sons Ammon E. Bundy and Ryan C. Bundy. Two earlier trials against other defendants ended in hung juries.
The judge ruled that prosecutors violated the rights of the defendants — the three Bundys and a supporter, Ryan W. Payne — by failing to turn over an array of material ahead of the trial. That included video taken from within the Bundy ranch during the standoff by a federal informant, evidence that F.B.I. agents were involved in the standoff, and a threat assessment of the Bundys drafted by the government. She ruled verbally, and not in writing.
........
Among the withheld reports the judge mentioned, she said, was one in which government officials said the Bundys were not violent. “She cited all of that,” Ms. Bundy said. “At this point, I don’t know what kind of a case they have against us.”
............
The Bundys had long alleged misconduct by federal agents and prosecutors, and powerful evidence for their claims emerged last week in The Oregonian newspaper, which made public a complaint that a Bureau of Land Management agent had filed with the Justice Department. The agent alleged unprofessionalism, bias, heavy-handed tactics, and withholding of evidence by his colleagues during and after the standoff, and he said that after he informed prosecutors, he was removed from the case.
..........
"Andrea Parker, the wife of Eric Parker, an ally of the Bundys who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor related to the standoff, said, “It’s great that they’re showing the malicious prosecution that’s been going on — by the prosecution, the F.B.I. and the B.L.M. It’s finally getting out there, it’s something we weren’t afforded or allowed at our trial.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...ac0fd7f097e_story.html?utm_term=.5b4aa6662ca9
"U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro determined that the prosecution suppressed evidence from FBI surveillance cameras recording the Bundy family home and the presence of Bureau of Land Management snipers around the property in the days leading up to the standoff there. Additionally, the prosecution did not provide FBI logs, maps, reports and threat assessments that said the Bundy family was not dangerous.
Navarro pointed to assessments conducted by the FBI, the Southern Nevada Counter Terrorism Center and the BLM that said “the Bundy family is not violent” and that they “would probably get in your face, but not get into a shootout.”
The court “regrettably believes a mistrial is the only suitable option,” Navarro told the packed Nevada courtroom. “A fair trial at this point is impossible.”
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