Armed Feds Prepare For Showdown With Nevada Cattle Rancher

Judge Gloria Navarro Stymies Due Process Again



Navarro Stymies Due Process – Again

Denies Defense Timely Access To Love-Related Henthorn Materials

The first Bundy Ranch trial resumed Monday, 27 Feb 2017. During the week-long President’s Day holiday break, more damning evidence surfaced relating to the Bundy Ranch Tyrant (SAC Dan Love) behavior at Burning Man 2015. Specifically, the Deptment of the Interior’s Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) report that implicated Love in witness tampering and coercion was a redacted “for-public” version of the real report. In the full report, the OIG found evidence that Love had tampered with evidence. In addition, he also committed obstruction of justice. Along with tampering and coercion, he deleted or destroyed documents. Gloria Navarro stymies due process by withholding evidence from defendants.

Tier 3 Witnesses Implicated

Attorneys for Tier 3 defendants originally tried to make the case that the discovery of Love’s questionable ethics violated certain mandates. Specifically, Bradyand Giglio requirements for the disclosure of evidence that could impeach a witness. While the court denied any motions to dismiss, it did hold that the jury would have to see the full, unredacted version of the OIG’s report, IF, the Government were to call Love as a witness. Subsequently, the Government seems content to forego calling Love to the stand.

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When the unredacted version came to light over the holiday break, lawyers argued that the non-disclosure of the full report was a violation of Henthorn evidence mandates. In US v. Henthorn, 931 F. 2d 29 – Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit 1991, the 9th Circuit held that prosecutors must furnish personnel records of witnesses if the material contains exculpatory (favorable to the defendant) evidence. Attorneys argued that the OIG’s report contained individuals on the Government’s witness list. Consequently, any material related to Love’s obstruction of justice could have included information related to the Bundy Ranch Protest in April 2014.

Navarro’s Response: I decided it wasn’t relevant…

When confronted with another Brady / Giglio / Henthorn violation, Navarro’s response was simple. She said that the material had been provided to her in a timely manner. In addition, she didn’t feel that it had any bearing on the case. If defense attorneys wished to view the material, they would have to do so during a video-recorded session.

Navarro Stymies Due Process

Bottom line: this material should have been provided weeks, if not months ago. Due process violations stack up one after the other. This judge doesn’t care. She knows that the 9th Circuit will not be friendly to these defendants in appeal. The 9th Circuit is tantamount to a clown car of judges waiting to jump out and rule left on any case that goes to appeals. Her collusion with the Government falls under judicial discretion.

These defendants will have to beat these charges with the cards stacked against them. Fortunately, the outcome will watershed on the ability of a jury to see truth and apply it fairly. The Court and Government can collude with each other… but they can’t buy a jury.

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https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b...?s=49&d=mm&r=gAuthor anthony-dephue Posted on February 28, 2017 Catagories Trial Updates

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Andrea Olson-Parker with Bundy trial report fot Feb. 28. Audio isn't real good

http://youtu.be/BxLhuBmIxrY

https://youtu.be/BxLhuBmIxrY

Andrea Olson-Parker Bundy Ranch trial March 1 update

http://youtu.be/BQzC8FXILgg

https://youtu.be/BQzC8FXILgg

Teralee Jared Morley filling in for Andrea Olson-Parker Bundy Ranch trial

http://youtu.be/1jAZcZG_UUM

https://youtu.be/1jAZcZG_UUM

NBC could be paying Cliven Bundy's legal bills. He has a perfect oportunity for a libel suit against them. Calling him a domestic terrorist. @ 3:10


http://youtu.be/zeNaCb-2vvg

https://youtu.be/zeNaCb-2vvg

Andrea Olson-Parker lunch break update for Bundy trial March 2

http://youtu.be/lh1KSjPd-jI

https://youtu.be/lh1KSjPd-jI

Andrea Olson-Parker, end of day report for Bundy Ranch Trial #1 March 2

http://youtu.be/5X5shljwKDA

https://youtu.be/5X5shljwKDA

What are the odds this will be read by either Trump or Sessions?

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RYAN BUNDY FILES MOTION TO DISMISS CHARGES


Ryan Bundy asks judge to dismiss his charges in Bunkerville standoff case

Ryan Bundy, who previously accused federal authorities of violating the Constitution when they seized his father’s cattle, now claims he has been denied his right to a speedy trial.

In a motion filed late Wednesday, Bundy asks a federal judge to dismiss his 16-count indictment on threats, extortion and related charges stemming from the 2014 armed standoff near his family ranch in Bunkerville. Prosecutors are trying the first of three groups of people charged in the case, and Bundy is in the second trial group.

“The speedy trial right trumps any countervailing problems with courthouse facilities, overburdened court staff, or caseload,” wrote Bundy, who is representing himself. “The very purpose of the speedy trial right is to disincentivize the filing of onerous, vexatious and unnecessarily complex cases (like this case).”

Bundy accuses the government of tactically delaying the case by structuring it “in a repetitive style with multiplicitous counts to give an appearance of complexity.”

The standoff occurred in April 2014, but prosecutors did not announce charges until February of last year. In the intervening period, federal investigators staged an undercover operation in which they posed as documentary filmmakers to gain access to the people involved.

Bundy asserts that the undercover FBI operation was the “real reason” federal prosecutors did not bring charges until two years after the standoff occurred. He accuses undercover FBI agents of using “attractive women” and “alcohol” to trick his supporters into giving incriminating statements.

“The government spent more than half a million dollars on the creation of a fake film company designed to trick defendants into making boastful, false and incriminating statements that could be used against Defendants,” Bundy wrote in his filing.

Defense attorneys previously argued that evidence gathered during the undercover operation should not be admitted at trial, but a judge sided with the government and ruled the statements were admissible.

Bundy further argues that several key defense witnesses have died in the three years that have passed since the standoff.

“Evidence and witnesses have gone missing and evaporated,” he wrote in his filing.

Among the witnesses who died was LaVoy Finicum, who participated in the Bunkerville standoff and later was shot by law enforcement during protesters’ occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge in early 2016.

“Finicum was also the most important first-hand witness to the distressed and deteriorated condition of the cattle while in BLM custody,” Bundy wrote.

The people charged in the case accuse federal authorities of mistreating the cattle during the impoundment operation, but the judge has limited defense attorneys in what evidence they can introduce at trial related to cattle mistreatment.

Bundy and his brother, Ammon, who likewise is being held without bail pending trial, recently were acquitted on charges related to the 41-day standoff in Oregon.

In Wednesday’s filing, Ryan Bundy wrote that he has been held “in solitary confinement or in distant holding cells without legal materials or focused on other false federal charges in the U.S. District of Oregon.”

He is being held at Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump.

The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on Bundy’s filing.

Contact Jenny Wilson at jenwilson@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Follow @jennydwilson on Twitter

Bundy Ranch Surprise: Agents had been told to stop day before major confrontation

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...tion/98695460/


Bundy Ranch surprise: Agents told to stop day before major confrontation with anti-government protesters

Robert Anglen

BUNDY RANCH STANDOFF TRIALSBLM misconduct probe may derail Bundy ranch standoff trial | 0:48An investigation could derail one of the most high-profile land-use trials in modern Western history. Wochit


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BUNDY RANCH STANDOFF TRIALS

Rancher:?'We did what we had to do' | 2:14Cliven Bundy refuses to pay fees for cattle grazing on public land for 20 years.


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• BLM misconduct probe may derail Bundy ranch standoff trial
• Rancher: 'We did what we had to do'
  

LAS VEGAS — Law-enforcement officers were ordered by the federal special agent in charge to cease "all operations" hours before an armed standoff at a Nevada ranch reached its tension-filled zenith in 2014.
But they did not. Three law-enforcement officers testified in federal court Thursday that they maintained their positions throughout the night and into the next day, anticipating a bloody gunfight at Bundy Ranch.
The officers told jurors they feared for their lives, prayed to God and thought they would see their partners get shot as cattle ranchers and militia members squared off against federal authorities.

None of the officers explained in court why they were ordered to engage anti-government protesters — and open fire with less than lethal weapons — after being told at least twice to stand down, abandon their efforts to round up private cattle on federal land and leave.

"We were still under threat," U.S. Parks Police Officer Tara McBride said. "My understanding was we were ceasing gathering cattle and we were to remain in place to provide security for the (incident command post)."

This was one of the first times law-enforcement officials have publicly acknowledged the government orders to back down, drawing attention to a little-known detail about the high-profile confrontation.
Defense attorneys for the men accused of taking up arms against federal agents said the contradictory orders made no sense and escalated the potential for violence.

RELATED: First of three trials set to begin in Bundy Ranch standoff

The six-day standoff reached a climax on April 12, 2014, as hundreds of protesters formed a line across a wash near Interstate 15 about 80 miles north of Las Vegas. Armed men took up positions on the overpass, sighting their rifles at federal agents below.



"All operations had ceased? All operations were done?" Las Vegas lawyer Richard Tanasi asked McBride on cross-examination. "Despite that operations were over, despite your requests to fall back, your requests were being denied?"

Tanasi represents Steven Stewart, one of six defendants charged with conspiracy, extortion, assault and obstruction for taking up arms to stop the Bureau of Land Management from seizing cattle owned by rancher Cliven Bundy.

READ MORE: BLM misconduct probe may derail Bundy Ranch standoff trial

The six men, from Arizona, Idaho and Oklahoma, are the first of 17 defendants to go on trial on charges stemming from the Bundy Ranch standoff. Although federal prosecutors designated them as the “least culpable,” the defendants face identical charges and could spend the rest of their lives in prison if convicted.

Tanasi said if federal agents had followed the order to cease operations the day before, the standoff could have been defused.

"(Witnesses) testified that they were ceasing all operations," he said after court Thursday. "It's either all or it's not ... it makes no sense to me."

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Bundy Ranch standoff trials




April 11 order: Pack up and leave

Federal authorities testified Thursday about an April 11 briefing to cease operations.

They said Dan Love, BLM special agent in charge of operations, said authorities were going to release Bundy's cattle, pack up and leave the wash. They said a news release signaling the standoff was over would be sent out the next day.

Instead, the situation intensified through the night. National Parks police officers and rangers, who served on a regional operations team called to the Bundy Ranch, testified that they believed an attack was imminent.

McBride said supervisors ordered her team to take up defensive positions through the night and prepare for an attack on the incident command post that never came.

The next day, on April 12, supervisors ordered her to advance with three team members and fire non-lethal gas and pepper spray at protesters.

She said they approached the line of 100 protesters in the wash in a tactical "stack formation." McBride was in the lead behind a ballistic shield, followed by an officer armed with a gun loaded with pepper rounds, a third carrying a gas-canister launcher and a rifleman for protection.

“I was scared that as leader of my team, I was not going to get my people out. I thought I was going to see one of my friends' heads explode.”
David Keltner, National Park Service ranger

"The four of us were given OK (to fire),"
McBride said, adding that they disregarded the order because they feared the pop of the gas rounds would be mistaken for gunfire and spark a shooting war.
"While we were standing there in the stack, we discussed it," she said. "We would have shots fired against us."
She said her team twice requested permission to fall back and her supervisor denied their request.

U.S. Park Police Officer Brandon Novotny, who was armed with the gas-canister launcher in the stack, testified that officers were warned armed militia members were going to attempt to overrun the command post on the night of April 11.

"We had intelligence from the FBI that individuals on a domestic terrorist watch list had arrived and were camped out at the Bundy compound," he said. "We received intelligence there was going to be an attack."

Novotny said as he advanced in the stack, he was aware that armed protesters were taking positions above him and sighting down rifles at him. He said that while sheltering behind vehicles in the wash, he knelt and briefly thought that he might never see his family again.

National Park Service Ranger David Keltner also testified his team was told in intelligence briefings that authorities were going to be attacked imminently by militia members.

"I was scared that as leader of my team, I was not going to get my people out," he said. "I thought I was going to see one of my friends' heads explode."

A battle over rights to public lands

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Supporters of Cliven Bundy and others charged in the Bundy Ranch case gather outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Las Vegas on March 2, 2017. (Photo: Robert Anglen/The Republic)

Thursday wrapped up the second week of testimony by government witnesses in one of the West’s most high-profile land-use cases.

For decades, the BLM repeatedly ordered rancher Cliven Bundy to remove his cattle from federal lands and in 2014 obtained a court order to seize his cattle as payment for more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees.
In April 2014, the BLM, led by Love, implemented a roundup of 1,000 cows.

Bundy issued a social-media battle cry. Hundreds of supporters, including members of several militia groups, streamed to the ranch from several Western states, including Nevada, Arizona, Idaho and Oklahoma.

Pictures of prone figures on overpasses sighting long rifles at BLM agents in a dusty wash below galvanized the public and brought international awareness to the feud over public lands.
The BLM abandoned the roundup without a shot being fired.

RELATED: What made Ammon Bundy go from Arizona businessman to standoff leader?

The standoff was hailed as a victory by militia members. Cliven Bundy's sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, cited their success at Bundy Ranch in their run-up to the siege of an Oregon wildlife refuge in 2016, also in protest of BLM policies. An Oregon federal jury acquitted Ammon, Ryan and five others in October.

No arrests were made in the Bundy Ranch case until after the trial in Oregon. Three trials are planned. The first six defendants are characterized as militia members. The second trial includes Cliven Bundy, two of his sons and two key figures in the standoff. The third includes two Bundy relatives and four others.

Second week of testimony concludes

In Thursday's testimony, federal prosecutors led law-enforcement officers through descriptions of their fear as they faced down armed protesters and the fear they might open fire on fellow Americans. They described seeing at least two protesters tracking them with rifles.

Officers said after abandoning the wash, they feared they would be ambushed. They said they were given 30 minutes to clear hotel rooms in Mesquite, Nev., because they believed militia members would come after them. They said they remained on high alert until they got to Las Vegas.

"I spent the night in a foxhole in the United States," Keltner said.

RELATED: Key figures in Oregon standoff have Arizona ties

Defense attorneys hammered away at the witnesses, repeatedly pointing out that no shots were fired and no attacks were made.

Defendant Todd Engel, who is representing himself, asked questions about the threat officers faced while pictures showed other law-enforcement officials walking around the wash unprotected and with their backs to the armed men with rifles.

A series of those photos showed the four officers in the stack only feet away from other law-enforcement officers not bothering to take cover and talking in the open.

The defendants argue that conduct by reckless government agents led to the standoff. They said federal agents incited the violence against people exercising their constitutionally protected rights to assemble and bear arms.

Prosecutors counter that the protesters are lawbreakers who illegally pointed weapons at law-enforcement officers and conspired to block a lawful court order.

Trial expected to continue for weeks

The first trial was expected to take several more weeks as prosecutors plan to call more witnesses, and each of them is expected to be cross-examined by the defense.


“Nothing would have happened. You wouldn't be having this trial because you wouldn't have these defendants there.”
Shawn Perez, defense attorney for Richard Lovelien.

Las Vegas defense attorney Shawn Perez, who represents Oklahoma defendant Richard Lovelien, said if the order to cease operations had been followed and law enforcement had started packing up instead of ratcheting up, militia members would have dispersed.

"Nothing would have happened. You wouldn't be having this trial because you wouldn't have these defendants there," he said.

In the first phase, Lovelien is being tried with Gregory Burleson of Arizona, and O.Scott Drexler, Todd Engel, Eric Parker and Steven Stewart of Idaho.

The government's case is already facing significant challenges.

Love, who led the Bundy Ranch operations and was considered the government's key witness, has been named in federal misconduct probe citing ethical violations that occurred in 2015 at the annual Burning Man event in northern Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

Federal investigators said Love wrongly used his influence to obtain benefits for himself and his family members at Burning Man, abused federal law-enforcement resources and intimidated other BLM staff to keep quiet about his conduct. They also accused the agent of manipulating BLM hiring practices to help a friend get hired.

U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, on Feb. 17 called for an investigation into Love's conduct

Chaffetz, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said in a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior's deputy inspector general that Love's actions could damage the BLM.

"As a federal law enforcement officer, Love's actions have the potential to not only taint your investigation, but to seriously undermine the trust in BLM's law enforcement office and thwart Congressional oversight of the bureau,'' Chaffetz wrote.