Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 21 december 2017

Mistrial declared in Nevada armed standoff with US agents

Las Vegas.
Six men who acknowl-
edged carrying assault-
style weapons faced a trial
and a retrial.
Two were acquitted,
two were convicted of
some charges and two
are free after pleading
guilty to misdemean-
ors to avoid a third trial.
None was found guilty of a
conspiracy charge.
In the case against the
Bundys, the judge hinted
This undated combination of file photos shows from left; Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his sons Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy
and co-defendant Ryan Payne. last week that trouble was
(Multnomah County SO/AP) afoot.
She sent the jury home to
By KEN RITTER can West. refusal to pay grazing fees. expanses. review sealed documents
Associated Press Jurors in Portland, Oregon, The 71-year-old rancher “It looks even worse be- following closed-door
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A U.S. acquitted the two Bundy says his family has grazed cause it isn’t the sort of jury hearings over complaints
judge in Nevada declared sons of taking over a U.S. cattle for more than a cen- nullification we’ve seen about the conduct of FBI
a mistrial Wednesday in wildlife refuge in Oregon for tury in the area and insists before, but actual incom- and Bureau of Land Man-
the case against a states’ more than a month in early public land belongs to petence (or worse) by the agement agents during
rights figure, his two sons 2016 amid calls for the U.S. states, not the U.S. govern- prosecution,” Bartrum said the standoff.
and another man ac- government to turn over ment. in an email. “It certainly Jurors got a glimpse of
cused of leading a 2014 public land to local control. Government agents be- erodes a lot of confidence the claims when Ryan
armed standoff with fed- In the Nevada case, Na- gan rounding up his ani- in the federal government’s Bundy, who represented
eral agents during a cattle varro faulted federal pros- mals. The four on trial were motives.” himself, spoke at opening
grazing dispute. ecutors for failing to turn accused of enlisting armed Acting U.S. Attorney Ste- statements about seeing
Chief U.S. District Judge over all evidence to de- gunmen to force govern- ven Myhre had no immedi- government snipers and
Gloria Navarro in Las Vegas fense attorneys, including ment agents to abandon ate answer about whether surveillance cameras posi-
dismissed a jury seated last records about the conduct the effort. prosecutors would retry the tioned on hilltops surround-
month for the long-await- of FBI and Bureau of Land “A mistrial is a very bad re- case. If so, the Bundys and ing his family home in the
ed trial of Cliven Bundy, Management agents dur- sult for the government,” Payne still would face 15 days before armed sup-
his sons Ryan and Ammon ing the standoff. said Ian Bartrum, a Univer- felony charges including porters answered his fam-
Bundy and self-styled Mon- “The government is obligat- sity of Nevada, Las Vegas, assault and threats against ily’s calls for help.
tana militia leader Ryan ed to disclose all evidence law professor who has fol- federal officers, firearms A whistleblower memo by
Payne. that might be favorable” lowed the case closely. counts, obstruction and ex- a lead U.S. Bureau of Land
It is the latest in a string of to the defense, the judge Bartrum had cast the trial tortion. Management investiga-
failed prosecutions in Ne- said. as a test of whether U.S. au- Prosecutors also failed to tor that was released last
vada and Oregon against The case stemmed from an thorities could enforce their win full convictions against week alleges widespread
those who have opposed armed confrontation that own land policy in Western others at the tense con- bad judgment, bias and
federal control of vast capped a decadeslong states where the govern- frontation near Bunkerville, misconduct, as well as
swaths of land in the Ameri- dispute over Cliven Bundy’s ment owns or controls vast about 80 miles northeast of “likely policy, ethical and
legal violations among se-
Suit blames parents of man accused of killing 4 nior and supervisory staff”
in the days leading up to
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The The claim is in a wrongful corpse abuse in the July kill- cies but didn’t prevent him the standoff.
family of one of the men death lawsuit filed Tuesday ings. from getting access to a The memo said agents
found shot and buried on a in Philadelphia by the par- Tuesday’s suit names the gun. who planned and over-
Pennsylvania farm is blam- ents of Mark Sturgis. two cousins, as well as San- An attorney for DiNardo’s saw the cattle roundup
ing the parents of one of Cousins Cosmo DiNardo dra and Antonio DiNardo. parents tells the Philadel- mocked and displayed
the killers, alleging they let and Sean Kratz pleaded It claims the parents knew phia Inquirer they did “ev- clear prejudice against the
their mentally ill son have not guilty last week to multi- their son had mental health erything humanly possible” Bundys, their supporters
access to guns. ple charges of murder and issues and violent tenden- to help their son. q and Mormons.q