Controversial U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro ruled on Monday that Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy, his two sons, and a militia member will not face another trial. A mistrial was declared last month in a case that liberty-minded people have been watching (and steaming about) for years. AG Jeff Sessions joined the angry supporters and has called for a full investigation into the shenanigans that led to this drawn out persecution.
Navarro, who has been roundly criticized for her handling of the case said today, "The court finds that the universal sense of justice has been violated.” She went on to say that the conduct of federal prosecutors violated due process and was “outrageous.”
Undisclosed Evidence
Just a few weeks ago, Navarro ruled a mistrial in the Bundy case. In making her decision on December 20th, Navarro listed six pieces of evidence that were not disclosed to the defense. KGW.com reported:
The evidence included:
Records about surveillance at the Bundy ranch;
Maps about government surveillance;
Records about the presence of government snipers;
FBI logs about activity at the ranch in the days leading up to standoff;
Law-enforcement assessments dating to 2012 that found the Bundys posed no threat;
Internal affairs reports about misconduct by Bureau of Land Management agents.
The reason for the mistrial was that federal prosecutors “willfully withheld evidence” from Bundy’s lawyers, according to Navarro’s ruling. But the trial has largely been seen as a series of missteps and even persecution from federal officials at the Bureau of Land Management.
Whistleblowing
Back in November federal whistleblower Special Agent Larry Wooten blew the case wide open with a memo to the Asst. U.S. Attorney General alleging unethical and legal violations by the feds. In the leaked memo, Wooten said he "routinely observed ... a widespread pattern of bad judgment, lack of discipline, incredible bias, unprofessionalism and misconduct" among agents involved in the 2014 standoff.”
Wooten justified the fears of liberty lovers by reporting that federal agents committed multiple civil rights violations, used more force than necessary, and violated multiple federal government policies during the Bunkerville standoff.
Liberty Nation has closely been following this story and has highlighted many of the twists and turns in the trial, here, here, here, and here. Essentially the government botched the case against the Bundy family from beginning to end.
Picture courtesy of oathkeepers.org
This has been a long, drawn-out affair for the Bundy’s and their supporters. In what has become known as the Stand-off at Bunkerville, armed citizens showed up in support of the rancher’s claims that he had grazing rights on what government officials called “federal” land. Eyewitnesses to the stand-off between an armed citizenry and armed federal agents say it’s nothing short of miraculous that no one was killed during the event that took place in Nevada in 2014.
The Real Conspiracy
But that just began the legal wrangle in which four defendants were charged with multiple felonies that could have sent them to prison for years. These charges included using a firearm to engage in a conspiracy and threatening federal officers.
But throughout the ordeal defense lawyers charged “flagrant prosecutorial misconduct” and constitutional violations. Those who take states’ rights and free speech seriously have long been outraged by the Bundy trials which have kept several of those charged in the case – including Cliven Bundy – behind bars for years.
This ruling can be considered a victory not only for those who believed in the Bundys, and those who came to support his land claim, but for all who been unfairly persecuted by the federal government.
