DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY


The Associated Press State & Local Wire

Trial for Catron County rancher Kit Laney set for August

A rancher accused of assaulting U.S. Forest Service rangers who were helping impound his cattle this spring will go on trial Aug. 10.

The court date for Kit Laney, 43, was set at a federal court hearing here last week.

Laney waived his right to a jury trial, and will be allowed to represent himself.

"He did both against my advice," attorney Troy Prichard said Tuesday. "The judge ordered me to be with him in an advisory capacity. That's new ground for me."

Laney had been under electronic monitoring for several months. The electronic monitoring was removed after the hearing.

Laney was indicted on five counts of assault on federal officers and three counts of obstruction after his arrest March 14 during a roundup of cattle that belonged to him and his ex-wife, Sherry Farr, on the Gila National Forest.

Laney is accused of threatening to trample federal officers with his horse and trying to release some of the impounded livestock.

Laney and Farr did not have a permit to graze the cattle.

Last December, a federal judge awarded the Forest Service grazing fees and damages after finding the couple in contempt of court for grazing cattle on allotments in violation of the earlier court rulings. The judge ordered the cattle removed.

Laney and Farr contended the roundup was illegal and that the impoundment was potentially a criminal offense.

They have maintained they own a vested fee interest in areas the federal government controls and that such an interest is similar to owning mineral rights or another easement.

Courts have rejected those arguments repeatedly since the mid-1990s.

The Forest Service sold about 450 head of rounded-up cattle for about $211,000, saying that would help pay the cost.