DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY

Prosecutors call rancher's spurs deadly weapons

AP - A southern New Mexico rancher's horse and spurs have become more than just cowboy gear in a federal criminal case accusing him of assaulting U.S. Forest Service employees helping to impound his cattle.

At an arraignment here Tuesday, prosecutors upgraded assault charges against 43-year-old Kit Laney to include assault with a deadly weapon.

The alleged deadly weapons? Laney's horse, spurs and the horse reins.

It comes after Laney's arrest March 14 during a roundup of cattle belonging to him and his ex-wife, Sherry Farr, on the Gila National Forest.

Authorities say he threatened to trample federal officers with his horse and tried to release some of the impounded livestock. He was originally charged with five counts of assault on federal officers and three counts of obstruction of justice.

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. Laney has said he had water and grazing rights to the area before the Forest Service took over operations on the property.

More than 450 head of Laneys' cattle were sold at auction last month for about $211,000. He was sent a bill for an additional $250,000 by the federal government for time and expense of the roundup of his cattle.

Laney, who has pleaded not guilty to the enhanced charges, plans to represent himself and has waived his right to a jury trial.

He will argue his case before U.S. District Judge John Conway on Sept. 14 in Albuquerque.

Charges upgraded

The five-count "superceding" indictment alleges Laney used his horse, spurs and reins to "assault or interfere with federal officers and employees" while they were rounding up the rancher's cattle on his Diamond Bar allotment in the Gila National Forest earlier this year.

"Apparently, (federal officials) were not happy that (Laney) hasn't accepted the Justice Department's offer of five months' prison and five months' house arrest," rancher Laura Schneberger of Winston wrote in an e-mail message.

"He admits to struggling when pepper was sprayed, which should have gotten him, at the most, charged with resisting arrest and possibly interfering with a court order," she added....