Oregon standoff defendant Jason Patrick files motion to dismiss federal indictment

Jason Patrick, one of seven Oregon standoff defendants awaiting trial in February, is urging the court to dismiss his indictment, arguing that statements by federal officials expressing disappointment after the acquittal of refuge occupier Ammon Bundy will taint his right to a fair trial. Patrick, who has chosen to represent himself, filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss a charge that accuses him of conspiring to prevent employees from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management from carrying out their work through intimidation, threat or force. Patrick cited statements by Oregon's U.S. Attorney Billy Williams, FBI Special Agent Greg Bretzing and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. Williams, in a prepared statement, said prosecutors had hoped for a different outcome but respected the verdict. Bretzing, also in a prepared statement, said he was "extremely disappointed,'' but respected the role of the jury. Jewell posted in a Twitter message that she was "deeply disappointed.'' "Knowing full well that a second group of these defendants would soon be facing their own trial, the prosecution and its agents cavalierly made public statements disparaging the prior verdict. Their 'disappointment' is nothing less than a thinly veiled accusation that the first jury came, either through conscious desire or unfortunate mistake, to the incorrect conclusion,'' Patrick's motion said...more