Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Prosecutors face deadline to decide on remaining Oregon standoff defendants

Federal prosecutors must tell the court on Dec. 12 how they plan to proceed with the remaining seven Oregon standoff defendants set to go to trial in mid-February, U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown ordered Monday. The prosecutors must say what charges they intend to pursue against each of the defendants or if they plan to seek a further delay in the Feb. 14 trial. During a brief status conference, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel told the judge that the government is still evaluating evidence and considering other charges against the seven in light of last month's acquittal of occupation leader Ammon Bundy and other key figures. He asked for several more weeks to decide. The judge wasn't pleased. "You can't keep a trial date with maybes and ifs. It's just not good enough,'' Brown said. "If the government is going to proceed against one or more defendants, it should be able to say so.'' Earlier Monday, prosecutors indicated in an email sent to defense lawyers that they wanted to confer about delaying the February trial...more

No comments: