Attorney For Oregon Standoff Leader Faces New Charges In Courthouse Scuffle

The attorney for the leader of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation is facing three charges in connection with a dramatic incident that played out as his client was acquitted last fall. Mumford previously faced charges of failing to comply with the lawful direction of federal police officers and impeding the performance of official duties. He pleaded not guilty to those charges last week, but the special prosecutor from Washington, Timothy Ohms, has replaced the charges. The new charges that Mumford faces include creating disturbances by impeding or disrupting the performance of official duties, failure to comply with signs of a prohibitory, regulatory and directory nature, and failure to comply with the lawful direction of a federal police officer. Mumford’s attorney, Michael Levine, has said Brown and U.S. marshals overreacted. “My client was doing nothing that a zealous advocate would not do,” he said. “What we have here is an unprecedented attack on the defense bar, I truly believe unprecedented, and I’ve been practicing law for almost 40 years.”...more