Bundy trial delayed as the defense hammers on feds

Tay Wiles

The trial of Nevada rancher and melon farmer Cliven Bundy has been delayed another week, following a decision to postpone by the federal judge. Defense lawyers have argued that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has not been forthcoming with evidence that could help acquit Bundy and three others in the biggest trial since the 2014 standoff between the rancher, with hundreds of supporters, and federal agents outside Bunkerville, Nevada. “A specter is haunting this case,” Bundy’s lawyer, Bret Whipple, wrote in a court motion this week. U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro agreed to postpone the trial in response to defense demands that the prosecutors produce more information about surveillance cameras from the crime scene that they believe the government is hiding. “All of the power of the United States exercised through its law enforcement agencies and through the United States Attorney’s Office has generated a fog that obfuscates the truth,” Whipple wrote. A hearing is scheduled today to address defendants’ requests to be released from jail for a period of time preceding trial. A second hearing to address unanswered questions related to whether recordings from surveillance cameras exists will take place next week. The trial is slated to begin the following day. This complication follows motions to dismiss the charges based on a separate issue. After the government abandoned the impoundment because of safety concerns, trash bags of shredded documents were found in dumpsters that federal authorities used near their base of operations. The defense says those documents were an indication that the government “destroyed evidence.” But a judge denied a motion to dismiss the case based on that argument. With the jury seated and the trial about to begin, the defense is working to denude the government of its credibility in an attempt to dismiss the case. They will likely employ a similar strategy during the trial to divert attention from Bundy’s alleged wrongdoing. If defense lawyers can sow doubt in the jurors about the honesty or competence of the feds, they could win the case. That would mark a major defeat for federal prosecutors, who have failed to secure significant convictions in either the 2016 Bundy-led takeover of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge or the Bunkerville standoff...more