Posted on 10/04/2016 4:26:49 AM PDT by Nextrush
Ammon Bundy told the court he has no choice but to take the witness stand in his own defense because of the judge's repeated rulings limiting defense testimony about the principles he and he co-defendants stood for to strictly evidence regarding their "state of mind.
"I do not feel that I have a choice to testify here or not," Bundy told U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown....
Defense lawyers called four other witnesses in the afternoon Monday...
Kim Rollins, a 31-year resident of Burns, challenged Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward's "straw vote" of the community at a Jan. 7 meeting.....He called it a "straw vote to get a certain reaction."....
Pat Horlacher, a seven-year Burns resident...he drove to the refuge within several days of the takeover to "see for ourselves if this is a legitimate threat."
Horlacher returned a few more times, bringing eight to ten friends. He described the atmosphere at the refuge "as laid back an environnment as you could ever ask for."....
In contrast, he described the heavy presence of armed law enforcement outside the Harney County courthouse and elsewhere in Burns as akin to 'a scene out of "A Red Dawn"'.......
Travis Williams, a 25-year Harney County resident and fifth-generation rancher, said he went to the meeting to find out what was behind the Bundys' visit to Burns. "If this Ammon guy was a radical, I was going to go home," Williams testified.
But what Ammon Bundy said about ranchers losing their grazing rights and the federal government's overreach on land management "made more sense to me."
"We need to start taking our country back. We need to stand up to the federal government," Williams said.....
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
Some great defense testimony from Harney County residents yesterday disputing the fearful notions of the media and government about the protest in their community.
Also a man named Brand Nu Thornton from Las Vegas testified. He was pictured blowing a shofar during the protest and testified he saw no damage being done to the buildings by the protestors.
Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward was called back to the witness stand with defense lawyers trying to pin down what Ward thought was threatening about an email sent to him by Ammon Bundy.
Ward couldn't pin anything down and the judge prevented additional questioning to get to the bottom of it.
Defendant Shawna Cox got some good news yesterday with the judge dropping the charge of bringing firearms onto federal property against her.
Why would he not testify?
If the defense had been allowed to make its case through other witnesses, he would have not testified.
But Judge Anna Brown has been cutting witnesses and defense lawyers off to censor information the jury needs to know about the case.
Because of what the prosecution can bring out in the cross examination.
Jury nullification is his only hope.
Another reason not to testify. Don't give the prosecution the ability to convict you with your own testimony.
When the crucifying is done, how long before no one has a grazing permit on public land?
It appears there are serious problems with the legal system, the court system, the justice system, and law enforcement, particularly in this case. I will be surprised if Ammon gets less than 10 years. Remember, the Federal conviction rate is over 90 percent.
...and jury nullification. Not a chance.
Likely these poor guys will get 7-10 years for what amounts to criminal trespass and squatting. If Trump gets in he will need to pardon all these people.
Here is a good article with more details of what happened in court this week. http://redoubtnews.com/2016/10/03/skittish-sheriff-turns-burns-warzone/
Judge Anna Brown - Clinton appointment
In this day and age it seems the judges like to throw the trials their own way.
Once upon a time I thought it was the job of the jury to hear all the evidence and make the decision. But the jury only hears what the judge chooses for them to hear. That is called a rigged trial in my book.
Then they'll get sent to Nevada for trial on the Bundy Ranch standoff in 2014.
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