A protester with pocket copy of the Constitution and “Not Guilty” pin outside Lloyd George Federal Building where jurors in the first Bunkerville standoff trial finished their second day of deliberations without reaching a verdict on Monday, April 17, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
By Jenny Wilson Las Vegas Review-Journal
April 17, 2017 – 5:59 pm
Jurors in the first Bunkerville standoff trial finished their second day of deliberations Monday without reaching a verdict.
The jury received the case Thursday, after hearing two months of testimony in the trial of six people charged as “gunmen” in the April 2014 armed standoff near Cliven Bundy’s ranch. The men are accused of conspiring with Bundy to stop federal agents from seizing his cattle from public land.
Federal prosecutors have characterized the men standing trial as the “least culpable” of 17 people they eventually plan to try on charges of conspiracy, extortion, threats, assault and related counts.
U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro received a note from the jury Monday asking her two hypothetical questions. The note is sealed to the public, but Navarro revealed at a late-afternoon court hearing that jurors inquired about what happens if they cannot reach a unanimous decision for each of the defendants, and what happens if they cannot reach a unanimous decision for each of the 10 counts the defendants face.
Navarro, in response, sent a note back to the jurors telling them that they may only consider testimony and exhibits in reaching their verdict, “not what happens if.”
Contact Jenny Wilson at [email protected] or 702-384-8710. Follow @jennydwilson on Twitter.
