News – Page 57 – It Matters How You Stand

Is Judge Navarro Afraid of the Defendants?

Judge Gloria Navarro is presiding over the Bunkerville retrial in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has continued to show her bias against the defense in her rulings and her reactions in the courtroom.

She has insisted that they not look around, at all, while in the courtroom, even during breaks and sidebars. Navarro was so concerned, one day this week, that she had Eric Parker removed from the courtroom for an entire segment of the trial because he turned to look at the overheard viewscreen.

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3 Percenters Demonized in Federal Court

Though the defendants are actually Eric Parker, Scott Drexlar, Steven Stewart and Ricky Lovelein, the prosecution has made their association the the group “Idaho 3%” a material part of the case against them. It is enough to believe the government is trying to prosecute the group, as well as the individuals.

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Prosecution Links Bunkerville Defendants to Timothy McVeigh

The Bunkerville Retrial in Las Vegas continued today with Judge Navarro’s bias being highlighted for the world to see.

The day was filled mostly with time outside of the jury presence, going over Facebook posts that were offered for evidence. Both sides had their say on why they did/did not want the evidence admitted.

Facebook evidence is highly controversial. There are too many variables within Facebook to guarantee that a post was made by a particular person. The prosecution wants to show that this attitude of “conspiracy’ continued long after the Standoff was over. They want the jury to believe that the dissidents were recruiting based on their belief that they had won against the government.

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Protesters On Trial

It is known that the jury favored acquittal in the previous trial with 2 of the defendants receiving 10-2 votes in their favor.

Additionally, the jury forms showed marks indicating acquittal, which were later scratched out over confusion on legal points.

However, the government has learned a few lessons since then. They have attempted to change their narrative to reconcile with, what they hope will be, a more popular view of their prosecution.

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Gary Hunt: The Bundy Affair #21 Batson Challenge – in the Name of Injustice

In “Liberty or Laws? – Justice or Despotism?“, I discussed how the case law method provides the government, through judicial proceedings, to move, a decision at a time, away from the intent of the Constitution. In recent events in the second Tier 3 trial, only two-thirds of the trial was declared a “mistrial”, while the other third was not declared a mistrial. I say this because the first trial, by the government’s design, included six defendants, all of whom were accused of wielding firearms on April 12, 2014, when the Bureau of Land Management returned the surviving captured cattle to their rightful owner. Two defendants were found guilty of some of the charges. The remaining four were not found guilty of any of the charges, though they were also not found not guilty. So, there was no mistrial on the two, but there was a mistrial in the same singular trial of the other four.

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Interior Secretary Zinke Comes To Bunkerville

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke visited Bunkerville, Nevada over the weekend and spoke with reporters of his support for the national monuments.

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Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke caps review of monuments with Bunkerville visit

BUNKERVILLE — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spoke to reporters Sunday evening in Bunkerville as he wrapped up a much-anticipated visit to Southern Nevada that included a hike at Gold Butte National Monument and a stop at Basin and Range National Monument to see American Indian rock art.

The interior secretary traveled to Nevada to visit the two monuments as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order mandating a review of 22 national monuments and five marine national monuments created by presidential decree since Jan. 1, 1996, to determine whether the designations should be scaled back or eliminated.

Zinke is expected to present Trump with his final recommendations by the end of August.

Speaking outside at a ranch not far from Gold Butte, Zinke offered some insights into criteria for downsizing.

Before Zinke arrived in Bunkerville, Russ Graves voiced concern about the size of the Gold Butte monument.

“I’d just like to see the size reduced,” said Graves. 73, who owns an orchard that is part of a 220-acre ranch.

Whitney Pocket, the Devil’s Throat sinkhole and a few other locations on Gold Butte should be part of the monument, but other parts don’t have antiquities value, he said.

Zinke had planned to stay in Mesquite through Monday to meet with U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., and stakeholders there and in Overton on the fringe of Gold Butte on the last leg of a swing through the West. But he canceled those plans to return to Washington, D.C., for the first Cabinet meeting with new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

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Minnesota group targeted in FBI counterterrorism probe

To the FBI, they were part of a Minnesota militia group possibly gearing up for a violent showdown with the government.

Members of the group, called United Patriots of Minnesota 3%, say they’re nothing more than patriots defending hard-won liberties secured by a handful of forefathers who stood against tyranny.

No one has been charged in the investigation, which spilled into public view recently when a federal judge unsealed search warrants in the case. But the probe underscores the complexity of balancing protected speech with trying to root out domestic terror.

Soon after agents kicked in the door to his Red Wing home last December, Jason Thomas documented the aftermath of the raid on Facebook: photos of belongings strewn across his kitchen and a copy of the search warrant, signed by a federal judge, alleging that Thomas and his fellow United Patriots members schemed to illegally obtain and use powerful weapons.

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Interior head to stop in Nevada hometown of standoff family

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was expected to make a stop Sunday in the hometown of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher accused of organizing an armed standoff three years ago that forced federal agents to end a roundup of his cattle.

Zinke’s planned stop in Bunkerville, Nevada — about 80 miles (129 kilometers) northeast of Las Vegas — is part of his tour of national monuments being scrutinized by the Trump administration.

Trump announced the review of 27 monuments in May, saying the designations imposed by previous presidents amounted to a massive federal land grab. Monument designations protect federal land from energy development and other activities.

Zinke plans the stop in Bunkerville ahead of visits Monday to the nearby Gold Butte and Basin and Range national monuments, which cover a combined 1,500 square miles (3,885 sq. kilometers) — more than twice the size of Delaware.

Gold Butte is the grazing area at the center of the cattle round-up and armed standoff in April 2014 involving Bundy and federal land management agents.

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PLF files amicus brief in Clean Water Act case

Today Pacific Legal Foundation asked the Ninth Circuit to accept an amicus brief, written on behalf ofMike and Chantell Sackett, as well as John Duarte and Duarte Nursery, supporting the defendant in United States v. Joseph David Robertson. The issue we comment upon involves how the courts should apply the Supreme Court’s Rapanos decision. Since PLF argued and won Rapanos, it makes eminent sense for PLF to explain why the government unfairly applied Rapanos to Mr. Robertson in making its case against him for discharging (read: polluting) into “waters of the United States.”

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Prosecutors in Bunkerville Retrial Rely on Deception

The chaotic events of “Bundy standoff” near Bunkerville, Nevada on April 12, 2014 were captured on hundreds of cameras. There is video from almost every angle (including from multiple surveillance aircraft flying above). The feds occupied the high ground (despite what they claim in court) and were filming by dash-cams, body cams and handheld cameras. Nevada Highway Patrol had two (2) vehicles positioned on the all-important northbound bridge of I-15 with dash-cams rolling continuously. The standoff may have been one of the most well-recorded spontaneous crowd events in history.

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Fatal Funnel in Bunkerville Standoff?

The prosecution of four defendants in the Bunkerville Retrial continued Thursday.

Eric Parker, Scott Drexler, Steven Stewart and Ricky Lovlein sat in a Las Vegas courtroom and watched the Bureau of Land Management Rangers talk about the Standoff in April 2014.

Ranger Edwin Whitteaker was the ultimate prosecution witness. He was polite and using all the right buzzwords. He talked about the 2nd amendment being everyone’s right and defending the Constitution … until that day in the wash.

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Greg Burleson: Life in Prison for Facebook Posts

By far the longest sentence handed down thus far in any of the “Bundy” cases was given to Arizona militia man Greg Burleson on Wednesday, July 26, 2017. Burleson looked sunken, shaggy and disheveled as he sat in a wheelchair in yellow jail clothes in his Las Vegas, Nevada sentencing hearing. He suffers from seizures and has become blind during the past two years.

Nonetheless, Nevada’s Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro sentenced Burleson (who is 53 but now appears much older) to spend 68 years in federal prison for his relatively minor role in the April 12, 2014 Bunkerville standoff roughly 80 miles north of Las Vegas. Burleson was convicted of assaulting federal officers, threatening federal officers, extortion, using a firearm in crimes of violence, and related offenses. Unlike inmates at some state levels (who can be paroled after a few years), federal inmates must serve at least 85 percent of their time. Burleson was also sentenced to pay $1.5 million in “restitution” (supposedly to compensate the government for costs of impounding 400 of Cliven Bundy’s cattle in 2014.) Navarro ordered Burleson to pay $25 per quarter toward restitution while he is in prison.

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Bundy supporter Burleson sentenced to 68 years in prison

Gregory Burleson, a member of Arizona militia groups who participated in the 2014 armed standoff in Bunkerville, was sentenced Wednesday to more than 68 years in federal prison.

Burleson, 53, was photographed with a long gun during the standoff, moving around the sandy wash where federal agents were headquartered. The Bureau of Land Management was in Bunkerville to carry out a court order to round up rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle from public lands. The operation was unsuccessful after hundreds of protesters, many armed, descended on the small rancher town in southwest Nevada.

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Review of Nevada’s national monuments chills legislator

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is expected in Nevada soon to review two national monuments here, but the Democratic congressman who represents the area said he feels left out of the process.

At a press conference in Las Vegas on Friday, Rep. Ruben Kihuen called it “highly disrespectful” for Zinke not to tell him about his upcoming visit or respond to a letter the congressman sent to Zinke’s office a week ago about the ongoing national monuments review.

President Donald Trump has ordered Zinke to scrutinize 22 monuments created by presidential decree since Jan. 1, 1996, to determine if the designations should be scaled back or eliminated to allow more public use and economic development. Five marine national monuments in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are also under review.

During a June 26 stop in Pahrump, Zinke promised to return to Nevada in July to talk to local stakeholders and tour Gold Butte and Basin and Range national monuments before he decides whether they should be reduced, rescinded or left intact.

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Thomas Mitchell: Bundy case judge trying to prevent jury nullification

The retrial of four defendants in the 2014 Bunkerville standoff at the Bundy ranch got underway this past week in Las Vegas, and this time the prosecution and the judge seem determined to avoid another mistrial due to a hung jury by eviscerating defense arguments.

Federal Judge Gloria Navarro granted a prosecution motion to bar presentation of evidence “supporting jury nullification.”

In April, the first of three scheduled trials for the 17 Bunkerville defendants — charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy, extortion, assault and impeding federal officers — ended in a mistrial. The jury found only two of six people on trial guilty of some charges but deadlocked on the others.

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Lawyers give opening statements in Bunkerville standoff retrial

Prosecutors and defense attorneys gave opening statements Monday in the retrial against four Bunkerville standoff defendants, and presented a new batch of jurors with a question that has hung over the federal courthouse all year.

Was the 2014 armed standoff in Bunkerville the result of a coordinated assault or a mass protest?

The jury heard arguments to support both scenarios when lawyers spoke Monday in front of a packed federal courtroom in which Eric Parker, Steven Stewart, Scott Drexler and Ricky Lovelien are being retried. A mistrial was declared in April after the first jury deadlocked on all counts against those four men.

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Roger Stone Calls Out Donald Trump To Release Bundy Rancher Prisoners

Roger Stone calls out Donald Trump at the STAND Event in Las Vegas, asks him to pardon the Bundy’s, who were incarcerated during the Oregan Standoff. Host Tony Sweet and Captain Ron attended the event hosted by Dean Ryan in Las Vegas. Sign the petition to help convince President Donald to Pardon them at infowars.com

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Opening statements begin Monday in Bunkerville standoff retrial

The first jury for the retrial was nearly all-female, but after extensive arguments between the prosecution and defense last week, U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro restructured the jury to replace three of the women with three men. Minority representation on the jury did not change.

Defense attorneys had rebutted the government’s claims with accusations that prosecutors tried to knock males off the jury. It was not apparent from last week’s arguments what fueled the gender dispute. Both sides had the opportunity to talk to the first jury after the mistrial in April, so it is possible that those conversations revealed patterns among demographic groups.

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Rallies support defendants in Bunkerville standoff case

Hundreds of supporters turned out at a Las Vegas event Saturday night supporting the defendants facing trial in the Bunkerville standoff case.

They gathered at Rainbow Gardens to hear speeches from Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore, members of the Bundy family and even Roger Stone, an on-and-off adviser for President Donald Trump.

A trial in the Bunkerville standoff case opens Monday at the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse, but instead of trying a new set of defendants, prosecutors will begin their second attempt to convict four men accused of conspiring against the government with rancher Cliven Bundy.

The retrial comes after an April mistrial, when jurors deadlocked on 50 of the 60 counts against the first group of defendants in the three-part case. Prosecutors eventually plan to try 17 men on charges stemming from the April 2014 armed standoff between individual rights activists and Bureau of Land Management agents, who came to Bunkerville to seize Bundy’s cattle from public land over unpaid grazing fees.

The overarching theme at Saturday event: The “mainstream media” hasn’t given the Bundy family a voice.

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AG Sessions: ‘I’m not taking sides’ in Bundy case

Meanwhile, Roger Stone — the longtime on-and-off adviser to Trump — is scheduled to speak at a pro-Bundy rally in Las Vegas this weekend to raise money for the rancher’s legal defense fund.

“The Bundy Ranch case hasn’t gotten the proper coverage it deserves and what’s more outrageous is the Govt’s conduct towards 17 men arrested at a Rally in support of the Bundy family,” Stone said in an emailed statement.

The event is scheduled for Saturday evening at the Rainbow Gardens of Las Vegas, is described in a promotional YouTube video as “a benefit for the Patriots who stood up for the natural rights of all Americans currently serving time as political prisoners under the corruption of federal bureaucracies.

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Retrial begins for four Bundy supporters from 2014 armed standoff

ury selection began Monday for a retrial of four men accused of conspiring against the government when they joined an armed protest with Cliven Bundy on his Nevada ranch in 2014.

Eric Parker, Scott Drexler, Steven Stewart and Ricky Lovelien were present during a tense confrontation in Bunkerville between Bureau of Land Management agents who were trying to seize cattle from Bundy.

The case centers around constitutional issues including free speech and land and gun rights. The U.S. attorney’s office for the state of Nevada would not comment on pending litigation.

The retrial follows a mistrial that occurred this past April when jurors couldn’t decide on the first group of defendants in a three-tier case.

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$10,000 Reward Offered For Info In The Bundy Trial Just The Beginning Of Effort To Obtain Justice

$10,000 Reward Offered For Info In The Bundy Trial Just The Beginning Of Effort To Obtain Justice

This plan was conceived in order to see that Justice is afforded to the Bundy family, others who came to the Bundy Ranch in 2014 to support them, and journalist Pete Santilli. Pete and the Bundys have been held without bail in maximum security federal custody since the day the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge came to an end with the violent killing of LaVoy Finicum and the arrest of the members of the Bundy family and their supporters.

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A Federal Court Asks Jurors to Confront Their Hidden Biases

But is a novel video tutorial the best way? The jury is still out.

There’s something of a formula to the first morning of jury duty. It might involve a refresher on differences between civil and criminal cases, a little bit of shuffling between rooms, and a lot of waiting around in a generously named “Jury Lounge.” But in one federal district, the customary civics lessons for jurors have been given a twist to alert them to the hidden biases they might bring into the courtroom.The source is an 11-minute video — believed to be the first of its kind — that since March has been shown to every prospective juror in the two federal courthouses, in Seattle and Tacoma, that serve the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

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