Bundy son seeks dismissal of charges in standoff
2014, but prosecutors did not announce charges until February of last year. In the intervening period, federal investigators staged an undercover operation in which they posed as documentary filmmakers to gain access to the people involved.
Bundy asserts that the undercover FBI operation was the “real reason” federal prosecutors did not bring charges until two years after the standoff occurred. He accuses undercover FBI agents of using “at- tractive women” and “alcohol” to trick his supporters into giving incriminating statements.
Defense attorneys previously argued that evidence gathered during the undercover operation should not be admitted at trial, but a judge sided with the government and ruled the statements were admissible.
Bundy further argues that several key defense witnesses have died in the three years that have passed since the standoff.
“Evidence and witnesses have gone missing and evaporated,” he wrote in his filing.
Among the witnesses who died was LaVoy Finnicum, who participated in the Bunkerville standoff and later was shot by law enforcement during protesters’ occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge in early 2016.
“Finnicum was also the most important first-hand witness to the distressed and deteriorated condition of the cattle while in BLM custody,” Bundy wrote.
The people charged in the case accuse federal authorities of mistreating the cattle during the impoundment operation, but the judge has limited defense attorneys in what evidence they can introduce at trial related to cattle mistreatment.
Bundy and his brother, Ammon, who likewise is being held without bail pending trial, recently were acquitted on charges related to the 41day standoff in Oregon.
In Wednesday’s filing, Ryan Bundy wrote that he has been held “in solitary confinement or in distant holding cells without legal materials or focused on other false federal charges in the U.S. District of Oregon.”
He is being held at Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump.
The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on Bundy’s filing. Contact Jenny Wilson at jenwilson@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Follow @jennydwilson on Twitter