SPECIAL PROCEDURES WOULD BE NECESSARY IN REMOVAL

iber bullet from the agent’s rifle and compare the markings on it to the markings on the object recovered from Bundy.

Prosecutors could get a search warrant to extract the suspected slug, though it would be unnecessary if Bundy agreed to undergo surgery to remove it. Bundy hasn’t agreed so far. He didn’t say how much money he would want for the fragment.

“Either way, I would expect the government to pay for the surgery and to do so carefully in a way that preserves the evidence,” said Christopher T. Robertson, associate dean and health law expert at the University of Arizona’s law school.

“If the U.S. Attorney’s Office or FBI want it that bad,” Scott said, “one or the other agency would likely come up with the funds.”

Bundy, who was crouched down in the back seat as Fincum’s truck veered into the snowbank, said he felt the shot after the truck had stopped and as Finicum was stepping out of the pickup.

Moments later, state troopers fired three shots that struck Finicum, killing him as police said he reached inside his jacket. He was carrying a loaded 9mm pistol in an inner pocket, authorities said. State police also had fired three times at Finicum’s truck as it sped toward the roadblock, investigators said.

Bundy said his right shoulder sometimes still hurt. When treated at Harney District Hospital in Burns, doctors suggested a plastic surgeon at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland could do the removal but Bundy declined.

Astarita’s defense lawyers have asked the court to dismiss the case against the FBI agent, arguing that the charges solely rest on a computerized animation of the suspected shooting that they contend is “junk science” instead of any witnesses, evidence or ballistics. Astarita has pleaded not guilty to three counts of making a false statement and two counts of obstruction of justice. Astarita’s local defense lawyer, David Angeli, declined any comment about the metal fragment in Bundy’s shoulder.

If Bundy consents to have the metal removed, special procedures for the handling of the fragment — from the moment of removal to its packaging and review by a forensic lab — would be required, forensic experts say.

An assistant U.S. attorney and an FBI investigating agent likely would be at the hospital but not allowed in he operating room during the surgery, Scott said. The surgeon would be instructed not to damage the fragment, he said.

“You can’t be grabbing it with pliers or metal forceps,” Scott said. “You want to keep that bullet in as good a condition as possible.”

The doctor would be asked to use plastic- or rubber-tipped forceps. Once removed, an investigator or prosecutor would photograph the evidence before it’s placed into a plastic cup or jar, and the investigating agency would take custody of it, Scott said.

“There’s no question that removal of the bullet is mandatory in order to make an identification,” he said. “If I was working for the FBI, I wouldn’t be sending it in the mail but hand-carrying it on a plane to the FBI lab so it wouldn’t get lost.”

There’s the possibility that the metal fragment or bullet traveled through window glass or the truck’s sheet metal before entering Bundy’s shoulder, which could have altered its characteristics. But a forensic expert still could examine and compare the characteristics from the fragment to a bullet fired by the agent’s rifle, Scott said.

If Bundy wants to use the fragment as evidence to help Finicum’s wife, Jeanette Finicum, in her expected lawsuit against Oregon State Police and the FBI, her lawyer could send a letter to the agency that takes custody of the fragment requesting that the evidence be preserved.

No suit has been filed yet.