Posts
Jurors on Monday watched a video of seven or eight men rapidly firing assault rifles from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge's boat launch.
FBI agents then held up several plastic evidence bags containing the 1,627 spent shell casings recovered near the launch on the northeast side of the property. Of them, 1,050 were .223-caliber casings, testimony showed.
Assistant U.S Attorney Ethan Knight argued that the video, posted on co-defendant Jason Blomgren's Facebook account, directly contradicts the argument by defense lawyers and defendants that the armed takeover of the refuge was a peaceful political protest.
"It's direct evidence of force,'' Knight told the judge before she ruled that the video could be shown to jurors.
Attorney Marcus Mumford, representing takeover leader Ammon Bundy, had argued that firing the guns wasn't an act of force in and of itself and that the video wasn't publicly posted on Blomgren's account but sent in a message to Blomgren's father.
U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown said a rational juror could conclude the video provides evidence of the defendants' intent in the alleged conspiracy.
FBI agents, photographers and forensic accountants who were part of the agency's Evidence Response Team spent the day testifying about what they recovered from the bird sanctuary in late February after the 41-day occupation. Bundy and six co-defendants are on trial, charged with conspiring to impede federal employees from the refuge through force, intimidation or threats.
The agents described dozens of boxes of ammunition found in multiple sites, rifle cases left in the refuge archaeologist's office, a trench filled with trash bags near the RV park on the eastern edge of refuge headquarters, three cut padlocks located in a dumpster outside the bunkhouse, a "Tyranny" sign propped up at the refuge's front gate and an improvised bunker dug out by the back gate of the refuge.
They also revealed handwritten notes they seized from the bunkhouse and elsewhere that described tactical training, formations and drills, guard duty schedules and individual assignments such as "rifleman'' or "medic.''
FBI Special Agent Christopher Chew said he was the senior team leader, managing the search and seizure of evidence from Feb. 12 through Feb. 23. He said there were FBI evidence teams that helped Portland agents from Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver and San Antonio.
Sixty-three people searched 23 buildings, nine outdoor areas and 14 privately owned vehicles on the federal property.
When Chew testified about the spent shell casings at the boat lunch, Mumford asked if investigators found any targets.
Chew said he didn't. "Just birds and wildlife,'' he said. Agents didn't cross a lake to access the wetlands that the men were firing toward, he explained.
Mumford asked if anyone got shot at the refuge. "I"m not aware of anyone getting shot at the refuge,'' Chew responded.
There were some explosive materials, such as Tannerite, found at the refuge, but no bombs, Chew said.
Prosecutors have said authorities discovered more than 20,000 unfired ammunition in boxes, bags, trucks and bunks at the refuge. Agents presented evidence bag after evidence bag with large numbers of rounds, including more than 300 bullets that were inside a metal tin found in the improvised bunker -- a dug-out area on an elevated point between rocks, north of Narrows Princeton Road near the refuge back gate, FBI agent Sarah Bibbs said.
"Someone could lay and have a tactical advantage,'' Bibbs said.
FBI agent Ryan Phillips identified 420 rounds of federal ammunition 5.56 x 45 mm seized from boxes found on the front driver's seat of Ammon Bundy's Chevy Silverado. The truck was located between the offices of refuge fish biologist Linda Beck and refuge archeologist Carla Burnside, the agent said.
Inside co-defendant Duane Ehmer's red Suburban, FBI agents found a maroon pouch containing several government gas cards, four U.S. Department of Interior MasterCards, refuge employee Faye Healy's government identification card as well as cash and checks. The pouch had been locked in a file cabinet in the main building of the refuge headquarters.
Inside the horse trailer attached to Ehmer's truck, agents discovered the butt of a rifle sticking out of a pile of hay. The rifle wasn't loaded.
Inside refuge employee Burnside's office, agents found five rifle cases or rifle bags on the second floor. One of them was a black bag that read "AMMON'' on one of the canvas handles, an agent said.
During cross-examination, Mumford established that investigators didn't find rifles in the bags or cases presented in court.
A handwritten note recovered from the bunkhouse titled "Principles of Patrolling'' listed the elements as "planning, recon, security, control and common sense.''
On a yellow legal pad found on a desk in the RV park day room, there was a sheet of paper titled "Infrantrysquad,'' with references to CDF for Constitution Defense Forces and names of people who were part of four squads of Rapid Response Teams.
In the bunkhouse, there were training notes under the title "OCOKA,'' standing for Observation, Cover and Conceal, Obstacles, Key Terrain and Avenues of Approach. Another sheet referred to Trooper Leading Procedures, or TLPs, and included references to "Receive Mission'' and "Complete the Plan'' to "Issue Op Order'' and "Supervise.''
There were operation orders for "Situation - Friendly'' and "Situation- Enemy.'' A green spiral notebook with the title "CHARLIE TEAM TRAINING BOOK'' contained sketched diagrams of formations, which were dubbed "Wedge,'' "Column,'' "File,'' "Diamond, "Rolling T'' and "V.''
Training Day 2 for Charlie Team included a list of drills, with such names as "crazy corners,'' "fatal funnels,'' "highman lowman'' and "pie corners.'' One sheet in the book also listed the riflemen, including Joker J, the nickname for co-defendant and cooperating government witness Jason Blomgren.
Found taped to the back door of a room in the bunkhouse was a schedule for squad Bravo, with this handwritten on top: "We didn't get dressed up for Nothin'.''
In one bunkroom, defendant Neil Wampler's belongings were removed from a suitcase, including his membership card for the National Rifle Association.
"Is being a member of the NRA evidence of a crime?'' Mumford asked an agent. The judge asked jurors to disregard the question.
Defense lawyers repeatedly questioned the FBI agents or photographers whether they could identify who owned the ammunition or other evidence presented or if they conducted any further fingerprint or DNA tests to determine who had brought the evidence to the refuge. Mumford asked why cigarette butts were retrieved from the boat launch but not tested for DNA.
The FBI agents who testified said their sole responsibility was to collect the evidence.
During a cross-examination of an FBI agent, defendant Ryan Bundy asked if the pocket Constitutions depicted in a photo of one of the rooms in the refuge bunkhouse were seized as evidence.
The agent said he didn't take them. "So you did not find anything of value in there?'' Bundy continued. The judge sustained an objection to the question from prosecutors.
Defense lawyer Matthew Schindler, who is assisting defendant Kenneth Medenbach, established that there were other items seized that the government didn't present to jurors Monday, including a Bible belonging to someone who isn't a defendant in the case, a couple of toothbrushes and a razor for potential DNA evidence. He also pointed out that some of the identified "riflemen'' listed on the documents seized aren't among the defendants indicted in the case.
Medenbach has been excused from court this week due to medical issues. Judge Brown informed the jury of his permitted absence.
Also Monday, defendant Shawna Cox told the judge of a civil suit she filed Monday in Harney County. The judge said it appeared to be a lawsuit against the United States, but she couldn't tell.
"First of all, it has no bearing on this case,'' Brown said.
The judge didn't allow prosecutors to introduce a badge found beside Shawna Cox's driver's license. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel argued that the badge suggests she considers herself part of a "constitutional posse,'' which he said historically means an armed group of people who enforce the law themselves.
Prosecutors plan to call two more witnesses Tuesday morning and present 22 long guns and 12 handguns recovered from the refuge to jurors before resting their case.
The defense is scheduled to begin presenting its evidence and witnesses Wednesday. The Rev. Franklin Graham is set to testify in court Thursday for the defense.
No comments:
Post a Comment