Mistrial Declared in Arizona Rancher’s Murder Trial

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 18:42:45 GMT

An Arizona judge declared a mistrial in the murder case of rancher George Alan Kelly, 75, who was accused of fatally shooting a migrant on his property near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink said the decision was made after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision after two full days of deliberation.

Following the declaration, Kelly’s defense attorney Kathy Lowthorp revealed outside the courthouse to the media that there had only been one guilty juror in the group, which was why the defense team pushed for deliberations to continue.

“There was one hold out for guilty, the rest were not guilty. So seven not guilty, one guilty,” Lowthorp stated. “We believe in our gut that there was no way the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Kelly had faced second-degree murder in the Jan. 30, 2023, shooting of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico. Kelly had earlier rejected an agreement with prosecutors that would have reduced the charge to one count of negligent homicide if he pleaded guilty.

“It is what it is, and it will be what it will be. Let me go home, okay? That alright with y’all?” Kelly told reporters outside the courthouse following the mistrial. “I will keep fighting forever. I won’t stop.”

Judge Fink had told jurors that if they could not reach a verdict on the second-degree murder charge, they could try for a unanimous decision on a lesser charge of reckless manslaughter or negligent homicide.

The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office can still decide whether to retry Kelly for any charge or drop the case all together.

A status hearing was scheduled for next Monday afternoon, when prosecutors could inform the judge if they plan to refile the case.

Related:

Arizona Rancher Rejects Plea Deal in Death of Migrant

Arizona Border Rancher Accused of Killing Migrant, Now Held With $1 Million Bond

Biden Designates New National Monument in Arizona

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 13:38:33 GMT

President Joe Biden traveled to Red Butte near the Grand Canyon on Tuesday to designate nearly one million acres as a new national monument. The designation, the fifth of his presidency using his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906, will conserve and protect ancestral places significant to Indigenous people of the region, the White House said in a fact sheet supplied to reporters.

Tribes in Arizona have been pushing for Biden to make the designation of the monument to be called

Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. “Baaj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam,” for the Havasupai people, while “I’tah Kukveni” translates to “our footprints,” for the Hopi tribe.

The White House said the designation protects the area from potential uranium mining and would also protect existing grazing permits and leases, existing mining claims and will support area hunting and fishing.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association called Biden’s actions “yet another presidential land grab” in a release sent to media on Tuesday.

“This kind of use of the Antiquities Act is one of the most appallingly political moves to lock up millions of acres of land across the country. Today’s latest designation follows a concerning trend of Washington politicians trampling local communities, land managers, farmers, and ranchers with the stroke of a pen,” said NCBA President Todd Wilkinson, a South Dakota cattle producer. “NCBA is strongly opposed to the continued abuse of the Antiquities Act, and we urge President Biden to listen to the local communities that will be hurt by this designation.”

Representatives of various northern Arizona tribes have long campaigned to prevent uranium mining in the area. Among those opposed to the new mines are Navajo President Buu Nygren and Havasupai Tribal Councilwoman Dianna Sue White Dove Uqualla.

“It’s really the uranium we don’t want coming out of the ground because it’s going to affect everything around us — the trees, the land, the animals, the people,” Uqualla told NBC News. “It’s not going to stop.”

But mining companies and the areas that would benefit from their business are vehemently opposed to the designation of the new national monument. Buster Johnson, a Mohave County supervisor, said the monument proposal feels solely politically driven and he doesn’t see the point of not tapping into uranium and making the country less dependent on Russia.

“We need uranium for the security of our country,” Johnson said. “We’re out of the game.”

No uranium mines are operating in Arizona, although the Pinyon Plain Mine just south of Grand Canyon National Park has been under development for years. Other claims are grandfathered in. The federal government has said nearly a dozen mines within the area that has been withdrawn from new mining claims could still potentially open, even with the monument designation, because their claims were established before 2012.