#theOregon -> State police officer who fatally shot LaVoy Finicum outed by slip-up in court
For 2 1/2 years, Oregon State Police successfully concealed the names of the two SWAT officers who fatally shot Robert “LaVoy” Finicum as authorities arrested leaders of the armed takeover of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
But that ended this week when one of the names slipped out in court….
collection of updates about today’s happening in the Portland Federal Courthouse.
Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little told a congressional committee Thursday that livestock grazing on Western public lands provides a host of benefits to American taxpayers.
Chief among those, he said, is the rapid initial attack ranchers make on burgeoning wildfires, which helps keep them to a manageable size.
“That saves you (the federal government) an enormous amount of money,” Little told the House Natural Resource Committee’s federal lands subcommittee, which held a 90-minute hearing on “the essential role of livestock grazing on federal lands and its importance to rural America.”
According to court testimony, among other perverted sexual behavior, Dees attempted to molest his 18-year-old step-daughter with a sex toy. Holly Buck was Maureene Dees’ daughter from a previous marriage.
“Holly testified that, in the summer of 1977, Morris attempted to molest her in the following incident: One night Maureene and Morris were sitting drinking wine and discussing a case Morris was trying,” the brief says. “[Holly] was with them. Around eleven or twelve o’clock, Maureene went to bed and Holly stayed up with Morris discussing the case. Morris kept offering Holly wine, some of which she accepted.”
Holly testified that she declined, choosing to go to bed instead.
“She went to her room and then went into the bathroom,” the document says. “Looking out the window, she saw Morris in the bushes beside the bathroom window looking in. She said ‘Morris, is that you’, but he said nothing and ran away.”
It would appear that each and every time the Doctrine has been revisited in Congress and/or the FCC, it was because there was significant outrage over biased commentary presented and/or perceived as NEWS.
Although the Cambridge definition of News has nothing in it about fair and balanced or unbiased presentation of the Facts, the Cambridge definition of Commentary clearly includes things like opinion, or biased being involved in the presentation.
Anyone that has studied Journalism in any degree has been exposed to the standards and ethics of the trade. These standards were created and adopted by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Lawyers for the family of Malheur National Wildlife occupation spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum have 15 days to confirm they served dozens of defendants in his wrongful death lawsuit.
Magistrate Judge Patricia Sullivan handed down the directive Wednesday in federal court in Pendleton during a conference with the lawyers representing the Finicum family and a host of defendants. Sullivan said she wanted to meet the lawyers “because I think we may be spending some time together.”
The lawsuit names the United States as a defendant, along with the FBI, federal agents, the state of Oregon, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Oregon State Police, Harney County, and more — including 100 law enforcement “John Does.” The suit seeks more than $5 million in damages for Finicum’s estate, his wife Jeanette Finicum and each of their 12 children.
Attorney Morgan Philpot of Utah represents the Finicums and told the court all of the defendants have been served.
A federal judge Monday threw out two of the five charges against an FBI agent accused of covering up that he fired two rifle shots at the truck of Oregon refuge occupation spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum at a roadblock in January 2016.
U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones struck one count of making a false statement and one count of obstruction of justice against W. Joseph Astarita.
The agent still faces three charges a week before his trial is scheduled to start: two other counts of making a false statement and one other count of obstruction of justice.
The disputed gunshots came as Finicum emerged from his pickup as police moved in to arrest the leaders of the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon.
The usual suspects are at it again, filing a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia demanding the court halt a plan by the Bureau of Land Management to remove all the feral horses in a 40-mile radius around Caliente.
The American Wild Horse Campaign, Western Watershed Project, The Cloud Foundation and a Beatty outdoor enthusiast are suing the BLM, saying it failed to adequately document and support its roundup decision, though what would ever be adequate for them is difficult to say.
Some of the same plaintiffs brought a similar lawsuit in 2011 over a planned removal of wild horses from Jakes Wash west of Ely, but the suit was mooted when the BLM backed down rather fight the matter.
In 2009 there were only 270 wild horses in the 900,000-acre Caliente area, but a year ago there were more than 1,700, a number the BLM deems unsustainable.
BURNS — Three-and-a-half hours after pardoned Oregon rancher Dwight Hammond Jr. arrived home, he gathered with his wife and sons around his dining room’s large circular table and got back to business.
They hooked him into a live feed of an auction in Nevada where Hammond Ranch Inc.’s 155 calves were on the block.
Hammond could have called in to participate in the annual sale but he held back, not wanting to jerk the reins from his daughter-in-law and others who have run the family’s cattle ranch while he and his son Steven served arson sentences in federal prison.
“We’ve had to trust them. No use to question their judgment now,” the 76-year-old said later, sitting in his living room, back in his trademark Wrangler jeans, brown cowboy boots and a blue button-down shirt that matched his eyes.
As the New York Light Foot Militia State Commander, I am speaking officially on behalf of myself, George Curbelo – State Commander of the New York Light Foot Militia, Christian Yingling – State Commander of the Pennsylvania Light Foot Militia, Gary Sigler – State Commander of the Maryland III% People’s Militia, and the 29 other members of the 32, under the Command of the Christian Yingling and myself on August 12th 2017, who were at the unite the right rally in Charlottesville Virginia. On May 16th of 2018 we entered into a Consent Decree with the City of Charlottesville, settling the lawsuit against the above mentioned defendants. We have kept the 29 unnamed members of the 32 anonymous despite requests from the plaintiffs, the public and they will remain nameless. The 32 that stood on Market street, now known as the Charlottesville32 (C32), remain blameless. The C32 maintained a measurable amount of peace on the 12th, were well-disciplined in a very hostile environment until they were overwhelmed, assaulted, and could only administer medical assistance to the wounded among the general public and themselves. This settlement conclusively resolves, and is final with respects to, all claims arising out of the event on August 12th 2017 between the parties. Yingling, Sigler, and myself, all felt that this settlement answered our need to protect the Charlottesville32 from any further action.
An Oregon state police trooper at the scene of the Jan. 26, 2016 shooting of refuge occupation spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum told investigators that he believed another state police officer fired the shot that struck the roof of Finicum’ struck, and not an FBI agent, according to court records filed Thursday.
Yet prosecutors are asking a judge to prevent the trooper from sharing his opinion at the trial of indicted FBI Agent W. Joseph Astarita, arguing that it’s not supported by facts and based largely on speculation.
Astarita is accused of denying that he fired two shots as Finicum emerged from his pickup truck at the police roadblock on the day the FBI and state police moved in to arrest leaders of the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. One shot hit the roof of Finicum’s truck and a second missed entirely, investigators said.
Ammon Bundy has called to the jurors of the Bunkerville Trial to view the hidden evidence in the case.
It has been well documented that the prosecution team, led by Steven Myhre, kept vital information from the jurors, as well as Judge Navarro.
Navarro, in December 2017, declared a mistrial in the case against Cliven Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Ammon Bundy and Ryan Payne. She specifically cited several instances of “Brady violations” from the prosecution, evidence that was not turned over to the defense which could have benefited their case.
An example of the hidden information is the knowledge of government snipers overlooking the Bundy house during the days and weeks leading up to the Bunkerville standoff in 2014.
Prosecutors don’t have to share investigative records on three earlier shootings by a veteran Oregon State Police officer in the case of an indicted FBI agent, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones made that ruling Monday afternoon after a meeting in his chambers with prosecutors and defense lawyers who are preparing for FBI Agent W. Joseph Astarita’s July 24 trial.
Astarita is accused of denying that he fired two shots as Oregon occupation spokesman Robert “Lavoy” Finicum emerged from his pickup truck at a police roadblock on Jan. 26, 2016, in Harney County. That was the day the FBI and state police arrested leaders of the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
One shot hit the roof of Finicum’s truck and a second missed entirely, investigators said.
Astarita, a member of the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of making a false statement and two counts of obstruction of justice.
The right to free speech includes the right to not be compelled to speak.
That includes not being required to pay dues to a union whose political view might be different from yours, not being required to advertise abortion availability at your faith-based pregnancy counseling service, not being required to use your cake baking talent to create a special cake or your flowing arranging expertise for a gay wedding.
All of these have come down from a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court in a matter of days.
Today the court ruled that public employees could not to be forced to pay dues to unions with which they might not agree. Justice Samuel Alito writes in the 5-4 opinion:
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement Wednesday, giving President Donald Trump a golden chance to cement conservative control of the high court.
The 81-year-old Kennedy said in a statement he is stepping down after more than 30 years on the court. A Republican appointee, he has held the key vote on such high-profile issues as abortion, affirmative action, gay rights, guns, campaign finance and voting rights.
Kennedy said he had informed his colleagues and Trump of his plans and that his retirement will take effect at the end of July.
Trump praised Kennedy as a man of “tremendous vision” and said his search for a new justice would begin “immediately.”
Senator Lee is spearheading efforts in Congress to abolish increasingly militaristic and trigger-happy federal law enforcement offices. The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Office of Law Enforcement Services (OLES) is particularly odious, and many believe, has blood on its hands. From the tragic and absurd waste of life and resources Operation Cerberus Action in Utah to the Bundy Ranch raid, to shooting last week of an unarmed couple off-roading in California, BLM law enforcement is beginning to look like a frightening combination of Stasi and the Keystone Kops. That’s not mere hyperbole. Because federal OLES agents enjoy the protections of civil service status, not to mention large, insular bureaucracies to shield them from accountability, there is a seething culture within these organizations of corruption and lawlessness.
Bias, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
Earlier this year a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a decision by Reno federal Judge Robert Clive Jones involving water rights in the Walker River Basin and ordered him removed from the case, saying he was biased against the federal government’s attorneys.
“We reluctantly conclude that reassignment is appropriate here because we believe (1) that Judge Jones would have substantial difficulty putting out of his mind previously expressed views about the federal government and its attorneys, and (2) that reassignment will preserve the appearance of justice,” wrote Judge A. Wallace Tashima, noting that in two previous cases the 9th Circuit had said Jones “harbored animus toward the federal agencies” and that “the judge’s bias and prejudgment are a matter of public record …”