Jury Convicts Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Occupiers in Second Trial

Jury Convicts Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Occupiers in Second Trial
Four defendants were convicted following a jury consultant hired for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge case
Steve Russell • March 14, 2017


The second round of jury verdicts in the armed takeover of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has come in and created a stark contrast with the first round, in which seven defendants were acquitted of conspiracy and weapons charges. The first seven tried included ringleaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy, sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who famously mustered armed men from the so-called militia movement to back up his efforts to deadbeat the government out of 20 years of grazing fees.

After most commentators called the first Malheur trials a case of jury nullification, the prosecutors hired a jury consultant for the second trial, which has resulted in all four defendants being convicted. Darryl Thorne and Jason Patrick were convicted of conspiracy and may get up to six years in prison. Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan were convicted of the lessor charge of deprivation of government property. Sentencing for all four will be set later so that presentencing reports can be prepared. They are free on bail pending sentencing.

Like the first seven defendants, the ones just convicted were charged with conspiring to impede the employees of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge from doing their jobs. In the first trial, the defendants successfully claimed that if the employees had ignored the brandished firearms and demanded to come to work, they would have been allowed to work.

In the latest trial, the prosecutors argued that any rational person would be impeded from work by someone with a gun sitting at their desk. None of the four defendants in the latest trial testified but the facts that they occupied the facility and they were armed were uncontested.

Ammon Bundy did testify about the reasons for the takeover as a protest against federal control of western lands. The armed occupiers claimed at the time of the takeover that the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was rightfully state land rather than federal land, apparently unaware that if the federal officials withdrew, the law appeared to require that the land revert to the Northern Paiutes.

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