Refuge Occupation Complications Abound

by Conrad Wilson OPB | April 4, 2016 5:30 a.m. | Updated: April 4, 2016 8:55 a.m.

... “The legal challenges aren’t very great in this case because I think it is very clear that the defendants broke the law,” said Jenny Durkan, who served as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington from 2009 until 2014.

“The greater challenge is to avoid this becoming a circus atmosphere and yet another soapbox for the defendants to espouse their political beliefs,” she said ...

“The prosecutors are going to want to keep this as focused as possible on the legal proof,” Durkan said. “And the defendants are going to want to keep it as focused as possible on their political values” ...

“If I’m a defense attorney, I’m going to be trying to figure out how to say as much of that or all of that as possible is protected by the First Amendment,” said Steve Wax, who served as Oregon’s federal public defender for 30 years and now is the legal director at the Oregon Innocence Project ...

http://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/trial-malheur-refuge-occupiers-political-speech-legal-challenges/