Posted on 03/25/2004 5:31:07 AM PST by JesseHousman
LAS CRUCES— Rancher Kit Laney remained behind bars Wednesday after a federal judge refused a second request to release him pending a trial on charges that he assaulted Forest Service officers.
Federal Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen said she remained concerned that Laney would return to his Diamond Bar grazing allotment in the Gila National Forest and try to disrupt a court-ordered roundup of his cattle.
The original two charges against the southwestern New Mexico cattleman multiplied when a grand jury on Tuesday handed down an eight-count indictment, including two counts of obstruction of justice, five counts of assaulting and interfering with federal officers and employees and one count of interfering with a court order.
The charges stem largely from a March 14 incident in the Gila, when Laney is suspected of charging his horse at Forest Service law enforcement officers and pushing several as he tried to tear down a corral holding his impounded cattle.
A U.S. District Court judge last year ordered the cattle rounded up from the Diamond Bar allotment where Laney grazed them without a permit and later found him in contempt of court.
Molzen refused at Laney's initial March 16 detention hearing to release him on bond. Molzen said she considered him a potential danger to Forest Service officers during the controversial cattle roundup, expected to last several more weeks.
On Wednesday, assistant federal public defender Jane Greek asked Molzen to consider releasing Laney to a third-party. She recommended Otero County rancher Bob Jones, a former president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association and a former member of the state Game Commission.
Jones said his remote ranch on Otero Mesa in southeastern New Mexico is more than a six-hour drive east of the Diamond Bar.
Molzen, citing Laney's earlier statements that he would not interfere with the roundup, said she was not confident that the rancher would stay away from the Diamond Bar allotment and the roundup.
"I may be mistaken. Nobody said judges are perfect," Molzen said to the rancher, his ankles shackled and his wrists handcuffed to a chain around his waist. "But I'm doing this to protect the community and to protect you."
Greek, who said the charges against Laney did not constitute "the allegation of the century," said she would appeal Molzen's decision. The magistrate said she would try to schedule another hearing before a federal judge as early as next week.
Sherry Farr, Laney's ranching partner and ex-wife, said she suspected that the judge's tough stance was based on the fact that Laney was found in contempt of an earlier federal court order not to graze cattle on the Diamond Bar allotment.
Still, Farr said she was "shocked"' by the judge's ruling.
"Is this America where you are innocent until proven guilty? It sure doesn't seem like it," Farr said. Referring to the March 14 altercation, Farr said: "One unarmed man against four law enforcement officers armed to the teeth and he's a danger to them?"
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Wormuth argued strenuously against Laney's release, saying that Jones, who is also president of a private property rights group called the Paragon Foundation, was not "impartial enough" to be a custodian of the rancher.
Wormuth also said Laney did not appear to respect the court's authority to remove cattle from the Diamond Bar because Laney continues to talk about fighting the case.
One of the new obstruction charges against the rancher stems from his March 12 filing of a criminal complaint in Magistrate Court against the Forest Service contractor rounding up Laney's cattle.
"They are still fighting this case, which is over by all legal means," Wormuth said, "and I don't think they've come to grips with that."
The Forest Service on Tuesday publicly advertised its intent to sell 251 of Laney's cattle.
Cattle rustling by the federal government!
It's the latest trend in revenue enhancement in government of all levels.
One of the new obstruction charges against the rancher stems from his March 12 filing of a criminal complaint in Magistrate Court against the Forest Service contractor rounding up Laney's cattle
Please note that it is now illegal to use for your rights of due process -
Been watching this for a while - this is really sick and more proof that the Federal Government has become the monster that our founder's had hoped to prevent when they wrote our Constitution.
What's going on here? The article seems to indicate he was grazing illegally and the government got a court order to remove the cattle. What is the basis for both the governments claim against his grazing and his (apparent) claim to have the right to graze there? Is he doing this on land he owns or leases (or formerly leased) federal land?
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