Eight of 26 co-defendants indicted on a federal conspiracy charge stemming from the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have been granted a delay in trial, and their trial date has now been set for Feb. 14.
U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown set the date in an order issued Tuesday.
"The Court considers this a firm trial date and will not grant any continuances absent an extraordinary showing of good cause,'' Brown wrote.
The date is significant not only because it's Valentine's Day, but it's Oregon's birthday because on Feb. 14, 1859, President James Buchanan signed a bill that officially admitted Oregon into the United States of America.
The eight defendants who will go to trial starting in mid-February are Jon Ritzheimer, Jason Patrick, Duane Ehmer, Dylan Anderson, Sean Anderson, Sandra Anderson, Darryl Thorn and Jake Ryan. They had previously requested the delay in trial.
Nine defendants have entered guilty pleas to the conspiracy charge, and nine others are set to go to trial on Sept. 7. Those headed to trial in September are Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Joseph O'Shaugnessy, Peter Santilli, Kenneth Medenbach, Shawna Cox, David Fry, Jeff Banta and Neil Wampler.
The judge said the February date for the second trial will provide defendants enough time for pretrial motions to be heard after the first trial is completed.
The indictments stem from the 41-day occupation of the federal wildlife refuge outside of Burns in Harney County. Ammon Bundy, the leader, has said the occupation was held to protest federal control of public land, and marked an attempt to stake claim to the land. Prosecutors will set to prove that those at the refuge impeded federal officers from doing their jobs at the refuge through intimidation, threats or force.
In other action Tuesday, the judge warned defendant Kenneth Medenbach not to challenge her oath of office again, or he'd lose his right to represent himself.
Medenbach recently asked the judge in a new motion to dismiss the indictments, arguing that Brown's oath of office was invalid. The judge has dismissed Medenbach's request on three separate occasions.
"The Court advises Medenbach that the Court will not entertain any further Motions based on his contention that the Judicial Officer's Oath of Office was invalid. If Medenbach again makes any such argument in any form, he will forfeit the right of self-representation because of his failure to adhere to the Court's Orders,'' Brown wrote.
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian