Jury selection starts for indicted FBI agent in LaVoy Finicum case

[phill4paul]

Only cop suckers need apply.

Jury selection starts for indicted FBI agent in LaVoy Finicum case

Prospective jurors summoned to federal court Tuesday for the trial of indicted FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita are expected to face vigorous questioning from his lawyers to expose possible bias in the wake of frequent "public attacks against the FBI - some made by the president of the United States himself."

Defense lawyers have pushed for a written questionnaire for jurors with attorneys asking follow-up questions in court considering the high-profile nature of the case, the high-level criticism of the FBI and what they believe is misinformation about the agent's role in arresting the men who led the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Astarita, a member of the FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team, is charged with lying to conceal that he allegedly fired two shots at the truck of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, the occupation spokesman, on Jan. 26, 2016. One hit the roof of the truck and the other went astray, Oregon investigators said.

"This trial will largely pit the credibility of local law enforcement against the credibility of FBI agents, which makes for a uniquely challenging jury selection process," Astarita's lawyers wrote to the court this month. "A jury questionnaire that permits potential jurors to privately express themselves on these hot-button political issues is essential in this extraordinary case.''

U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones last week threw out two of the five charges against Astarita.

At trial, he'll face two counts of making a false statement, alleging he lied to his immediate FBI supervisor at the scene and another FBI supervisor days later. They asked him separately if he had shot at Finicum's truck.

He also faces one count of obstruction of justice stemming from his initial interview with two Oregon State Police detectives the night of the shooting. Astarita, 41, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

More: https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2018/07/jury_selection_starts_in_trial.html

 

[dannno]

Making false statements? Obstruction of justice??

That's it???

 

[phill4paul]

Jury seated for trial of indicted FBI agent in LaVoy Finicum case

en men and four women jurors will hear opening statements Wednesday in the trial of indicted FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita.

The 14 include two alternate jurors, all selected Tuesday among an 85-person pool after about two hours of questioning.

Astarita, 41, a member of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, is accused of falsely denying he fired two shots at refuge occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum's truck on Jan. 26, 2016. One bullet went through the truck's roof and another went astray, investigators said. Moments later, two state police officers shot and killed Finicum.

Lawyers from both sides of the case examined written questionnaires completed by the prospective jurors and then asked follow-up questions in court, trying to gauge any sympathies for law enforcement, local police versus federal agents, familiarity with forensics or ballistics analysis or feelings about the refuge takeover.

Astarita, dressed in a gray suit, white shirt and dark tie, sat among his five defense lawyers.

5 defense lawyers? The FBI must pay pretty good. p4p

https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2018/07/jury_seated_for_trial_of_indic.html

 

[phill4paul]

Prosecutor says case against indicted FBI agent is all about 'integrity'

The case against indicted FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita rests on officer accountability, a federal prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

"This case is about integrity, without which a law enforcement officer is nothing,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Sussman said from a lectern in front of the jury box. He quoted the FBI's motto of "Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity."

"If integrity means anything, it means 'if you shoot, you own your shots,''' Sussman said.

Astarita had joined the FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team eight months before the disputed gunshots on Jan. 26, 2016. He was a "relatively inexperienced'' and "largely untested'' agent who wouldn't acknowledge what he'd done that day, Sussman said.

The agent's repeated denials and the alleged attempts by Astarita and other agents to remove shell casings from the scene altered the course of the investigation, the prosecutor said.

The confrontation came as the FBI and state police arrested leaders of the occupation. One of the disputed shots went through the roof of Finicum's truck and shattered the rear passenger window and the other bullet went astray as Finicum left the pickup. Moments later, state troopers fatally shot Finicum as he reached into his jacket where investigators said he had a loaded handgun.

Astarita's face was contorted afterward and he was "so loud and so amped up'' that a superior had to calm him down, the prosecutor said.

"Only one guy stood in just the right spot. Only one guy stood with his rifle shouldered, aimed right at Robert "LaVoy" Finicum's pickup. Only one guy fired two shots in rapid succession,'' Sussman said.

Astarita's lawyer Robert Cary countered the government's presentation, telling jurors that the agent is one of the FBI's "best shooters'' who got on the super-selective Hostage Rescue Team in 2015, his second attempt.

Astarita has never fired his weapon in his 17 years with the bureau and knows when to shoot and when not to, Cary said.

"If he had shot," Cary said, "he would not have missed.''

https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2018/07/prosecutor_says_case_against_i.html

 

[phill4paul]

New details of Finicum shooting aftermath revealed at FBI agent trial

Two Oregon State Police troopers who fired the fatal shots at refuge occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum in 2016 weren't interviewed by investigators until five days later.

Travis Hampton, then a state police major in charge of agency operations, exchanged multiple text messages with one of the two troopers before his interview, including one as Hampton met with investigators. The same trooper also left his rifle in a truck overnight at the scene.


FBI agents at the shooting site didn't write any reports about their roles at the roadblock that day.

Details of a chaotic confrontation and its aftermath came out in the first day of testimony in the trial of indicted FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita, accused of lying when he denied he fired two shots at Finicum's truck. One shot hit the roof of the truck and the other missed. Moments later, the troopers shot and killed Finicum.

Prosecutors called Greg Bretzing, the FBI special agent in charge at the time and since retired; Hampton, who is now state police superintendent; and Scott Ward, a supervisory FBI special agent who was the highest-ranking FBI agent on U.S. 395 when the shooting occurred Jan. 26, 2016.

Bretzing said he approved the "Malheur Wildlife Refuge Militia Operation Vehicle Interdiction Plan,'' to intercept the occupation leaders as they drove off the refuge that day. They were part of an armed group who took over the refuge headquarters three weeks earlier.

He watched the arrests unfold on a live feed from the FBI's aerial video in the command post on the second floor of the middle school in downtown Burns. Bretzing wanted the feed recorded and replied "absolutely," he said, when someone asked: "Are you sure you want to do that?"

The group from the refuge was divided into two carloads - some in Finicum's white pickup and the others in a copper-colored Jeep. Bretzing watched Finicum pull away from the police stop on the highway, speed off toward a roadblock further north and then swerve into a snowbank.

He and Hampton each testified that they thought Finicum's truck had struck an FBI agent.

"I thought we had an officer killed,'' Hampton said.

The first information Bretzing got from the scene was that both state police and the FBI had fired shots. Within five minutes or so, he said, that was corrected. "Strike that, OSP shooters only,'' he said he learned.

Bretzing said Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson, in the days after Finicum's shooting death, asked him to make sure everybody reported their shots. Nelson led a team of Oregon investigators who investigated the fatal shooting of Finicum.

The next month, Bretzing said he got a call from Oregon's U.S. attorney, saying the Deschutes County sheriff's investigators wanted to show him something that concerned them.

Within a day, Bretzing went to the Sheriff's Office in Bend and watched the FBI's infrared aerial video show FBI Hostage Rescue Team agents walking around the scene.

https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2018/07/five_days_passed_before_office.html

 

[phill4paul]

Astarita Trial – BOMBSHELL Opening Statements

by Shari Dovale

W. Joseph Astarita, a member of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), is on trial in Portland charged with lying and obstruction of justice in connection to the events culminating in the shooting of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum on January 26, 2016.

The jury of 9 men and 3 women were seated on Tuesday with opening statements this morning, Wednesday, July 25th.

The prosecution put forth strong arguments against Astarita, with the defense following up by grasping at straws in their strategy to show some reasonable doubt for their client.

To begin with, according to the prosecutor, there were eight (8) shots fired with only two (2) shell casings being recovered. The prosecution suggests that Astarita collected the missing six (6) casings.

Included in the defense opening statements were that their client could not have fired at the vehicle because he is one of the finest shooters in the world and, therefore, would not have missed his target. They contend that this should prove his innocence. They did not address the fact that he may very well have hit his mark exactly, if he were attempting to provoke the Oregon State Patrol (OSP) into shooting at the truck.

The defense has also attempted to cast doubts on the trajectory analysis for varying reasons, including that the snow may have melted enough to change the position of the truck, thereby invalidating all of the analysis.

Additionally, the defense team talked about the Federal agents picking up the shell casings. Claiming that these men are trained to pick up all of their equipment, they said that the agents could actually have been picking up LIVE ROUNDS from the ground, as they were concerned about militia members possibly coming to the scene. This is apparently a new protocol, as I have never heard of the regulations being to clean up the crime scene before the investigation has concluded, or even begun.

Another bombshell statement was made that an agent from the first stop called ahead to the agents at the second stop after Finicum sped away in the truck. The first agent made remarks that Finicum refused to stop and therefore they would have to “shoot him”. These statements go to their justification defense. The law is clear that they are only justified in firing their weapons for self defense or defense of others, so this explanation is another desperate attempt by the defense.

We are waiting to see how the trial attorneys deal with the issue of the FBI ordering the OSP not to turn body cameras on.

Finicum’s vehicle will be brought to the courthouse for the jury to examine, as well. It is unclear if the public will be able to view the truck.

After the opening statements this morning, the prosecution began calling witnesses. Former Special Agent In Charge Greg Bretzing took the stand and his testimony will resume after lunch.

The court has said this trial may last 3-4 weeks.

https://redoubtnews.com/2018/07/astarita-opening-statements/

Please support our coverage of your rights. Donate here: paypal.me/RedoubtNews

 

[phill4paul]

Brady Violations Revealed for Malheur Trials
by Shari Dovale

Greg Bretzing, the former Special Agent in Charge during the Malheur Protest in January 2016, was the first witness to testify in the trial of W. Joseph Astarita.

Astarita, a member of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), is accused of lying about firing his weapon on the day that LaVoy Finicum was killed, as well as obstruction of justice.

During his testimony, multiple points were revealed that were never disclosed to the defendants in the two Malheur Protest trials, of which this trial centers around. This information could be considered ‘Brady’ material, which would have been required to be turned over to the defense.

Bretzing explained that there were 2 surveillance planes flying, one at night using infrared cameras, after the shooting. This video will be played in court later, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

The infrared video shows someone wandering around after the shooting kicking the snow looking for his shell casings, then bending over and picking something up. The prosecution has suggested that the person is Astarita and that is when he was picking up shell casings.

The defense, on the other hand, believes that the FBI have a protocol in place to clean up their equipment even before an investigation commences. They have even suggested that there was live ammunition on the ground that needed to be secured before any ‘militia’ members showed up.

Bretzing also revealed that they had over 300 agents in the area. Additionally, the HRT members had been in the area for 2 weeks, staying at a motel in Boise, ID.

Further, Bretzing stated on the stand today that there was a contingency plan for a full on assault on the refuge. This is important because in the previous 2 trials, it was stated that there was no plan.

The rest of the contingency plan was in multiple parts, with one part being an ambush of the leadership while they were on the road. This was accomplished on January 26th.

Another part of the plan was to place roadblocks all around the refuge, believing they could starve everyone out. They would then arrest everyone individually as they exited the refuge. This was to be the next step if the traffic stop had not worked.

Astarita’s defense team chose not to cross examine Greg Bretzing.



The next witness was Travis Hampton, from Oregon State Police (OSP). He was the highest ranking OSP officer on the scene.

Hampton testified that OSP learned about Ammon Bundy’s occupation at the rally, not before.

The defense questioned Hampton on his relationship with “Officer 1”, the man that fired 2 of the 3 fatal bullets at Finicum.

The defense made a big deal of Hampton’s testimony, with lots of cross examination, as they are trying to show that Hampton and “Officer 1” are good friends and that Hampton may very well have covered up any mistakes that “Officer 1” committed. This is one of the multiple defense “theories” of the case.

The final witness of the day was Scott Ward, the Senior HRT member, positioned at “Stop 1”.

The basics of Ward’s testimony were that he gave a command after the shooting to have the road closed. The only vehicles allowed were Law Enforcement or ambulance. The purpose of this testimony was to show that random tires did not pick up the shell casings, which is another of the defense “theories”.

There were no random people walking around picking up shell casings because it was sealed off to everyone other than law enforcement.

The case continues tomorrow.

https://redoubtnews.com/2018/07/brady-violations-malheur-trials/



Please support our coverage of your rights. Donate here: paypal.me/RedoubtNews

 

[phill4paul]

The FBI circles it's wagon. Didn't hear nothing. Didn't see nothing. Won't speak of nothing.

At scene of Finicum shooting: FBI supervisor says he didn't hear disputed shots

The boss of indicted FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita testified Friday that he never heard the two disputed shots fired at refuge occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum's truck in 2016 and saw no indication that Astarita had fired his rifle.

Identified only as Supervisory Special Agent B.M., the nearly 12-year veteran of the FBI headed the bureau's Hostage Rescue Blue Team at the scene that day and previously worked with Astarita on the agency's SWAT team in New York.

B.M. was standing near Astarita on Jan. 26, 2016, after Finicum slammed his pickup into a snowbank at a roadblock as the FBI and state police tried to arrest the leaders of the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The occupiers were traveling in a two-car caravan to a community meeting in the next county.

B.M. said four times on the witness stand that he never heard the two shots that prosecutors contend Astarita tried to conceal but he heard all the other shots fired that day.

Investigators say one of Astarita's shots went through the roof of Finicum's truck and broke out the rear passenger window and the other missed.

Astarita, 41, has denied firing any shots. He's on trial on two counts of making a false statement to FBI supervisors, including B.M., and one count of obstruction of justice from an interview with state police detectives the night of the shooting.

B.M. said he was standing in front of a state police pickup parked on the center line of U.S. 395 when Finicum immediately stepped out of his truck after hitting the snowbank. Astarita was to his right, he said, standing beside the open passenger door of the police pickup.

"Does it appear agent Astarita is holding his rifle?'' federal prosecutor Gary Sussman asked.

"Yes, sir,'' B.M. replied.

"Is it aimed at Finicum's truck?'' Sussman asked.

"It looks like it's oriented towards the vehicle, sir,'' B.M. said.

Sussman asked B.M. if he heard several shots fired at Finicum's truck as it raced toward the roadblock. B.M. said he did. Investigators later determined that a state police officer, identified as Officer 1, fired three shots as the truck approached the roadblock.

And B.M. heard multiple shots fired after Finicum had walked away from his truck, the shots that killed Finicum? B.M. said he did. Two state police officers fired three times at Finicum after he had reached into his jacket where investigators later said he had a loaded handgun.

But, Sussman asked, B.M. didn't hear the two shots in between, right as Finicum got out of his pickup?

"No sir, I don't remember hearing a shot at that moment,'' B.M. answered. "I don't remember hearing any shots at that point.''

He noted that he was wearing noise-canceling headphones on his tactical helmet during the entire encounter.

B.M. said he could see Astarita in his peripheral vision.

"Did you see any indication Special Agent Astarita had shot?'' Sussman asked.

"No sir, I did not,'' B.M. said.

B.M. said he asked members of his team afterward if they were OK or had fired any shots. He asked Astarita and "he said no,'' B.M. told jurors.

Sussman asked about Astarita's general demeanor after the shooting. B.M. described him as energetic, excited, collecting his gear.

"Did he appear a little unnerved?'' Sussman asked.

"I don't know if I would characterize it as unnerved, sir,'' B.M. said.

At that, Sussman directed the witness to a transcript of his May 2017 testimony to an investigator with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General when he described Astarita at that moment as "unnerved." B.M. acknowledged he had used the word then.

More: https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2018/07/indicted_fbi_agents_supervisor.html

 

[pcosmar]

The FBI circles it's wagon. Didn't hear nothing. Didn't see nothing. Won't speak of nothing.



More: https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2018/07/indicted_fbi_agents_supervisor.html

To be expected.. But what has already been documented here will be fuel for many appeals for the POWs still held.

 

[pcosmar]

On the Left.

Ammon Bundy He was on the witness stand in the federal court building in Oregon. Under oath he testified that he shot Lavoy. It doesn’t get more confirmed than that.

 

[phill4paul]

So the question remains...who did fire the two shots that began the spiral to Finicums death?

Jury acquits FBI agent accused of lying in Finicum shooting case

A federal jury Friday returned not guilty verdicts in the trial of FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita, accused of lying to conceal that he fired two shots at the truck of refuge occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum" in January 2016.

The jury of nine men and three women deliberated for about six hours over two days after a three-week trial in Portland before U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones. They acquitted Astarita on two counts of making a false statement and one count of obstruction of justice.

Astarita, 41, a member of the FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team, looked straight ahead but squeezed the hands of defense lawyers Robert Cary and Meghan Ferguson sitting on either side of him as the court clerk read the verdicts about 2:45 p.m.

Once the jury left, Astarita's attorneys took turns enveloping him in strong hugs.

https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2018/08/jury_returns_verdict_in_case_o.html