Clear Jury Instructions – Not Jury Nullification – Freed the “Bundy 7”

By Bob Owens

When the stunning verdicts came down late yesterday evening that all seven defendants in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff case were found not guilty, many were quick to assume (including myself) that jury nullification may have played a role in the verdicts. Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Shawna Cox, Jeff Wayne Banta, Neil Wampler, David Lee Fry and Kenneth Medenbach were acquitted on all charges.

Ammon Bundy remains in custody due to charges he faces in Nevada related to the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff. His attorney was tased, tackled, and arrested for apparently insisting that he did not have to remain in custody.

As we are now discovering, jury nullification didn’t play a role in the verdict, but clear directions to the jury from the judge on how to deliberate over each charge did.

The judge, prosecutors and defense lawyers haggled for hours over how to word instructions to the jury about interpreting the law to guide their verdict in the Oregon standoff trial.

The instructions explain how the law defines a conspiracy, for instance, and what kind of behavior might amount to intimidation.

The jury of nine women and three men returned not guilty verdicts after five hours of deliberations on Thursday …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms