Deck stacked against defendants on trial for role in Bundy Bunkerville standoff
As I read the article by David Ferrara regarding the Bunkerville trial, I am convinced U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro is a rogue judge working to achieve a desired outcome (“Four defense witnesses testify in standoff trial,” Wednesday Review-Journal).
Judge Navarro inserted her bias into the processes by actually choosing several of the jurors herself. She has also prohibited the defendants from exercising their constitutional rights by ordering defense attorneys not to reference the First Amendment’s right to freely assemble and the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. In addition, she has limited the ability of the defendants to tell their side of the events concerning the misconduct and excessive force by law enforcement officers and mercenaries who were brought in by government officials.
Now, Judge Navarro “allows” defense witnesses to proffer their statements only outside the presence of jurors.
Judge Navarro has set such limited perimeters regarding what the defense can use to tell its side of this story that it becomes obvious to even the casual observer — and, I hope, to the jurors — that this judge is not interested in justice.