Judge declares mistrial in Bundy standoff case against Nevada cattle rancher

Prosecutors have repeatedly failed to win convictions against family and its followers

A supporter of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his family attaches a flag to a sign outside the federal courthouse in Las Vegas, Nevada (REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus)

An attempt to prosecute Cliven Bundy for leading an armed standoff against the federal government has ended in a mistrial, the latest setback for government efforts to penalise the Bundy family and its followers.

US District Judge Gloria Navarro said prosecutors had committed “constitutional due-process violations” and faulted them for not turning over evidence to defence attorneys, according to the Associated Press.

The trial concerned a confrontation outside the Bundy family ranch in Nevada, where a dispute over more than $1m in unpaid grazing fees turned into an armed standoff that drew in scores of supportive militiamen after the government began rounding up cattle under a court order.

“We are a step closer to freedom,” Carol Bundy, whose husband Cliven and sons Ammon and Ryan have faced federal charges, wrote on Facebook.

The Nevada clash, and a subsequent takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge by people aligned with the Bundys, became magnets for people angry about perceived government overreach in the American West. Much of the land west of the Rocky Mountains is managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management, and Cliven Bundy — the family’s patriarch — asserted that the government lacked the constitutional authority to oversee the land where his cattle fed.

So far, prosecutors have a mixed record on winning convictions against participants in the two insurrections.

In April, jurors deadlocked on charges against six men accused of threatening government agents during the Bundy ranch standoff. In August, a federal jury did not return guilty verdicts against four men facing conspiracy and weapons charges.

Participants in the takeover of the Malheur, Oregon refuge have also evaded conviction. All seven defendants — including Ryan and Ammon Bundy — were acquitted of weapons and conspiracy charges related to the seizure last October, and in March a jury acquitted two men involved in the occupation while convicting two others.