LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Latest on the trial of six men charged in an armed standoff with federal agents (all times local):
12:45 p.m.
A federal jury in Las Vegas ended a half-day of deliberations without a verdict in the trial of six men who brought assault-style weapons to a standoff with government agents near Cliven Bundy’s ranch in April 2014.
A court official said Thursday that jurors adjourned shortly before 12:30 p.m., and will return Monday for more deliberations in U.S. District Court.
The jury deliberated a half-day last week before returning for three full days this week.
Testimony took two months. Each defendant faces 10 charges including threatening and assaulting a federal officer, extortion, obstruction, weapon violations and conspiracy.
Each could face more than 50 years in prison if he’s found guilty of crimes of violence.
No shots were fired in the standoff near Bunkerville before the federal Bureau of Land Management abandoned the roundup and withdrew.
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12:10 p.m.
A jury in Nevada is signaling trouble in deliberating conspiracy charges against six men over an armed standoff that stopped government agents from rounding up cattle near Cliven Bundy’s ranch in 2014.
Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro didn’t read their question aloud but convened jurors Thursday to tell them they can decide there was a conspiracy even if they find the defendants didn’t take part in it.
The judge instructed the jury to keep deliberating.
The issue echoes one in a related case in Oregon, where jurors last October found Bundy’s sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and five others not guilty of all charges in an armed occupation of a U.S. wildlife refuge.
The acquittal in Oregon included a similar count of conspiracy to impede federal officers.
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9 a.m.
A federal jury is back at work in the trial of six men who brought assault-style weapons to a standoff that stopped government agents from rounding up cattle near Cliven Bundy’s ranch in April 2014.
A court official says jurors began deliberations at 8 a.m. Thursday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.
The jury deliberated about three hours last week, and spent full days together Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Trial took two months, and each defendant faces 10 charges including threatening and assaulting a federal officer, extortion, obstruction, weapon violations and conspiracy.
No shots were fired in the standoff near Bunkerville before the roundup was abandoned.
The outcome was seen as a victory by states’ rights advocates who oppose federal control of vast rangelands in the West.
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