title: hoping for the best and preparing for the worst a look inside the american redoubt movement
text: oregon live 
  juror  vigorously defends the acrosstheboard acquittals of ammon bundy and his six codefendants calling the rulings a statement about the prosecutions failure to prove the fundamental elements of a conspiracy charge 
  the fulltime marylhurst university business administration student was the juror who had sent a note to the judge on the fourth day of the initial jurys deliberations in the case questioning the impartiality of a fellow juror no  who the judge bounced from the jury a day later 
  it should be known that all  jurors felt that this verdict was a statement regarding the various failures of the prosecution to prove conspiracy in the count itself  and not any form of affirmation of the defenses various beliefs actions or aspirations juror  wrote friday in a lengthy email to the oregonianoregonlive 
  he expressed relief that he can now speak out freely but he wasnt ready as of friday morning to drop his anonymity he said his studies have suffered since the trial started and hes not ready for the attention revealing his identity would bring but felt it was important to defend the verdict the judge withheld jurors names during the jury selection process and trial instead referring to each by number 
  the jury closely followed us district judge anna j browns instructions on how to apply the law to the evidence and testimony heard during the fiveweek trial he said 
  the jury returned unanimous verdicts of not guilty to conspiracy charges against all seven defendants each was accused of conspiring to prevent employees of the us fish and wildlife service and bureau of land management from carrying out their official work through intimidation threat or force during the day occupation 
  juror  noted the panel couldnt simply rely on the defendantsdefining actions to convict 
  all  agreed that impeding existed even if as an effect of the occupation he wrote 
  but we were not asked to judge on bullets and hurt feelings rather to decide if any agreement was made with an illegal object in mind the marylhurst student wrote it seemed this basic high standard of proof was lost upon the prosecution throughout 
  prosecutors had argued that the case at its core was about the illegal taking of anothers property the heavily armed guards that manned the front gate and watchtower during the day takeover in and of itself was intimidating and prevented officers from the us fish and wildlife service and us bureau of land management from carrying out their work they said 
  they argued that the alleged conspiracy began nov  when ammon bundy and ally ryan payne met with harney county sheriff dave ward and promised there would be extreme civil unrest in the community if he didnt step in and block harney county ranchers dwight hammond jr and steven hammond the hammonds were slated to return to federal prison on jan  and serve out a mandatory minimum fiveyear sentence for arson on federal land 
  defense lawyers urged jurors in closing arguments not to mixup the effect of the occupation  which undoubtedly kept federal employees from doing their jobs  from the intent of the occupiers 
  five of the seven defendants including ammon bundy testified many said that they were there to protest in support of the hammonds and federal government overreach because they received absolutely no response from state or local government officials to their previous efforts to spur change 
  the defense lawyers arguments coupled with the jury instructions on how to apply the law to the evidence resonated with jurors juror  noted 
  inference while possibly compelling proved to be insulting or inadequate to  diversely situated people as a means to convict the juror wrote the air of triumphalism that the prosecution brought was not lost on any of us nor was it warranted given their burden of proof 
  juror  plainly stated that fellow juror  during the initial round of deliberations had zero business being on this jury in the first place 
  juror  had worked for the us bureau of land management as a ranch tech and firefighter more than  years ago he had said during jury selection asked by the judge during voir dire if that experience would impede his ability to be a fair and impartial judge of the facts he said not really 
  juror  explained why he didnt alert the court immediately after he had heard juror  on day one of deliberations reportedly say i am very biased 
  it wasnt until the fourth day into deliberations that juror  sent a note to the court asking if a juror who had worked previously for the federal land management agency and outright told the panel he was very biased could be an impartial judge the court flummoxed by the development a day later dismissed juror  for good cause after the prosecution and defense teams agreed to the dismissal at the time parties to the case werent sure which way juror s alleged bias fell 
  juror  said he resisted the impulse to send the question sooner in an effort to give his fellow juror a chance to explain himself 
  in his email to the oregonianoregonlive juror  for the first time also contended that juror  violated the judges explicit orders by hearkening to evidence that was never admitted in this case refused to consider the defendants state of mind and used imaginative theories to explain key actions 
  juror  said though he wishes that he had sent the letter on day one since it would have alleviated much stress for all of us 
  the maryville business student said he is baffled by what he described as observersflippant sentiments in the wake of the jurys acquittals 
  dont they know that not guilty does not mean innocent he wrote it was not lost on us that our verdicts might inspire future actions that are regrettable but that sort of thinking was not permitted when considering the charges before us 
  the jury he said met with judge brown after the verdicts were announced and after the us marshals physical confrontation and arrest of bundy lawyer marcus mumford 
  he said many of the jurors questioned the judge about why the federal government chose the conspiracy charge he said he learned that a potential alternate charge such as criminal trespass wouldnt have brought as significant a penalty 
  the charge of conspiring to impede federal employees from carrying out their official work through intimidation threat or force brings a maximum sentence of six years in prison 
  we all queried about alternative charges that could stick and were amazed that this conspiracy charge seemed the best possible option juror  said 
   maxine bernstein