[W]hen Lon Horiuchi, under the employ of the FBI, murdered Vickie Weaver at Ruby Ridge, the state of Idaho arrested him for murder. The feds removed the case to federal court and the charges went away.That's a comment under my recent "fundamental court transformation" article on AmmoLand. The ultimate outcome is correct, but it's also incomplete, and it's important people learn of /don't forget the sordid details behind the dismissal, because I've continued to see Horiuchi defenders claim he was acquitted, like that excuses everything.
I know Horiuchi was charged. If he was actually physically arrested, that's not part of the small piece I was remotely involved in.
I’d been part of a group of activists pressing for local prosecution for
years . And yes, initially the feds claimed immunity, and used the Supremacy
clause as the basis for dismissal. But Boundary County finally got the go-ahead
to prosecute Horiuchi from a Ninth Circuit panel.
The prosecutor had felony forgery charges hanging over him, and
I speculated at the time that made him vulnerable to being compromised:
Sure enough, the prosecutor folded on the case, citing some unbelievable crap about healing the divisiveness, at which point the Ninth Circuit granted the County's motion to dismiss.
Two other friends and I publicly called “BS” on him and his excuses:
I maintain to this day my speculation was right and suspect he was indeed
compromised.
So what was the outcome of "the honorable" Mr. Benton's felony charges? Google was not my friend.
ReplyDeleteThe murderer still walks among us, no longer protected by a badge. There is no statute of limitations on murder.
ReplyDeleteProbably because WND misspelled his name-- it is Benson. He resigned, got 180 days, 170 suspended and the remaining jail time substituted with 80 hours of community service. He was later accused of malpractice for a different case-- not sure what happened there.
ReplyDeleteIf I get some time I'll try to find out more. What I'd really be interested in is looking into the election where he replaced the prosecutor who had fought to charge Horiuchi. I just don't have the resources to do that.
As the guy who made the original comment, I appreciate the education. Thanks David, for being there and doing what you do.
ReplyDeleteHoriuchi was never "arrested". He was charged only.
ReplyDelete