Ammon Bundy’s lawyers seek to stop trial amid appeals

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ammon Bundy’s federal conspiracy trial resumed despite a motion from his lawyers seeking a postponement until a court rules on their appeals.

Among other things, attorneys Marcus Mumford and J. Morgan Philpot have taken issue with U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown’s order that the ownership of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is not on trial, and her notice to jurors that the federal government owns the refuge that Bundy and his followers occupied for 41 days last winter.

As the appeals await rulings by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the trial continued Thursday. Mumford says Bundy might take the witness stand if time permits.

Bundy and six co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to impede federal employees from doing their refuge jobs during the standoff.