Jury selection begins in 2nd Malheur standoff trial

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Jury selection has begun in a trial for four men who joined Ammon Bundy at last winter’s armed takeover of a wildlife refuge in southeastern Oregon.

The panel of 12 jurors and four alternates is expected to be in place by Thursday, with opening statements to start next week.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports federal prosecutors have hired an outside consultant to help them with the jury-selection process.

It’s a step they didn’t take last fall, when jurors surprisingly acquitted Bundy and six others who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in a protest against the federal control of Western lands and the imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of setting fires.

The defendants now on trial include Duane Ehmer, Jason Patrick, Jake Ryan and Darryl Thorn. All are being tried on conspiracy and weapons charges, accused of conspiring to impede Interior Department employees through the use of force, threats or intimidation.

Fourteen other defendants took plea deals rather than go to trial.

Meanwhile, testimony has resumed in federal court in Las Vegas in the trial of six men accused of wielding weapons to force federal agents to abandon a round-up of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle in April 2014.

A U.S. Bureau of Land Management agent, Rand Stover, returned to the witness stand Tuesday for questioning about escalating tension between government officials and Bundy family members in the weeks before the armed standoff.

Prosecutor Steven Myhre asked Stover on Monday about confrontations that led roundup supervisors to ramp up security around federal agents and contract cowboys enforcing court orders to collect Bundy cattle in March 2014.

The six defendants face of charges including conspiracy, firearm offenses and assault on a federal officer.

They’ve pleaded not guilty, and deny agents were threatened.