An Arizona judge on Tuesday dismissed the case of rancher George Alan Kelly, who had been charged with murder for shooting and killing a Mexican national on his border property.
Kelly, 75, is accused of killing Gabriel Kueng Buitimea, 48, on his 170-acre ranch near Keno Springs. Nogales, Arizona January 30, 2023.
“The state has decided not to retry this case following a mistrial because a different jury would not convict the defendant based on the same evidence,” Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink said in a statement.
“At best, we will have another unanimous jury. What’s more likely is that we will have another jury that acquits,” Fink wrote.
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George Alan Kelly, then 73, was accused of shooting and killing a Mexican man on his property in January 2023. (Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office via The Associated Press)
Santa Cruz County prosecutors decided not to retry Kelly in April after Judge Fink declared a mistrial due to a mismatched jury verdict. The jury voted 7-1 to acquit Kelly of second-degree murder, manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, lesser charges.
In his ruling, the judge cited a lack of physical evidence and witnesses because the shooting happened more than a year ago and the bullet that allegedly killed Ramirez has never been found.
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Santa Cruz County prosecutors decided not to retry Kelly in April after Judge Fink declared a mistrial after the jury could not reach a unanimous decision. (Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via USA Today Network, File)
The judge also questioned whether the only witness who came forward, Daniel Ramirez – the man who was walking with Kueng Buitimea the night he was killed – “will be alive until the next trial.”
Ramirez testified that he had tried and failed at crossing the border 10 times before. “There’s no guarantee we’ll ever find out where he is,” Fink said.
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Arizona Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink has removed himself from the trial of rancher George Kelly, who is accused of killing a Mexican man on his border land. (Santa Cruz County, Arizona | Poole)
Prosecutors have said jurors’ opinions about the border may have influenced their decision in Kelly’s trial, but Fink said that was merely speculation.
The judge described the jury’s 7-1 decision to acquit Kelly as a “reasonable and diverse” verdict.
The judge described the jury’s 7-1 decision to acquit Kelly as a “reasonable and diverse” verdict. (Mark Henle – USA Today Network)
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“The Court finds that the State has not articulated a reasonable basis for leaving this case ‘open’ through unconditional dismissal. The interests of justice are not served by unconditional dismissal of a case that cannot and will not be retried,” Fink wrote. “The interests of justice are not advanced when the only thing accomplished by unconditional dismissal is harassment of the defendant.”
Fox News’ Stephanie Price contributed to this report.
