On Monday afternoon, before prosecutors decided whether to retry Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly, a criminologist advising the defense told Fox News Digital that the state He said he has already spent more than $1 million on “prosecutions.” It is collected from taxpayers’ taxes in the state’s poorest counties along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Dr. Ron Martinelli, a criminologist who is working pro bono for Kelly’s defense team, is working with Santa Cruz County Prosecutor George Silva and Sheriff David Hathaway in their handling of the case centered on the death of Gabriel Quyen-Buitimare. accused of “extreme confirmation bias”. On January 30, 2023, a Mexican man was found shot to death on a 170-acre ranch outside Nogales, Arizona, after Kelly called Border Patrol for help.
“I believe that the actors in this county, the county prosecutor, the county sheriff, and the investigators in this case are some of the most morally and ethically bankrupt people I have ever encountered in my 50-year career. “I think so,” Martinelli said. he told Fox News Digital last week. “The way they looked at this case and the way they handled this case was unique.”
FOX News Digital has reached out to Silva and Hathaway for comment.
“This was a political prosecution,” Martinelli added. “They had no forensic evidence at all. They had a ton of exculpatory information and evidence supporting Mr. Kelly’s innocence in this case. Yet they told a false story to convict this man.” This is my opinion, but they didn’t even have a motive that could be proven in this case. ”
Martinelli said Silva, Hathaway and contract prosecutor Michael Jett were all absent from court on April 22, when Arizona Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink declared a mistrial.
Jett had given his closing argument a few days earlier. Mr. Silva had chosen Santa Cruz County Deputy Prosecutor Kimberly Hanley to lead the state case during the months-long trial.
Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly’s defense attorney “only holdout” juror blocks acquittal, state focuses on second trial
“Mr. Silva, who is running for office, and Mr. Hathaway, who is running for sheriff. Who were these two people?” Martinelli said. “Who was not present on the final and most important day of the trial? These are the two people we believe are the driving force.” [behind Kelly’s prosecution]. Why are the people who were pushing this case absent on the final day of the trial?”
George Alan Kelly enters for a preliminary hearing at Nogales Justice Court on February 22, 2023 in Nogales, Arizona. (Mark Henle/Arizona Republic via Associated Press, Pool, File)
“If, for whatever reason, the county prosecutor wishes to bring this case back to trial, I promise you…I will personally commit the full resources of Martinelli & Associates judicial and forensic consultants to this case. We held back, and we won’t hold back again,” Martinelli added. “They can’t fix it. They can’t fix the witness. They made a serious error in judgment.
“And we believe this case has cost the residents of Santa Cruz County more than $1 million and thousands of man hours, and they are unable to resolve it,” he said. “Santa Cruz County is the poorest county in Arizona. Are the people willing to pay to do this again? And I guarantee you, in the end, maybe next time it will be a complete He will be acquitted.”
After more than 15 hours of deliberations, the jury remained deadlocked and reached a unanimous decision to convict Kelly of second-degree murder or lesser charges of manslaughter, negligent homicide and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. I couldn’t. Fink has scheduled a status hearing for Monday at 1:30 p.m., when the state is expected to clarify whether it will reset the case for a second trial.
The defense had hoped that seven jurors would acquit Kelly, but despite the evidence and testimony, one “lone holdout” remained steadfast in convicting the elderly rancher. He said he wanted it.
Martinelli pointed to prosecutors’ “misrepresentation” during the trial that Quyen-Buytimea was an “unarmed immigrant pursuing the American dream.” The defense argued that prosecutors had not been able to prove through forensic science or ballistics that Quyen Bouytimea was shot by Kelley’s gun, and that the rancher had fired a threat into the air from his front yard earlier that day. He claimed he had only fired shots. The fatal bullet was never recovered from the scene.
Kelly’s wife, Wanda Kelly, called the Border Patrol’s ranch contact after spotting two armed men wearing camouflage and carrying rifles and backpacks walking about 100 feet from their home. He testified. Several hours passed before law enforcement responded to the scene and Kelly called Border Patrol again to report finding the body about 115 meters from the ranching couple’s residence.
George Alan Kelly hears closing arguments in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on April 18, 2024, in Nogales, Arizona. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International, via AP, Pool)
Martinelli also crossed the border weeks after the shooting at Kelly’s ranch to interview Daniel Ramirez, the Honduran man who prosecutors say was the only witness to Quyen-Buytimea’s death. He criticized Hathaway’s testimony that he traveled to Mexico. The defense, based on Ramirez’s own testimony, said he was not at the scene.
Judge acquits Arizona rancher accused of killing Mexican national on border property
Although not on the day of the shooting, Ramirez testified that he had previously trafficked drugs across the border and had been deported multiple times.
Hathaway, who recorded only about six minutes of a 40-minute interview with Ramirez, was questioned about the conduit for arranging the meeting in Mexico, Juan Carlos Rodriguez. Martinelli said prosecutors also did not present evidence to contradict the defense’s theory that the Rip Crew, a group of robbers sometimes affiliated with cartels, may have shot and robbed Quen Buitimare. That’s what it means.
Martinelli told Fox News Digital that Rodriguez is a twice-convicted felon, first for aggravated assault and domestic violence after strangling his girlfriend, and then serving an additional two years in prison. The county attorney’s office said it was forced to reveal this to the defense team. Transport of arms to the United States. ”
“There was clear cartel influence in this case and continued obstruction by county prosecutors,” Martinelli told FOX News Digital. “There’s a war going on across America’s borders. It’s a different type of dynamic where people are actually affected personally. It’s trespassing in human trafficking.”
“Imagine you’re in your 70s and you’re on a remote ranch, you and your wife. And you frequently witness armed intrusions on your ranch,” he added. . “This is a war. We are trying to fight this war in an ethical, moral and legal way. But we cannot be hindered by a degraded criminal justice and law enforcement system. We cannot allow that to happen in our country.” The United States of America wants to be a free country. ”
Prosecutor Michael Jett addresses the jury during closing arguments in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on April 18, 2024. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International, via AP, Pool)
Martinelli also threatened to sue Hathaway. Hathaway was pressed by the defense for appearing in a YouTube video of the sheriff’s office tour that was released about a month ago by real estate agent Sidney Wilburn, known online as Big Super. A look at his home and the border neighborhood where his family has lived since the 1800s.
In the video, Hathaway references the Kelly incident, claiming that the rancher “wanted me to go hunting Mexicans.” The sheriff also likened the Border Patrol and surrounding county sheriffs to the “Gestapo,” adding that the Border Patrol has committed “unspeakable atrocities that have never been prosecuted.”
“And at the same time that he is criticizing other law enforcement agencies for ‘sensationalizing crime at the border’ in search of money, he has applied for grants to Santa Cruz County for drug and human enforcement.” “He’s so hypocritical because he’s accepting that he’s doing human trafficking in his own county,” Martinelli said. “Regardless of whether the county prosecutor in this case decides to move forward with further charges against Mr. Kelly, I personally intend to do so, and I am not alone. Many law enforcement agencies are working to move forward with the investigation. Write a letter of complaint to the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission. ”
He also was charged with civil rights violations by the Department of Justice and a Santa Cruz County grand jury when Kelly was held for several weeks on $1 million cash bail in connection with a first-degree trial that was later downgraded. , has vowed to file a complaint with the Arizona State Commission of Corrections. Degree of premeditated murder.
GoFundMe launched Kelly’s defense fund from its platform before GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdsourcing alternative, collected donations for the elderly rancher.
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“All of these agencies need to audit both the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department, CID and the Department of Corrections,” Martinelli said. “The people of Santa Cruz County are afraid. Sheriff David Hathaway and the prosecutors are trying to block and exclude people from knowing that there is a serious problem going on in border Santa Cruz County.” Despite the fact that there is absolute cartel influence in Santa Cruz County, people know it, but they are afraid of it. And now they’re really worried that the people they voted to protect, like the sheriff and the county prosecutor, aren’t going to protect them. ”
Martinelli added that the Kellys had exhausted about $2 million in personal funds and GiveSendGo’s legal defense fund, and asked for additional donations and “prayers” for the couple.
