PHOENIX (AP) – Jurors in the case of an Arizona rancher accused of fatally shooting an immigrant on his property are expected to visit his ranch near the Mexican border this week as the trial begins its second half. Allowed.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink said last week he would allow the visit, but no date and time had been set. Mr. Fink on Monday declined a media request to accompany jurors on a visit to the ranch of 75-year-old George Alan Kelly.
Wife of Arizona rancher George Alan Kelley testifies in murder trial about armed groups near border area
The judge said the visit would help jurors “fairly decide the allegations in this case,” but his restrictions on questioning jurors and taking images made it extremely difficult to allow media access. on Monday that it would be difficult to do so.
George Alan Kelly enters for a preliminary hearing in Nogales Justice Court on February 22, 2023 in Nogales, Arizona. Jurors in the case of Kelly, an Arizona rancher accused of fatally shooting an immigrant on his property, will be allowed to visit a nearby property. The trial is in its second half, and the border with Mexico could be closed as early as this week. (Mark Henle/Arizona Republic, via AP)
Such visits are relatively rare.
In 2018, federal jurors in the trial of a U.S. Border Patrol agent charged in the 2018 shooting death of a teenage girl who crossed the Mexican border also in the Nogales area of Arizona were brought to the scene of the shooting after dark to observe the situation. It was written. There was at that time. Former agent Ronnie Schwartz was found not guilty in the death of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez after a jury could not reach a verdict on manslaughter charges.
Kelly’s earlier trial included testimony from his wife, Wanda, who said she saw two men armed with rifles and carrying backpacks walk past their ranch home on the day of the shooting. Stated.
A Honduran man from the group of migrants who was at the ranch that day said he saw Gabriel Quen Buitimare, 48, beaten to the ground. The bullet that killed Quyen-Buytimea was never found.
Kelly was arrested and charged last year in the January 30, 2023, shooting death of Quyen-Buytimea, who lived in Nogales, Mexico, just south of the border.
Prosecutors said Kelly also had a handgun and recklessly fired an AK-47 rifle at migrants who were about 100 yards (90 meters) away from him on his 170-acre (69-hectare) ranch. announced that shots had been fired. Mr. Kelly and his defense team deny that theory.
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The trial has been held four days a week since it began on March 22nd, and is scheduled to conclude on April 19th.
Border security has become a key issue in this year’s presidential election, with Republican Donald Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden making a close visit to the Texas-Mexico border in late February.
