An Occupation In Eastern Oregon

Attorney For Oregon Standoff Leader Faces New Charges In Courthouse Scuffle

By Kimberley Freda (OPB)
Portland, Oregon Jan. 19, 2017 3:39 p.m.

Related: An Occupation In Eastern Oregon

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The attorney for the leader of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation is facing three charges in connection with a dramatic incident that played out as his client was acquitted last fall.

Marcus Mumford was tased by U.S. Marshals on Oct. 27

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, just after he learned his client, Ammon Bundy, and six others were found not guilty of conspiring to occupy the Oregon wildlife refuge.

Mumford argued at that time Bundy should have been released, but U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown said he would remain in custody because he was awaiting trial in Nevada for charges related to the 2014 standoff near Bunkerville.

Mumford previously faced charges of failing to comply with the lawful direction of federal police officers and impeding the performance of official duties. He pleaded not guilty to those charges last week, but the special prosecutor from Washington, Timothy Ohms, has replaced the charges.

The new charges that Mumford faces include creating disturbances by impeding or disrupting the performance of official duties, failure to comply with signs of a prohibitory, regulatory and directory nature, and failure to comply with the lawful direction of a federal police officer.

Mumford’s attorney, Michael Levine, has said Brown and U.S. marshals overreacted.

“My client was doing nothing that a zealous advocate would not do,” he said. “What we have here is an unprecedented attack on the defense bar, I truly believe unprecedented, and I’ve been practicing law for almost 40 years.”

A pretrial hearing in the case is set for Feb. 15.

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