Feds Seek Dismissal Of Charge Fbi Sharpshooter Accused Of Manslaughter At Ruby Ridge

Lawyers for FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi asked a judge Monday to dismiss a state involuntary manslaughter charge in the shooting death of white separatist Randy Weaver’s wife at Ruby Ridge six years ago.

The motion, supported by the Justice Department, was filed in U.S. District Court in Boise. It argues that Horiuchi is protected by the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, so he cannot be subject to state criminal prosecution for actions in the line of duty.

“It is imperative that federal officials be protected from state prosecution in such circumstances because without the protection ensured by the supremacy clause, rigorous enforcement of federal law would be severely chilled to the detriment of the general public good,” the petition says.

Spokesman Mike Weland said Boundary County Prosecutor Denise Woodbury had expected the maneuver. If the charge is not dismissed, Weland said, the government wants to move the trial outside Idaho.

Horiuchi was among dozens of federal agents who surrounded Weaver’s remote mountain cabin near Naples, Idaho, in August 1992 in an attempt to arrest Weaver on an illegal-weapons charge.

Weaver’s 14-year-old son, Sam, and deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan of Quincy, Mass., were killed in a gunfight that touched off an 11-day siege. Vicki Weaver was shot by Horiuchi on the evening of the second day.

Both Randy Weaver and family associate Kevin Harris were acquitted in 1993 of federal murder and other charges in connection with the siege. Weaver also was acquitted of the weapons charge that had prompted federal agents to confront him.

Last August, five years to the day after Vicki Weaver’s death, Woodbury filed the involuntary manslaughter charge against Horiuchi. The Justice Department earlier had declined to prosecute Horiuchi.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge moved the Horiuchi case to federal court, and the FBI agent pleaded innocent. His trial is scheduled for March 10.

On arriving at Ruby Ridge, the FBI agents were notified that everyone in the cabin was armed and that Randy Weaver might use his children as shields against arrest, the U.S. Justice document says.

The rules of engagement adopted for Ruby Ridge said that deadly force could and “should” be used against any male observed in the vicinity of the cabin without endangering the children, the petition says. The government later admitted that rule of engagement was unconstitutional.

According to the federal petition, Horiuchi heard the helicopter for the hostage rescue team take off and saw two males and one female rush from the cabin. One of the men pointed a rifle at the sky. Fearing for the agents in the helicopter, Horiuchi fired a shot which hit Vicki Weaver.

Horiuchi thought Harris was running for the cabin. He fired the shot parallel to the cabin to protect the youngsters. But the bullet passed through the open door and hit Vicki Weaver behind it.

The Justice Department contends the FBI feared that in addition to the danger Weaver and Harris posed at the cabin, they might escape into the woods and counterattack federal agents.

“Consequently, there was substantial reason to fear at the time that Weaver and Harris would sneak out of the cabin and use their superior knowledge of the surrounding terrain to ambush the (hostage rescue team) members in the impending darkness,” the brief says.

In support of the involuntary manslaughter charge against Horiuchi, Woodbury claimed that Horiuchi had fired “in perilous and chaotic circumstances at an armed and fleeing murder suspect from 200 yards.” But the government argues that kind of action is exactly the type of conduct protected from state prosecution.