Horiuchi Seeks Change Of Venue
If FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi is ordered to stand trial, his lawyers want the proceedings held anywhere but Idaho.
A motion Monday, supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, asked a judge to dismiss Horiuchi’s case. If that tactic fails, lawyers requested the case be moved to a district “remote from Idaho.”
The FBI agent cannot get a fair trial in Idaho, where attorneys for the state and Randy Weaver made public statements that will taint jurors, the court filing said.
The case has turned into the state of Idaho vs. the federal government, a type of David vs. Goliath story. Horiuchi’s lawyers called it a “profound conflict” that will force jurors to take sides - either for or against their state.
“Mr. Horiuchi has become a symbol - and a victim - of a larger struggle in which he has no voice. Under these circumstances and in this climate, his ability to receive a fair trial in the state of Idaho … is too precarious,” the change of venue motion stated.
Horiuchi is charged with involuntary manslaughter for shooting to death Vicki Weaver, wife of white separatist Randy Weaver, during the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff.
The charge was filed five years after the shooting by Boundary County Prosecutor Denise Woodbury. Horiuchi’s lawyers are now chastising Woodbury, claiming she panders to the media.
“The prosecutors themselves have made grossly improper, highly prejudicial and damaging public statements about the case and Mr. Horiuchi,” court records said.
Woodbury angered Horiuchi’s lawyers by saying she would consider filing a murder charge against the agent if a judge dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charge.
Woodbury, as has been her pattern, declined to comment Monday on the accusations. Woodbury has regularly declined to return calls or comment on the case since she filed charges against Horiuchi last August.
“I think Denise’s attitude in this is just another legal ploy for Horiuchi’s lawyers to pull. This is just something for them to use to obfuscate the real issue,” said Mike Weland, Boundary County’s public information officer.
“If anything, she has downplayed the whole case. She hasn’t hidden from the press but has kept everything very close to her vest.”
Horiuchi’s lawyers criticized many people for speaking out about the case, from U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth to David Nevin, a lawyer for Kevin Harris, Randy Weaver’s friend who was also wounded at Ruby Ridge.
Chenoweth was quoted in court documents saying “I think our best wishes and prayers need to be with those people in that little North Idaho county who are waging battle against the bigger resources of the federal government.”
That statement shows the state-federal conflict and anti-government attitude in Idaho, Horiuchi’s lawyers said.
The sniper’s defense team has counted newspaper articles and television broadcasts to show Ruby Ridge has dominated news coverage in Idaho.
“In no other state has Ruby Ridge been more publicized than in Idaho. In the midst of what is being depicted as a virtual ‘civil-war’ stands Lon Horiuchi - not a government, but an individual,” the petition said. “We respectfully ask this court to order a change of venue to a district remote from the state of Idaho.”
, DataTimes