Three Former Jurors Celebrate, Commiserate Pleased Fbi Agent Charged, But Sorry For Kevin Harris

They were unanimous once again.

Three of the jurors who acquitted Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris of murder charges in 1993 were elated Thursday that an FBI agent was charged in Vicki Weaver’s death.

“Oh good, good,” said former juror Dorothy Mitchell, 49. “I’m absolutely thrilled.”

“I’m all for it,” said another member of the panel, Jack Weaver, 47, who is not related to Randy Weaver. “People have lost a lot of confidence in their government because of this.”

But the three jurors - who had been sequestered for two months of testimony and a month of deliberations - were incensed by the charge against Harris, 29.

“Doggone it, it was self-defense,” said former juror Jerry Anderton, 74. “They shouldn’t make that kid go through that again.”

“That’s no good,” Mitchell said. “I liked Kevin. I felt sorry for Kevin. He was a good kid in a bad situation.”

The jurors agreed another trial might answer lingering questions. Each recalled feeling the government had left missing pieces.

“How much evidence was destroyed?” Jack Weaver said. “I want to know.”

The new charges dragged some of the jurors back to an uncomfortable period, forcing them to relive old emotions.

“Everything that’s happened - Oklahoma City, the freemen - I cry every time,” Mitchell said. “I always wonder if those people took something from our verdict. I’ll have this with me forever.”

Thursday, some jurors remembered the case in exquisite detail, recalling the caliber of weapons used at the standoff and gruesome autopsy results.

The new charges also reignited old arguments.

Jurors disagreed on whether Harris shot and killed U.S. Marshal William Degan. They agreed that if he did, it was self-defense.

“We went into that jury room with tape measures, did triangulations,” said Mitchell, a junior high school teacher from Hazelton, Idaho. “We didn’t know who shot who. We only agreed Kevin wasn’t responsible.”

Jack Weaver, a Boise pressman, was equally confident.

“There was no question that he shot him,” he said. “The biggest issue was who shot first.”

Anderton recounted evidence that Degan must have fired first: the rounds fired from his gun, the distance he had traveled while shooting, the severity of his wound.

“You don’t get up when you’re hit as hard as Degan and fire a dozen rounds and keep running,” the Boise man said.

When it came to FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi, however, each juror recalled feeling chills.

“He was a robot,” Mitchell said.

Anderton and Jack Weaver hoped more charges would be filed. Anderton even wanted charges against the U.S. marshal who shot Sammy Weaver’s dog, Striker.

“He’s the one who started the whole firefight,” Anderton said.

None of the jurors held out much hope that Boundary County would be able to convict Horiuchi, who will be defended by federal government lawyers.

“It’s rather like a gnat having a disagreement with an elephant,” Anderton said. “They can’t beat them.”

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