Fbi Sniper Case Dismissed Agent Legally Shielded From Trial, Judge Rules

The emotional wounds aren’t necessarily healed, but the legal wranglings over Ruby Ridge may be over.

A judge dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge Thursday against FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi. He was accused of shooting to death Vicki Weaver, wife of white separatist Randy Weaver, during the 1992 standoff.

The judge ruled Horiuchi is immune from prosecution because he was carrying out his duties as a federal agent when he fired the shot that struck Vicki Weaver.

Horiuchi’s criminal case was the last one winding through the court system. Boundary County Prosecutor Denise Woodbury dragged Horiuchi and Weaver’s friend, Kevin Harris, into court last year.

She insisted she had enough evidence to convict Harris of killing deputy U.S. marshal William Degan and put Horiuchi on trial for involuntary manslaughter.

The recent federal court ruling puts Woodbury’s record at 0-2. A judge dismissed the murder charge against Harris.

“I think it’s over,” one of Horiuchi’s lawyers, Robert Huntley, said of the Ruby Ridge saga. “I would be surprised if anyone is going to fund an appeal, particularly the Boundary County commissioners.”

Horiuchi was singled out, he said, to take the blame for government officials who mishandled the Ruby Ridge incident.

“It was an attempt to make Mr. Horiuchi responsible for people who were upset with the FBI in general,” Huntley said.

Ruby Ridge has long divided Boundary County, a rural area of about 8,000 people. But with no one left for the state to convict, Commissioner Murleen Skeen hopes Horiuchi’s case was the finale.

“I think this could really be the end this time. Denise (Woodbury) did what she had to do. She felt we needed a final court decision,” Skeen said. “I’m not to say if someone should or shouldn’t have been convicted in this whole thing. But we have a decision and it will be nice to have some closure.”

The judge’s ruling was based on the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, which bars federal agents from being tried for “reasonable and proper” actions while on duty.

“It’s amazing to me you can murder people in the line of duty,” said Randy Weaver after he learned of the ruling. “I don’t care if you work for the angels in heaven. If they do that kind of stuff you shouldn’t get away with it. It’s very disappointing.”

Weaver said the ruling means FBI agents are better protected than soldiers. He was referring to those convicted of war crimes after telling juries they were “following orders.”

Weaver still wants Horiuchi tried for murder and supports an appeal or new charges against the agent. Huntley said his client has been through enough. Horiuchi has faced death threats and didn’t know he killed Vicki Weaver until two days after the shot was fired.

“He was very distraught when he heard about it,” Huntley said. “This has been a terrible thing for him and his family.”

In August 1992, federal agents wanted to arrest Randy Weaver on illegal weapons charges. He refused to come down from his mountaintop cabin. While agents staked out the home, they were spotted and a gunbattle erupted.

Marshal Degan and Weaver’s 14-year-old son, Sam, were killed in the initial gunfight. Vicki Weaver was killed the next day. She was holding the cabin door open for her fleeing husband and Harris. Horiuchi said he shot at the men, fearing they were going to shoot at a helicopter loaded with agents.

Horiuchi had orders to shoot any armed male outside the cabin. He aimed at Harris, but the shot went through the cabin door and hit Vicki Weaver in the head. She was holding her baby girl when killed. The bullet passed through Vicki Weaver’s head and also wounded Harris.

“The court finds that Mr. Horiuchi honestly believed, rightfully or wrongfully, that the intentional shooting of Mr. Harris was necessary and proper based upon the existing circumstances at Ruby Ridge,” Judge Edward Lodge wrote in dismissing the charge against Horiuchi.

“Errors in judgment alone do not create criminal responsibility for an officer acting within the scope of his employment.” The shooting was called a “split-second decision in a crisis situation.”

Even though he dismissed the case, the judge said his ruling was not a factual finding of Horiuchi’s guilt or innocence. He left the door open for Horiuchi or his superiors to face federal charges, but that is unlikely.

The U.S. Justice Department decided in 1994 against prosecuting Horiuchi or any of his FBI superiors and reaffirmed the decision last year.

Weaver, who is living in Montana and writing a book about the incident, and Harris were acquitted of all federal charges, including murder, resulting from the siege.

Larry Potts, once the FBI’s No. 2 official, and his chief aide, Danny Coulson, were accused of destroying records to cover up the identity of the official that allowed agents to shoot at any adult male seen outside the Weaver cabin. Potts was suspended and ultimately denied the bureau’s No. 2 job.

E. Michael Kahoe, former chief of the violent crimes section, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for destroying a report criticizing the bureau’s role in the shootout.

A $10 million lawsuit filed by Harris against the federal government is pending. Weaver filed a similar lawsuit, which last year resulted in a $3.1 million settlement.