PORTLAND, Aug. 11, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — The FBI agent accused of lying to investigators about his role in the fatal police shooting of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupier Robert “LaVoy” Finicum has been acquitted by a federal jury in Oregon.
Agent W. Joseph Astarita was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland with making false statements and obstruction of justice in the aftermath of the January 2016 officer-involved shooting, which killed Finicum and wounded fellow occupier Ryan Bundy.
Prosecutors claimed Astarita lied to internal investigators when he denied firing on Finicum’s vehicle as the Arizona-strip rancher fled an attempted traffic stop and sped toward an FBI roadblock.
Finicum died moments later after being shot in the back by two Oregon State Police officers. That shooting was ultimately ruled justifiable.
Astarita’s defense lawyers denied their client fired any rounds at Finicum or his vehicle and repeatedly impressed upon the jury that prosecutors had failed to provide any eyewitness accounts or ballistic evidence to the contrary.
Defense attorneys David Angeli and Rob Cary released a statement after the acquittal praising the jury’s decision.
“We are grateful to the men and women of the jury who saw through a case that never should have been brought,” they said.
A jury of nine men and three women deliberated for six hours Thursday and Friday before reaching a verdict. The trial itself lasted three weeks.
Jeanette Finicum, LaVoy’s widow attended the court proceedings while preparing for a wrongful death suit the family previously filed against the Oregon State Police and the FBI.
Once the verdict was delivered she criticized prosecutors for not being aggressive enough.
“So many questions not asked and so many questions not answered,” she said.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Dropping into a state where he has neither residency or any legitimate business, Finicum declared he would happily fight to the death after he seized public (i.e. MY) land for his own profit.
Stopped and ordered to surrender by officers of the peace, he instead reaches for his semi automatic hand gun.
Where’s the problem here?
Were you there? Sounds like you must be one of our government trained officers that are scared shitless to the point of shooting someone in the back. There was no evidence that he reached for nor displayed a gun, other than The lying yellow belly asshole that actually pulled their triggers.