The Latest Horiuchi Antics

[Eric Cordian <emc@wire.insync.net>]

Now that the Feds have gotten the Horuichi case moved out of state
jurisdiction into a federal courtroom, they want their federal judge
to dismiss all charges.
 
-----
 
BOISE, Idaho (AP) The federal government on Monday sought the
dismissal of a state involuntary manslaughter charge against the FBI
sharpshooter who killed Randy Weaver's wife at Ruby Ridge six years
ago.
 
The Justice Department petition filed in federal court argued that Lon
Horiuchi was protected by the Supremacy Clause of the U.S.
Constitution so he cannot be subject to state 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 said.
 
Horiuchi was among dozens of federal agents who surrounded Weaver's
remote mountain cabin in the Idaho Panhandle 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 the gunfight that touched off the
11-day siege. Vicki Weaver was fatally shot by Horiuchi on 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 was also acquitted of the weapons charge that had prompted
federal agents to confront him.
 
Last August, five years to the day after Mrs. Weaver's death,
prosecutor Denise Woodbury filed the involuntary manslaughter charge
against Horiuchi. The Justice Department had earlier declined to
prosecute Horiuchi.
 
The prosecutor also charged Harris with murder in Degan's death, but
that charge was dismissed on a double-jeopardy ruling.
 
On Jan. 7, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge moved the case to federal
court. Horiuchi pleaded innocent. His trial is scheduled for March 10.

-- 
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"
 
 "America is like a corrupt hard drive.  It's full of virii and huge
  inefficient programs written in Java and Visual Basic.  Whan a hard
  drive gets to the point that it is as screwed up as America is, it's 
  beyond repair.  America needs to be formatted."