Arizona Rancher Accused of Killing Migrant Trespasser Will Not Be Retried After Mistrial
Chris Menahan
Prosecutors announced Monday that they will not retry George Alan Kelly, a 75-year-old Arizona rancher accused of fatally shooting a Mexican national who trespassed on his border property in January last year, after his case ended in a mistrial last week with seven out of eight jurors wanting to find him not guilty.
“Because of the unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case, the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office has decided not to seek a retrial,” Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley told [Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink] Monday.
Fink agreed to dismiss the case. He said a hearing would be scheduled later to determine if it would be dismissed with prejudice, which would mean it couldn’t be brought back to court.
Kelly’s defense attorney Brenna Larkin told the judge that she would file a request that the case be dismissed with prejudice.
Kelly’s case was not particularly strong (by modern liberal standards) because he made the mistake of talking with police but I suspect jurors were just sick of the endless prosecution of law-abiding citizens in favor of criminals.
As an Axios poll found last week, the majority of Americans now want mass deportations of illegal aliens.
Is the tide finally turning?
