Cliven Bundy vs. Government land management

[HairOfTheDog]

Your armed takeover of Federal property is nationally televised and you get acquitted.

It's really hard to understand how the jury acquitted when there's evidence of the defendants occupying and destroying federal property -- at a cost of $6 million in damages -- on video, in their own words, etc...

What isn't on video, however, is the defendants acknowledging that their actions were illegal. They obviously collaborated to occupy the reserve, but I'm guessing the jury believed their claims that they were simply exercising their first and second amendment rights in protesting what they believed was the illegal Hammonds' imprisonment and the unconstitutional Bureau of Land Mgt policies.

Conspiracy requires illegal intent and the Bundys don't believe all laws apply to them. So, as messed up as it is, the Bundy gang's failure to accept laws of the land may be what permitted them to break the laws of the land in grand fashion and not be held legally accountable in the eyes of a sympathetic jury.

If that was the jury reasoning in this case, it's concerning that "I don't acknowledge the laws or the orders of law enforcement/sheriffs, so I'm not bound to follow them" amounted to a successful defense. Defense attorneys across the country are weighing in and unanimously surprised by this verdict -- lots of talk about jury nullification.

I've also seen some speculation about LE infiltrating the occupation with undercover agents/informants who egged on the assholes (which turned off the jury). But, I don't know if that's based in fact. There was definitely a jury instruction pertaining to the use of undercover informants though.

Anyway, there's a press conference scheduled by the prosecutors at 9 a.m today. I'm interested to hear what they feel went wrong here. Wrong charges, jury nullification, poor prosecutor performance? I'd love to hear directly from jurors as well.