Eric Parker is a defendant in the Bundy Ranch trials being held in Las Vegas. He was in the witness box testifying in his own behalf when the Judge interrupted. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro stopped him from talking and struck his words from the record. She then told Parker to step down. This has turned into a “What the hell just happened?” moment and appears to set the stage for a mistrial. This bears watching as the Bundy Ranch group struggles against the United States Government.
Bundy Ranch trial: Carol Bundy speaks | 2:29
As Written By Robert Angelen for AZ Central:
Carol Bundy, in an interview with The Republic, said her husband, sons and others are really being tried for making federal authorities look bad and forcing them to back down in the face of a citizen uprising.
A Las Vegas courtroom erupted in drama Thursday when a federal judge ordered a defendant in the Bundy Ranch standoff trial to get off the stand, struck his testimony, dismissed jurors and abruptly left the bench.
Jurors looked stunned as Eric Parker returned to the defense table with his head hung and then buried his face in his hands, according to lawyers in the case.
“He put his head down on the counsel table and appeared to be crying,” defense lawyer Shawn Perez said. “My observation of the jury was they were looking at everybody in the courtroom and going, ‘What just happened?’ “
Perez, who represents Richard Lovelien of Oklahoma, one of four defendants being retried for their roles in the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff, said everyone in the courtroom — from jurors to lawyers to observers — was stunned into momentary silence.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he told The Arizona Republic in a phone interview Thursday. “It would not surprise me if there is a call for a mistrial.”
Parker, of Idaho, was testifying in his own defense just before 3 p.m., when U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro stopped him from talking and said she was going to strike his words from the record. She then told Parker to step down.
Parker’s lawyer, Jess Marchese of Las Vegas, said he is still trying to wrap his head around what happened, saying he’s never…..
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Bundy retrial drama: Judge scolds defendant, orders him off stand