Tuesday, July 18, 2017

   HIGH PROFILE LAWYER TAPPED TO DEFEND FBI AGENT ACCUSED OF LYING ABOUT SHOTS FIRED WHEN LAVOY FINCIUM WAS KILLED IN OREGON


Reporter Maxine Bernstein of "Oregon Live" tweeted last week that Washington DC lawyer Rob Cary has been admitted to the defense of FBI Agent W. Joseph Astarita.



Astarita is accused of lying about the two shots he fired in the direction of Oregon Standoff protestor LaVoy Finicum at a roadblock that was part of a "felony traffic stop" aimed at arresting the leadership of the non-violent protest.

Finicum was fleeing his truck as Astarita's shots were fired and ended up being shot dead by Oregon State Police who felt "threatened" by his actions.

Cary represented former US Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska in a high profile corruption case and authored a book "Not Guilty: The Unlawful Prosecution of US Senator Ted Stevens".

Earlier this month US District Judge Robert E. Jones in Portland issued a "protective order" to ban the FBI agents defense lawyers from sharing documents because they name FBI agents and Oregon State Police troopers.   Assistant US Attorney Paul Maloney said "threats" have been made against law enforcement involved in the killing of LaVoy Finicum.

"Oregon Live" has also reported that the Oregon shooting team from the Deschutes County Sheriff's Ofiice and the US Justice Department's Office of Inspector General are investigating the four other Hostage Rescue Team agents who were present at Finicum's killing who may have tampered with evidence from the shooting scene.

Astarita's trial is set for August 29th in Portland.

W. Joseph Astaria remains employed by the FBI in an administrative capacity.

Meanwhile, a video has been posted showing vandalism of the memorial at the place where LaVoy Finicum was killed along US Route 395 in Harney County, Oregon.   The poster of the video on  Facebook (Tony Atencio-32K views) says a fire was lit at the site in what he called a controlled burn suggesting "destruction of evidence" at the site.

This would not be the first time memorials to LaVoy Finicum have been vandalized-destroyed there.

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