Arizona judge declares mistrial in the case of a rancher accused of fatally shooting a migrant
PHOENIX — An Arizona judge on Monday granted a mistrial in the case of a rancher accused of fatally shooting a Mexican man on his property near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The decision came after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision after more than two full days of deliberation in the trial of George Alan Kelly, 75, who was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Gabriel Cuen- Buitimea on January 30, 2023. .
“Based on the jury’s inability to reach a verdict on any matter,” Judge Thomas Fink said, “this case is a mistrial.”
The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office can still decide whether Kelly should appear in court again or drop the case altogether.
A status hearing was scheduled for next Monday afternoon, during which prosecutors could inform the judge whether they plan to retry the case. Prosecutors did not immediately respond to emailed requests for additional comment.
Kelly was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 48-year-old Cuen-Buitimea, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico.
Prosecutors said Kelly recklessly fired nine shots from an AK-47 rifle at a group of men, including Cuen-Buitimea, about 300 feet away on his cattle ranch. Kelly has said he fired warning shots into the air but did not shoot anyone directly.
Court officials took jurors to Kelly’s ranch and part of the border. Supreme Court Justice Thomas Fink denied requests from the news media to get involved.
After Monday’s ruling, Consul General Marcos Moreno Baez of the Mexican Consulate in Nogales, Arizona, said he would wait Monday evening with Cuen-Buitimea’s two adult daughters to meet with prosecutors from the Santa Cruz County Prosecutor’s Office to investigate more learn about the consequences of a mistrial. .
“Mexico will continue to monitor the case and guide the family who want justice,” Moreno said. “We hope for a very fair outcome.”
Kelly’s attorney Brenna Larkin did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment after the ruling was issued. Larkin had asked Fink to let the jurors deliberate another day.
Kelly had previously rejected an agreement with prosecutors that would have reduced the charge to one count of negligent homicide if he had pleaded guilty.
Kelly was also charged that day with aggravated assault against another person in the group of about eight people, including a man from Honduras living in Mexico who testified at the trial that he had gone to the U.S. that day in search of work.
The other migrants were not injured and all returned to Mexico.
Cuen-Buitimea lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico. He had previously entered the U.S. illegally several times and was deported, most recently in 2016, court records show.
The nearly month-long trial coincided with a presidential election year that has sparked widespread interest in border security.
Fink had told jurors that if they could not reach a verdict on the second-degree murder charge, they could try to reach a unanimous decision on a lesser charge of reckless manslaughter or negligent homicide. A second-degree murder conviction would have carried a minimum prison sentence of 10 years.
The jury received the case Thursday afternoon, deliberated briefly that day and then throughout Friday and Monday.