Prosecutors Refused to Retry Arizona Rancher Accused of Murder

Prosecutors announced on Monday that they will not try the Arizona rancher again. His trial for the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property ended last week with a jury that couldn’t reach a verdict.

The jurors in George Alan Kelly’s trial could not agree on a verdict after more than two days of discussing the case. On April 22, Judge Thomas Fink from Santa Cruz County Superior Court declared a mistrial. Following the mistrial, the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office had two choices: either to retry Kelly or to dismiss the case.

“The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office has decided not to have a new trial because of the special circumstances and difficulties involved in this case,” Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley informed Fink on Monday.

Fink agreed to drop the case. He mentioned that a hearing would be arranged at a later time to decide if the case would be dismissed with prejudice. This would prevent it from being brought back to court. Kelly’s defense attorney, Brenna Larkin, informed the judge that she plans to submit a request to dismiss the case with prejudice.

“We hope that our case will be dismissed with prejudice. We will see how it goes,” Larkin said on Monday, according to CBS affiliate KOLD-TV. “I’m happy that it’s finished.” We obtained the correct outcome. I would have liked it if the verdict was not guilty. Then, this issue would be resolved and they wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

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When a reporter from the Tucson TV station KGUN asked Kelly how he felt outside the courthouse, he said he felt “relief.” “The nightmare is over,” Kelly said. She expressed her sincere sympathy to the victim’s family.

Kelly was followed by protesters who were demonstrating for Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, a 48-year-old man who was shot and killed on January 30, 2023. “Gabriel was a person,” said one sign held by protesters. “Another statement argued that someone who is walking 100 yards away is not dangerous and requested a new trial.”

“I don’t have a problem with punishing Mr. Kelly.” According to protestor Trayce Peterson, it’s important to see the victim as a human being. At the trial, it seemed like the man who was killed was the one being accused.

Kelly, who is 75 years old, had been on trial for almost a month in Nogales, a city located on the border with Mexico. The rancher was accused of committing second-degree murder in a killing that took place outside Nogales, Arizona.

Cuen-Buitimea used to live in Nogales, Mexico, which is located just south of the border. Kelly met a group of men on his cattle ranch that day, and he was among them. Last week, his two adult daughters and Mexican consular officials met with prosecutors to understand what a mistrial means. The Mexican Consulate in Nogales, Arizona, has announced that it will release a statement at a later time.

Prosecutors claimed that Kelly fired nine shots from an AK-47 rifle in the direction of a group of men on his cattle ranch, including Cuen-Buitimea, who were about 100 yards away. They argued that he did so without taking proper care or caution. Kelly claims that he fired shots into the air as a warning, but he insists that he did not aim at anyone directly.

The trial happened at the same time as a year when a lot of people are interested in border security because of the presidential election. During the trial, court officials brought the jurors to Kelly’s ranch and a part of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Kelly had previously declined an agreement with prosecutors. This agreement would have reduced the charge to one count of negligent homicide if he admitted guilt. Kelly was accused of seriously attacking another person in a group of about eight people.