The trial of Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly — charged with killing an illegal immigrant on his property in 2023 — has ended in a mistrial.
The jury had deliberated on Friday without reaching a verdict and spent Monday deliberating again, according to KSAZ-TV in Phoenix.
“Based upon the jury’s inability to reach a verdict on any count, this case is in mistrial,” Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink said.
🚨#BREAKING: An Arizona Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink has declared a mistrial in the case of the 75-year-old George Alan Kelly, an Arizona rancher who was charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting an illegal alien on his property in 2023. pic.twitter.com/289yoYzph7
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 23, 2024
The mistrial came after 15 hours of deliberations and a monthlong trial.
“They won’t wear me down,” Kelly told reporters afterward, according to the Arizona Republic.
Prosecutors can either refile the case or drop their prosecution of the rancher.
Kelly faced a second-degree murder charge in the death of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48, who had entered the U.S. illegally multiple times and been deported.
Did the judge make the right decision?
The prosecution claimed the rancher fired nine shots at a group of illegal immigrants, while he countered that he fired warning shots in the air.
The bullet that killed Cuen-Buitimea was never recovered.
“I feel like I’ve been in suspension for 15 months, and I’m getting nowhere, and I’m still on that treadmill. We have to wait a little longer,” said Wanda Kelly, Kelly’s wife.
The defendant said he had worried more for his wife than himself.
“Let me go home,” George Alan Kelly speaks after the mistrial was declared. The Mexican Consulate said they hope the state will re-try the case and justice will be served. pic.twitter.com/IDYpaM806C
— Adam Klepp (@AdamKleppAZ) April 23, 2024
The prosecution painted the incident as an aberration from normal behavior Kelly should have exhibited, according to ABC News.
“When you see two unarmed migrants walking southbound beyond two fence lines and you take your AK-47, you walk out and don’t say a word, point it at them and you shoot, would that be what a reasonable person would do in that situation?” prosecutor Mike Jette said. “The answer has to be no.”
The defense said the purposes of the illegal immigrants on Kelly’s property were hardly pure.
#BREAKING George Alan Kelly’s co-counsel Kathy Lowthorp walks out of court after judge declares mistrial—She says it was 7 to 1 for a not guilty verdict—One juror thought he was guilty of 2nd degree murder (or lesser charges to include negligent homicide and manslaughter).
The… pic.twitter.com/LRJBczMowp
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) April 23, 2024
“Long story short, this is simply not somebody who’s looking for the American dream. There’s no evidence that this person is here for those kinds of benign purposes,” defense attorney Brenna Larkin said, according to Fox News.
“And we bring that up, not, you know, to be judgmental about Gabriel or to not have compassion for him,” Larkin said. “But when people are involved in a criminal lifestyle, it’s dangerous. It’s more inherently dangerous than simply being a migrant who’s coming here. So it’s relevant for that reason.”
