Department of Justice internal investigation on Ruby Ridge (Large, 1.1M) The following report is the result of an internal investigation by the Department of Justice into FBI's actions at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in August 1992. The end result of their actions are a dead U.S. Marshall and Vicki and Sammy Weaver killed. Garrity or GJ refers to text deleted under a 1967 Supreme Court ruling (Garrity v. New Jersey) which grants government employees immunity from prosecution in exchange for cooperating with an administrative investigation. Jeff Chan __ TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION A. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B. Significant Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 C. Significant Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 II.ORIGINS OF THE INVESTIGATION AND METHODOLOGY EMPLOYED 9 III. FACTUAL SUMMARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..13 A. The U. S. Marshals Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 B. Federal Bureau of Investigation - Deployment of Hostage Rescue Team 16 C. Rules of Engagement and the Death of Vicki Weaver on August 22 16 D. The Prosecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 A. Investigation of Weaver by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms 21 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2. Statement of Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 a. Early Law Enforcement Contact With Randy Weaver . 21 b. BATF Contact with Weaver . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 c. Sale of Weapons by Weaver to BATF Informant . . . 26 d. Delay in Obtaining Indictment and BATF Efforts to Enlist Weaver as an Informant . . 29 e. Arrest and Arraignment of Weaver on Weapons Charge 31 3. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 a. The Decision of BATF to Target Weaver . . . . . . 32 b. Possible Entrapment by the BATF Informant . . . . 33 c. Delay in Obtaining indictment . . . . . . . . . .35 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 B. The Failure of Weaver to Appear for Trial . . . . . . . 36 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 2. Statement of Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 a. January 18, 1991 Arraignment . . . . . . . . . . .36 b. Events Occurring From the Arraignment Through February 20,1991 38 (1) Communication With Weaver . . . . . . 38 (2) The "Queen of Babylon" Letters and the Threat Assessment by the U.S. Marshals Service 40 c. February 20, 1991 -- The Rescheduled Trial Date. . .44 d. Discovery of the Richins Letter and the Response of the Government 46 e. Decision to Present and Indictment to the Grand Jury 53 f. March 14, 1991 Indictment for Failure to Appear 55 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 a. Government Knowledge of Erroneous Richins Letter Prior to February 20, 1991 57 b. Appropriateness of Governmental Response to the Richins Letter 57 c. Propriety of Seeking an Indictment on March 14, 1991 60 d. [G.J.] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 4. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 C. Efforts by the Marshals Service to Effect the Arrest of Weaver 64 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 2. Statement of Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 a. Involvement of the Marshals Service Special Operations Group 64 b. SOG Reconnaissance and Recommendations . . . . .66 c. Additional Contacts With Intermediaries . . . . .70 d. Exchange of Surrender Teams . . . . . . . . . . .71 e. Post-Negotiation Investigation . . . . . . . . . 73 f. Briefing of the Marshals Service Director . . . .76 g. Development of Three Phase Operational Plan . . .77 (1) Phase I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 (2) Phase II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 (3) Transition to Phase III . . . . . . . . . . .81 h. Delay in Implementing the Undercover Operation ..83 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 a. The Initial Response of the Marshals Service to Weaver's Failure to Appear 83 b. Consideration by Marshals Service of Alternatives to Secure the Arrest of Weaver 85 c. Pressure Exerted on Marshals Service to Arrest Weaver 88 (1) The Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 (2) The Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 (3) The U. S. Attorney's Office . . . . . . . . 91 d. Impact of Delay Pending Hudson Confirmation . . .94 4. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 D. Marshals Service Activities Between August 17 and August 21, 1992 96 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 2. Statement of Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 a. Preparation for Surveillance . . . . . . . . . . 96 b. Trip of August 21, 1992 to Weaver Property. . . 99 c. Shooting at the Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 (1) Account of Cooper and Roderick . . . . . . 109 (2) The OP Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 (3) Account of Weaver and Harris. . . . . . . . 113 d. Events Following the Gunfire. . . . . . . . . . 115 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 a. Alleged Intent of the Marshals to Force a Confrontation with the Weavers 117 (1) The .9 mm Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 (2) "Zeroing" the Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . 120 (3) Presence of a Medic on the Surveillance Team 120 (4) Tossing the Rocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 (5) The Trip to the Lower Garden . . . . . . . .122 b. The Initiation of Gunfire At the Y . . . . . . .122 (1) Witness Accounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 (2) Physical Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 (3) The First Shot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 c. The Shooting of Sammy Weaver . . . . . . . . . .125 d. Allegation the Marshals Attempted to Cover up the Shooting of Sammy Weaver 126 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127 E. Activation of FBI Hostage Rescue Team and SWAT Teams on August 21, 1992 and Initial Intelligence Gathering 128 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 2. Statement of Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 a. The Marshals' Report of the Shooting. . . . . . 128 b. Decision to Deploy the HRT. . . . . . . . . . . 132 c. Initial Intelligence Gathering and Rescue of the Marshals 138 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148 a. The Marshals' Report of the Shooting . . . . . .148 b. Decision to Deploy the HRT. . . . . . . . . . . 150 c. Initial Intelligence Gathering . . . . . . . . .151 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154 F. FBI's Rules of Engagement and Operations on August 21 and August 22, 1992 155 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 2. Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156 a. The Formulation of Rules of Engagement En Route to Idaho on August 21, 1992 156 b. Formulation of the Rules of Engagement and Operations Plan on August 22 163 c. Interpretation of Rules of Engagement by Law Enforcement Personnel 173 d. Deployment of FBI, HRT, SWAT, and U.S. Marshals Services SOG Personnel at Ruby Ridge 184 e. Use of the Helicopter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 f. Placement of HRT Sniper/Observers in Area Surrounding the Weaver Cabin 188 g. Circumstances Involving the Two Rifle Shots Taken by HRT member Lon Horiuchi 189 (1) The First Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 (2) The Second Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 h. Initial Surrender Announcement . . . . . . . . .199 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200 a. FBI Rules of Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 (1) Factors Considered in the Formulation of the Rules of Engagement 200 (2) Approval of the Rules of Engagement. . . . .201 (3) The FBI Standard Policy on the Use of Deadly Force and the Constitutionality of the Rules of Engagement 205 b. Initial Deployment of Law Enforcement Personnel to Ruby Ridge 209 c. The HRT Rifle Shots Fired on August 22, 1992 . .211 (1) The Applicable Standard for Review. . . . . 211 (2) The First Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214 (3) The Second Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 (4) Use of the Helicopter to Draw Subjects out of Cabin 225 (5) Surrender Announcement . . . . . . . . .. . 226 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228 G. FBI Internal Review of HRT Shots Taken on August 22, 1992 229 [OMITTED] 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .229 2. Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . .229 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .232 H. Law Enforcement Operations at Ruby Ridge From August 22,1992 Until August 31, 1992 233 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 2. Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 a. Removal of Law Enforcement Personnel From the Mountain Following Horiuchi's Shots 233 b. Command and Control Structure. . . . . . . . . .234 c. Tactical Operations and Discovery of Sammy Weaver's Body 238 d. Change from Rules of Engagement to the FBI Standard Deadly Force Policy 240 e. Evidence of Vicki Weaver's Death. . . . . . . . 242 f. Initial Steps Toward Negotiation. . . . . . . . 244 g. Continuing Efforts of the FBI Hostage Negotiators 246 h. Efforts of Nongovernmental Negotiations . . . . 248 i. Decisions to Send Howen to Ruby Ridge. . . . . .252 j. Howen's Activities at Ruby Ridge. . . . . . . . 253 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 a. FBI Decision to Remove Law Enforcement Personnel From the Mountain on Saturday Night 258 b. Effectiveness of FBI Control and Command of the Crisis Site 260 c. FBI Attempts to Resolve the Crisis . . . . . . .261 (1) Factors Hindering Negotiations. . . . . . . 261 (2) Balance of Tactical and Negotiation Strategies 263 d. Evidence of Vicki Weaver's Death. . . . . . . . 266 e. Howen's Activities at Ruby Ridge. . . . . . . . 267 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268 I. FBI Crime Scene Investigation. . . . . . . . . . . . .269 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269 2. Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269 a. Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 b. Method of Searching the Y Crime Scene. . . . . .271 (1) Triangulation Not Utilized. . . . . . . . . 274 (2) The "Magic" Bullet. . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 c. Investigation by the FBI's Shooting Incident Review Team 276 d. Searches of the Cabin and Surrounding Area. . . 277 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280 a. Techniques Employed to Locate Evidence. . . . . 280 b. Techniques Used to Record the Location of Evidence 281 c. The "Magic Bullet" and Allegations of Staged Evidence 282 d. Erroneous FBI Diagram of Sniper/Observer Position 283 e. Erroneous Diagram of the Y. . . . . . . . . . . 283 f. Jackie Brown and Cabin Clean Up. . . . . . . . .283 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286 J. The FBI Laboratory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286 2. Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286 a. FBI Laboratory Processing Procedure. . . . . . .286 b. Timeliness and Neglected Tests. . . . . . . . . 287 (1) Degan's Backpack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 (2) Blood and Hair Examinations. . . . . . . . .289 c. Refusal to Perform Tests and Hiring of Independent Experts 292 (1) Refusal to Conduct Test. . . . . . . . . . .292 (2) Shooting Reconstruction. . . . . . . . . . .292 (3) Wound Ballistics and Metal Detection . . . .294 (4) Acoustic Testing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 d. Failure to Comply with Discovery. . . . . . . . 295 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .296 a. Problems with Delays in Test Results. . . . . . 296 b. Failure to Provide Expertise and the Hiring of Independent Experts 299 c. Discovery Demand for Test Firings and Laboratory Notes 300 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 K. The Preliminary Hearings of Weaver and Harris. . . . .301 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301 2. Statement of Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 a. Arrest and Initial Processing of Weaver and Harris 302 b. September 10-11, 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 c. [G.J.]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 (1) [G.J.]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 (2) Beginning of the Harris Preliminary Hearing.309 d. September 16, 1992. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 (1) [G.J.]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 (2) Harris Preliminary Hearing. . . . . . . . . 312 (3) Weaver Preliminary Hearing. . . . . . . . . 315 e. September 17, 1992. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 f. Subsequent Defense Challenges. . . . . . . . . .317 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .319 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324 L. Scope of the Indictment and Alleged Prosecutorial Misconduct Before the Grand Jury 325 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325 2. Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .326 a. Scope of the Indictment: The Conspiracy Count. .326 b. Evidential Support for Certain Overt Acts and Substantive Offenses 331 c. [G.J.]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 d. [G.J.]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 e. [G.J.]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 f. Decision to Seek the Death Penalty. . . . . . . 356 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .359 a. Scope of the Indictment: The Conspiracy Count. .359 b. [G.J.]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 c. [G.J.]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 d. Decision to Seek the Death Penalty. . . . . . . 375 4. Conclusion 377 M. Alleged Problems with the FBI's Participation and Cooperation in the Discovery Process 378 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .378 2. Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .379 a. Defining the Scope of Discovery. . . . . . . . . .379 b. The FBI Response to Discovery Demands. . . . . . .381 c. Attempts to Resolve the Discovery Disputes. . . . 385 (1) Documents at Issue. . . . . . . . . . .385 (2) Negotiations Among the Parties. . . . 388 d. The Defense Subpoena Deuces Tecum For the Shooting Incident Report 394 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .402 a. FBI Resistance to USAO Discovery Requests. . . .402 b. Problems With Producing the Complete Shooting Incident Report and Supporting Materials 407 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .413 N. Alleged Problems With the Participation of the FBI in Case Preparation and Its Relationship With Other Members of the Trial Preparation Team 415 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415 2. Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415 a. Defining the Structure of the Trial Team and the Role and Responsibilities of the Individual Members 415 (1) The Lead Agency Concept and the Initial Disagreement Regarding the Interviewing of Witnesses in Iowa 415 (2) The Decision to Assign Members of the Marshals Service and BATF to Assist in Case Preparation 420 (3) The First Team Meeting. . . . . . . . 426 b. Specific Problems in Case Preparation Interviews Conducted by the Marshals Service and BATF Agents 427 (1) Interviews Conducted by the Marshals Service and BATF Agents 427 (2) Acoustical Test. . . . . . . . . . . . 433 (3) Cooperation and Trust Among Trial Team Members 434 (i) Historical Problems in the Working Relationship Between the USAO andthe FBI 437 (ii) Problems in the Working Relationship Among Team Members 439 (4) Attempts to Interview FBI Officials at Headquarters 445 3. Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .448 a. Decision to Have the Marshals Service and BATF Assist in Case Preparation 448 b. The Iowa Interviews and the Failure to Document the Results 449 c. Acoustical Experiment at Ruby Ridge. . . . . . . .451 d. Attempts to Interview FBI Officials. . . . . . . .453 e. Relationship Among the Investigative Team. . . . .454 4. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .455 O. Alleged Failure of USAO to Notify the Defense of Brady Material and Other Important Information 456 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .456 2. Statement of Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .456 a. Defense Subpoenas for FBI and Marshals Service Manuals and Personnel Files 456 b. Financial Compensation of Informant Fadeley . . 466 c. Late Production of the Calley Notes . . . . . . 473 d. Neal Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .477 e. The L-1 Bullet and L Bullet Photographs . . . . 482 f. The Late Production of the Shooting Incident Report and Supporting Materials and the October 26, 1993 Court Order 488 3. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491 a. Response of the Government to the Defense Subpoenas for FBI and Marshals Service Manuals and Personnel Files 456 b. Failure to Disclose Financial Compensation Arrangement with Informant Fadeley c. Late Production of the Calley Notes . . . . . . 473 d. Late Disclosure of the Neal Interview. . . . . .477 e. The L Bullet Photographs . . . . . . . . . . . .482 4. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503 V. RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505 VI. CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509 VII. IDENTIFICATION OF PARTICIPANTS . . . . . . . . . . . .528 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORT ON INTERNAL REVIEW REGARDING THE RUBY RIDGE HOSTAGE SITUATION AND SHOOTINGS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A. Overview In February 1993, the Office of Professional Responsibility ("OPR") of the U.S. Department of Justice (the "Department") was informed of allegations made by defense counsel for Randall ("Randy") Weaver and Kevin Harris in the criminal case of United States v. Weaver which was pending in the federal district court in Idaho. Defense counsel alleged that employees of several components of the Department had engaged in criminal and professional misconduct during the investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris. The Department decided to defer action on this matter until the criminal trial was completed. In July 1993, a jury acquitted Weaver and Harris of charges stemming from the murder of a federal officer. Following the acquittal, numerous additional allegations wereraised by defense counsel an other sources against the Bureau ofAlcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ("BATF"), the U.S. Marshals Service ("Marshals Service") , the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI" or "Bureau") and the U.S> Attorney's Office for the District of Idaho ("USAO"). Included among these allegations were claims that Department employees had unlawfully caused the deaths of Sammy and Vicki Weaver, had taken actions that had obstructed justice, had committed perjury and had engaged in other criminal and ethical misconduct. In late July 1993, attorneys from OPR and the Criminal Division of the Department, assisted by inspectors form the FBI, began an investigation of these allegations. This report details the results of this investigation and traces chronologically the events that occurred in the Weaver matter. The early sections of the report focus on Weaver's sale of illegal firearms to a BATF informant, BATF's unsuccessful attempt to enlist Weaver as an informant, the subsequent governmental delay in seeking an indictment on the firearms violations, and Weaver's arrest on weapons charges followed by his subsequent failure to appear for trial on those charges. Another area of investigative inquiry focuses on the efforts of the Marshals Service to apprehend Weaver. These efforts culminated in the August 21, 1992 gun battle at Ruby Ridge which took the lives of Deputy Marshal William Degan and Weaver's son, Sammy Weaver. Next, the report contains a discussion of the involvement of the FBI in the Weaver matter, including its initial intervention in the crisis, its responsibility for the death of Vicki Weaver and wounding of Kevin Harris on August 22, 1992, its handling of the crisis including its attempts to end the week-long standoff, its handling of the crime scene searches and its subsequent activities in assisting the USAO in preparing the Weaver case for trial. Finally, the last section of the report addresses the handling by the USAO and the investigative agencies of the prosecution of Weaver and Harris including representation made by the U.S. Attorney to the court prior to the beginning of Harris' preliminary hearing, the conduct of the Assistant U.S. Attorney before the grand jury and the untimely disclosure of critical information to the defense. We found that many of the allegations of misconduct were not supported by the evidence. However, we did find merit in some of the more serious charges. As a result, we have asked that the appropriate component of the Department examine for prosecutive merit the conduct of the FBI sniper/observer who fired the shots on August 22, 1992. In addition, because our investigation indicated that Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Howen took certain questionable actions during the investigation and prosecution of the Weaver case, we have recommended that the Executive Office for United States Attorneys examine our analysis of his conduct and take whatever administrative action it deems appropriate. Finally, we have formulated a series of recommendations that address the problems that we reviewed or uncovered during our investigation. B. Significant Findings In October 1989, Randy Weaver sold illegal weapons to a BATF informant. When BATF agents later attempted to enlist Weaver as an informant in their investigation of the Aryan Nations, Weaver refused to cooperate. Seven months later, the government indicted Weaver for the illegal weapons sales. We have found no evidence to support the claim that BATF targeted Weaver because of his religious or political beliefs. Similarly, we found insufficient evidence to sustain the charge that Weaver was illegally entrapped into selling the weapons. When Weaver was arraigned on the weapons charges in January 1991, he was told that his trial would commence on February 19, 1991. Two weeks later, the court clerk notified the parties that the trial date had been changed to February 20, 1991. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Probation Office sent Weaver a letter which incorrectly referenced his trial date as March 20, 1991. After Weaver failed to appear for trial on February 20, the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. Three weeks later, on March 14, a federal grand jury indicted Weaver for his failure to appear for trial. We found that: the government, especially the USAO, was unnecessarily rigid in its approach to the issues created by the erroneous letter; that the USAO improvidently sought an indictment before March 20, 1991; [G.J.] From February 1991 through August 1992, the Marshals Service was involved in efforts to apprehend Weaver to stand trial for the weapons charges and for his failure to appear fortrial. These efforts included gathering information about Weaver and developing a plan to arrest him. Base on information that it collected, the Marshals Service learned that for many years Weaver had made statements about his intent to violently confront federal law enforcement officials. As a result, the Marshals Service concluded that Weaver intended to resist violently governmental attempts to arrest him. Thereafter, the Marshals Service investigated and carefully considered alternatives that would enable it to arrest Weaver without endangering his family or law enforcement personnel. It concluded that an undercover operation would be the most prudent way to proceed. In August 1992, six marshals travelled to an area in northern Idaho known as Ruby Ridge to conduct surveillance of the Weaver residence in preparation for the undercover operation. During the surveillance mission, the Weaver dog discovered the marshals and began to bark. The marshals retreated with the dog, Harris, Randy Weaver and his son, Sammy Weaver, and other family members in pursuit. At an area known as the "Y," a gun battle occurred in which Deputy Marshal Degan and Sammy Weaver were killed. We conclude that the marshals took a measured approach in developing a plan to apprehend Weaver. Throughout the 18 month period that the marshals were responsible for apprehending Weaver, they carefully devised a plan intended to pose the least amount of risk to Weaver, his family, and the marshals. At no time did we find that it was the intent of the marshals to force a confrontation with Weaver or his family. Although some may question the expenditures of manpower and resources by the Marshals Service during this 18 month period, we believe that institutional pressure created by the existence of a bench warrant and an indictment, left the Marshals Service with little choice but to proceed as it did. Moreover, the USAO did little to assist the Marshals Service in this matter. Indeed, during the first part of this process the USAO thwarted the efforts of the Director of the Marshals Service to focus the court on the danger involved in making the arrest and incorrectly terminated efforts by the Marshals Service to negotiate with Weaver through intermediaries. With regard to the responsibility for the deaths that occurred at the Y, the marshals assert that Harris initiated the fire fight when he shot Deputy Marsha Degan while Weaver and Harris claim that the marshals fired the first shots. After a thorough review of all of the evidence made available to us, we have been unable to determine conclusively who fired the first shot during the exchange of gunfire. Although there is evidence that one of the marshals shot Sammy Weaver during the exchange of gunfire, we found no proof that the shooting of the boy was anything other than an accident. In fact, the evidence indicates that the marshals did not know that Sammy Weaver had been killed or wounded until his body was discovered by the FBI in a shed outside the Weaver cabin two days later. Nor did wediscover any evidence indicating that the marshals attempted to cover up their roles in the incident or that they exaggerated the events to cause a more drastic FBI response than was appropriate. Soon after learning of the August 21 incident at Ruby Ridge, the FBI officials in Washington, D.C. evaluated the information made available to them and decided to deploy its Hostage Rescue Team ("HRT") to Idaho to deal with the crisis. HRT members assumed their position around the Weaver compound late in the afternoon of August 22, 1992 but before doing so they were instructed that their conduct was to be governed by specially formulated Rules of Engagement ("Rules"). These Rules instructed the HRT snipers that before a surrender announcement was made they could and should shoot all armed adult males appearing outside the cabin. Operating under these Rules on August 22, an FBI sniper/observer fired two shots in quick succession. The first shot was at an armed adult male whom he believed was bout to fire at a HRT helicopter on an observation mission. The first shot wounded Randy Weaver while in front of a building at the Weaver compound known as the birthing shed. The second shot was fired at Harris while Harris was retreating into the Weaver cabin. The second shot seriously wounded Harris and killed Vicki Weaver who was behind the cabin door. Following this shooting incident FBI officials spent the next eight days attempting to convince Weaver and Harris to surrender to federal authorities. Finally, due largely to the efforts of nongovernmental negotiators, Harris and Weaver surrendered on August 30 and August 31 respectively. Thereafter, the FBI completed its searches of the cabin and surrounding areas. During the following month, the FBI also conducted an internal review of the shooting incident to determine if the sniper had responded appropriately. Our review found numerous problems with the conduct of the FBI at Ruby Ridge. Although we concluded that the decision to deploy the HRT to Ruby Ridge was appropriate and consistent with Department policy, we do not believe that the FBI's initial attempts at intelligence gathering at the scene were sufficiently thorough. We also found serious problems with the terms of the Rules of Engagement in force at Ruby Ridge. Certain portions of these Rules not only departed from the FBI's standard deadly force policy but also contravened the Constitution of the United States. In addition, we found these Rules to be imprecise and believe that they may have created an atmosphere that encouraged the use of deadly force thereby having the effect of contributing to an unintentional death. With regard to the two shots fired on August 22, we concluded that the first shot met the standard of "objective reasonableness" the Constitution requires for the legal use of deadly force but that the second shot did not satisfy that standard. It is our conclusion that the sniper/observer who took the second shot intended to shoot Kevin Harris but accidentally killed Vicki Weaver whom he did not see behind the curtained door. We also found the internal FBI review of the shooting incident has not been sufficiently thorough and reached incorrect conclusions about the second shot. Our examination of the command and control of the crisis by the FBI, found numerous shortcomings. These shortcomings included initial inadequacies in utilizing negotiating personnel, communicating with FBI Headquarters, documenting decisions and securing the site. During and after the crisis, the crime scenes were searched by many law enforcement officials under the direct supervision of the FBI. We found the FBI's handling of the crime scene searches to be inadequate including its failure to use basic crime scene techniques in collecting evidence. Furthermore, the general disorganization and inexperience of some of the participants coupled with inaccuracies in the searches adversely affected the prosecution and contributed to the negative impression of the government generated during the trial. We found no evidence that these deficiencies were intentional or that the FBI staged evidence for the prosecution's benefit. Shortly after their arrest, separate preliminary hearings were held for Weaver and Harris. While arguing the government's motion requesting a continuance of the Harris preliminary hearing, U.S. Attorney Ellsworth made statements indicating that the government would allow Harris to have a complete preliminary hearing in return or consenting to the continuance. Thereafter, Harris consented to the continuance with the understanding that he would have a full preliminary hearing. An indictment was returned against Harris while his preliminary hearing was in progress. We have found that the U.S. Attorney did not intentionally misrepresent the government's position but that he failed to appreciate the impact of his statements and that he neglected to pay sufficient attention to the information that the received concerning the probably length of the preliminary hearing. After the first indictments were returned against Weaver and Harris, the Assistant U.S. Attorney continued to present evidence to the grand jury which led to the return of two superseding indictments, each containing a conspiracy count. We found these conspiracy counts to be overly broad and to contain some overt acts for which there was insufficient evidence. [G.J.] Later the USAO decided to seek the death penalty against Weaver and Harris even though the applicable federal appellate court had held that the offense charged could not constitutionally support the imposition of a death sentence. We have concluded that the decision to seek the death penalty, although made in good faith, gave the appearance that the government was overreaching. From the moment that the USAO began to prepare the case for trial, it met with resistance from the FBI. This resistance took many forms, all of which served to make preparation of the case more difficult. The FBI continuously opposed actions of the prosecutors requested to prepare the case for trial, ranging from having the case agents conduct out-of state interviews to enlisting agents from other agencies to help prepare the case. The FBI, which wanted to be the only agency or, at a minimum, the lead agency on the case, resisted working as a coequal member of the prosecution team. Furthermore, when the USAO sought advice and assistance from the FBI Laboratory they met with unjustified delays and resistance that created discord within the team and disrupted trial preparation. These problems contributed to the USAO's decision to retain private forensic experts. In addition, the FBI unjustifiably delayed producing materials to the USAO that were needed for trial preparation and that were clearly discoverable under federal law and the discovery stipulation signed by the parties. This action unreasonably delayed the availability of these materials for trial preparation and for discovery. Particularly at the headquarters level, we found that the FBI's efforts to locate and produce discoverable documents to be disorganized and incomplete. The late production during trial of materials associated with the FBI Shooting Incident Report negatively affected the court's and the jury's perception of the government and the government's case. In addition, the delays in discovery caused by the disorganization of and mistakes committed by the FBI Laboratory contributed to the delay of the trial and to the perception that the government was uncooperative and not being totally forthcoming. However, the FBI was not alone in failing to make timely disclosure of critical information to the defense. The USAO was also responsible for not promptly revealing certain important information to the defense. Although in some instances we found these tardy disclosures to be unjustified or negligent, we do not believe that they were improperly motivated or taken intentionally to obstruct the Weaver trial. C. Significant Recommendations As the result of our investigation, we have made seven broad recommendations. First, we recommend that all federal law enforcement officers be governed by a standard deadly force policy and that the Department of Justice be responsible for developing such a policy. in addition to specifying clearly the circumstances in which deadly force may be used, the policy should define the occasions in which special Rules of Engagement may be implemented and the process by which such rules should be approved. Second, we recommend that a crisis response team, including specially trained crisis managers, be available to respond to crises. In addition, we endorse the proposal to include specially trained prosecutors to provide legal support to tactical teams when needed. We also propose periodic joint training exercises by the various federal and local law enforcement agencies which are responsible for responding to crisis situation. Third, we recommend that a panel comprised of representatives from federal law enforcement agencies, including an attorney form the Department of Justice, be created to examine the internal reviews that law enforcement agencies conduct after shooting incidents occur. This examination would focus on the thoroughness and prosecutive merit of the internal review. Fourth, we recommend that FBI field offices that do not have a team in place to recover evidence after major hostage/barricade crises like Ruby Ridge request the assistance of the Evidence Response Team at FBI Headquarters. We further recommend that procedures be adopted to improve the coordination between the FBI Laboratory and the federal prosecutors and that and examination be done of the FBI procedures regarding the memorializing of interviews. Sixth, we recommend that all U.S. Attorneys' Offices institute a review process for indictments, at least for significant cases. Finally, we recommend that our findings concerning the events surrounding the shooting of Vicki Weaver on August 22, 1992 be referred to the appropriate component of the Department of Justice to assess prosecutive merit. In addition, we recommend that our analysis of the conduct of Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Howen be referred to the Executive Office for United States Attorneys for whatever administrative action it deems appropriate. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. ORIGINS OF THE INVESTIGATION AND METHODOLOGY EMPLOYED In February 1993, the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice (the "Department") informed the Office of Professional Responsibility ("OPR") of allegations of professional misconduct and criminal wrongdoing by agents of the U.S. Marshals Service ("Marshals Service"), the Federal Bureau of Investigations ("FBI"), the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Idaho ("USAO"), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ("BATF"), stemming from their involvement in the investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris. Because Weaver and Harris were awaiting trial, OPR in conformity with its normal policy of avoiding interfering with the criminal process, postponed its inquiry until the litigation had concluded. Following the jury verdict in July 1993, OPR began its inquiry. OPR was aware of numerous allegations of impropriety, some of which had been raised in defense pleadings and many others that arose during and immediately after trial. Allegations by various people and groups -- the media, the trial court, the United States Attorney's Office, the FBI, and U.S. Senator Larry Craig of Idaho, as well as the public -- suggested the personnel of the United States government had engaged in willful misconduct, including obstruction of justice, perjury , and other criminal and ethical violations. As a result, it became apparent that the scope of inquiry needed to be broader than merely issues that had been raised at trial by the defense. Attorney General Janet Reno announced that the inquiry would include a complete and thorough review of the Weaver case from its inception to the conclusion of the criminal trial. OPR was to conduct this inquiry with investigative support from the FBI. On July 26, 1993, Michael E. Shaheen, Jr., Counsel in the Office of Professional Responsibility detailed the role of OPR and the FBI in the inquiry in a letter to David G. Binney, Assistant Director of the FBI's Inspection Division. Concerns had been raised about the FBI's ability to be objective and to investigate alleged misconduct by its own agents. Some who had participated in the Weaver investigation and prosecution and had experienced a decided lack of harmony in their working relationship with the FBI, opposed the Bureau's involvement in the investigation. However, OPR's experience with the FBI in investigations in which the FBI was the subject -- including an investigation of its own Director -- demonstrated that the Bureau could be objective under OPR's supervision. Furthermore, the broad scope of the Weaver inquiry and the need for FBI expertise suggested that the Bureau be included in the inquiry. From the beginning of the investigation OPR attorneys established that they would control the investigation, analyze the information gathered, and make finding and recommendations. The FBI's role was limited to assisting in gathering facts and conducting interviews. The FBI was not to make findings, conclusions, or recommendations. Due to the expansive scope of the inquiry, former Deputy Attorney General Philip Heymann assigned four attorneys from the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice to assist OPR. It was decided that the review would cover: the conduct of the Marshals Service in its investigation of Randy Weaver from its inception to the conclusion of the trial; the actions of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team ("HRT") during the siege of the Weaver residence; the handling of evidence by the FBI Laboratory and its effect on the Weaver trial; and the conduct of the U.S. Attorney's Office in investigating and prosecuting the Weaver case. OPR contacted the Department of Treasury ("DOT"), which had also received complaints about BATF's conduct and agreed that its Inspector General's Office would investigate that matter. However, it was understood that OPR would address those elements of the BATF investigation that affected the Weaver case and involved Department of Justice employees. To that end, OPR invited DOT to participate in interviews relevant to its investigation and to review material -- other than grand jury testimony -- that would assist its inquiry. Although DOT is preparing a report of its investigation, this report discusses issues involving BATF that affected the Weaver matter. The FBI initially assigned 15 Inspectors and two administrative support personnel to the Ruby Ridge Inspection Team to work with the five DOJ attorneys. During the first phase of the inquiry, the team developed an investigative focus, established a management system, and attempted to identify, through research and selected interviews, the issues to be addressed. By August 1993, the team had determined the background interviews that needed to be conducted and had identified documents that needed to be reviewed, including case files and supporting materials form the Marshals Service, the USAO, and the FBI. Initially, the investigators used a research system consistent with a typical FBI investigation. However, they soon realized that a thorough review of the Weaver matter would benefit from the support of the FBI's Rapid Start team of the Information Resources Division of FBI Headquarters. Rapid Start is a mobile group of FBI employees who provide information management services to major cases. The Rapid Start team developed an automated case management system to assist the investigators in capturing, storing and retrieving information. The team also assisted the investigation in tracking leads and with document control. As Phase I of the investigation entered its final stages, it became apparent that the volume of material to be reviewed and the broad scope of the inquiry would require more personnel and time than had originally been contemplated. A decision was made to increase the size of the investigative team. Thus, when Phase II of the investigation began on September 21, 1993, the Ruby Ridge Inspection Team was doubled in size to include two full-time Inspectors, 26 Assistant Inspectors, and 10 support personnel. Phase II was the investigative phase of the project. The inspectors were divided into the four teams. The first team was responsible for issues involving BATF and the Marshals Service. The second and third teams focused on the FBI role in the case including the FBI Laboratory, the FBI's handling of the crime scene, and the actions of the FBI HRT and its Rules of Engagement. The last team examined the actions of the USAO throughout its involvement in the Weaver matter. Each team was comprised of a DOJ Attorney, an inspection team leader, and five or six inspectors. The inspectors were encouraged to coordinate their inquiry with the DOJ attorney. Many interviews involved witnesses who had knowledge of issues being investigated by more than one team. In those instances, inspectors from the other teams either attended the interview, scheduled separate interviews, or submitted preliminary questions to determine whether an additional interview was necessary. The FBI inspectors and DOJ attorneys conducted over 370 interviews of persons involved in the Ruby Ridge incident, including personnel of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, the USAO, the Department of Justice, as well as members of the federal judiciary and nongovernmental witnesses.[FN1] The interviews were conducted throughout the United States and, in some instances, supplemental interviews were conducted for clarification. Although the majority of the interviews were conducted by FBI inspectors, virtually all significant interviews were conducted jointly by FBI inspectors and DOJ attorneys. In addition, thousands of pages of records and files were reviewed. Before the interview process began, DOJ and FBI personnel developed a witness notification form describing the scope and purpose of the inquiry. Each witness executed this form before being interviewed. In addition, witnesses were asked to execute waiver forms before statements were taken. In some instances, interviewees were represented by counsel or declined to volunteer information, instead relying on earlier sworn testimony or statements. On November 8, 1993, then Deputy Attorney General Philip Heymann responded to renewed objections to the investigative role of the FBI in the inquiry. Heymann received the assurance of the attorneys in charge of the inquiry that they could accommodate interviewees who requested interviews outside the presence of the FBI. The attorneys assured these interviewees that the FBI was assisting them in gathering facts but that the final report and its conclusion and recommendations would originate from the DOJ attorneys. However, these interviewees were advised that a record of their interviews would be given to the FBI to assist its inquiry. In addition, we cautioned all those interviewed that the Attorney General might release a version of our final report to the public and, therefore, we could not assure their confidentiality. On January 19, 1994, the FBI investigators submitted their report of factual finding to the DOJ attorneys. Following the receipt of the FBI report, the DOJ attorneys completed their review of all pertinent materials and wrote a report analyzing the many allegations. The original team of lawyers was assisted by two attorneys from the Criminal Division who provided additional research and analysis. In addition, another OPR attorney assisted in the final stages of the preparation of this report. This report was structured to be read in its entirety or in isolated sections. The Factual Summary, Chronology, and the Identification of Participants sections are intended to provide a general overview of significant events, which will assist the reader in understanding the detailed discussions that follow. Specific topics are generally arranged in chronological order and contain detailed discussions of the relevant facts, the issues raised and the finding made. Finally, we conclude with a section which sets forth recommendations, most of which are designed to anticipate and avoid the kinds of problems subject to this inquiry. An Appendix accompanies this report, but because of the volume of source material used in this inquiry, it includes only the most significant documents. FOOTNOTES FOR SECTION II. ORIGINS OF THE INVESTIGATION AND METHODOLOGY EMPLOYED 1. The following groups of people were interviewed: 52 FBI HRT members, 60 Marshalls Service Special Operations Group personnel, 41 FBI Special Weapons and Tactics Team members, three BATF agents, eight Marshal Service management personnel, 15 Marshals Service personnel directly involved in the Ruby Ridge crisis, ten FBI Headquarters personnel, four FBI negotiators, 43 Idaho State Police members, 26 members of other agencies, 31 FBI field office personnel, 17 FBI Laboratory personnel, and 30 other persons involved with the prosecution, including personnel from the U.S. Probation Office and the U.S. Attorney's office. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. FACTUAL SUMMARY A. THE U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE In January 1985, the U.S. Secret Service investigated allegations that Randy Weaver had made threats against the President and other government and law enforcement officials. The Secret Service was told that Weaver was associated with the Aryan Nations, a white supremacist group, and that he had a large cache of weapons and ammunition. Weaver had spoken of the world's ending in two years "when [his] home will be under siege and assaulted." Secret Service agents interviewed Weaver, who denied the allegations. No charges were filed. In February 1985, Weaver and his wife, Vicki, filed an affidavit with the county clerk, giving "legal and official notice that [he] believe[d] [he] may have to defend [him]self and [his] family from physical attack on [his] life" by the FBI. Weaver came to the attention of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ("BATF") in July 1986, when a BATF informant was introduced to him at a World Aryan Congress. The informant met Weaver several times over the next three years. In July 1989, Weaver invited the informant to his home to discuss forming a group to fight the "Zionist Organized Government," referring to the U.S. Government. Three months later, Weaver sold the informant two "sawed-off" shotguns. In June 1990, BATF agents approached Weaver to persuade him to become an informant. Weaver refused to become a "snitch," and he was indicted for manufacturing and possessing an unregistered firearm. A warrant was issued for his arrest. BATF concluded that it would be too dangerous for the arresting agents and the Weaver children to arrest Weaver at his mountaintop residence. Instead, in January 1991, BATF agents, posing as stranded motorists, surprised Weaver and his wife when they stopped to offer assistance. Weaver told the arresting agents "nice trick; you'll never do that again." Weaver was arraigned and was released on a personal recognizance bond. A trial date was set for February 19, 1991.Shortly thereafter, Weaver's wife, Vicki, sent the U.S. Attorney's Office two letters addressed to the servants of the Queen of Babylon, which asserted that "[t]he tyrants blood will flow" and "[w]hether we live or whether we die, we will not bow to your evil commandments." A U.S. Probation Officer sent Weaver a letter incorrectly referring to a March 20 trial date. Weaver did not appear for the February trial, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. On March 14, 1991, Weaver was indicted for failure to appear for trial. The matter was referred to the U.S. Marshals Service, which learned that Weaver had attended Aryan World Congresses and that he and his family were constantly armed. Weaver sent a letter to the local sheriff, stating the he would not leave his cabin and that law enforcement officers would have to take him out. The Weavers "felt as though the end [was] near." Weaver was quoted as threatening to shoot law enforcement officers, who came to arrest him. Weaver and his family remained in a cabin, atop an isolated mountain. Between March 1991 and August 1992, the marshals undertook a series of efforts to convince Weaver to surrender. They also made plans to arrest Weaver without harm to law enforcement officers or the Weaver family, particularly the children. The marshals exchanged messages with Weaver through intermediaries, until the U.S. Attorney directed that all communications go through Weaver's appointed counsel (with whom Weaver would not speak). Teams from the Marshals Service Special Operations Group ("SOG") conducted surveillance of the Weavers' mountaintop property to devise methods to take Weaver into custody safely. Surveillance cameras were installed and aerial photographs were taken of the property. The marshals observed that Weaver and his children responded to approaching persons and vehicles by taking armed positions over the driveway leading to the Weaver cabin. During this period, Weaver continued to make statements that he would not surrender peacefully and that his family was prepared to defend him. The Director of the Marshals Service ordered that no action be taken that could endanger the Weaver children. In the Spring of 1992, the marshals developed an undercover plan to arrest Weaver away from his cabin and family. A surveillance team of six marshals went to the mountains on August 21, 1992 to look for places to station cover teams for the operation. Toward the end of the surveillance mission, one of the Weaver's dogs began to chase three of the marshals. Marshals stationed at an observation post saw Kevin Harris, an associate of Randy Weaver, Weaver, his thirteen year old son Sammy, and Weaver's daughters, follow the dog. All were carrying firearms. The marshals retreated. As they approached an intersection of trails known as the "Y," they saw Randy Weaver coming down the trail. They identified themselves and told him to halt, but he turned and ran back up the trail. The dog caught up with Deputy Marshal Cooper. He held the dog at bay with his firearm, but did not shoot for fear of provoking the Weavers. An exchange of gunfire occurred moments later, resulting in the death of Deputy Marshal William Degan, Sammy Weaver, and the dog. According to the marshals, the fire fight began when Degan and Deputy Marshal Cooper rose to identify themselves. Kevin Harris wheeled and fired at Degan with a 30.06 rifle. Cooper returned fire and thought he hit Harris, though he had not. Cooper turned his weapon toward Sammy Weaver, but did not fire. Deputy Marshal Roderick, who was further down the path, heard a shot from his left. Roderick could not see anyone other than Weaver's dog, which was heading in the direction Randy Weaver had gone. When the first shot was fired, the dog turned its head toward the marshals. Roderick feared that the dog would turn and attack him or lead Weaver, Harris, and the others to the marshals. Roderick fired at the dog, killing him. Sammy Weaver then shot at Roderick, and Roderick dove into the woods. Roderick later found a bullet hole through his shirt, though he was not wounded. Cooper heard the shots to his right. He rose and fired a three-round burst to provide cover fire for himself so that he could get to Degan, who called for help. Following the last shots, Cooper saw Sammy Weaver run out of view up the trail to the Weaver cabin. He did not think that he had hit the boy. Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris claimed that they did not know what the dog was chasing, though there is evidence to the contrary. They said that they thought they were pursuing a large animal. They asserted that the first shot fired at the Y was Roderick's attack on the dog, that Sammy fired at Roderick in retaliation, and that Degan and Cooper then shot at Sammy. Harris maintained that the marshals did not identify themselves until the shooting had ended and that he shot Degan to defend Sammy. Soon after the shooting, the three marshals, who had been at the observation post, ran to the Y. They came under fire along the way. One marshal, a medic, treated Degan, without success. Shortly thereafter, the marshals heard a barrage of gunfire, followed by screaming and crying. After a brief time, two marshals left the hill to seek help. The three surviving marshals maintained their positions out of fear that, if they moved, they would be shot at. They also refused to leave without the body of the slain marshal. They did not receive additional fire, though in the hours that followed they heard shots when an airplane flew overhead. B. Federal Bureau of Investigation - Deployment of Hostage Rescue Team As soon as the U.S. Marshals Service received word of Marshal Degan's death and the ongoing situation at Ruby Ridge, they sought and received FBI assistance. The FBI had primary jurisdiction for assaults on federal officers, and its Hostage Rescue Team ("HRT") is seen as uniquely skilled for crises. FBI and Marshals Service Headquarters immediately activated command centers to coordinate communications. Special Agent Eugene Glenn was assigned the command and began to arrange for the personnel and equipment required for the crisis. Concurrently, state and local law enforcement and a few FBI agents who were in the immediate area came to the scene and began securing the area. The rescue of the marshals was delayed until after dark. A team led by the Idaho State Police reached the marshals at approximately 11:30 p.m., more than twelve hours after the shooting. The rescue effort was ongoing when Glenn arrived and deployed FBI SWAT teams to secure the command post's perimeter. He planned to maintain the status quo until the HRT had arrived. Local law enforcement continued to guard the access road as a crowd of sympathizers and onlookers gathered. The marshals were successfully removed from the mountain without additional gun fire. Once rescued, they were examined at a hospital and transported to a command post where they were given food and allowed to rest. FBI agents interviewed the marshals, starting the following afternoon. C. Rules of Engagement and the Death of Vicki Weaver on August 22 While the rescue of the marshals was underway, the HRT advance team was en route to Idaho with the Associate Director of the Marshals Service, who briefed then about Weaver's background, his failure to appear for trial, the underlying weapons charge, and his professed desire to confront the federal government. During the flight, HRT Commander Rogers and FBI Associate Director Potts drafted special Rules of Engagement to address the danger they perceived. When the HRT arrived in Idaho, Rogers briefed them on the situation and the proposed Rules of Engagement. They established a command site, flew reconnaissance missions, and began to make plans to address the crisis. On the afternoon of the shooting, the U.S. Attorney's Office obtained a search warrant and complaints for Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris's arrest on charges relating the the death of Marshal Degan. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Howen, who was assigned to the case, went to the site. Howen remained until Weaver and Harris surrendered a week later. Howen took no role in developing the Rules of Engagement or drafting operations plans, but he did participate in crime scene searches, interviews, and negotiations. The Boundary County prosecutor was also present during most of the crisis but was not involved in the operations planning. According to the HRT plan, communication with the occupants of the Weaver cabin, including a surrender demand, was to take place using armored personnel carriers, which would deliver a telephone to the cabin site. The HRT was concerned that the Weavers or sympathizers might be hiding in the woods and planning an ambush. Therefore, teams of HRT sniper/observers were stationed overlooking the cabin before the carrier drove up the hill. Although FBI headquarters had not approved a tactical operations plan, permission was granted to begin negotiations with the Weavers when HRT agents arrived at their positions. At 3:30 p.m. on August 22, HRT sniper/observers, along with members of the Marshals Service SOG, began their ascent to the cabin. Before their departure, they were briefed on the Rules of Engagement, which provided that: 1. If any adult male is observed with a weapon prior to the announcement, deadly force can and should be employed, if the shot can be taken without endangering any children. 2. If any adult in the compound is observed with a weapon after the surrender announcement is made, and is not attempting to surrender, deadly force can and should be employed to neutralize the individual. 3. If compromised by any animal, particularly the dogs, that animal should be eliminated. 4. Any subjects other than Randall Weaver, Vicki Weaver, Kevin Harris, presenting threats of death or grievous bodily harm, the FBI rules of deadly force are in effect. Deadly force can be utilized to prevent the death or grievous bodily injury to oneself or that of another. No shots had been fired since the previous day, but, while the HRT members were moving to positions overlooking the cabin, other observers reported to FBI headquarters that the subjects were outside the cabin. FBI Headquarters reminded the field commander that the Rules of Engagement would apply. By 5:45 p.m., the sniper/observers reached their positions. The engines of the personnel carriers at the command post below were audible. An unarmed, young female ran from the cabin to a rocky outcropping and returned to the cabin. Within a minute, an unarmed male was seen on the cabin's back deck. About ten minutes later, a helicopter carrying HRT personnel began an observation mission. When the helicopter's engine was started, the female seen earlier and two males ran from the cabin to the outcropping. The last person to emerge was carrying a rifle. Sniper/observer Horiuchi identified him as Kevin Harris. A few seconds later Horiuchi saw a person he believed to be Harris near an outbuilding known as the "birthing shed." The man appeared to be scanning above and behind the snipers for the helicopter. Horiuchi believed that he was trying to position himself to shoot at the helicopter from the more protected side of the shed. Horiuchi fired one shot as the man suddenly moved along the side of the shed out of sight. When Horiuchi fired, the man's back was toward Horiuchi and the helicopter. Because the man moved unexpectedly, Horiuchi assumed he missed. The man he aimed at was not Harris, but Weaver, who was slightly wounded. Harris and Weaver have maintained that they had no aggressive purpose in leaving the cabin and that Weaver was opening the door to the shed to look at the body of his son. After ten or twenty seconds Horiuchi saw the target of his first shot following the other two people as they ran to the cabin. The first two entered the cabin through an open door. Horiuchi fired, aiming slightly in front of the last running man. The bullet went through the curtained window of the open door, fatally wounding Vicki Weaver and seriously injuring Kevin Harris. The sniper testified that he did not know that Vicki Weaver was standing behind the door. When Commander Rogers, who had been aboard the HRT helicopter, learned of the shootings, he and an FBI negotiator went in a personnel carrier to the cabin to make a surrenderannouncement and to begin negotiations by leaving a telephone. There was no response. A few hours later, due to deterioratingweather conditions, the snipers left their positions and returned to the command post where Rogers debriefed them. The next morning the snipers returned to their positions. Rogers once again went to the cabin area and issued repeated surrender announcements, which included warnings that the outbuildings would be removed if Weaver failed to comply. By Sunday evening, there was still no response or indication that the Weavers were going to surrender or negotiate, so the first outbuilding, the birthing shed, was moved. Sammy Weaver's body was discovered in the birthing shed. Negotiation efforts continued for days, but were unsuccessful. No one from the cabin picked up the telephone, which was on an armed robot outside the cabin. Although the weapon on the robot was not loaded, Weaver reported that he was afraid that anyone who went outside would be shot. Attempts to intercept conversations inside the cabin were not successful. By Wednesday, no aggressive action had occurred for days, and the events which had preceded the confrontation began to seemless clear. The FBI command received evidence in apparent conflict with the initial impressions about Weaver's background and the circumstances surrounding the shootout. As a result, the FBI command decided to withdraw the special Rules of Engagement and to instate the FBI's standard Deadly Force Policy. On Wednesday, August 26, Weaver told a negotiator that he wanted to talk with his sister. When she arrived, attempts to communicate with Weaver were frustrated by her inability to hear Weaver. On Friday evening, August 28, Weaver agreed to speak with Bo Gritz, whom Weaver told that the sniper had killed his wife and injured Harris and himself. Two other private citizens assisted Gritz in resolving the standoff. Gritz and a Weaver family friend carried Vicki Weaver's body out of the cabin. On Sunday, August 30, Kevin Harris surrendered. The Weavers surrendered the following day. Searches of the Y were ongoing during the crisis. After the surrender, the cabin and surrounding area were searched. The FBI also sent a team of inspectors to begin an internal inquiry into the sniper shootings. D. The Prosecution After their surrender, Harris and Weaver were placed under arrest and charged with the murder of Deputy Marshal Deagan. Separate preliminary hearings to determine probable cause for these charges were begun. Before their preliminary hearings concluded, a grand jury indicted Harris for assaulting and murdering Degan and indicted Weaver for aiding and abetting in Degan's death. Thereafter, the magistrate judges terminated the preliminary hearings of Weaver and Harris. Both defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges. On October 1, 1992, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Weaver and Harris with numerous offenses including conspiracy.[FN2] On November 19, 1992 a Second Superseding Indictment was returned charging Weaver and Harris with the same offenses as the previous indictment and alleging additional overt acts. In October 1992 the Marshals Service and BATF provided four agents to assist the U.S. Attorney's Office in preparing the case for trial. During the case preparation process continuous issues arose regarding the cooperation of the FBI in preparing the case for trial. Included among these problem areas was the lack of cooperation by the FBI in providing discovery materials to the prosecution and the defense. On January 8, 1993, on motion by the defense, the February 2 trial date was extended to allow time for the defense to review evidence and the results of FBI Laboratory tests. The defense complained about the government's failure to provide timely access to evidence and documents, and the trial judge admonished the prosecutors to have the laboratory examination completed quickly. The 42 day jury trial began on April 13, 1993. During the trial, the defendants brought to the court's attention problems they had in obtaining documents and information to which they believed they were entitled under either federal law or a discovery stipulation with the government. The most extreme breach of the stipulation involved the late production of the underlying materials and notes related to the FBI Shooting Incident Report which had been produced as the result of an internal inquiry into the sniper shootings. Although the defendants had received the final Shooting Incident Report before trial, during trial the FBI, in response to a defense subpoena, sent by fourth class mail materials that were not part of the documents that the FBI had produced earlier in discovery. These materials included a drawing Horiuchi made days after the shooting. The drawing arrived in Idaho after Horiuchi had completed his testimony, thus requiring his return for additional testimony. The court fined the government for the attorneys fees incurred by the defendants for the lost trial day. One of the two prosecutors became ill and did not participate in the final arguments. After deliberation for 20 days, on July 8, 1993, the jury acquitted Weaver and Harris of the murder of Deputy Marshal Degan, the conspiracy charge, and the significant remaining charges. Weaver was convicted on charges of failure to appear for trial and committing an offense while on release. On October 26, 1993, Weaver was sentenced to 18 months incarceration, three years probation and a $10,000 fine. The court issued an Order fining the FBI and criticizing it for its failure to produce discovery materials, its failure to obey orders and admonitions of the court, and its indifference to the rights of the defendant and to the administration of justice. On December 18, 1993, Randy Weaver was released from incarceration. FOOTNOTE FOR SECTION 3. FACTUAL SUMMARY 2. The indictment charged violations in 18 U.S.C. 2, 3, 111, 115, 371, 933 (g) (2), 924 (c) (1), 1071, 1111, 1114, 3146 (a) (1), 3147, 26 USC 5861 (d), and (f) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED A. Investigation of Weaver by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms 1. Introduction The events that led to the death of three persons at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in August 1992 and to the subsequent prosecution of Randall ("Randy") Weaver and Kevin Harris had their origin with an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ("BATF"). Serious allegations have been made about the role of BATF in the Weaver matter. Included among these allegations are that a BATF informant entrapped Weaver into selling illegal weapons; that a BATF reward system created the incentive for the informant to entrap Weaver; and that BATF and the informant tired to conceal this future compensation arrangement from the defense, the court and the U.S. Attorney's Office.[FN3] It has also been alleged that BATF exaggerated to the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Attorney 's Office, and the court the extent of Weaver's involvement with the Aryan Nations and the Order and that federal law enforcement unconstitutionally targeted Randy Weaver for prosecution because of his religious views.[FN4] 2. Statement of Facts a. Early Law Enforcement Contacts with Randy Weaver Randy Weaver first came to the attention of federal law enforcement personnel in 1985 as a result of alleged threats he made against President Reagan, Idaho Governor John Evans, and certain law enforcement officials.[FN5] The U.S. Secret Service investigated the allegations and interviewed Weaver. During this investigation, it was learned that Weaver was frequently visited by Frank Kumnick, who was associated with members of the Aryan Nations, a white-supremacist group.[FN6] Kumnick was described as the "mentor" for Weaver's "far right wing" beliefs. [FN7] Weaver and Kumnick had allegedly spoken of burning churches and had made threats against Catholics and Jews.[FN8] In addition, Weaver had been seen with Richard Butler, leader of a local Aryan Nations Church.[FN9] The Secret Service was also told that Weaver had a cache of weapons, including a number of semi and fully automatic handguns and rifles,[FN10] and that he had access to explosives and to "an unlimited amount of ammunition."[FN11] Weaver had been described as a person with a "paranoid defensive attitude,"[FN12] who had chosen his mountaintop residence "for survivalist purposes."[FN13] One Bonners Ferry resident reported that Weaver had "rigged his driveway with bombs."[FN14] Another person interviewed by the Secret Service stated that Weaver had spoken of the world ending in two years "when my home will be under siege and assaulted."[FN15] Secret Service agents interviewed Weaver on February 12, 1985. At that time, he denied threatening the President, the Governor, or churches. He also denied having any affiliation with the Aryan Nations or its members.[FN16] Weaver said that he had "no time for Aryan Nation's preachers" and that his religious beliefs were "strictly by the bible." He acknowledged knowing Frank Kumnick, but said that Kumnick was associated with the Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord. Weaver informed the agents that he had served for three years as an Army Special Forces Green Beret and that he had been an Army engineer.[FN17] He stated that the Bible gave him the right to kill, if necessary, to defend his family,[FN18] but added the federal authorities were welcome on his property "in spite of stories that had circulated about him and his family."[FN19] On February 28, 1985, Randy and Vicki Weaver filed a handwritten affidavit with the Boundary County Clerk claiming that persons around Deep Creek, Idaho were conspiring to endanger the Weaver family and to precipitate an attack on Randy Weaver's life. The affidavit alleged that Weaver's "accusers" had made false statements about his connections with the Aryan Nations and his ownership of illegal weapons and that they had wrongfully alleged that he had threatened the President and the Pope. The Weavers also stated that these falsehoods were designed to provoke the FBI into storming their home. Weaver expressed fear that he would be killed or arrested for assault of a federal officer, if he tried to defend himself, and he gave "legal and official notice that [he] believe[d] [he] may have to defend [him]self and [his] family from physical attack on [his] life."[FN20] In May 1985, Weaver sent a letter to President Reagan claiming that his neighbors had sent the President a threatening letter under Weaver's name. Weaver apologized for their "evil" in involving the President in their efforts to harass Weaver. On the same date, Vicki Weaver sent a letter to the Spokane Field Office of the U.S. Secret Service demanding a written apology from the Secret Service.[FN21] The federal government never filed any charges against Weaver for the alleged threats made against the President, the Governor, or others.[FN22] b. BATF Contact with Weaver Weaver first came to the attention of the BATF in July 1986 during its investigation of a series of bombings in Coer d'Alene, Idaho in which the Aryan Nations was believed to be involved. BATF asked Kenneth Fadeley, a confidential informant, to assist its investigation by obtaining information about people attending an upcoming World Aryan Congress who might be engaged in illegal activities.[FN23] Thereafter, Fadeley portrayed himself as a weapons dealer who catered to motorcycle gangs and, in this role, managed to be introduced to high level members of the Aryan Nations in Northern Idaho.[FN24] In July, 1986, Fadeley attended the World Aryan Congress at Hayden Lake, Idaho. During this assembly, Fadeley was introduced to Weaver, who was at that time of no particular investigative significance to BATF.[FN25] Six months later, in January 1987, Fadeley met with Frank Kumnick, who was suspected of significant firearms trafficking. Fadeley wore a hidden taper recorder to this meeting. Randy Weaver accompanied Kumnick. Fadeley had met with Kumnick more than a dozen times before, and although Weaver's name had been mentioned numerous times, Fadeley had not expected Weaver at this meeting.[FN26] In Weaver's presence, Kumnick, after suggesting that Fadeley was a government informant, held a gun to Fadeley's head and ran an electronic stud finder over Fadeley's body to search for a hidden microphone or recorder. Kumnick did not find the recorder.[FN27] At this meeting, Weaver gave Fadeley no indication that he was predisposed to selling illegal weapons. [FN28] [G.J.] [FN29][G.J.] At the World Aryan Congress in July 1987, Fadeley again met Weaver, who was accompanied by his wife and children. Weaver mentioned to Fadeley that it was a "struggle" to provide for his family. Weaver also declared that he did not trust the leaders of the Aryan Nations and that he did not agree with the actions of Richard Butler, leader of the Aryan Nations.[FN30] After this contact, Fadeley continued to view Weaver simply as one of the many attendees at the World Aryan Congress. c. Sale of Weapons by Weaver to BATF Informant Fadeley and Weaver met again at the July 1989 World Aryan Congress, where Weaver was one of the speakers.[FN31] Fadeley told Weaver that his gun "business [was] busy." In response, Weaver did not offer to sell Fadeley firearms, but he did invite Fadeley to a house he was renting to discuss forming a group to fight the "Zionist Organized Government" a term used by Aryan nations members to refer to the U.S. Government.[FN32] According to Weaver, the proposed group was to include Kumnick and Chuck Holwrth. Holwrth, who had been convicted of an explosives violation an had formed an Aryan Nations splinter group in Montana,[FN33] was of "continuing investigative interest" to the BATF. After learning of Weaver's plan to include Holworth in this group, the BATF began to view Weaver as a possible point of introduction to Holworth.[FN34] On September 8, 1989, at BATF's request, Fadeley telephoned Weaver and arranged to meet him on October 11.[FN35] Fadeley did not record his conversations with Weaver during the October 11 meeting. At the meeting, Weaver asked Fadeley how his business was going. Fadeley replied that he was "extremely busy" and that he had sold all his "product." Weaver explained that he would like to assist Fadeley and that "he was ready to go to work for [him]."[FN36] Fadeley then told Weaver he had a source to whom he dealt guns. Weaver then asked what the most popular items were, and Fadeley described the "street" weapons he thought he could sell, including shotguns. In response, Weaver said that he could supply four or five shotguns per week. Fadeley recalled Weaver representing that he could get any size shotguns that Fadeley wanted. According to Fadeley, Weaver said "just tell me what you want and what size and I'll supply what you want." Weaver added that there would be "no paper," that is, the weapons would not have registration documents.[FN37] As the two men left the meeting, Fadeley walked to Weaver's truck where Weaver showed Fadeley a shotgun and indicated a spot on the barrel where he thought it could be cut. Fadeley pointed to the weapon and said "about here"[FN38] to which Weaver asserted that he could supply weapons like that "all day long."[FN39] Following the meeting, Special Agent Herbert Byerly, Fadeley's BATF contact agent, conducted various records checks on Weaver.[FN40] On October 13, 1989, Fadeley telephoned Weaver from a BATF office and recorded the conversation to confirm his report of the October 11 meeting. During this discussion, Fadeley and Weaver used agreed upon code words and referred to weapons as "chain saws."[FN41] On October 24, 1989, Weaver met with Fadeley, who was wearing a miniature tape recorder and an electronic transmitter. At that time, Weaver gave Fadeley two shotguns, one with a 13 inch barrel, the other with a 12-3/4 inch barrel. Weaver told Fadeley that he had cut the shotgun barrels himself, "[s]itting under a shade tree with a vise and a hacksaw," and added that, "when I get my workshop set up I can do a better job."[FN42] Fadeley paid Weaver $300.00 for the weapons. When Weaver requested an additional $150.00 for the weapons, Fadeley told him that he would give him the additional money at the next purchase.[FN43] Fadeley then proceeded to tell Weaver that "[t]here is money to be had, and it looks like [you] did a real nice job". He then asked Weaver, "You figured four or five a week?" to which Weaver replied, "yeah, or more." Weaver repeated that there would be no paper trail on the weapons.[FN44] Fadeley met Weaver again on November 30, 1989 with the intent of arranging a trip to Montana to meet Holworth. At this time, Weaver announced that he had five additional sawed-off shotguns available for purchase. When Fadeley told him that he had not brought enough money to pay for them, Weaver responded, "just figure on more cash next time." Thereafter, Weaver asked Fadeley if he had "a cover, legit business." In addition, Weaver told Fadeley that he was not able to go to Montana that day, but said that "the next time that I tell you I'll go with ya . . . I'll make sure I'll go with you." Fadeley paid Weaver $100 toward the balance of the previous purchase of two sawed-off shotguns.[FN45] Following this meeting, Byerly instructed Fadeley to have no additional contact with Weaver.[FN46] d. Delay in Obtaining Indictment and BATF Efforts to Enlist Weaver as an Informant On November 24, 1989, Byerly discussed the Weaver gun sale with Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Hall from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boise ("USAO"). Hall requested Byerly to submit a criminal violation report to the USAO.[FN47] Five months later, on May 21, 1990, Byerly submitted a case report to the USAO recommending that Weaver be prosecuted for the sale of the sawed-off shotguns.[FN48] One month later, in June 1990, BATF Agents Byerly and Gunderson drove to the Weaver property to speak with Weaver to determine if he might be willing to cooperate in their investigation of Aryan Nations members. They were met by Weaver's daughter, Sara, who had a semi-automatic pistol strapped to her hip, and by his son, Sammy, who carried a large hunting knife. Byerly and Gunderson did not identify themselves and left when they determined that Randy Weaver was not there.[FN49] After leaving the mountain, Byerly and Gunderson noticed Randy Weaver's truck outside a motel in Sandpoint, Idaho and stopped to talk with him. Thereafter, they approached Weaver, identified themselves, showed Weaver a photograph of the sawed-off shotguns he had sold to Fadeley and told him that they had a tape recording of the transaction. Weaver declined their invitation to listen to the tape. Byerly explained to Weaver that the USAO knew of the illegal weapons sale and that Weaver could help himself by providing information to BATF about the illegal activities of Aryan Nations members. He told Weaver that his assistance would be brought to the U.S. Attorney's attention.[FN50] At the end of the conversation, Byerly gave Weaver his telephone number and told him that they would wait for Weaver to come to the BATF office to discuss cooperating with them. Weaver responded that he would not become a "snitch."[FN51] Soon after this contact with Weaver, Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen told Byerly that he planned to present an indictment to the grand jury charging Weaver with firearms violations but that the timing of the indictment would have to be coordinated with the other matters he was handling.[FN52] On December 13, 1990, seven months after BATF referred the case to the USAO, a federal grand jury in the District of Idaho indicted Weaver for manufacturing and possessing an unregistered firearm. e. Arrest and Arraignment of Weaver on Weapons Charges After the issuance of the arrest warrant, BATF conducted an evaluation of Weaver and concluded that it would be too dangerous to the arresting agents and to the Weaver children for BATF to arrest Weaver at his residence.[FN53] Therefore, BATF agents decided to carry out a ruse to arrest Weaver by surprise away from his home. On January 17, 1991, two agents, posing as stranded motorists, stopped a pickup camper on a bridge near the Weaver's residence, raised the hood, and pretended to examine the engine. Byerly, other BATF Agents, and Boundary County Sheriff Whittaker hid in the back of the camper. Shortly thereafter, Randy and Vicki Weaver stopped their truck and approached the camper. The BATF agents then surprised Weaver and placed him under arrest. In the process, Weaver attempted to grab one of the agent's sidearms. Later, Weaver told the arresting agents "nice trick; you'll never do that again."[FN54] After making the arrest, the arresting agents discovered that Weaver had a pistol in his front pants pocket and Vicki Weaver had a revolver in her purse, which she had left in their pickup truck.[FN55] 3. Discussion It has been alleged that BATF singled out Randy Weaver because he shared many of the political and religious beliefs associated with the Aryan Nations, and that BATF entrapped Weaver in order to coerce him to become an informant.[FN56] We found insufficient evidence to support these claims. a. The Decision of BATF to Target Weaver This investigation found no evidence that BATF improperly targeted Weaver because of his religious or political beliefs. Instead, the evidence indicates that BATF became interested in Weaver not because of his personal views but rather because he was acquainted with members of the Aryan Nations, who were suspected of being involved in bombings that had occurred in Northern Idaho. Indeed, BATF, which knew of Weaver's beliefs for more than three years before the sale of the shotguns in October 1989, had taken no action to target Weaver for investigative focus during that period. Byerly told this inquiry that the original purpose in pursuing the transaction with Weaver was not to recruit Weaver as an informant, but rather to determine the degree of his involvement in illicit weapons trafficking by the Aryan Nations.[FN57] We find nothing improper in the BATF plan. We also examined why the government prosecuted Weaver for the alleged gun sale while deciding not to prosecute Frank Kumnick, who had also sold a "short-barrel" shotgun to Fadeley. Byerly told this inquiry that he recommended to the USAO that Kumnick not be charged because an indictment would ruin Fadeley's cover, thus ending his usefulness as an informant.[FN58] Although this may explain why Kumnick was not initially prosecuted it fails to explain why he was not prosecuted after Fadeley's cover was "blown" in March 1990. Notwithstanding the failure to explain why Kumnick was not prosecuted after March 1990, we found no evidence that this difference in treatment was improperly motivated. Byerly told this inquiry that he decided to solicit Weaver's cooperation, rather than Kumnick's, because he believed that Weaver had, or was in a better position to develop, contacts with BATF targets, such as Chuck Holworth and Richard Butler, leader of the Aryan Nation's Church in Northern Idaho. In addition, Byerly came to view Kumnick as a "boastful showoff" who was not involved in "significant firearms trafficking."[FN59] We accept Byerly's reasons for seeking Weaver's cooperation and find nothing improper about his decision to approach Weaver as a possible source of information about illegal acts committed by members of the Aryan Nations. b. Possible Entrapment by the BATF Informant Defense counsel have charged that Weaver "was induced by federal authorities" into selling illegal weapons, that is, the government entrapped Weaver into unlawful conduct.[FN60] To establish the defense of entrapment, it must be shown that the defendant was not predisposed to commit the criminal act.[FN61] A principal factor in determining whether a defendant was entrapped is whether the defendant evidenced reluctant to commit the offense but was overcome by repeated government persuasion.[FN62] The only accounts of Weaver's weapons sales that we have are the recorded conversations between Weaver and informant Fadeley and the statements of Byerly and Fadeley made at trial and to this investigation. We did not have the benefit of any statements from Randy Weaver, who did not testify at trial and who declined our invitation for an interview. Based on the information available to us, there is no evidence that Weaver proposed or was interested in selling weapons before the October 1989 meeting with Fadeley. Although Fadeley had seen Weaver on a number of occasions with a variety of weapons, Weaver apparently had never said that he wanted to sell guns. Nor is there any indication that Fadeley repeatedly proposed that Weaver sell weapons to him and that Weaver had refused. Weaver claimed in a recorded conversation that Fadeley "approached [him] and offered [him] a deal."[FN63] Fadeley later replied that the person who had told Weaver that Fadeley was a federal agent was a "scumbag."[FN64] Fadeley told the Department of Treasury investigators that Weaver's statement was a complete fabrication . . . . I had never approached him or offered him any deal. He made all the overtures. I did not confront him on this [during the meeting]. I felt that if I did, he may take that as a signal that I was an informant or police and I would be in danger.[FN65] However, Fadeley admitted that he had shown Weaver where to cut the shotgun in response to Weaver's saying, "Just tell me what . . . size [shotgun] and I'll supply what you want."[FN66] Unfortunately, this meeting was not tape recorded, nor did Fadeley report to Byerly, his BATF supervisor, that he had given Weaver this guidance.[FN67] We are troubled by the lack of first-hand information about the events immediately before the first weapons sale. Furthermore, the crucial meeting, at which Weaver allegedly raised the idea of selling weapons to Fadeley, was not recorded. The only account of the meeting comes from Fadeley. Although in the recorded November 30 conversation, Weaver expressed additional interest in providing weapons to Fadeley,[FN68] we cannot conclude, on the evidence before us, that Weaver was coerced or unduly enticed into selling weapons to Fadeley. c. Delay in Obtaining Indictment It has been alleged that Weaver's indictment on weapons charges was delayed so as to give BATF an opportunity to "turn" Weaver, that is, to make him a BATF informant. Although BATF was interested in securing Weaver's cooperation, we have found no evidence that the indictment was delayed to help this effort. Byerly apparently waited to press the weapons charge after the October 1989 sale because BATF did not want to expose Fadeley as an informant.[FN69] However, in March 1990, members of the Aryan Nations accused Fadeley of being an informant, effectively ending the covert operation. In early May 1990, Byerly submitted a case report to the U.S. Attorney's Office recommending that Weaver be prosecuted for the sale of the sawed-off shotguns. Byerly approached Weaver to seek his cooperation in June 1990. Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen told Byerly that the weapons charge against Weaver would be presented to a grand jury, but that the case would be handled in line with his other priorities.[FN70] Seven months later, the matter was presented to a grand jury and an indictment was returned in December 1990. This investigation has uncovered nothing that suggests misconduct in the span between the weapons sale in 1989 and the indictment in December 1990. Weaver's indictment was evidently not a high priority of either BATF or the USAO, and there is no evidence that the charge was treated as anything but a routine matter. 4. Conclusion It is our conclusion that the investigation which led to Weaver's indictment for the unlawful sale of two sawed-off shotguns, and the decision to indict were proper. We found no evidence that Weaver was unfairly targeted by BATF at the outset or that the delay in indicting him was improper. Although we are troubled by the sequence of events which immediately preceded the sale of the shotguns to the confidential informant, we cannot conclude, based on the evidence before us, that Weaver was coerced or unduly enticed into selling the sawed-off shotguns. FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART A) 3. The controversy that erupted at trial concerning the compensation arrangement between BATF and the informant is discussed in Section IV (O) of this report. 4. See memo by AIIP Daniel J. Wehr to Insps. Roger A. Nisley and Paul E. Mallett, August 24, 1993 (interview with Gerry Spence), at 2-3; Letter from Senator Larry E. Craig to Lloyd Bentsen, Secretary of the Treasury, July 22, 1993; Letter from Senator Larry E. Craig to Janet Reno, Attorney General, July 23, 1993. The Weavers raised a similar issue during the standoff with the FBI in August 1992. Sara Weaver wrote in a statement dated August 30, 1992 that, "Our situation is not over a shotgun but rather our racial and political beliefs." 5. FD-302 Interview of Terry Kinnison, January 21 & 31, 1985. 6. Kinnison FD-302, January 21, 1985. 7. FD-302 Interview of Sam Strongblood Woholi, January 31, 1985. 8. Kinnison FD-302, January 28, 1985; [G.J.] Boundary County Sheriff Bruce Whattaker has been quoted as saying that Weaver told him that "the real Jews of the Bible are we white Christians and ... the false Jews... should be eliminated." "Standoff with Police Enters Second Year," San Francisco Examiner, March 27, 1992. 9. Report of Investigation by Terry R. Driskill, March 1, 1985; [G.J.] 10. Woholi described Randy Weaver's wife Vicki, as a "crack shot who always has a weapon available." Woholi added that Weaver's son, Sammy, handled a weapon well and normally carried a .22 rifle. Anyone approaching the Weaver residence would thus "have three weapons brought to bear on them, Weaver's, his wife's, and his sons's." Woholi FD-302, February 5, 1985. 11. Terry Kinnison provided the FBI with a list of weapons he had observed while visiting the Weaver home: two .22 caliber revolvers; three .22 rifles; a semi-automatic .45 caliber handgun; a .357 handgun; one or two .30-06 rifles; a Riger Mini-14; a .223 caliber rifle; a pump-action shotgun with a factory shortened barrel; and a Heckler Koch .223 caliber semi-automatic with a tripod and adapter for full automatic functioning. Kinnison reported that Weaver had thousands of rounds of ammunition. Kinnison FD-302, January 21, 1985. 12. Kinnison FD-302, February 5, 1985. See Transcript of conversation of Randy Weaver, Kenneth Fadeley and Frank Kummick January 20, 1987, at 36 ("You know the Bible says don't trust no man.") 13. FD-302 Interview with John Fritz, January 18, 1985. Fritz had heard that Weaver had automatic weapons and a night scope and that he "likes the high ground." 14. FD-302 Interview of Kermit Black, January 18, 1985. 15. Wolholi FD-302, February 5, 1985. In a 1983 newspaper interview, Weaver discussed his plan to move to Northern Idaho to live in an isolated hideaway "and survive the coming 'Great Tribulation,'" Waterloo Courier, January 9, 1983, B-1. 16. This claim would later be contradicted. See Report of Investigation by W. Warren Mays (interview of Chris Colgrave), March 5, 1991, at 1 ("Colgrave stated that Weaver claimed membership in the Aryan Nation"); Report of Investigation by W. Warren Mays (interview with Susan Thompson), March 5, 1991 at 1. In 1990, Weaver gave Boundary County Sheriff Bruce Whittaker literature supporting the Aryan Nation's views. Report of Investigation by David Hunt and W. Warren Mays, March 7, 1991, at 4. The Postmaster for Naples, Idaho confirmed that Weaver had received "Aryan Nation... as well as other white supremacist, anti-goverment type literature" at his post office box. Report of Investigation by W. Warren Mays, March 5, 1991. 17. It was subsequently learned that this assertion was false. Weaver's military "DD-214" shows that he may have received some demolition training in an Army engineering unit, but that he was neither a Green Beret nor a member of the Special Forces. Sworn Statement of David Hunt, February 14, 1994, at 2, 6; FD-302 Interview of W. Warren Mays, October 5, 1993, at 2, 4. 18. Letter from Patrick F. Sullivan, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (Seattle) to Chris Nelson, Special Agent in Charge, BATF (Seattle), August 28, 1992, at 2. 19. FD-302 Interview of Randy Weaver, February 12, 1985, at 2. 20. Affidavit of Randy and Vicki Weaver, February 23, 1985. 21. See Letter from Patrick F. Sullivan, to Chris Nelson, August 28, 1992, at 2. 22. Terry Kinnison, the neighbor who reported the threats to the Bounday County Sheriff's Office, later notified the sheriff that Weaver had fired shots at him. Memorandum by Ronald Evans to Tony Perez, February 20, 1991. Report of Investigation by W. Warren Mays, Feburary 21, 1991, at 2. 23. Sworn Statement of Herbert G. Byerly, December 20, 1993, at 1-2; [G-J] 24. Fadely obtained information against a number of Aryan Nations members regarding the Couer d'Alene bombings, including David R. Dorr, Chief of Security for the upcoming Congress. Dorr and several others were later arrested and charged with the bombings. Byerly Sworn Statement, at 1-2. 25. Id. at 2. 26. Testimony of Herbert G. Byerly in United States v. Weaver, No. CR-92-080-N-EJL, April 21, 1993, at 8-9 (hereinafter cited as "Trial Testimony"). 27. Transcript of Conversation Between Fadeley, Weaver and Kimnick on January 20, 1987, at 4-6. See Byerly Sworn Statement, at 2. 28. Trial Testimony of Kennth Fadeley, April 20, 1993. 29. [G.J.] 30. Fadeley Trial Testimony, April 20, 1993, at 60-69. 31. In the interim, Weaver had run unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for sheriff of Bounday County. During his campaign, he promised to enforce only those laws the people wanted, and he distributed cards that said "get out of jail free." Weaver lost the primary, 384 votes to 102. "Survivalist Refuses to Come in From Cold," The Oregonian, October 1, 1991, C8; Feds Have Fugitive 'Under Out Nose'," Spokesman Review (Spokane), March 1, 1992, A19. 32. Fadeley Trial Testimony, April 20, 1993, at 45, 82-90. 33. ID. at 103, 112. 34. Byerly Sworn Statement, December 20, 1993, at 3-4. 35. Fadeley Trial Testimony, April 20, 1993, at 100-02. 36. Report by Byerly of Interview of Kenneth Fadeley, February 20, 1990, at 1. See Fadeley Trial Testimony, April 20, 1993, at 103, 112. [G. J.] 37. Report by Byerly of Interview of Kennth Fadeley, February 8, 1990, at 1 (herinafter cited as "Byerly Report"). Weaver later repeated this final statement in a recorded conversation. Transcript of Conversation Between Fadeley and Weaver, October 29, 1989, at 12. Fadeley told Weaver "the smaller [the weapon] the better." Weaver asked, "You mean 12 to 14 inches," to which Fadeley replied, "Yeah." Byerly Report, Feburary 8, 1990, at 1. 38. Fadeley Trial Testimony, April 20, 1992, at 105. 39. Byerly Report, February 8, 1990, at 1. According to Byerly, Fadeley said that Weaver showed Fadeley a shotgun and said he could cut the barrel off to about two inches in front of the slide. Byerly's report does not mention Fadeley's showing Weaver where to cut the barrel. Byerly told this investigation that he did not know "who may have instructed Weaver as to how to saw off the shotguns." Byerly Sworn Statement, December 20, 1993, at 6. 40. Byerly Trial Testimony, April 20, 1992, at 27. 41. [G.J.] Transcript of Conversation Between Fadeley and Weaver, October 13, 1989, at 2. 42. Transcript of Conversation Between Fadeley and Weaver, October 24, 1989, at 3, 6. The stocks on both weapons had also been cut. Section 5681 of Title 26 of the United State Code criminalizes that possession of unregistered firearms and the alteration of firearms by anyone not in the business of manufacturing firearms. Section 5845 (a) explains that the term "firearms" includes shotguns with barrels of less that 18 inches. 43. Byerly Report, February 28, 1990, at 2; Byerly Trial Testimony, April 20, 1993, at 32-34; Transcript of Conversation Between Fadeley and Weaver, October 24, 1989, at 4. 44 Id. at 6. Fadeley had originally planned to go with Weaver to Montana that day, however, because BATF was unable to arrange security, the trip was postponed. Id. at 6-13; Fadeley Trial Testimony, at 135. 45 Transcript of Conversation Between Fadeley and Weaver, November 30, 1989, at 6-12, 24, 31. Weaver explained that someone in Spokane had told him that Fadeley was "bad," meaning that Fadeley was a policeman. Weaver claimed, "You approached me and offered me a deal." Fadeley responded, "This scumbag . . . He's lying through his teeth cause I'm not a badge." Id. at 22. Later, Fadeley told Weaver "if you want to believe somebody else . . . it's been nice doing business with you, have a nice life." Weaver said that he would be less suspicious of Fadeley if their two families could meet, adding, "That's all I care about, is my family." Id. at 13, 15, 21-23. 46 Byerly Trial Testimony, April 20, 1992, at 46. 47 Statements of Byerly, January 14 & February 28, 1990. Byerly continued to obtain background information on Weaver. In about March 1990, Byerly met with Weaver's neighbors, the Raus, who complained that the Weavers had fired weapons at their property. Byerly Sworn Statement, December 20, 1993, at 8. 48 The report included a letter from Patrick Sullivan, a Special Agent in the Secret Service's Seattle Office, summarizing the 1985 Weaver investigation. This letter contained the only reference to Weaver's affiliation with the Aryan Nations in the case report. 49 Byerly Sworn Statement, December 20, 1993, at 8-9. 50 Byerly observed that Weaver was wearing an Aryan Nations belt buckle and jacket emblem. Id. at 10-11. 51 Id. at 10. Vicki Weaver described this encounter in a letter, dated June 12, 1990, addressed to the "Aryan Nations & all our brethren of the Anglo Saxon Race." She wrote: We cannot make deals with the enemy. This is a war against the sons of Isaac. Yahweh our Yashua is our Savior and King . . . . If we are not free to obey the laws of Yahweh, we may as well be dead! Let Yah-Yashua's perfect will be done. If its our time, we'll go home. If it is not we will praise his Separated name! 52 Id. at 10; Transcript of Interview of Ronald Howen, November 22-23, 1993, Tape 2, at 41 (hereinafter cited as "Howen Interview"). 53 Report of Investigation by Cluff (interview of Byerly), February 20, 1991, at 6; Memo from Evans to Perez, February 20, 1991, at 2. 54 Memo by Evans to Hunt, Cluff, and Mays, February 11, 1991; Byerly Sworn Statement, December 20, 1993, at 12. 55 See Pretrial Services Report, United States v. Randall C. Weaver, January 18, 1991. Sheriff Whittaker said that Vicki Weaver was not charged with carrying a concealed weapon because "that law is rarely enforced in the Boundary County area, because of peoples proclivity to wear or carry weapons. . . ." FD-302 Interview of Bruce Whittaker, November 20, 1993, at 3. 56 See Memo by AIIP Daniel J. Wehr to Insps. Roger A. Nisley and Paul E. Mallett, August 24, 1993 (interview with Gerry Spence), at 2-3. 57 Byerly Sworn Statement, December 20, 1993, at 6. 58 Byerly spoke about this with Assistant U.S. Attorney Hall. Byerly Trial Testimony, April 21, 1993, at 31-33. He later told the Department of Treasury that he had misspoken at trial and that he had discussed the issue of Kumnick's prosecution with Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen. Report by Donald Devane, Investigator, U.S. Treasury OIG, of Interview of Byerly, December 17, 1993 (hereinafter cited as "Devane Report"). 59 Byerly Sworn Statement, December 20, 1993, at 26-27. 60 Memorandum in Support of Defendants' Motions, January 6, 1993, at 2 (hereinafter cited as "Defendants' Memorandum"). 61 See Hampton v. United States, 425 U.S. 484, 488 (1976). 62 United States v. Busby, 780 F.2d 804, 805 (9th Cir. 1986). 63 Transcript of Conversation Between Fadeley and Weaver, November 30, 1989, at 22. 64 Id. 65 Affidavit of Kenneth Fadeley, December 7, 1993, at 4. 66 Fadeley Trial Testimony, April 20, 1993, at 105; Report by Byerly of Interview of Kenneth Fadeley, February 28, 1990, at 1. 67 See Byerly Report, February 8, 1990, at 1; Byerly Sworn Statement, December 20, 1993, at 6. 68 Weaver evidently knew that the transaction with Fadeley was illegal, since he asked Fadeley if he had "a cover, a legit business." See Transcript of Conversation Between Fadeley and Weaver, November 30, 1989, at 6-12, 24, 31. 69 Byerly has also asserted that during this period he was working on other cases that required attention. Devane Report, January 14, 1994. 70 Howen Interview, Tape 1, at 13, Tape 2, at 41. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED B. The Failure of Weaver to Appear for Trial 1. Introduction On January 18, 1991, Randy Weaver was arraigned on the charges that he made an possessed illegal firearms. At that time, the court set February 19, 1991, as the trial date. Several weeks later the court clerk sent a notice to the parties informing them that the trial date had been changed from February 19 to February 20. Two days later, U.S. Probation Officer Karl Richins sent a letter to Weaver in which he erroneously referred to the trial date as March 20, 1991. When Weaver did not appear in court on February 20, the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. Almost a month later, on March 14, 1991, when the bench warrant was still outstanding, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Weaver charging him with failure to appear for trial. A number of issues have been raised with regard to the conduct of the government in handling this stage of the Weaver matter. These issues include: whether government officials, particularly the U.S. Attorney's Office, knew about the erroneous Richins letter before the court issued the February 20 bench warrant; whether the government responded appropriately to the issues created by the Richins letter; whether the U.S. Attorney's Office erred in presenting the indictment to the grand jury before March 20; [G.J.] 2. Statement of Facts a. January 18, 1991 Arraignment On December 13, 1990, a federal grand jury indicted Randy Weaver for making and possessing illegal firearms.[FN71] BATF Agent Herbert Byerly arrested Weaver on January 17, 1991 and transported him to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho for arraignment. On January 18, Byerly informed Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen that Weaver had been arrested, that Weaver had resisted arrest, that Weaver had said when arrested, "nice trick; you'll never do that again" and that Weaver appeared to be associated with the Aryan Nation. Byerly also provided background information on the case and recommended to Howen that Weaver be detained because Byerly did not believe that he would appear for trial. According to Byerly, Howen responded that it would be difficult to detain Weaver and did not offer to oppose the release of Weaver.[FN72] Weaver appeared in court for his arraignment the following day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Ayers. No one was present for the government at the arraignment nor was Weaver represented by counsel.[FN73] Before releasing Weaver, Judge Ayers instructed him that he was required to report on a regular basis to Karl Richins, the Pretrial Service Officer, in Boise and that his first contact was to be on January 22.[FN77] Later, Judge Ayers, in order to avoid any misunderstanding, added Richins' name and phone number to the order setting forth the release conditions.[FN78] Judge Ayers told Weaver that it would be a criminal offense if he failed to appear. Weaver said that he understood the penalties for violating the release conditions and that he agreed to abide by those conditions. Thereafter, he signed and received a copy of the release conditions.[FN79] Weaver also signed a bond and the court explained that the bond could be executed if he failed to appear for trial.[FN80] Before terminating the proceeding, Judge Ayers had Weaver confirm that his mailing address was Box 103 in Naples, Idaho.[FN81] b. Events Occurring From the Arraignment Through February 20, 1991 (1) Communications With Weaver On January 22, 1991, four days after the arraignment, Judge Ayers sent a letter to Everett Hofmeister informing him that he had been appointed defense counsel for Weaver, that Weaver could be contacted at "PO Box 103, Naples, Idaho 83847" and that the trial date was set for February 19, 1991. A copy of this letter was sent to Weaver. On that same day, Weaver telephoned Karl Richins, the U.S. Probation Officer, and informed Richins that he had been ordered to call Richins on that date. Richins told Weaver that he had not received the paperwork on his case and, thus, could not advise him about the release conditions. Richins asked Weaver to leave his name and phone number so that Richins could call him when he received the case file. According to Richins, Weaver never gave him a phone number where he could be contacted nor could Richins recall what understanding the parties had as to how Richins would contact Weaver in the future.[FN82] After this conversation, Richins never heard from Weaver again.[FN83] On January 19, 1991, defense counsel Hofmeister sent a letter to the two addresses he had for Weaver, requesting Weaver to contact him. Hofmeister sent similar letters to Weaver at these addresses on January 31 and February 5. Around February 5, Hofmeister contacted individuals who knew Weaver and requested that they instruct Weaver to contact Hofmeister immediately.[FN84] Meanwhile, in early February, the court learned that the Weaver trial, which had been scheduled for February 19, would have to be changed to give the participants sufficient travel time following a federal holiday on the preceding Monday. On February 5, the court clerk sent a notice to the parties informing them that the trial was rescheduled for February 20, 1991. Although this notice was not sent directly to Weaver, a copy was sent to and received by Hofmeister.[FN85] Two days later, on February 7, 1991, probation officer Richins sent a letter to Weaver at his Naples address. Richins wrote: On January 18, 1991, you were released on Pretrial Supervision pending your trial set for March 20, 1991. You contacted our office and I advised you we would be getting back with you as soon as we received the paper work from Magistrate Ayers. I have long ago received the paperwork but have been unable to locate a telephone number where I could contact you. Accordingly, with this letter, I are [sic] requesting you to contact me at 334- 1630 as soon as possible. You may call collect if you choose.[FN86] (Emphasis added.) According to Richins, he wrote the letter because he needed to establish pretrial supervision of Weaver and had not heard from Weaver since their January 22 phone conversation.[FN87] The only explanation that Richins could provide for the erroneous trial date was that it was a typographical error. At trial, Richins expressed regret for the error and testified that he had placed the date in the letter as part of his effort to get Weaver to contact him. [FN88] Weaver never responded to Richins' letter.[FN89] On February 8, 1991, after receiving the February 6 court notice, Hofmeister wrote another letter urging Weaver to contact him and informing Weaver that the trial date had been changed to February 20. Four days later, having still not heard from Weaver, Hofmeister placed numerous unanswered calls to a telephone number at which Weaver reportedly received messages. In addition, Hofmeister asked individuals who had contact with Weaver to ask Weaver to contact Hofmeister immediately. However, as of the morning of February 20, Weaver had not contacted Hofmeister. [FN90] (2) The "Queen of Babylon" Letters and the Threat Assessment by the U.S. Marshals Service On February 7, 1991, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boise received two letters signed by Vicki Weaver. The first letter was dated January 22, 1991 -- the same day that Weaver called Richins - and was addressed to "The Queen of Babylon." It stated in part: A man cannot have two masters. Yahweh Yahshua Messiah, the anointed One of Saxon Israel is our law giver and our King. We will obey Him and no others. . . . 'a long forgotten wind is starting to blow. Do you hear the approaching thunder? It is that of the awakened Saxon. War is upon the land. The tyrants blood will flow.'[FN91] The last quote was credited to "Mathews." The second letter, dated February 3, 1991, was addressed to "Servant of the Queen of Babylon, Maurice O. Ellsworth, U.S. Attny [sic]" and stated in part: Yah-Yahshua the Messiah of Saxon Israel is our Advocate and our Judge. The stink of your lawless government has reached Heaven, the abode of Yahweh our Yahshua. Whether we live or whether we die, we will not bow to your evil commandments.[FN92] Ellsworth did not associate the name Vicki Weaver with any matter pending in his office.[FN93] However, because the language of the letters appeared somewhat threatening, he requested the U.S. Marshals Service in Boise ("USMS") to conduct a threat assessment of the letters.[FN94] Deputy U.S. Marshal Warren Mays was assigned to perform the threat assessment.[FN95] After checking with state and local agencies, Mays determined that Vicki Weaver was the wife of Randy Weaver.[FN96] Once this connection was made, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Ronald Evans convened a staff meeting, to determine how to proceed with the threat assessment. It was decided that Deputy U.S. Marshal David Hunt would be assigned to assist Mays in the inquiry.[FN97] Thereafter, Hunt and Mays began to gather information to enable them to prepare a "Threat Source Profile" of Weaver.[FN98] Mays first reviewed the bail report prepared for Weaver which revealed that Weaver had admitted membership in the "Aryan Nations/Church of Jesus Christ Christian," had attended three Aryan World Congresses and had been wearing and Aryan Nations belt buckle at the time of the arrest.[FN99] In addition, Mays analyzed the language in the two letters written by Vicki Weaver and concluded that the letters contained "rhetoric commonly associated with the Aryan Nations/Church of Jesus Christ Christian."[FN100] Evans characterized defense counsel Hofmeister as "a noted [Aryan Nations] attorney."[FN101] Based on this information, Mays initially concluded that the two letters from Vicki Weaver contained veiled but not overt threats.[FN102] Mays next asked Senior Deputy U.S. Marshall Jack Cluff, the resident officer in Moscow, Idaho, about the pending firearms charge against Weaver. Cluff suggested that Mays contact BATF Agent Byerly. Cluff also told Mays that he had learned from Lonnie Ekstrom, a deputy in the Boundary County Sheriff's Office, that Weaver had sent a letter to that office stating that he would not leave his cabin and that law enforcement officers would have to take him out.[FN103] Ekstrom recalled that in the letter the Weavers voiced, "sentiments which indicated that [they] felt as though the end is near and [that] the Federal Agents are watching very closely."[FN104] Cluff told Mays that Byerly had described Weaver as being "extremely uncooperative at the time of his booking" and believed that Weaver "planned not to appear for future court proceedings." [FN105] Byerly also reported to Cluff that Weaver: is very adamant and very convinced in his own mind of his religious beliefs in that the government is posing a threat to him. He is very anti-government. He believes that this charge by the federal government against him is the beginning of Armageddon. The religious war is about to begin. The end of the world is coming and he is ready to make his stand in the final battle. I would urge utmost caution and care in his arrest. I believe his children are going to be armed. If the situation is such that they were present during his apprehension, I believe that they should definitely be considered to be a threat to the arresting officers.[FN106] Mays next spoke with Special Supervisory Agent Michael Kelly who reported that the entire Weaver family, including the 12 and 14 year old children, were armed "at all times." Kelly told Mays that a BATF informant had indicated that the Weaver children slept with weapons in their beds.[FN107] Neither Kelly nor anyone else in BATF advised either Hunt or Mays that BATF had attempted to solicit Weaver to work as an informant. Indeed, it was not until over a year later that the marshals learned of this action.[FN108] As their investigation continued, Mays was briefed by the U.S. Secret Service on its investigation of Weaver for alleged threats he had made against President Reagan and the Governor of Idaho in 1985.[FN109] In addition, Mays and Hunt interviewed people in the community who might have further background information on Weaver.[FN110] Hunt and Mays also reviewed a copy of the military record "DD-214" for Weaver. Although the record did not indicate that Weaver had been a Green Beret or a member of the Special Forces, they speculated that Weaver may have received some general demolition training based on an indication in the record that Weaver had training as a "combat engineer."[FN111] On February 11, 1991, Mays forwarded the materials that he had gathered on Weaver to the Marshals Service Threat Analysis Division.[FN112] Around this time, Mays briefed Ellsworth on their findings. Mays told Ellsworth that they did not believe that he was personally at risk and that they doubted that Weaver would appear for trial.[FN113] When Ellsworth learned that Vicki Weaver was the wife of Randy Weaver, he discussed the matter with Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen, who had been assigned to the Weaver prosecution.[FN114] Ellsworth showed Howen the January 22 letter from Vicki Weaver. Howen identified "the long forgotten wind" passage as not being from the biblical book of Matthew but rather from the "Declaration of War" written by Robert Mathews, the founder of "The Order," a white supremacist group.[FN115] Soon after he wrote the Declaration, Mathews was killed during a standoff with the FBI at a house on Whidbey Island, Washington. Shortly after Howen relayed this information to Ellsworth, Chief Deputy Marshal Evans reported to Tony Perez, the Chief of Enforcement Operations at Marshals Service Headquarters, that sources within BATF had stated that Weaver had the potential to be "another Bob Mathews and his homestead another Whidbey Island standoff."[FN116] c. February 20, 1991 - The Rescheduled Trial Date Although the USAO continued preparing the Weaver case for trial, members of that office were beginning to doubt that Weaver would appear for trial. Sometime before February 20, defense counsel Hofmeister told Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen that he had been unable to contact Weaver. Based on this information, the two letters sent by Vicki Weaver and the information developed during the threat assessment, Howen concluded that Weaver would not appear for trial. Despite the indications that Weaver would not appear for trial, Howen told Byerly that they needed to continue preparing for trial. As a cautionary measure, Howen instructed Byerly to be in court on February 19, the original trial date, in case Weaver appeared.[FN117] Byerly was present in court on February 19, but Weaver did not appear. Howen insisted that he had no knowledge of the Richins letter at the time or when he appeared in court the following day.[FN118] On February 20, Howen and defense counsel Hofmeister appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Harold L. Ryan. At that time, Hofmeister told the court that he had been unable to contact Weaver.[FN119} Hofmeister then detailed the efforts that he had taken to communicate with Weaver. In addition, Hofmeister said that on the weekend before trial his answering service had received no calls from Weaver and that none of the letters he had sent to Weaver -- all of which had been sent by regular mail -- had been returned.[FN120] Howen told the court that it was his understanding that Weaver had not kept in contact with Pretrial Services as required. He requested that a bench warrant be issued for Weaver's arrest, that his bond be revoked, and that he be taken into custody.[FN121] Judge Ryan, after determining that the presence specialist had no information about whether Weaver had contacted pretrial services, ordered that a bench warrant be issued for Weaver because he had failed to appear for trial.[FN122] According to Judge Ryan, it was routine practice for him to issue a bench warrant whenever a defendant failed to appear for trial.[FN123] At that time the Weaver matter had no notoriety and was "just another case" to him.[FN124] d. Discovery of the Richins Letter and the Response of the Government On February 26, 1991, Ken Keller, a reporter from the Kootenai Valley Times in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, telephoned the U.S. Probation Office and asked Duty Officer Manning whether Weaver had not appeared for trial on February 20 because Richins had sent a letter to him stating that the trial date was March 20. Thereafter, Manning apprised Terrence Hummel, the Chief Probation Officer, of the inquiry. When Hummel retrieved the Richins letter, he discovered that it did, indeed, erroneously refer to the trial date as being on March 20.[FN125] Hummel promptly contacted Jim Martin, Judge Ryan's law clerk, and told him of the error in the Richins letter.[FN126] Thereafter, they contacted Chief Deputy Marshal Ronald Evans and notified him of the mistake. Evans told them that the Marshals Service "did not intend to execute the warrant until possibly March 16" and would agree to defer execution until March 23.[FN127] Martin told Hummel that he would inform Judge Ryan of the mistake and determine if he wanted to withdraw the bench warrant.[FN128] In addition to notifying the court and the Marshals Service, Hummel also informed U.S. Attorney Ellsworth of the Richins letter and sent him a copy.[FN129] During that conversation, Hummel suggested that Ellsworth not present the failure to appear charge to the grand jury until April. He characterized Ellsworth as being noncommittal regarding this proposal.[FN130] Later that day, Hummel telephoned Hofmeister and informed him of the Richins letter.[FN131] In a confirming letter to Hofmeister, Hummel stated that he had notified Judge Ryan and the USAO of the error and that he had recommended that the warrant not be executed until after March 20.[FN132] Following these discussions, Hummel returned the initial call from reporter Keller. In a memorandum to the file, Hummel wrote that he told Keller that he did not know if Weaver had received the Richins letter and that he had not indicated "one way or another whether or not Mr. Richins had, in fact, sent that letter."[FN133] On February 28, Keller wrote in an article that Hummel had disclaimed knowledge of the Richins letter.[FN134] Hummel insisted to investigators that he never denied the existence of the letter but explained that he was cautious about his statements because of the constraints imposed by the Bail Reform Act regarding the pretrial disclosure of information.[FN135] When Judge Ryan returned to his chambers on February 27, Martin briefed him about the Richins letter. Judge Ryan believed that the arrest warrant should not be withdrawn since Hofmeister had been informed of the change and had attempted to tell Weaver.[FN136] Thereafter, Martin informed Evans that Judge Ryan did not wish to withdraw the bench warrant. According to Evans, Martin stated that Judge Ryan made this decision after reasoning that Weaver had been told that the trial date was February 19 and that Richins was without authority to change the trial date. Martin also told Evans that Judge Ryan wanted the Marshals Service to bring Weaver before him during the week of March 11, since after that time he would be unable to hear the case until late May 1991. [FN137] Sometime around February 27, Michael Johnson, the U.S. Marshal for the District of Idaho, asked Hummel to send another letter to Weaver informing him of the trial date error and the bench warrant and asking him to contact the pretrial services officer immediately.[FN138] However, Richins testified that no steps were ever taken to inform Weaver of the mistakes in the letter. On February 28, Evens met with Ellsworth, Howen and Mays to discuss the failure of Weaver to appear for trial, the Richins letter[FN140] and the possibility of presenting an indictment to the grand jury.[FN141] According to Ellsworth, Evans was concerned about the impact of the Richins letter and questioned Ellsworth about how the Marshals Service should proceed. After this discussion, Ellsworth replied, "let's go ahead and return the failure to appear indictment. And if Mr. Weaver appears on March the 20th, we may to [sic] have to dismiss it."[FN142] Ellsworth advised Evans that Weaver was obligated to appear on February 20 since his counsel had received the court notice with the proper date.[FN143] Hunt testified at trial that the Richins letter created "a potential here for some reasonable misunderstanding."[FN144] Hunt explained that if Weaver had appeared on March 20, they had contemplated that dismissal of the indictment was possible.[FN145] According to Mays, in light of the Richins letter, the position of the Marshal Service was that the bench warrant and the indictment "would be dropped" if Weaver appeared on March 20. [FN146] Because of the Richins letter, the Marshals Service decided to wait until after March 20 to effect the warrant.[FN147] In the interim, the Marshals Service continued to gather information about Weaver, in part to determine if contact could be made with him. [FN148] On March 4, Hofmeister informed Evans that despite numerous phone calls and letters, Weaver still had not contacted him.[FN149] Since Weaver was not communicating with his own counsel, the marshals concluded that a friend of the Weavers might be more successful in conveying a message to them. The marshals identified Bill and Judy Grider as candidates for this role. The Griders lived in a cabin near the Weavers and were known to share philosophical views similar to those held by the Weavers.[FN150] On March 5, Hunt and Mays met with the Griders and informed them that they had an arrest warrant for Weaver. Bill Grider told the marshals that Weaver believed that he was being persecuted and would be treated unfairly if he submitted to the system. At that point, Judy Grider stated that Weaver had received a letter from the court telling him that he did not have to appear until March 20. The marshals asked the Griders to inform Weaver that they did not want a confrontation and that he should surrender to authorities. The Griders agreed to convey the message and to report Weaver's response.[FN151] Hunt and Mays met with the Griders the next day. At that time, Bill Grider gave the marshals a letter from Weaver, which he said contained Weaver's response to the surrender request. The letter, dated March 5, 1991, was addressed to the "Servants of the Queen of Babylon" and was signed by all five Weavers -- Randy, Vicki, Sara, Samuel and Rachel. It stated in part: We, the Weaver family, have been shown by our Savior and King, Yahshua the Messiah of Saxon Israel, that we are to stay separated on this mountain and not leave. We will obey our lawgiver and King. You see, the Mighty One of Heaven knows his people. You are servants of lawlessness and you enforce lawlessness. You are on the side of the One World Beastly Government. Repent for the Kingdom (government) of Yahweh is near at hand. Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house -- we will serve Yah- Yahshua, the King. Whether we live or whether we die, we will not obey your lawless government.[FN152] According to Bill Grider, Weaver stated that, if he dies, "he is going home and the kids want to go with him." When Hunt asked Grider what would happen if he went to Weaver's cabin to arrest him, Grider responded that Weaver had warned that "if a man enters my property with a gun to do me harm, you can bet that I'm going to shoot him to protect myself."[FN153] Evans interpreted this letter as "some type of possible suicide pact by the [Weaver] family"154 but cautioned that it was important that they "not read too much or too little into the letter in its present context."[FN155] Hunt and Mays, in a Threat Source Profile, opined that Weaver might be deliberately seeking a confrontation with what he considered to be a "corrupt and evil government." They referred to several reports on file at the Boundary County Sheriff's Office that indicated that Weaver had fired weapons at others because of trespassing or other alleged property disputes. In addition, the Profile noted that, "Weaver is armed most of the time . . . Sources have stated all family members carry side arms and keep other weapons located in strategic positions in the house and out buildings." The Profile stated that records indicated that Weaver had purchased four handguns, six rifles, and two shotguns.[FN156] Hunt approached the Griders again on March 8 and requested that they ask Weaver how they could avoid a confrontation. In addition, Hunt requested the Griders to ask Weaver to allow the children to leave so that they would not become involved in the dispute. On March 11, Bill Grider called Hunt and said that Weaver identified conditions that would have to be fulfilled in order to resolve the controversy. First, Weaver wanted BATF to admit that they had behaved improperly, that they had made a mistake and that the government was after him. Second, Weaver wanted BATF to return the pistol that they had allegedly "stole" from him at the time of the arrest. Next, Weaver wanted a written apology from Sheriff Whittaker who had called him "paranoid" in court. Finally, Weaver told Grider to tell authorities that if his children could not live in peace on the mountain then they did not want to live.[FN157] The last statement troubled Hunt and caused him to wonder if Randy and Vicki Weaver might use their children as "the first line of defense."[FN158] Evans concluded that a combination of tactical and nontactical approaches should be considered to apprehend Weaver. Evans noted that a tactical approach was viewed as the easiest to accomplish but that "it also offer[ed] the greatest possibility of innocent casualties." He suggested several options including attempting discussions with Weaver by a negotiation team comprised of a Marshals Service negotiator, Hofmeister and Richins, or using other intermediaries, such as the parents of Vicki Weaver, through whom to negotiate with the Weavers. However, in making these suggestions, Evans noted that there were "strong indications that Weaver now mistrusts [Hofmeister] and Richins due to conflicting information in letters received by Weaver." Evans also cautioned that there was "the probability that Weaver will open fire on any law enforcement officer or agent or ZOG ("Zionist Organized Government") once they are identified.[FN159] According to U.S. Marshal Michael Johnson, sometime during the week of March 11, Judge Ryan had a conversation with Evans regarding the apprehension of Weaver. At that time, Judge Ryan reminded Evans and Johnson that they need to arrest Weaver and "get him in his courtroom."[FN160] e. Decision to Present an Indictment to the Grand Jury U.S. Attorney Ellsworth authorized Howen to present the failure to appear indictment to the grand jury, with the understanding that if Weaver appeared for trial on March 20 they "would possibly have to dismiss the indictment."[FN161] Ellsworth explained that dismissal would be necessary under those circumstances, "[b]ecause the fact that he showed up would at least create reasonable doubt in my mind and possibly in a juror's mind as to whether or not the erroneous letter had been a basis for him not showing up February 20th, but showing up on March 20th."[FN162] Although Howen was unable to recall the specifics of the discussions in which he participated regarding the impact of the Richins letter, he did recall that it was their conclusion that Weaver never intended to appear for trial on February 19 or 20, nor would he appear for trial on March 20. In reaching this conclusion, they reasoned that Weaver had been specifically informed a number of times that the trial date was February 19 and that he had the responsibility of maintaining contact with the probation officer and his attorney. Despite these instructions, Weaver failed to comply. Moreover, Howen thought the Queen of Babylon letters evinced an intent by Weaver to remain secluded in his home and not appear for trial.[FN163] The USAO made no efforts to contact Weaver or his counsel to discuss the Richins letter or Weaver's failure to appear. Howen believed that such efforts were best left to the Probation Department and the Marshals Service. Howen thought that they had contacted Hofmeister and inquired whether he could persuade Weaver to talk to him and surrender.[FN164] In addition, he recalled hearing that Marshal Johnson had asked Hummel to write a letter to Weaver explaining the mistake in the letter.[FN165] Ellsworth had no discussions with the Probation Department or with the Marshals Service about sending a letter to Weaver informing him of the error.[FN166] With regard to the decision to present an indictment to the grand jury, Howen stated that even when a bench warrant is outstanding for a failure to appear, it is his policy to obtain an indictment for the charge because the judge could withdraw the bench warrant. Howen believed that an indictment and arrest warrant would give him more control over the matter and protect the agents executing the warrant from civil liability.[FN167] Although Ellsworth recalled that the Marshals Service wanted an indictment, he could not remember the specific reasons for this position.[FN168] However, Ellsworth conceded that, with the bench warrant, the marshals did not need an indictment to have jurisdiction over Weaver for his failure to appear.[FN169] Howen and Ellsworth planned to obtain a sealed indictment from the grand jury during their session in the second week of March and to instruct the marshals not to execute the arrest warrant until after March 20. If Weaver appeared for trial on March 20, both Howen and Ellsworth were prepared to dismiss the indictment provided Weaver had a good faith explanation as to why he had not appeared earlier.[FN170] Howen could not recall why, with the bench warrant outstanding, he presented the indictment on March 14 instead of waiting until the April session of the grand jury. He speculated that it could have been because of a scheduling conflict that he may have had in April although he reiterated that he was convinced that Weaver had intentionally failed to appear for trial, a failure unrelated to the error in the Richins letter.[FN171] Ellsworth acknowledged that they had discussed waiting until April 1991 to present the indictment but decided not to wait since they thought the evidence indicated that Weaver had no intention to appear for trial on March 20.[FN172] f. March 14, 1991 Indictment for Failure to Appear [G.J.] [G.J.] [FN173] [G.J.] [G.J.] [FN174] [FN175] [FN176] [G.J.] [FN177] 3. Discussion a. Government Knowledge of Erroneous Richins Letter Prior to February 20, 1991 This investigation has found no evidence that anyone in the government, including the USAO, was aware of the error in the February 7 Richins letter until February 26, 1991, when the news reporter first contacted the U.S. Probation Office. None of the individuals questioned indicated or suggested that such knowledge existed prior to that time. Nor was any other evidence obtained from which such knowledge could be inferred. Although Howen instructed Byerly to monitor the courtroom on February 19, it appears that this action was unrelated to any knowledge by Howen of the Richins letter but rather was a precautionary measure taken by Howen after receiving indications that Weaver might not appear for trial. Thus, at the earliest, government officials learned of the error six days after Judge Ryan had issued the bench warrant on February 20, 1991. Consequently, we find no factual basis for the allegation that the existence of the Richins letter was concealed from the court on February 20, 1991. b. Appropriateness of Government Response to the Richins Letter Four governmental agencies were involved in the Richins letter issue: the federal district court, which issued the bench warrant for Weavers failure to appear; the federal probation office, which wrote the erroneous letter; the U.S. Marshals Service, which was responsible for apprehending Weaver on the bench warrant; and the U.S. Attorney's Office, which was responsible for prosecuting the firearms charges and for deciding whether an indictment should be presented for the failure to appear charge. After being informed of the mistake in the Richins letter, there was a flurry of activity by each of these entities. Phone conversations were initiated, meetings were conducted and memoranda were written. The evidence indicates that the immediate reaction of almost all involved was that the letter was significant, although differences of opinion existed as to the impact of the letter and what, if any, actions should be taken. With regard to the role of Judge Ryan, we believe that he took and unnecessarily rigid view of the impact of the Richins letter. his initial reaction to the effect of the letter was that it did not excuse Weaver from appearing for trial. He seemed to base his decision on two factors. First, Weaver had been explicitly informed several times of the trial date yet had failed to appear for trial. Second, defense counsel had made numerous attempts to contact Weaver, including to inform him of the correct change in the trial date, but Weaver had failed to respond. Although we agree that these facts provided sufficient ground upon which to issue the bench warrant for the failure to appear, we believe that the Richins letter made necessary a serious reassessment as to whether some corrective action should have been taken. We find it was not unreasonable for Weaver to assume that the Probation Office was a government agency acting on behalf of the court and authorized to inform him of the trial schedule. It is unrealistic to expect the average citizen to be versed in the division of responsibilities within the judicial system. We believe that the preferable approach would have been for the probation officer to send a corrected letter or, perhaps to have the court clerk issue a notice acknowledging the miscommunication and informing Weaver of the correct trial date. With regard to the conduct of the Probation Office, it was its mistake that created this problem. our investigation produced no evidence that this error was anything but an unintentional mistake by Richins. Nor did we find any indication that Hummel intentionally denied to the reporter that the erroneous letter had been sent. Rather, it is our conclusion that the caution of Hummel to avoid improperly disclosing confidential information may have caused him to couch his response in such a manner that the reporter interpreted the response as a denial.[FN178] However, we have difficulty understanding why the office did not send a letter to Weaver explaining the mistake. Although U.S. Marshal Johnson requested Hummel to send such a letter, Hummel did not honor this request. The Marshals Service, in our view, was placed in the middle of this controversy. It immediately recognized the letter as a significant matter that had a potential impact on the viability of the bench warrant and contacted the other governmental agencies involved and attempted to determine how best to proceed. The initial reaction of Chief Deputy Marshal Evans was to defer execution of the warrant. Marshal Johnson also wanted the probation officer to send a letter correcting the mistake. When they consulted with the U.S. Attorney about how to proceed, Ellsworth advised them that they should withhold any tactical service of the bench warrant until after March 20, the trial date erroneously referenced in the Richins letter. From the evidence presented during the investigation, it appears that the Marshals Service sought guidance from both the court and the U.S. Attorney's Office. The reaction of the court was to do nothing to correct the letter since in its view Weaver was clearly obligated to appear. The position of the USAO was somewhat inconsistent. On one hand, it argued that all indications were that Weaver was not going to appear for trial and that the mistake in the letter had not caused Weaver to form this intent nor would a correction cause him to appear. In its view, a corrected letter would not result in Weaver's appearance. However, on the other hand, the USAO indicated that if it obtained an indictment before March 20, 1991 and if Weaver appeared on or before March 20 it either "would" or "possibly would" move to dismiss the indictment. We think that this somewhat inconsistent position evinces the realization that the letter might provide an explanation for Weaver's failure to appear. It appears that although the USAO was consulted they never took control of the issue or urged the sending of a letter to Weaver identifying the error. Such a posture was neither prudent nor advisable. The justification given for their inaction seemed to be that they believed that all indications were that Weaver was not going to appear for trial. They maintained that Weaver had clearly been instructed about the trial date and his obligation to comply with all the conditions of his release. Moreover, they argued that Weaver's counsel, despite numerous attempts, had been unsuccessful in his efforts to contact his client. In addition, Vicki Weaver, presumably with Randy Weaver's knowledge and approval, had written and mailed two letters before the Richins letter was sent which evidenced an intent not to appear. Furthermore, the Marshals Service investigation indicated that Weaver had antigovernment views and distrusted the government. Finally, in response to the marshal's note requesting surrender, Weaver sent a letter that stated that his family would"not obey your lawless government." If these facts had existed without the presence of the Richins letter, we would concur with the conclusion of the USAO that Weaver would probably not appear for trial. However, the facts did not exist in a vacuum. Even Ellsworth recognized the importance of the letter when he instructed the marshals not to participate in any tactical attempts to execute the warrant until March 20. If Ellsworth thought that the letter was without legal effect, this instruction would have been unnecessary. Similarly, both Ellsworth and Howen recognized that if an indictment were obtained, it might "possibly" have to be dismissed if Weaver appeared for trial on or before March 20. Their recognition that Weaver's possible confusion about the trial date might lead to a dismissal demonstrates that the Richins letter warranted a more active response by the government. Furthermore, the fact that Weaver was known to have an intense distrust of government might also cause one to conclude that the letter might have intensified his distrust and contributed to his reluctance to appear for trial. It is clear from Weaver's comments to the Griders that he received the Richins letter. These comments, which were relayed to the marshals, indicated that Weaver was suspicious of what he viewed as inconsistent messages from the government and his own counsel, and that this inconsistency enforced his belief that the government was conspiring against him. We recognize that we have the benefit of more information than was available in 1991, and have had greater time to assess how the government should have responded. However, irrespective of the advantage of hindsight, we are troubled by the rigidity of the government's approach and the lack of leadership exhibited by the USAO on this issue. Although we do not believe that the response of the government to this letter was illegal or violated Weaver's constitutional rights, we do not understand the reasons for the USAO not taking control of this issue and coordinating a unified governmental response. Indeed, it was incumbent upon the USAO to have the Probation Office send an appropriate correction and to have attempted to discuss the matter with the court. Such action would have taken little effort and would have eliminated any question as to whether Weaver was confused. c. Propriety of Seeking an Indictment on March 14, 1991 Despite the existence of an outstanding bench warrant, the USAO decided to present an indictment to the grand jury charging Weaver with failure to appear. Howen decided to present the indictment on March 14, 1991, six days before the erroneous trial date stated in the Richins letter, because the grand jury only sat once a month. For reasons previously discussed, the USAO was convinced that Weaver was not going to appear. As to why the USAO wanted an indictment, Howen explained that an indictment gave him more control and protected the marshals executing the warrant from civil liability if the court were to withdraw the bench warrant without their knowledge. Howen could not recall what, if any, reasons existed for not delaying the presentment of the indictment until the April session of the grand jury. This investigation found no indication that either the Marshals Service or the court applied any pressure directly or indirectly to the USAO as to when or whether to seek an indictment. We are troubled by the decision of the USAO to seek an indictment before March 20. Its words and actions demonstrate that it had some concern, or at lease question, about the impact of the Richins letter on the failure to appear charge. We are not persuaded by the reasons that the USAO articulated for seeking the indictment when they did. At the time that it sought the indictment, a bench warrant was outstanding. The USAO had never received any indication that the court would withdraw the warrant. To the contrary, the court was firmly resolved that the bench warrant was appropriate and should be executed. Furthermore, if Weaver had been arrested on the bench warrant, it is certain that he would not have been released. This would have enabled the USAO to present an indictment to the next grand jury without there being any concern that Weaver would flee. Seeking an indictment at the time that the USAO did created an appearance of governmental overreaching. d. [G.J.] [G.J.] [G.J.] [G.J] [G.J.] [FN179] [G.J.] [FN180] [FN181] [G.J.] [G.J.] [FN182] 4. Conclusion There is no evidence that members of the USAO, the federal probation office and Marshals Service intentionally concealed the erroneous Richins letter from the court on February 20, 1991. However, we conclude that the USAO, the probation office and the court should have appreciated the potential impact of the letter and should have pursued simple and straight forward steps to remedy the error. The decision to seek an indictment prior to the March 20 date state in the letter was unnecessary and created an impression of prosecutorial overreaching. [G.J.] FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART B) 71 See 26 U.S.C. §§ 5861 (d) and (f). 72 Devane Report, December 17, 1993. 73 Former U.S. Attorney Maurice Ellsworth explained that because of the distance from Boise to Moscow, his office did not routinely attend preliminary hearings unless it was a high profile case or there was a strong indication that the defendant posed a flight risk. Interview of Maurice Ellsworth, Tape 1, at 40 (hereinafter cited as "Ellsworth Interview"). Accord, Trial Testimony of Stephen Ayers, April 21, 1993, at 26-27. 74 Arraignment Transcript in United States v. Weaver, No. 90- 092-N-HLR, on January 18, 1991, at 6 (hereinafter cited as "Arraignment Transcript"). 75 Id. at 10. 76 Id. 77 Id. at 12. 78 Id. at 18. 79 Id. at 15. The Order setting forth the conditions of release reiterated that the next court appearance was on February 19, 1991 and that Weaver had to contact Richins on January 22, 1991. Condition 7(g) required Weaver to "refrain from possessing a firearm, destructive device, or other dangerous weapon." Order Setting Conditions of Release in United States v. Weaver, No. 90- 092-N-HLR, January 18, 1991, at 2 (Appendix at 4). 80 Arraignment Transcript, at 16-17. 81 Id. at 17-18. 82 See Trial Testimony of Karl Richins, April 22, 1993, at 27- 30. 83 Id. at 31-32. 84 Hearing Transcript in United States v. Weaver, No. 90-092- N-HLR on February 20, 1991, at 2-5 (hereinafter cited as "Hearing Transcript"). 85 See Notice date February 5, 1991, in United States v. Weaver, No. 90-092-N-HLR (Appendix at 7). 86 See Letter from Karl L. Richins to Randy Weaver, February 7, 1991 (Appendix at 8). There is no indication on the letter that Probation sent copies to any other party. 87 See Richins Trial Testimony, April 22, 1993, at 32. 88 Id. at 36-37, 39-41. 89 Id. at 38. 90 Hearing Transcript, February 20, 1991, at 2-5. 91 Letter from Vicki Weaver to the "Queen of Babylon", January 22, 1991 (Appendix at 5). 92 Letter from Vicki Weaver to the "Servant of the Queen of Babylon", February 3, 1991 (Appendix at 6). 93 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 1, at 35-36. 94 Id. at 35. One of the responsibilities of the United States Marshal Service is to assess the seriousness of threats made against judicial and law enforcement officials. FD-302 Interview of Ronald D. Evans, October 21, 1993, at 1. 95 Ronald Evans FD-302, at 1. 96 Sworn Statement of David Hunt, February 5, 1994, at 3; FD- 302 Interview of W. Warren Mays, October 5, 1993, at 2. 97 Mays FD-302, at 2. 98 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 3; Mays FD-302, at 3. 99 Report of Investigation by Mays, February 8, 1991, at 3. 100 Id. at 3. 101 Memo from Evans to Hunt, Cluff and Mays, February 11, 1991, at 1. 102 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 2. 103 Supplemental Memorandum from Ronald Evans to Tony Perez, February 20, 1991, at 2. 104 Letter from Lonnie Ekstrom to Jack Cluff, February 20, 1991. Ekstrom could not locate Weaver's letter but summarized its contents in his letter to Cluff. 105 Report of Investigation by Mays, February 8, 1991, at 3. 106 Memo from Evans to Perez, February 20, 1991, at 2. 107 Report of Investigation by Mays, February 8, 1991, at 3. 108 Mays FD-302, at 2; Hunt Sworn Statement, at 5. Memo from Evans to Hunt, Cluff and Mays, February 11, 1991. 109 Memorandum from Evans to Perez, February 11, 1991, at 2. 110 Mays FD-302, at 2. 111 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 2, 6; Mays FD-302, at 2, 4. Mays stated that he had been told that Weaver was an explosives expert and former Green Beret. Weaver claimed to Secret Service investigators in 1985 that he had served three years as a Army Special Forces Green Beret and that he had been an Army engineer. FD-302 Interview of Randy Weaver, February 12, 1985. Later, he made similar claims to other including Jackie Brown, a friend of the Weavers. Weaver told Brown that he had participated in "drug raids" with the CIA and that he had been a member of a special group of Green Berets. Weaver professed that he became disillusioned with the CIA when officials kept the drugs for themselves. See Sworn Statement of Stephen McGavin, November 19, 1993, at 5. 112 Memo from Evans to Hunt, Cluff, and Mays, February 11, 1991, at 1. 113 Mays FD-302, at 3; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 1, at 53-54. 114 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 1, at 36. 115 Howen Interview, Tape 3, at 19-22. Ellsworth remembers this conversation but believes it may have occurred after the return of the March 14, 1991 indictment. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 2, at 1-2. 116 Memo from Evans to Perez, February 20, 1991, at 2. 117 See Byerly Trial Testimony, on April 20, 1993, at 68. 118 See Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 3, 42-43. See also, Byerly Sworn Statement, at 13. If Weaver had appeared, Byerly was to inform Weaver that the trial date had been changed and that he should contact his attorney immediately. Id. 119 Judge Ryan believes that one of his law clerks advised him shortly before the trial that Weaver would probably not appear. FD-302 Interview of the Honorable Harold Ryan, November 9, 1993, at 1. 120 Hearing Transcript, February 20, 1991, at 2-5. Warren Mays testified at trial that the local postal inspector told him on February 21, 1991 that Bill Grider had picked up the mail from the Weaver box for the previous three weeks. See Mays Trial Testimony, April 23, 1993, at 111-12. 121 Hearing Transcript, February 20, 1991, at 6-7. 122 Id. at 7. 123 FD-302 Interview of the Honorable Harold Ryan, November 9, 1993, at 1. 124 Id. at 2. 125 See Memo from T.A. Hummel to File, February 26, 1991 (hereinafter cited as "Hummel Memo") (Appendix at 9); FD-302 Interview of Terrence A. Hummel, October 19, 1993, at 2. 126 Hummel discussed the matter with Martin instead of Judge Ryan because Judge Ryan was travelling back from northern Idaho. See Hummel Memo, February 26, 1991. 127 Id. 128 See Memo from Evans to Perez, February 27, 1991, at 1 (Appendix at 11). 129 Hummel also discussed the letter with Richins, who was quite concerned about the error. When Richins asked if there was anything that he could do to correct the mistake, Hummel told him that he had handled the matter and had done everything that he could do. See Richins Trial Testimony, at 46-51. 130 See Hummel Memo, February 26, 1991; Hummel FD-302, November 12, 1993, at 1. 131 See Hummel Memo, February 26, 1991. 132 See Letter from T.A. Hummel to Everett Hofmeister, February 26, 1991 (Appendix at 10). 133 See Hummel Memo, February 26, 1991. 134 Memo from Evans to Perez, March 12, 1991, at 2. 135 Hummel FD-302, at 1. 136 FD-302 Interview of James L. Martin, October 23, 1991, at 4. See also, Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 49. 137 See Memo from Evans to Perez, February 27, 1991, at 1 (Appendix at 11) Evans Memo, at 1. Hunt testified at trial that Evans told him that law clerk Martin had informed him that the bench warrant was still in effect and that the Marshals Service "would proceed with our duty." Trial Testimony of David Hunt on May 3, 1993 at 73-75. A Marshals Service Daily Report dated February 28, 1991, which was an Addendum to the Enforcement Division Daily Report, provided an update on the Weaver matter. It stated that "[a] Federal judge in D/Idaho has ordered the USMS to have Weaver in court for his trial beginning March 11, 1991." This report also referred to preparations by Marshals Service to arrest Weaver on March 10, 1991 with the support of state and local police authorities. 138 See Memo from Evans to Perez, February 27, 1991, at 3; Hunt Trial Testimony, May 5, 1993, at 9-10. 139 Richins Trial Testimony 140 Howen cannot recall when or how he learned of the Richins letter although he knows it was after Weaver failed to appear on February 20th. See Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 44-45. 141 See Trial Testimony of Maurice Ellsworth, April 22, 1993, at 26-29. See also, Evans FD-302, at 1. Although Ellsworth did not recall Mays being a participant in this meeting, Mays testified at trial that he was present. See Mays Trial Testimony, May 5, 1993, at 2-3. On that same day, Evans and Deputy Marshall Jack Cluff had a telephone conference call with Ken Keller, the reporter from the Kootenai Valley Times. Keller told them that someone came into the newspaper office and stated that Randy Weaver, his wife and children, along with the Grider children, "are waiting at the Weaver cabin, and are prepared to make a final stand." Report of Investigation by Evans, February 28, 1991. 142 Ellsworth Trial Testimony, April 22, 1993, at 30; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 1, at 42-44. 143 FD-302 of Maurice Ellsworth, October 29, 1993, at 2. Evans described the meeting as follows: The U.S. Attorney has determined that it is in the best interest of the Department of Justice to withhold any tactical approach to service of the warrant on Weaver until after March 20, 1991. The Bench Warrant will remain in effect. . . . The U.S. Attorney intends to indict Weaver on 3/12/91 for FTA but admits he will most probably be forced to dismiss the FTA indictment prior to any trial. Defense counsel for Weaver has been instructed by the Chief Judge to 'find your client and surrender him to the U.S. Magistrate in Northern Idaho'. . . . Memo from Evans to Perez, February 28, 1991, at 1 (Appendix at 12). 144 See Hunt Trial Testimony, May 3, 1993, at 66. 145 Id. at 66-67. 146 See Mays Trial Testimony, May 5, 1993, at 6-8. 147 A Marshal Service Special Operations Division document dated March 5, 1991 and entitled, "Significant Events," stated that after Evans spoke with the United States Attorney and the ATF case agent, it was decided "the district will delay the attempt to [sic] RANDALL C. WEAVER. . . . Chief Evans advised that WEAVER will be indicted on March 12, 1991, and arrested after March 20, 1991." 148 Hunt Trial Testimony, May 3, 1993, at 66-67. 149 See Evans Trial Testimony, May 5, 1993, at 63. 150 Law enforcement regarded the Griders as "more radical and dangerous than Weaver." See Addendum to Enforcement Division Daily Report, February 28, 1991, at 1. In May 1990, the Raus purchased land that the IRS had seized as a result of tax liens. Without the permission of the Raus, the Weavers assisted the Griders in moving into a cabin on this property. Thereafter, the Raus were forced to obtain a court order to evict the Griders from the cabin. See Incident Report of Boundary County Sheriff's Office, June 7, 1990. 151 Report of Investigation by Hunt, March 5, 1991, at 2. 152 Letter from the Weavers to "servant of the Queen of Babylon", March 5, 1991 (Appendix at 13). Mays prepared an analysis of the Biblical references in this letter and the earlier ones and concluded that "Weaver sees the court and USMS personnel as servants of the Queen of Babylon, those who serve her serve Satan." Report of Investigation by Mays, March 25, 1991, at 1-2. 153 Report of Investigation by Mays, March 6, 1991, at 2. 154 Memo from Evans to Perez, March 7, 1991, at 1. Michael Weland, a reporter for the Kootenai Valley Times who interviewed Weaver in May 1992, echoed this view. Weland believed that Vicki Weaver "would rather die along with her family in their cabin than subject herself and her family to the law enforcement agencies . .. . [T]hat would include committing suicide instead of surrendering." FD-302 Interview of Michael Weland, August 25, 1992, at 2. 155 Memo from Evans to Perez, March 7, 1991, at 1. 156 Threat Source Profile, March 7, 1991, at 3, 7-8, 15. 157 Report of Investigation by Hunt, March 11, 1991, at 1. 158 Memo from Evans to Perez, March 12, 1991, at 2. 159 Id. Vicki Weaver's parents, the Jordisons, visited the Weavers in April 1991. Afterwards, they reported to Evans that Weaver feared the government was planning to take his land away because he failed to go to court "for something he did not do." The Jordisons could offer no suggestions as to how the matter could be resolved peacefully. Report of Investigation by Evans, April 24, 1991, at 3-4. 160 FD-302 Interview of Michael Johnson, October 5, 1993, at 3. 161 Ellsworth Trial Testimony, April 22, 1993, at 33. 162 Id. at 34. 163 See Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 46. 164 Id., Tape 3, at 2-4 165 Id. at 3. 166 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 1, at 45. In retrospect, Howen concluded that perhaps they should have sent Weaver a letter explaining the error although he remained convinced that Weaver did not intend to appear. Howen Interview, Tape 3, at 5. 167 Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 47; Tape 3, at 12-13. 168 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 1, at 45-46. 169 Id. at 46. 170 Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 47-48; Tape 3, at 6, 10. 171 Howen Interview, Tape 3, at 6-7. Howen insisted that no one from the Marshals Service pressured the U.S. Attorney's office to indict Weaver in March. Id. at 20. 172 According to Ellsworth, while he was U.S. Attorney this was only the second case in which a bench warrant had been issued for a defendant failing to appear for trial. In both cases, his office had sought an indictment charging the failure to appear. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 1, at 44-45. 173 See [G.J.] 174 See [G.J.] 175 [G.J.] 176 [G.J.] 177 [G.J.] 178 Former U.S. Attorney Ellsworth opined that he did not think that it was particularly appropriate for a Probation Officer to be talking with a member of the press under any circumstances. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 1, at 52. 179 [G.J.] 180 [G.J.] 181 [G.J.] 182 [G.J.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED C.Efforts by the Marshals Service to Effect the Arrest of Weaver 1. Introduction It has been suggested that the shooting deaths of Marshal Degan and Sammy Weaver on August 21, 1992 were the result of a scheme by the Marshals Service to assault the Weaver property, or at the least, the result of inadequate planning. This inquiry examined the scope of the Marshals Service investigation between February 1991 and August 1992 and examined the options the marshals considered to effect the arrest of Weaver. 2. Statement of Facts a. Involvement of the Marshals Service Special Operations Group On March 18, 1991, Ronald Evans requested the assistance of the Marshals Service Special Operations Group ("SOG").183] SOG is a voluntary unit in the Marshals Service specifically trained to handle dangerous or complex matters, such as hostage situations involving fugitives.[FN184] Evans compared the Weaver situation to the violence surrounding the attempted arrest of Gordon Kahl when Evans was Chief Deputy of the North Dakota District.[FN185] He added that many days/nights of surveillance would be necessary to determine the Weavers' daily routine and asked for SOG assistance in determining how to arrest Weaver "while minimizing risk to all persons involved. . . . Ultimately, we must find a single weakness which will cause Randy Weaver to leave the house if only momentarily."[FN186] On March 23, 1991, Evans briefed SOG Commander John Haynes, Deputy Commander Louis E. Stagg, and other SOG personnel.[FN187] At that time, Stagg asked Evans about the pressure he was under to apprehend Weaver, and Evans replied that a "very senior Judge" was not going to tolerate delay in capturing Weaver.[FN188] It was tentatively agreed that an SOG reconnaissance team would travel to Idaho in mid-June to gather information for a plan to arrest Weaver. Haynes directed that Stagg lead the mission.[FN189] SOG also retained the services of Dr. Walter F. Stenning, Ph.D., a psychologist, to construct a psychological profile of Randy Weaver. Dr Stenning concluded: In my best professional judgement, Mr. Randall (sic) would be an extreme threat to any police officer's attempt to arrest (sic) him. Further, Mr. Randall (sic) has indoctrated (sic) his family into a belief system that the end of the world is near and that his family must fight the fences (sic) for evil that want to take over the world. I believe his family may fight to the death. If Mr. Randall (sic) is captured by your force, I feel the remaining members of the family will use all force necessary including deadly force to regain Mr. Randall's (sic) freedom. Also, all evidence indicates that the Randalls' (sic) home and surrounding property is defensively fortified to repel assault. In summary, my best professional judgement is that Mr. Randall (sic) and family will resist and have the means to resist all but a military type assault. Further, even with a military type assault the family will fight, possibly to the death. It seems most effective to wait until Mr. Randall (sic) leaves his house and is alone to make the arrest on the Federal warrant.[FN190] b. SOG Reconnaissance and Recommendations Between June 17 and 24, 1991, the SOG reconnaissance team assessed the Weaver case in Idaho. SOG Deputy Commander Staff was accompanied by Deputy Marshals Cody Thorpe and Larry Ely. They reviewed the files of the local marshals and met BATF agents, Forest Service representatives, the local sheriff, and others. BATF Agents Byerly and Kelly told them that "Weaver and his entire family will react violently to any attempt by the USMS to arrest Weaver and that Vicki Weaver and the children should be considered just as dangerous as Weaver." Kelly also reported that Weaver had plans to remove himself and his family to caves in the mountain. [FN191] Byerly speculated that Weaver might leave the property to attend the upcoming Aryan World Congress.[FN192] Sheriff Whittaker told the SOG reconnaissance team that he thought Weaver feared that the government would take his property through forfeiture of the bail bond and might kill his family in an assault to arrest him. In addition, Whittaker also told Staff that Weaver had threatened his neighbors, the Raus.[FN193] Whittaker, however, did not "completely share the assessment of other (law enforcement) agencies that Weaver is completely beyond rational reasoning and will fight to the death."[FN194] Stagg briefed Marshal Johnson and U.S. Attorney Ellsworth about his findings. He recommended against a tactical assault on the Weaver compound because of possible injury to the marshals and the women and children. Instead, it was his recommendation that the indictment be dismissed and then refiled later under seal. Staff also cautioned that an attack must be forceful to eliminate the risk of Weaver escaping into the woods, where he would pose more of a threat.[FN195] Thereafter, Stagg requested an opportunity to present his findings to Chief Judge Ryan but Ellsworth refused the request.[FN196] Stagg told Hunt that this "was the worse (sic) situation he had seen in 23 years."[FN197] The SOG team set forth its findings in a Law Enforcement Operations Order, which portrayed the situation as exceedingly difficult and Weaver as "extremely dangerous and suicidal." The team concluded that: Weaver has been preparing for five months [since his arrest by BATF] for his war or confrontation with law enforcement and it is very likely that he has established numerous fortifications and defensive positions on his property. It is also possible that Weaver has placed booby traps and/or command detonated explosive devices on routes of approach or concealment. The report set forth a proposal to arrest Weaver with "a minimal risk of loss of life" and "minimum force necessary to effect arrest." The proposed plan contemplated use of reconnaissance teams to determine whether Weaver could be arrested away from his residence, wife and children. If that were not feasible, the team would gather intelligence necessary to implement a "tactical movement" with armored vehicles.[FN198] Following the submission of the report, SOG took no additional action until Evans again requested SOG's assistance in effecting Weaver's arrest. On September 25, 1991, Evans wrote: Patience and negotiations have not been rewarded in the instant matter. We have communicated with the Weaver family through his family, friends, and his attorney. We have provided him with multiple opportunities to surrender to this office, the local sheriff, or to his court appointed counsel. . . . One option remains and should be exercised quickly. We still need to verify Weaver's existence on the property and test his dedication. In testing the latter, it must be done with a careful balance to limit and minimize risk to law enforcement, the Weaver family members, and to Randall Weaver. Without experimentation, we are stymied and without answers. . . . While time may have initially been on our side, it has now turned against us. We are within thirty days from being locked out of the area by climatic factors. If we avoid this opportunity, it will be May, to June, 1992 before any course of action can be initiated. I seriously doubt the court will reasonably wait until 1992 for the initial endeavor to serve the warrant. [FN199] Evans then asked that a team of SOG members be dispatched to the Weaver property to contact Randy Weaver. He envisioned their role as follows: They will be instructed to arrest Weaver without injury to themselves or any other person. If they determine that this cannot be accomplished without life threatening circumstances, they will be instructed to leave the immediate area without delay. ...[FN200] On September 28, 1991, a seven man SOG detail was dispatched to assist in arresting Weaver. However, upon arrival, the team concluded that "the information upon which the SOG move order was issued was inaccurate," and the plan to arrest Weaver was cancelled.[FN201] Thereafter, the team gathered additional information and learned that Vicki Weaver was pregnant and close to delivery. In addition, the team reported that Weaver was still on the mountain and that the situation was as dangerous as before. It also concluded that "it [was] very likely that any attempt to arrest Weaver at his property will result in an armed gun battle and subsequent loss of life."[FN202] On July 9, 1991, Deputy U.S. Marshal Cluff and Everett Hofmeister, Weaver's appointed counsel, told Rodney Willey, a Weaver associate, that if Weaver surrendered, the failure to appear charge might be dismissed.[FN203] They also told Willey that the sentence on the weapons offense would be minimal because Weaver did not have a criminal record. On July 10, Willey informed Hofmeister that Weaver would not surrender because "[his] rights will be violated."[FN204] In late September 1991, Hunt and Ely interviewed Beverly and Ed Torrence, who owned land adjacent to the Weaver property. The Torrences explained that they had encountered the Weavers a few days earlier when they had gone up to view their property. At that time, the Torrences drove near the Weaver house and stopped to ask about some property markers. The Weaver dogs came to their car, followed by Sammy Weaver, who called to the house. The Torrences then saw Randy Weaver and "Dennis" looking down on them from a rock outcropping.[FN205] Each held a rifle or shotgun. Thereafter, the Torrences were invited into the Weaver cabin where Randy and Vicki Weaver explained their religious and political views. Randy Weaver told the Torrences that the Aryans are the true chosen people of Yahweh and that the Jews are impersonators.[FN206] He claimed that a federal informant had introduced him to the Aryan Nations. Weaver also discussed the BATF arrest and that he was expecting federal agents to come to his home, but that he was not going to be arrested by anyone. According to Weaver, he and his family would shoot federal law enforcement officials who came on his property. "If they do take me, I'll take some with me," and that is "[w]hy we have the guns." Beverly Torrence observed that Weaver appeared "vehement in his belief that he would rather fight than go peaceable (sic)."[FN207] During this period, the marshals also received information that Weaver might attend the America's Promise Ministry, a suspected Aryan Nations church, in Sandpoint, Idaho. The Marshals Service began surveillance of the church, but Weaver was not seen.[FN208] d. Exchange of Surrender Terms On October 9, 1991, Deputy Marshal Mays interviewed Alan Jeppeson, who had been observed bringing supplies and mail to the Weaver cabin.[FN209] Mays asked Jeppeson to convey another negotiation offer to the Weavers. A series of exchanges followed. On October 12, 1991, Jeppeson gave Mays a letter from the Weavers which stated: The U.S. Government lied to me - why should I believe anything its servants have to say . . . . This situation was set up by a lying government informant whom your lawless courts will honor. Your lawless One World Beast courts are doomed. I have appealed to Yahweh's court of Supreme Justice. We will stay here separated from you & your lawless evil in obedience to Yahshua the Messiah.[FN210] Jeppeson told Hunt that Weaver did not want to be tried in Idaho "due to prejudice against those who believed in separation of the white race."[FN211] According to Jeppeson, Weaver might surrender, if the trial could be moved and if Jeppeson could remain with Weaver until he was released or sentenced.[FN212] Thereafter, the Marshals Service began to formulate a surrender offer. This offer included promises that: the government would not interfere with Vicki Weaver's custody of her children; [FN213] the Marshals Service would not harass Randy Weaver's family; and the Government would not move to forfeit Randy Weaver's property.[FN214] The following day, Jeppeson delivered a letter from Vicki Weaver, addressed to Mays and Hunt, that posed a number of questions, including: 1. Why a government informant or agent cannot be cross-examined by a defense attorney? 2. Why did the U.S. Dist. Judge in Coeur D'Alene tell [the Weavers] that if [they] lost [their] case [they] would lose the $10,000 bond to pay the attorney?[FN215] 3. Why is there a concerted effort to 'set up' for prison or murder all ex-green berets (Special Forces). My husband is an ex-green beret. We know there are those already in prison from 'set ups.' They all went to court expecting justice from the courts of the country they loved. They didn't receive any! (Emphasis in original.) Jeppeson told the marshals that he thought that Weaver would agree to meet Hunt. On October 16, 1991, Evans and Hunt gave Jeppeson a letter to give to Randy Weaver that responded to the questions Vicki Weaver had raised. Later that same day, Jeppeson gave Hunt a brief response signed by Vicki Weaver, which declared "[t]here is nothing to discuss. [Randy] doesn't have to prove he is innocent. Nor refute your slander."[FN216] e. Post-Negotiation Investigation In October 1991, Hunt and Evans drafted a letter to Weaver, for Marshal Johnson's signature, containing proposed surrender terms. They sent the letter to the USAO for review.[FN217] Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen rejected the proposal on October 15, 1992 and explained in a subsequent letter that: [I] cannot authorize further negotiations or discussions along this line with defendant or his agent for two reasons. First, since the defendant is represented by Everett C. Hofmeister, appointed counsel, all contact with the defendant must be through his lawyer and not by ex parte means. Department of Justice policy and the Cannons (sic) of Ethics prohibit direct or indirect contact with a defendant who is represented by counsel for any negotiation purpose. Second, the . . . areas of proposed negotiation are either not within my power to grant or bind the government, to (sic) broad in their scope, or are the type of matters properly addressed in a plea agreement in exchange for guilty pleas, but not mere surrender.[FN218] As a result of Howen's directive, the Marshals Service did not send the proposed letter. Following the termination of negotiations, Hunt continued to gather information. He determined that Weaver had "set an approximate 100 yard perimeter around his house" that gave him "high ground coverage of 360 degrees." Hunt described Weaver's routine: Weaver's tactics appear to be that he and [Kevin] Harris will cover any intruders [on the property] from a distance until they are identified....In most cases Weaver will send his son or Harris to investigate a situation while Weaver covers them. Weaver also has a very aggressive dog that will warn them if someone is approaching.[FN219] There was very little activity by the marshals on the Weaver matter through the winter months because the property was snowed in, and surveillance was not practical.[FN220] However, they continued to receive information about who was visiting the Weaver property. On March 1, 1992, the Spokesman Review, a newspaper in nearby Spokane, Washington, reported that Weaver's children were armed and quoted area residents who predicted violence if law enforcement agents attempted to apprehend Weaver. Allan Jeppeson was quoted as saying, "They'll lose their lives if they go up there and threaten Weaver" and "he don't want nobody on his mountain."[FN221] On March 4, 1992, Cluff and Evans traveled to the Rau house to obtain an update on Weaver's activities and to check on the status of a telephone being installed there at the Marshal Service's expense. Once there, Cluff and Evans decided to drive up the mountain road leading to the Weaver cabin.[FN222] They were in plain clothes and rode in an unmarked four-wheel drive vehicle. As they proceeded up the mountain road, the marshals found that vehicle noise on the unmaintained road was clearly audible for great distances. When they reached the top of the road, by the entrance to the Weaver property, they saw signs reading, "White Power is Supreme" and "Bow Down to Yahweh." Cluff and Evans then saw Randy Weaver, armed with a rifle, and a boy and a girl standing above them on a rock formation. The boy also had a rifle. A yellow dog ran up to the vehicle, barking.[FN223] When Weaver told them they were trespassing, they responded that they were interested in buying property. Weaver told them to return with a realtor. Cluff and Evans left.[FN224] Thereafter, Evans determined that additional reconnaissance was necessary. He had learned of previously unknown trails to the Weaver property and believed it was necessary to explore them. f. Briefing of the Marshals Service Director A meeting was held on March 27, 1992 at Marshals Service Headquarters to brief Acting Director Henry Hudson and other officials, including Duke Smith, Associate Director for Operations, Tony Perez, Chief of the Enforcement Division, Inspectors Arthur Roderick and William Hufnagel of the Enforcement Division, Deputy Marshals John Haynes and Lou Staff of SOG, and Marshal Johnson. At the meeting, Haynes and Stagg presented a plan for an assault on the Weaver compound, but recommended against taking such action. Hudson agreed that a tactical approach did not appear viable because of their concern for the safety of Vicki Weaver and her children.[FN225] As an alternative, Hudson telephoned U.S. Attorney Ellsworth and asked him to consider dismissing the warrant against Weaver and reissuing it under seal. Hudson thought this would relieved the pressure to arrest Weaver and might cause Weaver to believe it was safe to come off the mountain. Hudson explained to Ellsworth that Weaver could then be arrested without launching an assault on the compound and risking injury to the children and to government personnel. Ellsworth told Hudson that he thought it would be unethical to dismiss the indictment and then reindict Weaver in secret.[FN226] Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen said they could not dismiss the indictment because Judge Ryan was calling for Weaver's arrest. [FN227] In response, Hudson offered to travel to Boise to meet Judge Ryan, but his offer was not accepted.[FN228] Unable to resolve the matter in this fashion, Hudson ordered that any plan adopted should avoid potential harm to Vicki Weaver and the Weaver children. He believed that a "ruse" arrest would be ore likely to achieve this goal than an "operational" strategy.[FN229] Thereafter, the Weaver case was transferred to the Enforcement Division and was given the name "Operation Northern Exposure." The primary responsibility for developing a plan was given to Deputy Marshal Arthur Roderick, Branch Chief of the Enforcement Division.[FN230] g. Development of Three Phase Operational Plan After considerable discussion with the Idaho District and Headquarters, Roderick and Hufnagel devised a three phase plan for arresting Weaver. Under Phase I, a team of marshals would assess the feasibility of technical surveillance of the Weaver cabin and property.[FN231] This would necessitate inspection of the Weaver property to determine the surveillance equipment that could be used.[FN232] A team comprised of Roderick, Hufnagel, and Deputy U.S. Marshals Mark Jurgenson, Ron Libby, and Dave Hunt, was assembled to carry out Phase I.[FN233] (1) Phase I At the beginning of Phase I, Roderick rented a condominium on Schweitzer Mountain, approximately 25 miles from the Weaver property which was to serve as a command post. The team also spent several days conducting surveillance of the Weaver house from the north and west ridges and looking for sites on which to mount surveillance cameras. During this process, they observed the Weavers responding to certain noises by running with rifles to a rock ledge that overlooked the driveway.[FN234] On one occasion during Phase I, Roderick nearly had an encounter with Kevin Harris. While Roderick was in the woods near the north ridge observation post, he saw Harris ride nearby on a motorcycle and past the unmarked marshal's truck. When Roderick returned to the truck the tires on the truck were flat.[FN235] (2) Phase II On April 13, 1992, Roderick and Hufnagel briefed Acting Director Hudson on the results of Phase I of the plan to arrest Weaver.[FN236] While Hudson was shown photographs of the area, Hufnagel described the locations of surveillance cameras, which would provide information about the Weavers' daily routine. Information obtained from the surveillance cameras during Phase II was expected to assist the Marshals Service in developing options for Phase III of the plan, which was the arrest of Weaver.[FN237] In addition, Hudson was informed that the assistance of five additional marshals was needed for Phase II.[FN238] Acting Director Hudson approved Phase II on or about April 13, 1992. The Phase II Plan noted that Kevin Harris was now living in the Weaver cabin. Harris was described as "an ardent supporter of Weaver's [who] thinks of [Weaver] as his father."[FN239] On April 18, the marshals installed surveillance cameras on the west ridge and, on April 22, they installed the cameras on the north ridge. Soon thereafter the cameras became operational after a number of technical problems had to be solved.[FN240] The marshals had to make several trips to the camera sites, often in darkness, to bring the heavy batteries needed to power the cameras.[FN241] During Phase II, the team also made three trips onto the Weaver property to survey the terrain because little was known about the land surrounding the Weaver cabin. Each trip began before daybreak and the marshals used night vision equipment.[FN242] Although aerial photographs portrayed the land as flat, it was actually heavily wooded and frequently steep and rugged. The closest that the marshals got to the cabin was during the third trip in the first week of May. While it was still dark, Roderick, Hunt and Libby took the "East Trail," which ended behind the Weaver cabin. They then passed some water tanks a few yards from the cabin and worked their way down to the spring house by the lower garden. This was the first time any marshal had circled the Weaver house and viewed the surrounding grounds. While they were in the lower garden area, Libby spotted a small dog, who was "yapping", but who stopped when the marshals took cover.[FN243] During this period, Buster Kittel, a private citizen, went to the mountain to survey property he had recently purchased. To reach his property, he had to drive past the Weaver cabin. As he reached the Weaver driveway, Kittel heard a shot from a small caliber gun and saw Sammy Weaver standing above him with a rifle on a rock outcropping. Randy then joined Sammy, holding a pistol and a rifle. Weaver asked Kittel if he was a federal marshal and directed Kittel's girlfriend to get out of the truck. Weaver told Kittel that he did not believe that Kittel had bought property and told him to come back with proof. The next day Kittel returned with some paperwork, which he showed to Vicki Weaver. The Weavers then allowed Kittel to proceed to his property.[FN244] Video tapes produced from the surveillance cameras during Phase II were sent to Headquarters which had directed the cameras to continue to be operated. Because the batteries were running low, the marshals decided to replace them with solar panels, which were installed on May 1 and 2. Kevin Harris apparently heard the marshals working on the north ridge and was seen looking up at the area. A few days later the camera on the north ridge stopped transmitting. Upon investigation, Roderick and two other marshals discovered that the camera equipment had been stolen.[FN245] On April 13, 1992, the Marshals Service was informed that a crew from "Now It Can Be Told," a television program hosted by Geraldo Rivera, may have been shot at while flying over the Weaver property in a helicopter.[FN246] Two weeks later, Randy and Vicki Weaver were interviewed on May 2, 1992 by Michael Weland, a local newspaper reporter. Vicki said that the mountain had been given to them by "Yahweh" and that "We will not leave our mountain."[FN247] Weland also quoted Vicki as saying that her family feared that Randy would "be railroaded through the court and once he was gone [the government] would have come it, kicked us off the property and torn this place apart." Randy Weaver was quoted in the same article as stating that: "Right now, the only thing they can take away from us is our life. Even if we die, we win. We'll die believing in Yahweh."[FN248] (3) Transition to Phase III After Phase II of the operation had been completed, Roderick and Hufnagel developed two alternative plans for capturing Weaver, one "lethal," the other "non-lethal." Both proposals involved teams of marshals surrounding the cabin and forcing Weaver outside. The plans differed in that, under the "lethal" plan, the teams would be armed while under the "non-lethal" plan, they would use rubber bullets and other passive strategies, such as cutting off the water supply to the cabin.[FN249] Acting Director Hudson was briefed on the options for Phase III.[FN250] Deputy Attorney General George Terwilliger, who happened to be present at Headquarters, also attended the meeting. When Hudson asked what the marshals would do if the Weaver children fired at them, Roderick responded that they would defend themselves. Terwilliger found this "unacceptable."[FN251] Hudson rejected both the "lethal" and the "non-lethal" plans out of fear for the children's safety.[FN252] Thereafter, Roderick developed an undercover plan to arrest Weaver, which required two marshals to assume the roles of husband and wife and to purchase a plot of land north of the Weaver property. To provide security for the marshals, the land purchase would have legitimate paperwork. In addition, the undercover marshals would clear the property to create the impression that they were authentic purchasers. Five two-man teams would accompany the undercover marshals to the mountain on each visit and provide cover from the woods.[FN253] The plan assumed that Weaver would become accustomed to the undercover marshals, leading to an opportunity to arrest him out of the presence of the other family members. The marshals believed that it might take up to a year to secure Weaver's arrest.[FN254] Although final approval was needed from Acting Director Hudson, Roderick was given permission by Jim Roach, Deputy Director for Operations, in late May 1992, to begin preparations for the undercover operation. Roderick chose Deputy Marshal Mark Jurgensen of the Seattle office for the undercover role. Roderick, Jurgensen, and Hunt started assembling documents necessary to carry out the ruse.[FN255] h. Delay in Implementing the Undercover Operation Roderick was instructed not to put the undercover plan into effect while Hudson's confirmation was pending before the U.S. Senate.[FN256] In early August 1992, Hudson was confirmed Director of the Marshals Service and gave oral approval of the undercover operation shortly thereafter.[FN257] Because there had been no surveillance of the Weaver property since May, Roderick thought it necessary for a team to visit the site and update their information.[FN258] 3. Discussion A number of allegations has been raised about the conduct of the Marshals Service between February 1991 and August 1992. We examine in this section these allegations. a. The Initial Response of the Marshals Service to Weaver's Failure to Appear Before the failure to appear indictment was returned, Judge Ryan issued a bench warrant and directed the Marshals Service to arrest Weaver. Judge Ryan declined to withdraw the warrant when he learned that the Probation Office had sent Weaver a letter with an incorrect trial date. After the indictment was returned, Ellsworth rebuffed Hudson's request to dismiss the indictment and return it under seal. We appreciate the problem the Marshals Service faced. It could not ignore the Court's order or the indictment and, thus, had no choice but to take steps to apprehend Weaver to face the pending charges. Indeed, Former Director Hudson has explained that the Marshals Service has no independent role in evaluating charges when it is called upon to apprehend a fugitive.[FN259] In addition, this investigation has found that simply leaving Weaver on the mountain, despite its facial appeal, was not an option available to the Marshals Service once charges had been instituted.[FN260] Moreover, the marshals had a legitimate concern that the Weavers were harassing their neighbors, the Raus. Indeed, by August 1992, it was feared that if Weaver were allowed to remain at large, there would be an incident in which the Raus, or other innocent problems, might be harmed.[FN261] Notwithstanding the need to apprehend Weaver, it appears at initial glance that the resources the marshals committed to the case were disproportionate to the relatively insignificant underlying charge.[FN262] However, at the same time, we recognize that no one, including Randy Weaver, is entitled to ignore the rule of law. Thus, all factors considered, we acknowledge that the Marshals Service had no option but to respond. Because the Marshals Service had no option but to pursue Weaver's arrest and because that arrest posed possible injury to law enforcement and to the Weavers, it was incumbent on other law enforcement agencies and the court to assist the Marshals Service in resolving the impasse. As we note below, the Marshals Service received little practical assistance from the U.S. Attorney's Office which also hindered communications with the court. We are troubled that no agency or individual took action in response to the concerns of the Marshals Service. b. Considerations by Marshals Service of Alternatives to Secure the Arrest of Weaver The Marshals Service employed many different options for securing Weaver's arrest before settling on a plan in May 1992. The record is replete with discussions of proposals made by different components of the Marshals Service. Its approach was extraordinarily cautious. Common to each strategy the Service considered was a concern for the safety of the Weaver children and the arresting marshals. For this reason, a tactical approach, that is, an armed raid on the residence, was considered unrealistic by Idaho marshals as early as March 1991. The Special Operations Group reached the same conclusion in June 1991 and again in September 1991 after reviewing a psychological profile of Weaver and conducting its own investigation in Northern Idaho.[FN263] In March 1992, Director Hudson ruled out any "tactical" or "operational" strategy that did not eliminate the possibility of harm to Vicki Weaver or her children. Hudson even rejected a "non-lethal" tactical plan, which contemplated the use of rubber bullets, because it involved an assault on the cabin and, therefore, posed a potential danger to the children.[FN264] The problem of "innocent casualties" arose out of a mass of evidence that Weaver and his family were armed and determined not to submit to authorities without a fight. For example, BATF informed the marshals that Weaver had resisted its "ruse" arrest in December 1990, had attempted to grab a weapon during the arrest, and had declared that he would not be tricked again. BATF had also reported that Weaver and his family were armed "at all times" and could present a danger to arresting officers. Additional information collected by BATF suggested that Weaver thought the end of the world was approaching and that he was prepared for a final battle on his property. Weaver's military record revealed that he may have received demolition training, and the marshals feared that he had established fortifications and defensive positions on his property.[FN265] Weaver also had written to the Boundary County Sheriff that he would not leave his cabin and that law enforcement agents would have to take him out.[FN266] The "Queen of Babylon" letter sent to U.S. Attorney Ellsworth had quoted a "Declaration of War" by a white supremacist who had died in a violent confrontation with law enforcement officers. Frank Kumnick, the leader of a local Aryan Nations church and a friend of Randy Weaver, had told Mays that Weaver spoke of having a violent confrontation with the law since 1984 and that Vicki and Randy Weaver had "ideas of martyrdom."[FN267] In addition, there were reports that the Weaver children were well trained in the use of firearms and would protect their father if an arrest were attempted on the property.[FN268] Surveillance showed that the Weavers responded to the noise of approaching vehicles by running with rifles to a rock ledge.[FN269] Various intermediaries had reported that Weaver repeatedly said that he would not leave his property and that he would shoot intruders if he thought it necessary to protect his family. Finally, the Weavers signed a letter stating that the Weaver children would not leave the mountain.[FN270] This list illustrates the data the Marshals Service had collected and is by no means exhaustive. We found no countervailing evidence that Weaver would surrender peacefully. Accordingly, we believe that the wariness of the Marshals Service was justified. In addition, we believe that the caution of the Marshals Service also stemmed from its experience with Gordon Kahl, the head of Posse Comitatus. When the Marshals Service attempted to arrest Kahl in 1983, a firefight erupted in which two marshals were killed and Kahl and his son were wounded.[FN271] Chief Deputy Ron Evans was Chief Deputy of the North Dakota District when the Kahl incident occurred and compared the Weaver matter to the Kahl case.[FN272] In view of the disadvantages attending a "tactical" approach, the marshals began to explore "non-tactical" alternatives. In March 1991, Evans discussed sending a negotiator to the Weaver cabin under a "white flag." However, the approach was abandoned because it was believed that Weaver would "fire on any law enforcement officer or agent of [the Zionist Organized Government]."[FN273] Both the Special Operations Group and Director Hudson asked U.S. Attorney Ellsworth to dismiss the indictment against Weaver and to re-issue it under seal to reduce the pressure to arrest Weaver and to trick him into leaving his property so that he could be arrested without risk to the children. Ellsworth and Howen refused Hudson's request.[FN274] The marshals also pursued information that Weaver might leave his property to attend a suspected Aryan Nations church. The marshals began surveillance of the church but Weaver did not appear.[FN275] Beginning in October 1991, Mays and Evans initiated a series of communications with Randy Weaver through various intermediaries, such as the Jeppesons, Griders, and Vicki's parents, the Jordisons. The marshals and Weaver also exchanged surrender terms. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen ended these discussions in October 1992, directing that all communication with Weaver be through his counsel. The "non-tactical" arrest plan that Director Hudson finally approved in the Summer of 1992 was passive almost in the extreme. Indeed, the marshals were willing to wait up to a year for an undercover marshal to gain Weaver's trust. Under this plan, "cover" teams of marshals would arrest Weaver only if he could be taken into custody without harm to his family.[FN276] We do not believe that the Marshals Service acted precipitously or unreasonably in developing its plan to arrest Weaver. The Marshals Service examined many alternatives in devising its course of action. Some options were foreclosed by other agencies; others were thought to be too dangerous. The Marshals Service eventually decided to pursue a non-tactical arrest which posed the least threat of physical violence. However, the Marshals Service recognized that with any plan that it considered, a potential risk of violence existed considering Weaver's threats to resist arrest violently. c. Pressure Exerted on Marshals Service to Arrest Weaver This investigation also examined whether the manner in which the Marshals Service treated the charges against Weaver was affected by improper, external influences. (1) The Court Judge Ryan issued a bench warrant for Weaver's arrest following his failure to appear for trial. When he learned a week later that Pretrial Services had sent Weaver a letter bearing an incorrect trial date, Judge Ryan declined to withdraw the warrant. Judge Ryan, who characterized Weaver as "just another case," told this investigation that he was satisfied that Weaver knew of the February 20 trial date. According to Judge Ryan, it was routine for him to issue a bench warrant when defendants did not appear for trial.[FN277] Judge Ryan denies pressuring the Marshals Service to arrest Weaver. He explained that he already had a full caseload and "was in no hurry to get Weaver arrested." In fact, Judge Ryan said that he thought scarce judicial resources were being wasted on the large number of gun cases brought in federal court and, in particular, he complained about undercover "sting" cases involving firearms. Judge Ryan recalled a few casual conversations with Evans about the Weaver case and once spoke "in jest to Evans [about] when was he going to get his job done," in reference to executing the Weaver bench warrant. However, he claimed that he did not urge anybody "to hurry up and get Weaver before the court."[FN278] Deputy Marshals Hunt and Evans do not believe that the Court exerted undue pressure on the Service,[FN279] and we have found little or no evidence to the contrary. (2) The Media The marshals were sensitive to public opinion about the Weaver case. Several marshals were concerned about the public perception of the marshals and Weaver in Northern Idaho. In October 1991, Hunt wrote: Weaver is losing support locally from his friends and associates. They believe he is becoming very paranoid and suspects everyone is informing on him. The USMS is receiving growing support in the way that we have handled this situation. The community seems to be impressed with the USMS not over reacting and their concerns for the safety of all involved. An approach of even handiness (sic) and concern has began (sic) to impress even hard core Aryan types.[FN280] In March 1992, an article appeared in the Spokesman Review, a newspaper in nearby Spokane, Washington, marking the one-year anniversary of the bench warrant. The Chicago Tribune published a similar article on the same day, which described Weaver as a "folk hero" holding the Marshals Service at bay.[FN281] According to Evans, "pressure from USMS headquarters to effect the arrest of Weaver increased substantially after these two articles."[FN282] He did not believe, however, that Headquarters compelled the marshals to take actions that placed the Weavers or the marshals in undue danger, and this investigation has uncovered no evidence to the contrary.[FN283] Indeed, this regard for local sentiment does not seem to have had a significant impact on the marshals' handling of the case. If anything, it made them more leery of proceeding precipitously. (3) The U.S. Attorney's Office The USAO, in particular U.S. Attorney Ellsworth and Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen, played a large role in shaping the Marshals Service's approach to arresting Weaver. However, Ellsworth and Howen did little, if anything, to facilitate the marshals' assignment. To the contrary, in more than one instance, they made decisions or took actions that made the marshals' task more difficult. (i) Halting Negotiations In October 1991, Mays and Evans began a series of communications with Weaver through intermediaries and exchanged terms of surrender with him. Howen directed the marshals to discontinue contact with Weaver because he was represented by counsel, thus, effectively foreclosing communication. Although we are not convinced that these negotiations would have been successful if pursued, we find that Howen's decision was erroneous and unduly hampered the marshals' efforts. Howen's statement that contacts with a represented person are prohibited are accurate but incomplete. For example, Disciplinary Rule 7-104(A)(1) of the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility and its successor, Rule 4.2 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, provide that an attorney shall not communicate with a party represented by counsel, unless the attorney has the consent of counsel or is "authorized by law." [FN284] The disciplinary rules have long recognized exceptions to the general prohibition against contacts with represented persons such as to determine if the person is in fact represented by counsel or when counsel has been given prior notice of the communication and consents.[FN285] Howen overlooked these exceptions to the general rule and, in effect, terminated negotiations with Weaver. It was apparent by the Autumn of 1991 that Weaver was not cooperating with his appointed counsel who nine months earlier had told Judge Ryan that he was unsuccessful in contacting Weaver.[FN286] Prior to this time Hofmeister had continued to try to assist the marshals in apprehending Weaver. In July 1991, he met with them and Rodney Willey, an associate of Weaver, in an effort to spur negotiations. On July 10, 1991, Hofmeister wrote Weaver and explained that the firearms charge was relatively minor and that he thought Weaver had a good defense to the charge. Hofmeister added, "the 'cause' in which you believe does not justify the damage you do to yourselves, because the offense Randy is charged with is not much greater than many traffic offenses.[FN287] Hofmeister reported to the marshals that soon after sending this letter he received two letters from Vicki Weaver, in which she state that they were resolute as it was "Yashua's plan" that they live or die on the mountain.[FN288] Hofmeister also contacted Richard Butler, leader of a local Aryan Nations Church, and requested that Butler write a note to Randy Weaver asking Weaver to come down from the mountain and face the weapons charge. [G.J.] [FN289] Notwithstanding these efforts, Weaver still would not talk to Hofmeister, and Hofmeister eventually refused to visit Weaver unless he had an armed escort.[FN290] Weaver even said that he would not surrender to Hofmeister because "[his] rights will be violated."[FN291] Despite these clear indications that Weaver did not want Hofmeister's services, Howen adopted a rigid approach to the issue and considered Hofmeister to be Weaver's counsel until he was relieved by the court in September 1992 after Weaver's surrender. Furthermore, Howen never spoke with Hofmeister about the matter or explored whether Hofmeister would consent to the contact by the Marshals Service.[FN292] Howen was apparently unwilling to explore alternatives that might have led to discussions with Weaver. For instance, he could have instructed the marshals to ask Hofmeister's permission to communicate directly with Weaver. This is not to say that additional exchanges would have been fruitful.[FN293] However, given the gravity of the situation, options that might have promoted a dialogue should not have been disregarded. Howen was aware of the difficulties the Marshals Service faced in capturing Weaver, but, in the face of this evidence, her remained hostile to the negotiation option. His rigid response to the Marshals Service's proposal was deceptively incomplete and effectively frustrated the Marshals Service's efforts.[FN294] Finally, Howen's statement that some of the surrender terms proposed by Hunt and Evans were more appropriate for inclusion in a plea agreement appears disingenuous. There is no evidence that Howen ever discussed devising such an agreement with Weaver's attorney or with anyone else. Indeed, the evidence is to the contrary since Howen told this investigation that it was not his practice to engage in plea bargaining.[FN295] (ii) Other Actions In June 1991, U.S. Attorney Ellsworth discouraged Deputy Director Stagg of the Marshals Services SOG from apprising Judge Ryan of the considerable danger his team faced in arresting Weaver. In March 1992, Director Hudson asked Ellsworth to consider dismissing the warrant against Weaver and reissuing it under seal. Hudson explained that the marshals thought an assault on the Weaver residence would pose unacceptable risk of injury to the Weaver children and Marshals Service personnel. Ellsworth and Howen refused to discuss the indictment, citing Judge Ryan's call for the arrest of Weaver. When Hudson offered to speak to Judge Ryan, Ellsworth did not respond to the offer. We are troubled that the prosecutors so lightly dismissed the offer by the Director of the Marshals Service to speak with Judge Ryan. Indeed, we question their judgment in rebuffing the Director's personal effort to break the year-long impasse. Neither Ellsworth nor Howen advised Judge Ryan of the Marshals Service's concerns. Such inaction on their part was neither reasonable nor well considered under the circumstances. d. Impact of Delay Pending Hudson Confirmation The plan to apprehend Weaver was delayed for three months pending the confirmation of Henry Hudson as the Marshals Service Director. The reconnaissance team expressed frustration over the delay [FN296] because some believed the delay caused a gap in their surveillance intelligence. However, the pending confirmation did not appear to be the only reason for the August reconnaissance mission. Indeed, Roderick and Cooper believed that additional surveillance was necessary to find locations for "cover" teams for the undercover operation.[FN297] The Executive Operational Plan also suggested that surveillance was necessary to place cover teams, an essential component of the undercover plan. Furthermore, Hudson told this inquiry that his approval of the undercover plan was "contingent on the results of the latest surveillance," which was the August 1991 trip to the mountain.[FN298] Consequently, we conclude that the delay occasioned by Hudson's confirmation did not cause the need for additional surveillance but rather, at the most, altered the timing of surveillance that would have been necessary to conduct in any event. 4. Conclusion The Marshals Service is required by statute to execute arrest warrants. Consequently, once a warrant was issued for Randy Weaver's arrest, the Marshals Service had no choice but to undertake efforts to apprehend Weaver. Faced with Weaver's repeated threats to violently resist arrest, the Marshals Service explored many alternative plans designed to capture Weaver, but to do so without harming Weaver, his family or the arresting officers. We believe that the Marshals Service acted properly and with due caution in pursuing this purpose. Moreover, we found no evidence that the Marshals Service was pressured by outside entities or was improperly motivated in its efforts. We find, however, that the court and the U.S. Attorney's Office did not appreciate the difficulties facing the Marshals Service, and made no effort to assist the Marshals Service in devising a peaceful solution to the problem. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART C) 183 Memo from Ronald Evans to "Duke" Smith, March 18, 1991, at 1. Evans noted that "[d]uring limited occasions when the children have come into controlled contact with other children, they have advocated their parents' doctrine including preparation for the 'Final War' which will be fought on their mountain." Id. Frank Kumnick reported that he had heard Weaver speak of violent confrontations with law enforcement since 1984, that the Weavers had "ideas of martyrdom," and that the Weaver children were all trained in the use of firearms and would protect their father. Report of Investigation by Mays, October 16, 1991, at 2. 184 Testimony of Arthur Roderick, Preliminary Hearing, United States v. Weaver, No. MS-3934, September 10, 1992, at 11-13. 185 Kahl was head of a militant anti-tax group, Posse Comitatus. He was wanted for a probation violation when U.S. Marshals, along with local authorities, attempted to arrest him. A firefight erupted in which two marshals were killed and Kahl and his son were wounded. Kahl evaded arrest following the shooting, but was later killed in a confrontation with authorities. A local sheriff was also killed. "Radical Tax Protester's Legacy Lives," UPI, July 9, 1983; untitled article by Gordon Hanson, Associated Press, February 14, 1983; FD-302 Interview of Evans, October 21, 1993, at 4. Weaver and Kahl "share[d] similar commitment to principle . . . [and] raised their children in a similar fashion. . . ." Memo from Evans to Smith, March 18, 1991, at 1. 186 Evans suggested interrupting the Weavers' water supply. Aerial photography showed that "Weaver does not have a large storage ability for water inside the house . . . . At some point he must endeavor [to] locate the source of the disruption." Id. at 2. On March 21, 1991, Hunt asked Sheriff Whittaker if the marshals could get a state court order to remove the children, but decided that such measures were not feasible and "guaranteed confrontation." Undated U.S. Marshals Service Summary of Chronology of Events. Hunt suspected that someone in the Sheriff's Department was leaking information about the Weaver case. Hunt Sworn Statement, at 8. The inquiry about the Weaver children may have gotten back to the Weavers. In April 1991, Randy and Vicki Weaver told Vicki's father, David Jordison, that they were afraid of being separated from the children by the government. Report of Investigation by Evans, April 24, 1991, at 3.@ 187 FD-302 Interview of John Haynes, October 20, 1993; Memo from Ronald Evans to Duke Smith and Roger Arechiga, April 1, 1991. 188 Stagg characterized Evans' response as "a standard on which is used when one is trying to obtain SOG assistance on a priority basis." FD-302 Interview of Louis E. Stagg, October 21, 1993, at 2. 189 Haynes FD-302, October 20, 1993, at 2. 190 Report of Dr. Walter J. Stenning, May 13, 1991. Dr. Stenning appears to have relied on information already amassed and did not conduct an independent investigation. 191 SOG Special Assignment Log, (June 20, 1991 entry). The log details the daily activities during the trip, but is itself undated. No caves were discovered on the property following Randy Weaver's surrender in August 1992. 192 Id. The Congress was scheduled for July 13, 1991 at Hayden Lake, Idaho. Byerly had information that Weaver's first telephone call following his arrest on the weapons charge was to Richard Butler of the Aryan Nations. 193 In Summer 1992, Whittaker instructed his deputies to stay away from the Weaver property out of concern for their safety. FD- 302 Interview of Whittaker, November 20, 1993, at 4. 194 Marshal Service Activity Report, June 17-24, 1991 (June 21, 1991 entry). 195 Stagg FD-302, at 4-5. The SOG team discussed Evans' proposal for a clandestine operation to arrest Weaver, in which marshals would pose as prospective purchasers of real estate adjacent to the Weaver property. The SOG would arrest Weaver, if he left the house to show the property. Staff thought it would be impossible for SOG to provide the necessary cover in mountainous terrain. Notes of SOG meeting on June 17 & 18, 1991; Stagg FD-302, at 5. 196 Stagg told Ellsworth that if SOG were forced to carry out an assault and something went wrong, he would say that SOG's actions "were at the insistence of [U.S. Attorney] Ellsworth's office." Stagg FD-302, at 5. 197 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 10. 198 USMS/SOG "Law Enforcement Operations Order," June 25, 1991, at 6. The report recommended that no contact be made with any local law enforcement prior to commencement of an operation to apprehend Weaver. No reason was given. However, the marshals were concerned about the "loyalties" of members of the Sheriff's Department, though Sheriff Whittaker himself was not suspected. Hunt Sworn Statement, at 8. Whittaker told this investigation that he operated on a "need to know basis within his department with respect to information received from the marshals about the Weaver case. Whittaker FD-302, at 3. 199 Memo from Ronald Evans to Duke Smith and Tony Perez, September 25, 1991, at 2. 200 Id. 201 Report of Investigation, September 29, 1991. The report itself is not dated, but a Fax cover sheet identifies it as "report of September 29." 202 Report of Investigation, September 29, 1991, at 1, 4-5. Mays contacted a local hospital and OB-GYN practitioners, who agreed to notify them if they were contacted by Vicki Weaver. USMS Item Activity Report, October 9, 1991. Hunt later determined that Randy Weaver would deliver the baby. Report of Investigation by Hunt, October 22, 1991, at 1. 203 Willey told them that there were "guns everywhere you looked inside the [Weaver] cabin" and that the Weavers were sleeping in shifts and taking turns performing guard duty. Report of Investigation by Cluff, July 10, 1991, at 2. 204 Id. By letter, dated August 23, 1991, U.S. Marshal Michael L. Johnson asked Weaver to contact him to resolve the situation. The postmaster reported that someone picked the letter up on September 4, 1991. Memo from Susan M. Thompson to Dave Hunt, September 5, 1991. 205 The Torrences identified a photograph of Kevin Harris as the person they believed they heard Weaver call "Dennis." Report of Investigation by Mays, October 7, 1991; Transcript of Interview of Beverly and Ed Torrence, September 29, 1991, at 7, 22 (hereinafter cited as "Torrence Interview). 206 Torrence Interview, at 23. 207 Weaver also said that Terry Kinnison, Sam Strongblood Woholi, and others were conspiring to kill him so that Kinnison could take his property. Id. at 26. FD-302 Interview of Beverly Torrence, December 22, 1993. 208 USMS Item Activity Report, October 10, 12 & 13, 1991. Hunt learned from the FBI that Weaver had only limited involvement with the Aryan Nations. Report of Investigation by Hunt, October 8, 1991, at 1. 209 Various people were believed to be taking supplies to the Weavers, including the Griders, the Jeppesons, and Vicki Weaver's parents, the Jordisons. Report of Investigation by Hunt, October 10, 1991; Report by Mays, October 12, 1991; Torrence Interview, at 36. 210 This note was unsigned, but all correspondence (unless otherwise identified) was in Vicki Weaver's handwriting. 211 In an October 11, 1991 letter to her cousin, Ronald Jordison, Vicki Weaver wrote, "Race mixing is against the law." FD-302 Interview of Ronald Jordison, August 27, 1992. 212 Memo from Hunt to Evans, October 12, 1991, at 1; Report of Investigation by Mays, October 12, 1991, at 3. 213 Evans learned of this concern during a conversation with Vicki Weaver's father, David Jordison. Jordison told Evans that during a visit with the Weavers in early April, "Randy and Vicki voiced concern for becoming separated during the legal process and expressed commitment to remain together no matter what the Government did. This commitment was expressed to include the children." Report of investigation by Evans, April 24, 1991, at 3; Memo from Ronald Evans to Duke Smith, Tony Perez, John Haynes and Lou Stagg, May 7, 1991, at 2. In July 1991, Hofmeister sent a letter to the Weavers assuring them that the children would not be taken from Vicki, provided she did not use violence against anyone. Letter from Everett D. Hofmeister, to Mr. & Mrs. Randy Weaver, July 10, 1991, at 1. 214 Memo from Hunt to Evans, October 12, 1991. Jordison told Evans that Randy and Vicki believed that Randy had "signed a bond which would allow the Government to take his land and he therefore was not going to leave his property." Report of Investigation by Evans, April 24, 1991, at 2. 215 Magistrate Judge Ayers had explained to Weaver that he would forfeit the property bond only if he failed to appear for trial. Arraignment Transcript, January 18, 1991, at 10-11. Weaver's attorney, Hofmeister, also explained to Weaver that the bond would be forfeited only if Weaver failed to appear in court. Letter from Everett D. Hofmeister, Esq. to Mr. & Mrs. Randy Weaver, July 10, 1991, at 1. 216 Around this time, the marshals learned that Weaver believed that the highest authority in Northern Idaho was the county sheriff and that federal authorities had no jurisdiction over him. Report of Investigation by Mays, October 10, 1991, at 2 (Interview with Sam Strongblood Woholi). 217 Hunt Trial Testimony, May 5, 1993, at 2-9. 218 Letter from Howen to Evans and Hunt, October 17, 1992 (Appendix at 21). 219 Report of Investigation by Hunt, October 22, 1991, at 1-2. Hunt concluded that Weaver had apparently not set "booby traps." 220 Memo from Evans to Smith, March 18, 1991; FD-302 Interview of Michael Moriarty, November 18, 1993, at 3. 221 "Feds Have Fugitive 'Under Our Nose'," Spokesman Review (Spokane), March 1, 1992, at A1. On the same day, an article in the Chicago Tribune described Weaver as a "folk hero" holding the Marshals Service at bay. One week later, the story was picked up by the Associated Press, and articles appeared in the New York Times ("Marshals Know He's There But Leave Fugitive Alone," New York Times, March 13, 1992, at A14) and the San Francisco Chronicle ("U.S. Slow to Nab White Supremacist," San Francisco Chronicle, March 13, 1992). On March 27, 1992, the San Francisco Examiner reprinted the March 8, 1992 Chicago Tribune article ("Standoff With Police Enters Second Year, San Francisco Examiner, March 27, 1992). 222 Evans described the decision to drive to the Weaver property as spontaneous. He said they had no intention of making contact with the Weavers. Evans Trial Testimony, May 3, 1993, at 35. 223 Ruth Rau told Cluff and Evans that the dog had attacked a boy walking along a trail and that Randy Weaver had beaten the dog. Report of Investigation by Evans, March 6, 1992, at 3. 224 Id. at 1-2; Evans Trial Testimony, May 3, 1993, at 50-55. 225 Sworn Statement of William Hufnagel, at 1; FD-302 Interview of Henry Hudson, November 15, 1993, at 2. 226 FD-302 Interview of Michael Johnson, October 5, 1993, at 4. 227 Howen did not recall speaking with Hudson and said that he was not aware that Hudson had made such a request. Howen Interview, Tape 3, at 25. Hudson reported that Ellsworth deferred the majority of the speaking to Howen. Hudson FD-302, at 2. 228 Hudson FD-302, at 2-3. 229 Id. at 2. 230 Id. Hudson said that it was not unusual for Marshals Service Headquarters to assume jurisdiction over difficult cases. 231 Hufnagel Sworn Statement, at 2; Sworn Statement of Arthur Roderick (draft), at 5. 232 Executive Operational Plan (Phase I), March 27, 1992, at 1; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 5-6; Hufnagel Sworn Statement, at 2. 233 Hufnagel Sworn Statement, at 2. The "Executive Operational Plan" (Phase I), said that Deputy Marshal Frank Norris would conduct a medical survey for the operational plan. Norris told this investigation that it was common for a medic to go on an operation in a remote mountain area. However, Deputy Marshal Ron Libby was sent on the mission instead of Norris. Sworn Statement of Frank Norris, at 2. 234 The marshals also noticed a marine band radio antenna on the Weaver cabin. They brought in a radio monitor to determine whether Weaver was communicating by short wave radio. Report of Investigation by Roderick, April 2, 1992; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 7-11. The plan for Phase II contemplated jamming radio communications from or to the Weaver cabin during the arrest. Executive Operational Plan (Phase II), April 10, 1992, at 2 (hereinafter cited as "Phase II Plan"). Terry Kinnison told the Secret Service in 1985 that Weaver had military radio equipment and possibly a police scanner. See Kinnison FD-302, January 21, 1985 and February 5, 195. During Phase I, Roderick and the other marshals looked into rumors that Weaver had worked for the Central Intelligence Agency while in Vietnam as a member of the Special Forces. They found these rumors to be false. Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 11. 235 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 10, 1993, at 243-44; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 10. Roderick thought that foliage made it impossible for Harris to see them. He also thought it was possible that the flat tires may have been caused by something in the road he struck earlier. Id. at 10. 236 Daily Report, April 10, 1992. 237 The cameras, which operated on batteries, would provide "real-time" recordings of the Weaver residence and would run during the daylight. Phase II also contemplated the use of pen registers on the telephones of various Weaver associates. Phase II Plan, at 1; Report of Investigation by Roderick, April 4, 1992. 238 Six marshals were already on site: Hufnagel, Libby, Hunt, Mays, Roderick, and Lynda Nafsinger. Phase II Plan, at 7-8. 239 Phase II Plan, at 2. 240 A surveillance post was set up on the Rau property to monitor the video tapes. The post was manned 24 hours a day. Daily Report, April 20, 1992. 241 Hufnagel Sworn Statement, at 4. 242 During the first trip on April 27, 1992, the marshals reached the lower garden area below the Weaver compound. They had to leave, however, when their night vision equipment failed. Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 12. On the second trip on April 22, Roderick and Libby located a spot of the west ridge close enough to the compound to see and hear the Weavers talking with Buster Kittel. They also observed someone named Murphy bringing the Weavers supplies. Id. at 13; Report of Investigation by Hunt, April 22, 1992, at 1. 243 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 14. 244 [G.J.] 245 Report of Investigation by Hunt, May 5, 1992; Hufnagel Sworn Statement, at 5; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 14-15. Roderick had feared that something like this might occur and had warned Marshals Service Headquarters that they were sending the surveillance team into the area too often. Id. The charred remains of the camera equipment were found near the Weaver house after Weaver surrendered to authorities on August 31. 246 On April 14, a film crew told the marshals that they might fly over the Weaver property. Daily Report, April 14, 1992. An assistant to the producer of "Now It Can Be Told" said that a helicopter flew over the cabin on April 18. FD-302 Interview of Richard Weiss, September 11 & 18, 1992, but said in an August 1992 interview that no shots had been fired. However, a photographer in the helicopter saw someone gesture at the helicopter and thought he heard two shots on a boom microphone. FD-302 Interview of Dave Marlin, September 16, 1992. Weaver denied that anyone had shot at the helicopter. "Fugitive: No Surrender," Coeur D'Alene Press, May 3, 1992, at 1. Mays reported seeing a helicopter near the Weaver property, but did not hear any shots fired. Report of Investigation by Mays, April 18, 1992, at 1. 247 FD-302 Interview of Michael Weland, August 25, 1992, at 2; Daily Report, May 4, 1992. 248 "Fugitive: No Surrender," Coeur D'Alene Press, May 3, 1992, at 1. 249 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 17; Hufnagel Sworn Statement, at 6; Executive Operational Plan (Draft), May 20, 1992. 250 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 16. 251 Sworn Statement of Larry Cooper, March 7, 1994, at 5. FD- 302 Interview of Tony Perez, November 16, 1993, at 6. 252 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 16; Hudson FD-302, at 3. 253 SOG would provide the cover teams because the Enforcement Division had limited manpower and SOG had the training and equipment for this kind of mission. Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 18. 254 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 17; Hufnagel Sworn Statement, at 7. Executive Operational Plan, May 27, 1992, at 4. 255 Hunt had information that Weaver had contacts with law enforcement officers. Jurgensen, therefore, felt it necessary to create a detailed history for his assumed persona, including a citation for a moving violation under his assumed name. Sworn statement of Mark Jurgensen, at 7. Roderick believed that a member of SOG should participate in the undercover operation and, therefore, asked Deputy Marshal Larry Cooper if he would be willing to take part in assessing the undercover operation. Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 18. Cooper had recently left the Special Operations Group, and he and Roderick had known each other for many years. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 2-3. 256 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 18. Hudson had decided that the plan would not go forward until he had been confirmed. Hudson FD-302, at 4. This decision does not appear to have been based on operational concerns. 257 Roderick reported that he was in Washington, D.C. with Tony Perez and ran into the Director. Hudson told Roderick "let's go get 'em." Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 18. On August 13, 1992, Perez sent Duke Smith a handwritten note: "We're ready to go as of Monday, August 17, 1992." 258 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 18; Jurgensen Sworn Statement, at 8-9. 259 Hudson FD-302, at 3. Roderick told this investigation "I did not believe it was appropriate nor part of my job to pass judgment on the merits of the [underlying] case." Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 5. We find this assessment consistent with the statutory duties assigned to the Marshal Service. See 28 U.S.C. § 566(a) ("It is the primary role and mission of the United States Marshals Service to . . . obey, execute, and enforce all orders of the United States District Courts . . . .") and § 566(c) ("[T]he United States Marshals Service shall execute all lawful writs, process and orders issued under the authority of the United States . . . ."). Hudson and his subordinates asked Ellsworth and Howen about the strength of the charges against Weaver and were told that the case was good. Hudson FD-302, at 3. 260 Sheriff Bruce Whittaker seemed to prefer this option. He was quoted as saying, "It's just as bad for [Weaver] sitting up there on that mountain as if he was sitting in prison somewhere. . . . He's on his own self-imposed house-arrest up there, and it isn't costing anybody any money." "Feds Have Fugitive 'Under Our Nose'" Spokesman Review (Spokane), March 1, 1992, at A1. 261 See Perez FD0392, at 5. See also Note 315, infra. 262 We note that the Idaho District referred the case to the marshals, in part, because it did not have the financial resources or manpower to carry out the operation. See Hunt Sworn Statement, at 13. We have asked the FBI to determine how much the Marshals Service spent on the Weaver case, but have not yet received the calculation. 263 See Report of Dr. Walter J. Stenning, May 13, 1991. 264 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 16-17; Hudson FD-302, at 3; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 5. See FD-302 Interview of Tony Perez, November 16, 1993, at 6-7. 265 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 2, 6; Mays FD-302, October 5, 1993, at 2, 4. 266 Supplemental Memo from Evans to Perez, February 20, 1991, at 2. 267 Report of Investigation by Mays, October 16, 1991, at 2. 168 A reporter for a local newspaper had told Cluff that Randy Weaver and his wife and children were "waiting at the. cabin, and are prepared to make a final stand." Report of Investigation by Evans, February 28, 1991, at 1. 269 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 11. 270 Letter to the "Servants of the Queen of Babylon," March 5, 1991; Report of Investigation by Hunt, March 6, 1991. 271 Kahl evaded arrest and was killed in a second confrontation. A local sheriff was also killed in that conflict. "Radical Tax Protester's Legacy Lives," UPI, July 9, 1983; Untitled article by Gordon Hanson, Associated Press, February 14, 1983. 272 Memo from Evans to Smith, March 18, 1991, at 1. Evans FD- 302, October 21, 1993, at 4. As a result of the Kahl case, the Marshals Service approached investigations of armed individuals motivated by strong personal belief "in a much more methodical and deliberate manner." In such cases, "[n]othing could be taken for granted," and the marshals would not go "charging in" to make an arrest. Perez FD-302, at 2. 273 Memo by Evans to Perez, March 12, 1991, at 2. 274 FD-302 Interview of Michael Johnson, October 5, 1993, at 4; Hudson fd-302, at 2-3. The marshals also considered other "non- tactical" solutions, such as interrupting water and power supplies to the cabin and abducting Vicki or Sara Weaver, while they were in the "birthing shed" during their menstrual cycles. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 2-3. Executive Operational Plan (Draft), May 20, 1992, at 4. 275 USMS Item Activity Report, October 10, 12, & 13, 1991. 276 Evans proposed a comparable plan in June 1991, in which two undercover marshals would pose as prospective purchasers of real estate adjacent to the Weaver property. Notes of SOG meeting on June 17 & 18, 1991; Stagg FD-302, October 21, 1993, at 5. SOG concluded that it would be impossible to provide adequate cover in the mountainous terrain. Id. 277 FD-302 Interview of Honorable Harold Ryan, November 9, 1993, at 1, 2. 278 Id. at 2-4. Marshal Johnson said that, during the week of March 11, 1001, Judge Ryan reminded [Johnson and Evans] of the need to arrest Weaver and get him into his courtroom." Johnson FD-302, October 5, 1993, at 3. Ellsworth and Howen denied requests from the Special Operations Group and Director Hudson to dismiss the Weaver indictment for failure to appear, purportedly because Judge Ryan wanted Weaver arrested. Ellsworth and Howen also rebuked offers by SOG and Hudson to meet with Judge Ryan to explain why they thought it advisable to dismiss. Judge Ryan told this investigation that he was never contacted about this matter. The only conversations he had about Weaver were informal talks with Evans. Ryan FD-302, at 6. 279 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 13; Evans FD-302, at 2. 280 Report of Investigation by Hunt, October 22, 1991, at 2. Evans was also concerned that Weaver was attempting to gain support in the community by having supporters circulate copies of Richins' letter. Memo from Evans to Perez, February 27, 1991, at 2. 281 One week later, the story was picked up by the Associated Press and articles appeared in the New York Times (March 12, 1992) and the San Francisco Chronicle (March 13, 1992). On March 27, 1992, the San Francisco Examiner ran the Chicago Tribune article. 282 Evans FD-302, at 3. 283 Director Hudson claims that media attention "did not change the pace of the investigation, but sharpened the concern of the community." Hudson FD-302, at 2. 284 This limitation includes communications made through third parties. See ABA Model Rule 8.4(1). 285 The Department of Justice has historically authorized limited contacts to determine whether a person believes counsel is representing his or her interests. See Memorandum from Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, "Communication with Persons Represented By Counsel", June 9, 1989. 286 Hearing Transcript, February 20, 1991, at 2-6; Ryan FD- 302, at 1. Hofmeister had sent four letters to Weaver's post office box advising him of the February 20 trial date and requesting a meeting. Hofmeister did not receive a reply and the letters were not returned. Hearing Transcript, at 2-6. Report of Investigation by Cluff, March 5, 1991. 287 Letter from Everett Hofmeister, Esq. to Mr. & Mrs. Randy Weaver, July 10, 1991, at 2. This letter was found in the Weaver cabin, with notations, during a search in September 1992. 288 See Report of Investigation by Hunt, September 5, 1992. 289 [G.J.] ; see Report of Investigation by Evans, July 10, 1991, at 1-2. 290 Report of Investigation by Hunt, October 22, 1991, at 5. There is no indication Hunt communicated this opinion to Howen. 291 Report of Investigation by Cluff, July 10, 1991. 292 Howen Interview, Tape 4, at 18-21. 293 On March 27, 1992, U.S. Marshal Johnson telephoned Alan Jeppeson and, in apparent disregard of Howen's order, asked Jeppeson to ask Weaver for conditions under which he would surrender. Jeppeson told Johnson that Weaver's response was "stay off his mountain." Report of Johnson, April 1, 1992. 294 To Johnson, it seemed that "every time [the marshals] attempted to take any type of action, they experienced a conflict with the United States Attorney." Johnson FD-302, August 17, 1993, at 2. 295 Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 2. 296 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 15, 20. 297 Id. at 23; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 6. 298 Hudson FD-302, at 4. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED D. Marshals Service Activities Between August 17 and August 21, 1992 1. Introduction The defendants' attorneys alleged in pretrial motions that the marshals went to the Weaver property on August 21, 1992 to engage the Weavers and to force a violent confrontation.299] Counsel pointed to several facts, which, they alleged, proved that the marshals intended "something quite in excess of a mere 'reconnaissance mission.'" These alleged suspicious facts included bringing a "suppressed" rifle on the mission and spending "several hours sighting their guns" before the August 21 incident.[FN300] Counsel also suggested that the marshals initiated the exchange of gunfire on August 21 and that they deliberately killed Sammy Weaver. Finally, there have been allegations that the marshals exaggerated the amount of fire they received at the "Y," that they tried to cover up the death of Sammy Weaver, and that they delayed interviews with the FBI to enable them to coordinate their accounts of the shootings. 2. Statement of Facts a. Preparation for Surveillance In August 1992, Roderick and Hufnagel assembled the team which would conduct the surveillance necessary before the undercover plan could be placed in effect. This surveillance team was comprised of Roderick, Cooper, and Deputy Marshals Thomas, Norris, and Hunt. [FN301] In addition, Duke Smith contacted SOG Commander John Haynes and requested that an SOG member participate in the surveillance preceding the undercover operation.[FN302] Haynes selected Bill Degan, Commander of the Northeast Task Force in Boston and a close friend of Roderick and Cooper, to be the SOG representative on the team.[FN303] Haynes instructed Degan that the purpose of the mission was simply to gather intelligence.[FN304] As detailed in the Executive Operational Plan, the objective of the visit was to determine what cover was necessary for the undercover operation and to update previous surveillance information. It was expected that the surveillance would take approximately two weeks.[FN305] There was no plan to arrest Weaver during these excursions.[FN306] On August 17, 1992, Degan, Cooper, Roderick, Norris, Thomas, and Hunt arrived in Spokane, Washington.[FN307] Thereafter, the team drove to Sandpoint, Idaho, to set up a command post at the condominium on Schweitzer Mountain that Roderick's team had used in April. Roderick briefed the team on Wednesday evening, August 19. At that time, he repeated the standing orders from Marshals Service Headquarters that they were to avoid contact with the Weavers, particularly the children.[FN308] In preparation for their mission, the marshals discussed the terrain, the people believed to be on the mountain, and the weapons the Weavers were known to have.[FN309] They also reviewed surveillance videos, photographs, and other information.[FN310] Before the meeting ended, Degan inventoried each marshal's ammunition.[FN311] Roderick expressed concern that the longstanding feud between the Weavers and the Raus might be building toward a confrontation. [FN312] Sheriff's deputies had told that Raus that they would not go to the Weaver cabin out of fear for their own safety. [FN313] For this reason and others, the Raus were becoming increasingly frustrated, and there was concern that Wayne Rau's father might try to take the law into his own hands.[FN314] Roderick decided that the team would survey the Weaver property on Friday, August 21. Although he was still troubled about returning to the area too many times, he thought that Cooper, Degan, Norris and Thomas needed to become acquainted with the property. Of the group, only Roderick and Hunt had been to the Weaver property previously. The decision to conduct the surveillance on Friday was based in part on information which indicated favorable night illumination and weather conditions on that day.[FN315] In preparation for the mission, the marshals had acquired three .223 caliber M16 rifles from the Spokane office. Roderick believed that additional weapons were needed and mentioned the shortage to Degan, who had access to additional weapons from a SOG training display in Boston. Roderick told Degan to bring some of the rifles and other equipment with him.[FN316] Thereafter, Degan shipped a .223 caliber M16A2 Colt Carbine, a "sniper" rifle, a shotgun, and a "suppressed" .9mm Nato Colt Carbine from a display to Spokane. In addition, the team members brought their personal service weapons.[FN317] b. Trip of August 21, 1992 to Weaver Property At approximately 2:30 a.m. on August 21, 1992, the team left the condominium at Schweitzer Mountain in a van and a four wheel drive Jeep and drove to the residence of Boundary County Sheriff Bruce Whittaker where they left the van. They then drove the Jeep to the Rau residence where they arrived at approximately 4:30 a.m. and parked the Jeep by the guest cabin. The plan was for the marshals to move under cover of darkness to surveillance positions and then to leave after a few hours of surveillance. They did not intend to complete the day's mission before day break.[FN318] Each marshal was equipped with radios and night vision equipment and wore camouflage tops, pants, and boots. None wore bullet-proof vests, though they were available.[FN319] Degan carried one of the SOG M16s; Thomas and Norris each had rifles; Roderick had an M16; and Cooper had the "suppressed" .9mm.[FN320] Hunt was carrying camera equipment, so he elected to take only his service weapon. They did not bring the sniper rifle Degan had shipped from Boston.[FN321] The marshals left their Jeep and walked up a trail which led from the Rau house to an area known as the "Y". At that location, the group split into two three-man teams. The first team, the Observation Post ("OP") team, was comprised of Hunt, Thomas, and Norris; the second team, the Reconnaissance ("Recon") team, was comprised of Roderick, Cooper, and Degan. The OP team left the Y and took the left fork of the trail through a canopy of trees and a fern field. They then turned right and proceeded up the hill to the north switchback road which led to the observation post, which had been located during one of the Phase II surveillance trips. The observation post was approximately 900 feet in elevation above, and one half to three quarters of a mile from the Weaver compound, and was located at a spot on the north ridge referred to as the "white pine tree."[FN322] While the OP team was on its way up the mountain, Roderick led Degan and Cooper up the trail from the Y toward the Weaver compound. The team stopped at the edge of a cover of trees about 250 to 300 yards from the entrance to the Weaver driveway. From there. Roderick pointed out the rock outcropping where the Weavers responded to vehicles and other noises.[FN323] Roderick wanted Degan and Cooper to see this area because the undercover marshal would have to drive there when approaching the Weaver compound. It was still dark when Cooper heard one of the dogs bark.[FN324] The Recon team returned to the Y as it was starting to become light. By now the OP team had reached the observation post.[FN325] The OP team was equipped with a spotting scope, a still camera and an 8mm video camera. Once in position, the OP team was to watch the Weaver compound while Roderick, Cooper, and Degan scouted the area. The two teams maintained contact by radio using fire crew code words in case Weaver could intercept their transmissions.[FN326] Soon after its arrival, the OP team began to observe activity in the compound. They saw Sammy Weaver and Kevin Harris conduct a security check around the house. During the early morning hours the dogs barked periodically which did not strike Hunt as unusual.[FN327] At one point, Hunt saw Randy Weaver come out of the house and yell at the dogs to "shut up."[FN328] Hunt told Thomas that the dogs' barking and the Weavers' response was normal and that the activity in the compound appeared to be in accord with previous surveillance.[FN329] The OP team reported these sightings to Roderick, Cooper and Degan who stopped moving when there was activity in the Weaver compound.[FN330] Thereafter, Roderick Cooper, and Degan went to join the other marshals at the observation post. However, they became lost and had to radio Hunt for directions. When the Recon team arrived at the observation post at approximately 9:00 a.m., both teams discussed their observations. The OP team reported that members of the Weaver family had run to the outcropping several times in reaction to the dogs' barking. On each occasion, the persons running to the outcropping varied, but usually Harris and Sammy Weaver were among them. Norris stated that, using the spotting scope, he had seen Harris with a long gun, Sammy with a side arm and a long gun, Randy with a long gun, and Sara with a side arm in a holster.[FN331] The Recon team stayed at the observation post briefly and watched the Weaver family with binoculars and spotter scopes. They discussed different approaches to the property and the layout of the compound, including the various outbuildings and their possible purposes. Roderick wanted to show Cooper and Degan a spot he had identified in April as a good location for a "counter-sniper" for the undercover operation.[FN332] They found a position near a birch stand on a large rock embedded in a hill some 200 to 250 yards from the Weavers' cabin.[FN333] Roderick and Cooper then left Degan and crawled down to another rock approximately fifty yards below the first rock.[FN334] This point lined up with the base of the Weaver driveway, approximately 100 to 150 yards away. Roderick and Cooper observed family members take up positions at the rock outcropping whenever the dogs barked.[FN335] They also observed their movement back and forth between the outhouse, the cabin, and other outbuildings. It was at this time that Roderick decided to toss some rocks to see how the sound would carry and to see if the dogs would react.[FN336] He asked the OP team to observe the results.[FN337] Roderick then threw the first rock. Roderick, Cooper, and Degan did not hear the first rock hit, and the OP team reported that there was no reaction from the people who were insider the cabin or the dogs in the Weaver compound. Roderick threw a second rock and again no response occurred from the Weaver compound.[FN338] Approximately fifteen minutes later, Roderick and Cooper rejoined Degan, and the three backtracked to the "switchback" road. They had spent roughly a half hour at the birch stand observation point. Roderick decided to show Cooper and Degan the garden/spring house area below the house. At that time, they were still looking for places to station cover teams for the undercover operation. [FN339] Cooper was concerned about being too close to the house in the daylight, but Roderick said that surveillance teams had been closer on prior missions without being detected.[FN340] Roderick also was hoping to limit their trips to the mountain to two instead of the planned four, so it was necessary to accomplish as much as possible during this outing.[FN341] They agreed the previous night that they would immediately leave the area if the dogs alerted.[FN342] Before proceeding to the garden/spring house area, Roderick informed the OP team of his intention and asked that he be advised of any movement in the compound as they were heading into the "hot" area, which was the marshal's code for the land immediately surrounding the Weaver compound.[FN343] Thomas advised Roderick that "they had total containment," that is, the Weavers were in the house.[FN344] After receiving this information, Roderick moved forward slowly, followed by Cooper and Degan. He indicated to Cooper and Degan several possible cover team positions. As they were getting ready to leave the spring house area, Thomas radioed that the Weavers were "responding" to an approaching vehicle. None of the other marshals heard a vehicle.[FN345] The dogs began to bark, and people started to run out of the cabin.[FN346] Randy Weaver exited first, followed by Kevin Harris, Sammy Weaver, Sara Weaver, and Rachel Weaver. Vicki Weaver remained in the compound area. Thomas told Roderick that they were carrying "equipment," meaning that they had firearms.[FN347] Roderick expected that the Weavers would assume their normal defensive positions. He Instructed Cooper and Degan to take cover.[FN348] Roderick also took cover and radioed the observation post for further information.[FN349] Hunt radioed Roderick and informed him that this appeared to be "a typical vehicle response" by the Weavers.[FN350] However, his assessment soon changed. Rather than taking their normal defensive positions at the outcropping, the Weavers jogged down the driveway. Hunt warned Roderick, "You've got them all coming down the drive."[FN351] Roderick then saw a large labrador retriever running toward his position, followed by Kevin Harris, carrying a rifle.[FN352] Randy Weaver dictated this account of these events to his daughter, Sara, on August 26, 1992: Approximately 11:30 Friday morning....the dogs started barking like they always do when strangers walk up the driveway. Randy, Kevin, and Sam ran out to the rock with their weapons. Randy was carrying a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun. Kevin was carrying a 30-06 bolt action rifle. Sam was carrying a 223 mini 14. [FN353] When they got to the rock, our yellow dog Striker was down at the pumphouse barking up into the woods. Randy, Kevin and Sam went down to investigate. Sam said he heard something, or someone running west, so they followed. Sam and Kevin followed Striker. Randy dropped down on the old logging road headed west. I (Randy Weaver) didn't have any idea what they were chasing, but I was hoping it was a deer. [FN354] Kevin Harris claimed that, from the intensity of the dog's reaction, he thought that there was "a large animal or a person" in the vicinity.[FN355] Vicki Weaver wrote in her journal on August 21, 1992: Randy, Kevin and Sam go down past the pump house to see what's bothering the dog. He apparently made the servant of the New World Order retreat down Farnworth Road. They followed the dog part way down.[FN356] Roderick told Cooper and Degan that a dog and a man with a rifle were running toward them and that they had to move out.[FN357] The OP team heard Roderick say, "Pull back!" and, "the dogs are on us."[FN358] Roderick took the lead as the marshals fled through the woods. The area was thickly forested, and the marshals made a great deal of noise as they ran.[FN359] As they fled down the mountain, the marshals stopped several times to determine whether they were being pursued and saw that they were. During the retreat, Roderick said that the dog might have to be killed because it had picked up their scent.[FN360] Roderick noted that each time he and the others turned to look, the dog and Harris were closer to them. As they ran through the woods, Roderick continued asking the OP team who was coming and what weapons they had.[FN361] The OP team radioed that "the assignment fire chief," the code name assigned to Vicki Weaver, was walking leisurely around the compound.[FN362] Hunt, Norris and Thomas remained at the observation post above the Weaver property during the pursuit. After Randy Weaver, Sammy Weaver, Sara Weaver, and Harris ran down the drive, Thomas observed Rachel Weaver hurry into the cabin and exit with a "mini 14" rifle.[FN363] Roderick was still leading Cooper and Degan when they broke from the woods into the fern field. Roderick chose the fern field because it provided the quickest retreat and allowed them to move with the least noise. At that time, he thought that they could still escape.[FN364] They ran through the fern field and under the tree canopy. Roderick was farthest from Harris and the dog, with Degan ten yards behind and Cooper another ten yards behind Degan. As Roderick turned to look back, he saw the dog, Harris, and, for the first time in the pursuit, Sammy Weaver.[FN365] Cooper thought that he might have to shoot the dog and stayed behind Roderick and Degan in case that became necessary.[FN366] Cooper did not see Harris until after he was through the fern field and into the canopy of trees leading to the Y. He told the others that it was "bullshit" for them to continue running and that he did not want to "run down the trail and get shot in the back." He urged them to take up defensive positions.[FN367] The others agreed. Roderick cleared the canopy first and entered the Y. Degan arrived at the end of the canopy and took a position behind a stump approximately three to four feet off the right of the trail.[FN368] C. Shooting at the Y There is a significant difference between the account of the events at the Y given by the marshals and the account provided by Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris.[FN369] All agree that Harris shot and killed Deputy Marshal Degan and that Deputy Marshal Roderick shot and killed the dog. Although the marshals did not realize until several days later that Sammy Weaver had been shot during the encounter, they agree now that he was wounded in the arm and fatally shot in the back during the exchange of gunfire. However, the sequence of these events, and, in particular, the timing of Sammy Weaver's death, remains contested, as does the identity of the person who shot Sammy Weaver. The events comprising the shootout at the Y occurred very quickly, and the participants' perspectives often blended together and occasionally were in conflict. Thus, the following narrative represents our best effort to present the most accurate chronology of the events that occurred at the Y based on the information provided to us during our investigation. (1) Account of Cooper and Roderick When Cooper reached the "water bar" at the entrance to the Y, he saw Randy Weaver through the brush approximately 40 feet away coming down the other trail from the Weaver compound. They looked at each other, and Cooper thought Weaver seemed shocked to see him. At the time, Cooper assumed that Roderick and Degan were covering Weaver and he turned his attention to Harris and the dog, which were still behind him. He yelled at Harris, "Back off, U.S. Marshals," believing that they had been set up for an ambush.[FN370] The dog caught up to Cooper, and he held it at bay with his gun. The dog made a 360-degree turn around Cooper, growling and snarling.[FN371] Cooper decided not to shoot the dog, fearing that if he did so in plain view of Harris, it would precipitate a gunfight, with both Cooper and Degan fully exposed. After circling Cooper, the dog ran past him and headed towards Roderick. Cooper left the trail and dove behind a rock located about fifteen feet behind Degan and to his right. Cooper did not see Randy Weaver again.[FN372] Roderick, who was further into the Y, also saw Randy Weaver on the trail leading up to the cabin. Weaver was wearing a camouflage jacket and screamed something unintelligible at Roderick. Roderick yelled, "Stop! U.S. Marshal" at Weaver. Roderick could not tell if Weaver continued up the trail or went into the woods.[FN373] Cooper radioed Degan to join him at the "fox hole," but Degan did not respond. He saw that Harris and Sammy were walking directly in front of Degan. Cooper observed Degan squatting on the balls of his feet behind a stump and facing up the trail. Once Harris and Sammy were into the clearing of the Y, six to ten feet past Degan's position, Cooper thought they had escaped detection. Unexpectedly, Degan went up on his left knee, with his weapon on his shoulder and pointed at Harris and Sammy Weaver, and said, "Stop! U.S. Marshal." Cooper, almost simultaneously joined Degan in saying "U.S. Marshal." However, before Cooper finished the command, Kevin Harris, who had his back to Degan, wheeled around and fired at Degan with a 30.06 rifle. Harris was holding the rifle waist-high when he fired.[FN374] Cooper saw Degan's arm go back as he started to fall. Harris then began to bring his weapon to his shoulder as if he were going to fire again. Cooper, realizing that Degan had been hit, fired a three-round burst at Harris with the "suppressed" .9mm. According to Cooper, Harris dropped to the ground "like a sack of potatoes." Cooper was convinced that he had hit Harris. Cooper then wheeled his weapon toward Sammy. He could not see whether Sammy had a gun because a tree blocked his view of Sammy's hands. He did not shoot at Sammy because Sammy had not fired at Degan and he did not see Sammy's weapon. Cooper did not think Degan had returned any fire.[FN375] Meanwhile, Roderick had moved south down the path. He heard a shot from his left, from the direction he had last seen Cooper, Degan, Harris, and Sammy. Roderick could not determine who had fired the shot or whether it came from a .223 or 30.06 rifle, although he thought it sounded like a heavy caliber weapon.[FN376] Other than the dog, which was heading toward the path where Randy Weaver had appeared moments earlier, Roderick could not see anyone. When the first shot was fired, the dog stopped and turned its head back toward the marshals. Concerned that the dog would attack or lead Weaver, Harris, and the others toward the marshals if they kept running, Roderick fired once at the dog with his M16 rifle, striking the dog near the base of the spine.[FN377] After he shot the dog, Roderick saw Sammy Weaver enter the Y and run up the trail, away from Roderick and toward where Randy Weaver had disappeared. Sammy called Roderick, "a son of a bitch" and shot two rounds at him from a mini-14 rifle. Roderick dove into the woods off the south side of the trail and took cover behind a tree. He received "constant" fire at that position from weapons that sounded like a shotgun, a handgun, and a rifle.[FN378] During this same period, Cooper heard two shots to his right and Sammy Weaver yelling "You son of a bitch." He then began taking fire and heard Degan call "Coop, I need you." Cooper told Degan that he would be there "as soon as I can get 'em off our ass."[FN379] Cooper rose and fired a second, three-round burst in the direction from which he had last received fire in order to provide cover fire for himself as he tried to get to Degan.[FN380] Following these last shots, Cooper saw Sammy run out of view up the trail to the cabin. Cooper did not think that his shots had hit Sammy Weaver.[FN381] When the fire shifted toward Roderick, it allowed Cooper to move to Degan's position.[FN382] Degan had been hit once in the chest.[FN383] He was lying on his left side, his arm in the rifle sling, making a gurgling noise. He was conscious, but unable to assist Cooper in moving to a protected position. Within a few moments, Degan lost consciousness and died. Cooper took Degan's weapon and changed the setting from semi-automatic to safety. He did not fire Degan's weapon. Cooper returned to his position behind the rock.[FN384] He radioed to Roderick that Degan had been hit and needed help. (2) The OP Team Norris, Thomas, and Hunt were at the observation post overlooking the Weaver property, while Roderick, Cooper, and Degan were being chased through the woods. Norris heard the announcement, "U.S. Marshal" and then a single shot. Two quick shots followed from, Norris believed, a .223 caliber weapon and then he heard a series of discharges.[FN385] Thomas also heard a single shot, which he described as a "heavy caliber." Thomas contrasted the fist shot to subsequent fire, which he characterized as "lighter." Hunt told Thomas that he also thought the first shot sounded like a heavy caliber weapon. Thomas glanced at his watch when he heard the first shot and it was approximately 10:30 a.m.[FN386] Hunt could not determine the caliber of the weapon fired, but said that the first shot sounded like a "long run." Hunt heard a single gunshot, followed by two gunshots, then four gunshots. He did not hear any shotgun blasts during the entire incident.[FN387] Hunt, Norris and Thomas then left the observation post to assist the other marshals. They ran to the Y after hearing the shots, they heard yelling from the Weaver property. When Hunt, Norris, and Thomas approached the fern field and turned left into the tree canopy, they received a volley of gun fire from their left side. This gunfire, described as being from different caliber weapons, went over their heads. Hunt pointed his service weapon in the direction of the fire, searching for a target to return the fire. Seeing none, he did not fire. It is not known who fired at Hunt, Norris, and Thomas.[FN388] (3) Account of Weaver and Harris Randy Weaver's account of the incident comes from a statement he dictated to his daughter, Sara, on August 26, 1992: When I reached the first fork in the logging road, a very well camouflaged person yelled 'freeze RANDY,' and I immediately said 'fuck you,' and retreated toward home 80-100 feet. I realized [sic] immediately [sic] that we had run smack into a ZOG/NEW WORLD ORDER ambush. I stopped to see if I was being followed. About that time I heard a gun shot and Striker [the dog] yelped. Then I heard two more shots and Striker stopped yelping. I started yelling for Sam and Kevin to return home, and that they (THE FEDS) had shot Striker. I also fired my shotgun once into the air to draw attention to myself praying that would help. I replaced the empty shell with a new one....jamming the shotgun. I drew my .9mm handgun and fired 3-4 rounds up into the air and I yelled again for Sam to return home. Sam responded 'I'm coming DAD!' I then walked backwards up the hill toward home yelling to Sam and Kevin to come home. All the while I heard many shots ringing out from the direction of the ambush.[FN389] In the August 26 letter, Sara Weaver quotes Harris: Me (Kevin Harris) and Sam followed Striker through the woods until we came out on the road that forks off the one Randy was on . . .Striker reached the corner first, then Sam, and then me. A camouflaged [sic] person was in the road and he shot Striker. Sam yelled 'You shot Striker, you sonafabitch!' And they pointed a gun at Sam. Sam opened [sic] fire. I took cover behind a stump and Sam headed up the road toward home. it appeared [sic] as though Sam had been wounded in the right arm . . . . THE men were still shooting at Sam, so I shot one of the sons of bitches. After they killed Sam one of the FEDs jumped out of the woods and for the first time declared he was a federal marshal. The FEDs then grabbed their wounded and left. I then headed home up the road and spotted Sam's body laying in the road without a doubt shot in the back.[FN390] In a statement to the FBI on September 1, 1992, Harris added that he raised his rifle to fire when he fired at Degan, who Harris said was approximately 20 feet away in the brush. Harris then heard Degan call out that he had been hit. When Harris fired, Sammy Weaver had already begun running up the trail. Harris claimed that after he fired the shots at Degan the shooting came to a halt for a few seconds before he heard another shot. Sammy "yelped," then was silent. Harris said he fired one more shot in front of a camouflaged man who had reappeared out of the brush "to scare him." Harris stayed behind the stump "approximately ten more minutes," when he heard "the sound of a vehicle down the hill." He then retreated to the Weaver house. Approximately 15 minutes later, Randy and Vicki Weaver, along with Harris, retrieved the body of Sammy Weaver and placed it in the birthing shed.[FN391] On the morning of August 21, Ruth Rau was outside her house, loading laundry into her car. At approximately 10:30 a.m., she heard a series of gunshots in rapid succession, coming from the direction of the Y. Rau estimated that a total of 50 rounds were fired, with the initial burst of gunfire lasting approximately two minutes. She heard additional gunshots at approximately 11:15 a.m.[FN392] d. Events Following the Gunfire Roderick hearing Cooper's call for help, radioed the OP team to send Norris, the medic, to the Y. Roderick was unable to see Cooper or Degan but assumed that they were on the trail above him. After requesting assistance, he dove back out onto the trail in a prone position to assess the situation. As he looked for Cooper or Degan, he heard a rifle shot from his right front side and then felt something pass across his stomach. Roderick heard more shots and ran back into the woods for cover, where he received additional fire. After examining himself, Roderick discovered a bullet hole in his shirt but he was not injured. Shortly thereafter, Roderick heard movement off to his right in the woods across the road. Cooper told Roderick to toss stones so that Cooper could determine where Roderick was and direct him to Cooper's location. Roderick moved through the thicket toward Cooper and radioed their position to Hunt. Both men heard sporadic gunfire from the direction of the Weaver compound and the fern field.[FN393] Meanwhile, Hunt, Norris and Thomas arrived at the Y.As he emerged from the canopy trail, Hunt had his handgun drawn while Norris, the medic, placed his weapon on the ground and attempted to resuscitate Degan. Hunt picked up Norris' rifle laying on the ground and looked across the trail up toward Weaver's cabin, but saw no one. Norris worked on Degan for a short time before announcing that he was dead.[FN394] Cooper told Hunt and Norris that Harris had shot Degan and that he believed that he had hit Harris.[FN395] The marshals whispered because noise would bring gunfire in response.[FN396] They fired no additional shots at the Y. Shortly thereafter, there was a tremendous discharge of gunshots on the trail to the Weaver house, followed by the sound of male and female voices wailing. The marshals also heard cursing; a woman shout, "Yahweh;" a man yell, "you son of a bitch," and others scream, "You tried to kill my daddy."[FN397] At the time the marshals did not know that Sammy Weaver had been shot in the confrontation. Roderick, Cooper, and Norris waited in the brush with Degan's body while Hunt and Norris left for help. Four to five hours later, they heard an aircraft overhead and some gunfire. [FN398] Whether conditions deteriorated as the day progressed, and it started to rain.[FN399] Cooper and Roderick, who decided not to leave without Degan's body, made several attempts to move Degan, but could not.[FN400] Roderick maintained radio contact with Hunt and told him that every time the marshals made a noise, the Weavers responded with heavy gunfire.[FN401] 3. Discussion a. Alleged Intent of the Marshals to Force a Confrontation with the Weavers This investigation has revealed no evidence that the marshals went to the Weaver property on August 21, 1992 intending to use deadly force against Randy Weaver or his family. indeed, the evidence indicates quite the contrary. Months of planning went into formulating the undercover plan, and Director Hudson had explicitly rejected any strategy that might harm Vicki Weaver or her children. We find absolutely no support for the suggestion that Roderick deliberately ignored Hudson's direct orders not to engage the Weavers.[FN402] (1) The .9mm Weapon Defense counsel questioned the marshals' selection of firearms, particularly the .9mm "suppressed" semi-automatic weapon, and implied that the weapon was brought on the mission expressly to shoot the Weaver dog.[FN403] At the outset, it should be noted that a "suppressed" weapon is not silent. The suppression mechanism reduces firing noise to approximately one-fifth of the noise absent the mechanism. If the marshals had intended to fire a weapon without detection, the Marshals Service had quieter guns available.[FN404] The five surviving marshals insist they had not planned to use the .9mm, or any other weapon, to shoot the Weaver dog. Roderick testified that they marshals would have to neutralize the dogs when it came time to arrest Weaver, but that they only planned to conduct reconnaissance on the August mission.[FN405] Thomas understood that if they were confronted by the dogs, they were to leave the area.[FN406] Cooper said that they did not intend to get close enough to the Weaver house to encounter the dogs.[FN407] The possibility of shooting the dog apparently first arose as Roderick, Cooper, and Degan were running away from the dog and Harris. Roderick reports that, during the attempted escape, he said that the dog might have to be killed because it had picked up the marshals' scent.[FN408] Cooper also said that he decided while they were running that it might be necessary to use the suppressed .9mm to "take out" the dog because it was leading the pursuers to the marshals and endangering their lives.[FN409] The .9mm was not used to shoot the dog. Cooper stated that he did not shoot the dog for fear that by doing so in plain view of Harris, it would precipitate a firefight.[FN410] it was Roderick who shot the dog with his rifle, after hearing a shot fired to his left. Cooper and Roderick, who spent many years in the Special Operations Group, saw nothing unusual about taking a "suppressed" weapon on a surveillance mission.[FN411] We do not find the presence of the weapon suspicious and can envision circumstances in which this type of weapon would be important for a surveillance team, such as when dangerous animals could be encountered.[FN412] Although we recognize that the decision to bring the "suppressed" weapon on the mission may seem unusual, we are satisfied that there was no preconceived plan to use it or any other weapon to shoot the Weavers or their dog.[FN413] (2) "Zeroing" the Weapons It is common practice to "Zero" or readjust the sights of weapons that have been shipped to ensure that they have not been damaged in transit.[FN414] Chief Deputy Marshal Moriarity arranged for the team to use a firing range to zero the weapons Degan had shipped from Boston to Spokane to be used in the mission. On Thursday, August 20, Roderick, Cooper, Degan, Hunt, and Moriarity, along with some local deputy sheriffs, drove to the firing range and spent about an hour sighting and testing the weapons.[FN415] Defense counsel pointed to the marshals' zeroing of their weapons as evidence that they had planned to confront the Weavers.[FN416] We found no evidence to support this allegation. The marshals' trip to the firing range was made openly, with several local state and federal law enforcement officials present. Contrary to defense claims, it was not [SEALED BY COURT] for the marshals' benefit but rather was nothing more than a precautionary practice in which the marshals routinely engaged. We do not attribute anything suspicious to this outing. (3) Presence of a Medic on the Surveillance Team Defense counsel also alleged that Norris, the medic, was brought on the August 21 mission [SEALED BY COURT] [FN417] Counsels' statement implies the marshals planned a violent confrontation with the Weavers that day. We find no support for such a contention. Each prior trip to the Weaver property had medical support.[FN418] The Weaver cabin is on a remote, heavily wooded mountain, and access to the area is difficult. It is common for a medic to go on an operation under such .[FN419] The marshals also could not ignore the fact that the Weavers were constantly armed and were reportedly hostile to law enforcement. We consider the assignment of a medic to the team to be a responsible precaution under the circumstances and not proof that an assault was planned. 4) Tossing of Rocks Defense counsel also alleged that Roderick threw rocks [SEALED BY COURT] to taunt the Weaver dogs and to provoke a confrontation.[FN420] Although Roderick did throw two rocks, we cannot conclude that this was done for the reason counsel posits. The rocks at issue were thrown at least 15 minutes before the dogs were alerted by the sound of a vehicle. According to Cooper he suggested to Roderick that they toss rocks "to see what the dogs would respond to" because it was important to know which sounds would draw a reaction from the dogs in case a "cover" team member made a noise while moving into position.[FN421] Roderick was not concerned that tossing the rocks would create an unwarranted risk [FN422] since he had noticed during previous surveillance missions that a variety of sounds emanated from the woods, particularly along the side of the mountain. Roderick distinguished his intent to test for a reaction from the dogs from purposely trying to provoke them. He denied attempting to excite the dogs.[FN423] Roderick was confident that, if the Weavers had heard the rocks, they would not have been able to see the marshals and that, if the dogs had reacted, they could not have reached the marshals.[FN424] We do not believe that the marshals threw the rocks with the intent to agitate the dogs or to draw them to the marshals' location. Although we accept as reasonable the marshals' desire to determine how sound would carry in order to determine the best position for the observation post, we do not believe that the marshals fully considered the potential chain of events that could have unfolded if the dogs had reacted to the rocks. Although this decision was not well considered, we found no evidence that it was improperly motivated.[FN425] (5) The Trip to the Lower Garden Though not specifically raised by the defense, this inquiry considered whether the marshals went to the lower garden/spring house area below the mount on which the Weaver cabin sits for the purpose of luring the dog or the Weavers from the house. We found no evidence that the trip was made to incite a skirmish with the Weavers. Notwithstanding this conclusion, we must question the wisdom of the marshals travelling that close to the compound in daylight, especially after the dogs had been barking much of the morning.[FN426] b. The Initiation of Gunfire at the Y he prosecution charged at trial that Harris fired at Degan at the Y and set off the chain of events that led to the deaths of Degan, Sammy Weaver, and the Weaver dog. The defense countered that it was the marshals, not Harris, who had initiated the gunfire. The jury acquitted Weaver and Harris of all charges that they had assaulted federal officers. The marshals testified at trial and provided sworn statements to this inquiry. The Weavers and Kevin Harris did not testify and declined to be interviewed for this investigation. Thus, their rendition of what occurred is derived from statements made by or attributed to them following the shootings and their surrender. (1) Witness Accounts Cooper was the only witness who saw Harris shoot Degan. He testified that Harris fired first. Harris admitted that he shot Degan, but claimed that he did so after Roderick had shot the dog. It is not disputed that Harris was carrying a heavy caliber 30.06 rifle. Roderick could not see Harris fire and could not say whether the first shot came from a .223 or 30.06 caliber weapon. Thomas and Hunt agree that the first shot sounded like a heavy caliber weapon. Harris and Randy Weaver were the only ones at or near the Y with heavy caliber guns. However, Norris thought that the first shot, and the two that followed, came from a .223. Roderick and Degan were carrying .223 caliber M16 rifles. Thomas, Hunt, and Norris agree about the sequence of the shots. They heard one, then two shots, in quick succession, followed by a barrage of fire. Cooper said that Harris fired once, and then Roderick twice. Roderick said he heard one shot before he fired once or perhaps twice. The physical evidence indicates Roderick fired only once. Hunt, Norris, and Roderick all stated that they heard Degan and Cooper start to identify themselves just before the first shot. Weaver and Harris gave conflicting versions. Weaver said that one of the marshals called out for him to freeze before there was any gunfire. Harris said that the marshals did not identify themselves until after the gunfire had stopped. (2) Physical Evidence An inventory of the marshals' ammunition taken on the early morning of August 22 showed that Hunt, Norris, and Thomas did not fire their weapons during the incident. Roderick fired one shot from an M16 rifle. Cooper fired six shots form the .9mm weapon. Degan's weapon had been fired seven times.[FN427] This appears to be inconsistent with Harris' claim that there was an "explosion of gunfire" from the marshals.[FN428] We believe that the marshals exercised restraint as to the number of shots discharged by the Weavers and Harris.[FN429] Sammy Weaver was struck twice in the exchange of gunfire. One round hit him in the right arm, near the elbow, traveling from front to back. This bullet also shattered the stock of his rifle. The second and fatal shot hit the boy in the back and passed through his body, exiting after a slight track from left to right.[FN430] (3) The First Shot We are presented with diametrically opposed descriptions of events that occurred at the Y. However, we are sensitive to the fact that the gunfight occurred quickly and that all of the participants were under extraordinary stress during and after the shooting[FN431] which may have affected the witnesses' perception of events. The physical evidence is inconclusive and provides no assistance in determining who initiated the gunfight, although it is clear that the marshals did not "ambush" the Weavers. Thus, based upon the evidence available, we do not believe we can definitively reconstruct the sequence of fire that occurred at the Y. c. The Shooting of Sammy Weaver Dr. Charles R. Lindholm, who performed the autopsy on Sammy Weaver, could not offer an opinion on the type of bullet which wounded Sammy's arm. Dr. Lindholm reported that the fatal back/chest wound was "indicative of a low velocity round." he did not believe that it was caused by a .223 caliber bullet and thought that the wound "would be more consistent with that of a 9 millimeter round."[FN432] Dr. Martin L. Fackler testified at trial for the prosecution as an expert in "wound ballistics." Dr. Fackler concluded that the fatal wound was caused by a .9mm bullet.[FN433] Dr. Fackler believed the bullet that caused the fatal wound was similar to the silver tipped bullets used in Cooper's weapon.[FN434] Two .9mm firearms were at or near the "Y": Randy Weaver had a .9mm pistol; Cooper had been assigned a .9mm "suppressed" semi-automatic weapon. Weaver claims to have fired his weapon three or four times;[FN435] Cooper's was fired six times. Harris reported that he heard the shot that killed Sammy.[FN436] Degan's M16 rifle fires a .223 caliber round. None of the marshals saw Degan discharge his weapon, though his gun was fired seven times. Cooper said that he did not fire Degan's weapon after he retrieved it.[FN437] Dr. Fackler testified that Degan could have fired his weapon after he had been shot in the chest by Harris, although his accuracy would have been impaired.[FN438] However, Fackler did not believe that Degan's M16 caused the fatal injury, but thought it was possible that the weapon could have caused the wound to Sammy's arm. [FN439] Cooper and Roderick last saw Sammy run out of view up the trail. The location where Harris found Sammy's body is unknown because the Weavers moved the body. Although it is not our intention to speculate, the evidence, though not conclusive, certainly suggests that the shot that killed Sammy came from Cooper's .9mm weapon. We have found no evidence that Cooper, or any of the marshals, intentionally sought to kill or injure Sammy Weaver. Cooper said that he purposely fired three shots at Harris, after Harris shot Degan and appeared to be preparing to fire at Degan again. Cooper was convinced that he wounded or killed Harris, who dropped to the ground "like a sack of potatoes."[FN440] Actually, Cooper missed Harris, who disappeared out of view into the woods along the trail. Cooper then wheeled his weapon toward Sammy and took aim, but did not fire.[FN441] Cooper next fired a second three round burst, in the direction from which he had received fire, as cover in an effort to reach Degan. He said this burst was not directed at a specific target. It is possible that Sammy may have been mortally wounded at that time. Sammy Weaver was shot during a firefight in which he was a participant. There is no proof, and we do not conclude, that Cooper intentionally aimed the fatal shot at Sammy Weaver. Indeed, the record demonstrates that the marshals went to great lengths in preparing for their mission to avoid endangering the Weaver children. d. Allegation the Marshals Attempted to Cover Up the Shooting of Sammy Weaver The marshals maintain that they did not know that Sammy Weaver had been killed until they were told about it on Sunday, August 23.[FN442] Prior to that time the marshals did not believe that Sammy Weaver had been harmed during the encounter. Cooper did not believe that he had hit Sammy when he put down cover fire to get to Degan, because he saw Sammy running up the trail afterward.[FN443] Indeed the only person that Cooper thought he had injured was Kevin Harris who he thought he had seen fall "like a sack of potatoes." According to Jurgensen, the news that Sammy's body had been discovered in the "birthing" shed on August 22 appeared to surprise the marshals. Before this, the marshals had reported that Sammy had been at the Y when the shooting began, but they did not believe that he had been shot.[FN444] There was no mention of Sammy when the Weavers retrieved his body from the trail.[FN445] In conclusion, we found no evidence that the marshals took any actions to conceal the death of Sammy Weaver. Indeed, the evidence indicates that it was not until the FBI discovered the body on August 24 that the marshals were even aware that Sammy Weaver had been killed. 4. Conclusion We are unable to determine who initiated the gunfire at the Y on August 21. The evidence suggests, but does not establish, that the shot that killed Sammy Weaver was fired by Deputy Marshal Cooper. Assuming that to be so, we find that there was no intent on the part of Cooper or any of the other marshals to harm Sammy Weaver. We also find that the marshals did not attempt to conceal the shooting of Sammy Weaver since they were unaware that Sammy Weaver had even been injured. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART D) 299 Defendants' Memorandum, January 6, 1993, at 3-5. 300 Id. at 3. 301 Norris is a medic. Libby, the medic on the earlier reconnaissance trip, was unavailable. Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 18. See Executive Operational Plan, August 12, 1992, at 2. 302 Haynes FD-302, at 4. 303 Roderick, Degan and Cooper had been members of SOG. Cooper testified that he and Degan "were like brothers." Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 15. At the time of the assignment, only Degan was an active SOG member. Id. at 15. 304 Haynes FD-302, at 4. 305 Executive Operational Plan, May 37, 1992, at 2-3; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 3; Thomas Sworn Statement, at 2; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 20. 306 Cooper said that if the marshals saw Weaver away from his children, they would have arrested him. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 5. 307 The following day they briefed U.S. Marshal Paul Nolan of the Eastern District of Washington, and his Chief Deputy, Michael Moriarity. Marshals Service protocol is that visiting marshals advise local offices of missions in their area. Moriarity FD-302, November 18, 1993, at 3-4. They explained the purpose of their mission was to update intelligence on the Weaver property. Id. at 7; Hunt Sworn Statement, at 19. Reports had been received that Weaver had built barricades and that sympathizers had arrived at the compound. Nolan explained that no one had observed the Weaver property since Roderick's last trip to the mountain. Roderick FD- 302, August 22 & 28, 1992, at 2. 308 Roderick instructed the team that "the children were to be completely removed from the equation." Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 12. Thomas said that the instructions were, if they saw the children, "to hide and avoid them." Thomas Sworn Statement, at 4; FD-302 Interview of Frank Norris, August 23 & 29, 1992, at 1. 309 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 3-4; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 20; Thomas Sworn Statement, at 3. 310 The marshals tested each other on the identity of the persons in the videotapes. The Weaver dogs could be seen on the tapes, but they did not leave the compound area. There were no specific plans to deal with the dogs. Roderick Trial Testimony, May 20, 1993, at 155. 311 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 21. 312 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 19; Roderick FD-302, August 22, 1992, at 2; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 4. Mrs Rau reported to the Boundary County Sheriff on August 3, 1992 that the Weavers had stolen a tank and piping from their backup water system, which was functioning as their primary water source. Two weeks later, the Raus reported that the Weavers had stolen gasoline from their property. Boundary County Sheriff Incident Report, August 3 & 17, 1992; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 19; FD- 302 Interview of Ruth Rau, October 12 & 13, 1993, at 6-7. Roderick was concerned because the gasoline was near one of the marshal's former observation positions. Roderick Trial Testimony, May 20, 1993, at 133. 313 Ruth Rau FD-302, October 12 & 13, 1993, at 6-7. Sheriff Whittaker told his Deputies not to go to the Weaver cabin because "law enforcement officers are not welcome." Since the Marshals Service had a warrant outstanding, Whittaker believed it inappropriate for his department to confront Weaver. FD-302 Interview of Bruce Whittaker, November 20, 1993, at 4-5. 314 Ruth Rau FD-302, October 12 & 13, 1993, at 6-7. The Weavers' treatment of the Raus was also a concern to Marshals Service Headquarters. Perez spoke to the Raus and concluded that they were being "terrorized." The Raus had provided considerable assistance to the Marshals Service, which felt responsible for their welfare. Perez considered it unacceptable that the Raus might be harmed while there was an outstanding warrant against Weaver. Perez FD-302, at 4; Ruth Rau FD-302, October 12 & 13, 1993, at 6. 315 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 21; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 6. 316 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 20, 1993, at 117. 317 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 20, 1993, at 119, 122; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 19. 318 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 5-6. John Haynes, Commander of the Special Operations Group, said that he told Degan "to go in and come off the site under the cover of darkness." Haynes FD-302, at 6. There is no evidence that Degan communicated this to the other members of the surveillance team. Cooper stated that they could not accomplish what they wanted to do that day before the sun came up. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 5-6. In fact, the observation post team did not reach its position on the mountain until daylight. Thomas Sworn Statement, at 5. 319 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 20, 1993, at 125, 159; Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 23. 320 Cooper chose the .9mm because he was most familiar with its operation. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 4. 321 Id.; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 21. Roderick testified that the sniper rifle was inappropriate for a reconnaissance mission. Roderick Trial Testimony, May 20, 1993, at 136. 322 Norris Sworn Statement, at 8; FD-302 Interview of Frank Norris, August 29, 1992. 323 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 11; Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 45. 324 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 6. The dogs had barked frequently during other surveillances, and they routinely barked at other animals or sounds unrelated to the surveillance teams. Roderick did not think that the dogs had alerted the Weavers to his team or that the Weavers had seen the team because it was dark. Roderick FD-302, August 23 & 28, 1992, at 4. 325 Thomas said that the sun was out when they arrived at the OP. Thomas Sworn Statement, at 5. Hunt explained that they had trouble reaching the OP. This was the first time the team had been to the Weaver compound for several months, and the undergrowth had gotten taller, changing the appearance of the terrain and making it more difficult to spot landmarks. Hunt Sworn Statement, at 21. 326 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 6; Hunt Sworn Statement, at 22. The radios were attached to the waist band of the marshal's pants. Each radio was equipped with a "surveillance kit," a wire connected to an ear piece, and a microphone which could be attached to the marshal's hands or lapels. Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 42-43. Each marshal could hear the others as they spoke. Thomas Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 11. 327 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 22; Thomas Sworn Statement, at 5- 6. 328 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 25. 329 FD-302 Interview of Joseph Thomas, August 23 & 27, 1992, at 2. Hunt commented that "everything was like 'clockwork.'" Thomas Sworn Statement, at 6. 330 Roderick FD-302, August 23 & 28, 1992, at 6. 331 Norris FD-302, August 23 & 29, 1992, at 2-3; Norris Sworn Statement, at 8. 332 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 22; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 6. 333 Roderick Trial Testimony, may 20, 1993, at 172-173. 334 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 12, 191. 335 Roderick testified that this position was near where he had observed Weaver meet the Kittels in April. Id. at 13. 336 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 22; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 6-7. 337 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 23. 338 All three marshals heard the second rock. Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 22; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 7. 339 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 11, 14, 17. Cooper said that Roderick also wanted to familiarize them with the spring house because "if there was ever a siege at the house, it might be necessary to cut off the water supply." Cooper Sworn Statement, at 7. 340 Id. at 7. Roderick was presumably referring to the trip along the East Trail, the final excursion during Phase II. 341 Roderick Sworn Statment (draft), at 23. 342 FD-302 Interview of Cooper, August 22, 1992, at 4. 343 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 20. The marshals agreed to use language designed to make anyone monitoring their communications think that they were with the Forest Service. Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 66; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 6; Hunt Sworn Statement, at 22. 344 Thomas Sworn Statement, at 7; Hunt Sworn Statement, at 24. 345 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 23; Thomas Sworn Statement, at 7. Cooper heard "something that sounded like a vehicle coming from the area of the Rau house," but was not sure what it was. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 7. 346 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 7; Hunt Sworn Statement, at 24. 347 Thomas Sworn Statement, at 7; Norris Sworn Statement, at 9. 348 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 23 349 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 7 350 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 24: Thomas Sworn Statement, at 8. Thomas thought that the Weavers' reaction matched the description Hunt had given him earlier. Thomas Sworn Statement, at 7. A few hours after the shooting at the "Y," Hunt gave a videotaped briefing during which he said "{T}here was a response from the house, now this was not unusual, we'd seen this a hundred times before, we thought we heard a vehicle coming up the driveway . . . ." Transcript of Videotape of Hunt, August 21, 1992, at 9. 351 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 24. 352 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 28; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 23. 353 Kevin Harris said during an interview with the FBI on September 1, 1992, that he was also carrying a .22 caliber pistol. Sam, in addition to the mini 14, had a .357 caliber handgun. FD-302 Interview of Kevin Harris, September 1, 1992. 354 Letter by Sara Weaver, dated August 26, 1992 (Appendix at 27). 355 Harris FD-302, September 1, 1992, at 1. 356 The entry ended abruptly. Journal Entry of Vicki Weaver dated August 21, 1992. 357 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 20. 358 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 24; Thomas Sworn Statement, at 8. Hunt thought from the sound of the barking that the dogs were moving westward. He had not seen the dogs behave in this manner before. Hunt thought the dogs were barking "like they had the 'game treed'." Hunt Sworn Statement, at 25. 359 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 31. Cooper testified that they were trying to escape at that point and were no longer worried about making noise. Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 65. 360 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 24; Norris Sworn Statement, at 9. Cooper decided while they were running that it might be necessary to "take out" the dog. He decided to use the suppressed .9mm for that purpose. Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 95-96; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 8. 361 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 24; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 8. 362 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 24. Cooper mistakenly thought the OP team was referring to Harris. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 8. 363 Thomas Sworn Statement, at 8. 364 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 25. Roderick testified that while they were running from Harris and the dog, they could have stopped and taken up defensive positions several times. "{I}f we hunkered down low to the ground, they way we were dressed, we probably could have taken them out" at several points along their escape route. They did not, though, because they "were still under orders not to have a confrontation with the Weaver family." Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 33, 35. 365 Id. at 38. 366 Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 95-96; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 8. 367 Id. at 8. 368 Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 104-105. 369 The marshals gave statements to the FBI following the shooting and testified in the preliminary hearing before the grand jury and at trial. They also gave statements to this investigation. The Weavers and Harris did not testify either before or at trial, and declined to be interviewed for this inquiry. Their rendition of what occurred is derived from statements made by or attributed to them by others following the shootings and their surrender. 370 Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 106, 251-253; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 8-9. 371 Cooper referred to this as "dancing" with the dog. Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 264. 372 Cooper called this position a "fox hole." Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 107-108; Cooper FD-302, August 22, 1992, at 7. 373 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 25; Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 53-55. 374 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 9. 375 Id. at 9-10; Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 122-24. 376 Roderick FD-302, August 28, 1992, at 2-3. 377 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 249; {G.J.} Roderick FD-302, August 28, 1992, at 2. Cooper told Roderick that he thought Roderick had fired twice. Roderick FD-302, August 22 & 28, 1992, at 8. Roderick also thought that he might have fired two rounds. Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 25. However, the physical evidence reveals that Roderick fired only once. FD-302 Interview of Mark Jurgensen, August 22, 1992, at 2. 378 Roderick FD-302, August 22 & 28, 1992, at 8. Roderick said that the shooting sounded "like it was all around us. There was bark and other debris flying as bullets hit the ground around me." Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 26; Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 100. The distance between where Roderick jumped into the brush after shooting the dog and Cooper's position was later measured as 39 feet. Roderick FD- 302, August 28, 1992, at 3. 379 Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 138-39; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 10; Cooper FD-302, August 22, 1992, at 6. Cooper heard and saw gunshots striking the ground near him and "bits of dirt and debris 'dancing' on the ground." Cooper Sworn Statement, at 10. 380 An FBI report quoted Cooper as suggesting that he held his gun over his head and fired blindly. Cooper FD-302, August 30, 1992, at 3. At trial, and to this investigation, Cooper insisted that he was misquoted and that he had aimed down the barrel of his rifle. Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 277-84; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 10. 381 Cooper FD-302, August 22, 1992, at 6; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 10; Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 135-39. 382 Cooper FD-302, August 22, 1992, at 7; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 10. 383 FD-302 Interview of Dr. Charles R. Lindholm, August 31, 1992, at 2. 384 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 10; Cooper FD-302, August 22, 1992, at 7. 385 Norris Sworn Statement, at 9; Norris Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 53-54, 62-63, 76-77. 386 Thomas Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 18; Thomas Sworn Statement, at 9-11. 387 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 25; FD-302 Interview of Hunt, August 22, 1992, at 7. 388 Hunt thought that the shots had been fired from the front and above him to his left. Hunt was approximately 20 to 30 yards from the Y when they received the volley of gunfire. Hunt Sworn Statement, at 26. Thomas and Norris were about 50 yards behind him. Thomas did a somersault to avoid the fire and kept running. Thomas Sworn Statement, at 9. Hunt looked back at Thomas and Norris, saw them on the ground, and thought that they had been hit. Hunt Sworn Statement, at 26. Norris thought that Sara or Rachel Weaver fired the shots. The latter had been seen leaving the house carrying weapons shortly before the OP team started for the Y. Norris Sworn Statement, at 10. 389 Letter from Sara Weaver, August 26, 1992 (Appendix at 27). Weaver told Bo Gritz in a monitored conversation that "Sam opened up on the marshals when he saw 'em shoot the dog. That's when Kevin shot the officer. Because they shot Sam." Transcript of Conversation between Randy Weaver and Bo Gritz, August 29, 1992. In another conversation, recorded by the FBI, Randy Weaver told Jackie Brown that Harris "saw Sam get hit in the right arm. And he, he just wanted to stop 'em from shootin' at him. What the hell would anybody do?" Transcript of Conversation between Randy Weaver, Bo Gritz, and Jackie Brown, August 29, 1992. Randy Weaver has also claimed that he went "down to the Y and somebody jumped out in front of me, and yelled something. I headed back toward home, and I heard a shot, and I heard the dog yelp." Harris added, "Somebody shot the dog and, and it just, all the woods exploded with gunfire." Transcript of Interview of Weaver by Tom Brokaw, August 18, 1993, for "Now," NBC News. 390 Letter from Sara Weaver, August 26, 1992. 391 Harris FD-302, September 1, 1992, at 2-3; FD-302 Interview of Bo Gritz, September 10, 1992, at 1, and November 17, 1993, at 9. 392 Ruth Rau FD-302, October 12 & 13, 1993, at 8. 393 Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 160; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 10; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 26. 394 Roderick heard Norris say this over the radio. Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 26. 395 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 28; Norris Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 71. Thomas did not recall hearing Cooper say he had shot Harris then. He did, however, receive a radio transmission from Cooper saying this about an hour after Thomas reached the Rau house. Thomas Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 22. 396 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 27; Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 122 ("[E}very time the Weavers heard a sound they just unloaded, they would start firing at any noise they heard"). 397 The most likely explanation for the uproar is that the Weavers had discovered Sammy Weaver's body. However, there was no mention of Sammy Weaver's name during the commotion. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 11; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 27; Hunt Sworn Statement, at 28. The marshals could not see anyone from their position. Roderick and Cooper assumed that the uproar meant that Harris had died from wounds received during the exchange of fire. Cooper Trial Testimony, April 25, 1993, at 170, April 16, 1993, at 527; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 11; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 27. 398 Roderick testified that he heard the plane about two hours after Thomas and Hunt had left. Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 125. See Norris Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 75. Roderick told Hunt to instruct the Federal Aviation Administration to restrict airspace around the mountain. Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 27; Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 168; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 11. 399 Cooper characterized conditions as "miserable." Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 185; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 11. The Crisis log says that Hunt reported at 5:08 p.m/. that it had started to rain. 400 Cooper and Roderick refused a suggestion from the Crisis Center that they leave Degan and "get out of there." Hunt Sworn Statement, at 31-32. 401 Roderick gave Hunt various orders as Hunt and Thomas worked their way down the mountain, such as to reestablish the observation post, block off the road, and obtain night vision equipment. Hunt relayed Roderick's instructions, but they were not followed. Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 27-28; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 11. 402 Roderick specifically instructed surveillance team members on the evening of August 19 to avoid any encounter with the Weavers, particularly the children. Hunt Sworn Statement, at 20; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 5; Norris FD-302, August 23 & 29, 1992, at 1. Roderick characterized himself as having been "brainwashed" about ensuring that "the children were . . . completely removed from the equation." Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 20. Thomas told us that the team had been instructed "to hide (from the children) and avoid them." Thomas Sworn Statement, at 4. 403 [Sealed by Court] [G.J.] 404 Moriarity FD-302, at 7. 405 Roderick considered a number of means of controlling the dogs when the time came to arrest Weaver. Deadly force and various chemical products were among the options. however, Roderick did not finalize a plan because the operation never reached the point when arrest was imminent. Roderick Trial Testimony, May 20, 1993, at 149-52, 154. 406 Thomas Sworn Statement, at 3. 407 Cooper had been involved in 1991 in a SOG operation in California where three SOG members and three National Guardsmen hiked several miles through dense woods to arrest a fugitive. on that project, Cooper was prepared to shoot the fugitive's dog if the dog and the fugitive was captured without incident. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 2, 4-5. 408 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 24. 409 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 8; Cooper Trial Testimony, April 16, 1993, at 455-60. After they heard Roderick say "the dogs are on us," Thomas and Hunt heard a radio transmission from someone on the Recon team about the possibility of shooting the dog. Thomas Sworn Statement, at 8; Hunt Sworn Statement, at 25. 410 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 9; Cooper Trial Testimony, April 16, 1993, at 478. 411 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 4. 412 Moriarity reported that there are bears and other large, often dangerous, animals in the woods of Northern Idaho. Such animals would be a legitimate concern for the team. Moriarity FD-302, at 7. The Marshals Service Firearms Policy provides that firearms may be used against animals "to prevent attack that threatens bodily injury." See Memo by Stanley E. Morris, (former) Director, U.S. Marshals Service, June 10, 1988, at 2. 413 We are troubled by the fact that there was no plan to deal with the dogs during the surveillance mission. The animals were known to be active and excitable, and there had been reports that one of the dogs, Striker, was aggressive and had attacked someone. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 5. The potential for an encounter certainly existed and ought to have been more thoroughly considered. 414 See Cooper Sworn Statement, at 4. 415 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 4; Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 32; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 21. 416 [SEALED BY COURT] 417 [SEALED BY COURT] 418 Executive Operational Plans, March 27, April 10, May 20 & May 27, 1992. We note that Norris did not arrange for the medivac helicopter provided for in the Plan because the team did not anticipate contact with the Weavers. Norris Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 63-66; Norris Sworn Statement, at 8. 419 Norris Sworn Statement, at 2. Norris had been trained to deal with wounds ranging from cuts and abrasions to gunshots. 420 [SEALED BY COURT] 421 Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 66-67, 88. See Thomas Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 17. 422 Hunt was also not concerned about Roderick throwing the rocks. Hunt Sworn Statement, at 23. 423 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 188-89. 424 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 22-23; Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 190 425 We are again unsettled by the absence of a plan for the possibility that the dogs would locate the marshals' position. This omission is symptomatic of a larger problem, the lack of a plan to follow should the Weavers discover the marshals. For instance, all three marshals abandoned the observation post once the shooting began at the Y. Although their desire to go to the aid of their colleagues is understandable, the law enforcement components that responded to the mountain were deprived of vital information on the Weavers' location and movements in the hours that followed the shooting. 426 Again, there was no contingency plan to keep someone at the observation post, should the Weavers pursue the reconnaissance team. The marshals who remained on the mountain with Degan's body following the shootout asked Hunt to place someone in the observation post to observe the Weavers. Cooper Sworn Statement, at 11. This was not done. 427 Roderick's weapon had been loaded with 27 rounds, as had Degan's. Cooper's 9mm had been loaded with 25 rounds. Jurgensen FD-302, August 22, 1992, at 2-3; Jurgensen Sworn Statement, at 12; Thomas Sworn Statement, at 14. 428 Defense counsel likewise described the marshal's fire as "wild." Defendants' Memorandum, at 4. 429 Ruth Rau believes that she heard approximately 50 shots fired during the initial exchange of gunfire, which she estimated as lasting two minutes. See Ruth Rau FD-302, October 12 & 13, 1993, at 8. Fourteen of these rounds were fired by the marshals. 430 Autopsy Report by Mick Mellett, Boundary County Coroner, August 25, 1992, at 4. 431 Cooper testified that "all these things [are] compressed into a few seconds,it's difficult to remember exactly what happened first." Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 264. 432 FD-302 Interview of Dr. Charles R. Lindholm, August 25, 1992, at 2. 433 Trial Testimony of Dr. Martin L. Fackler, June 8, 1993, at 127-28, 185-86. 434 Fackler Trial Testimony, June 8, 1993, at 186. 435 Letter by Sara Weaver, August 26, 1992. 437 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 10. 438 Fackler Trial Testimony, June 8, 1993, at 177, 183. This inquiry asked Dr. H. Edward Lane to independently evaluate whether Degan could have fired after he had been wounded. Dr. Lane also concluded that it would have been possible for Degan to fire, but Degan's accuracy at that point could not be determined. FD-302 Interview of Dr. H. Edward Lane, August 11, 1993. 439 Id. at 183-184. 440 Cooper was surprised the next day when the FBI reported that snipers had shot Harris, because he was certain that he had wounded Harris at the Y. See Cooper Sworn Statement, at 12-13. 441 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 9-10; Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 122-34. 442 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 340; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 10, 13. 443 Cooper FD-302, August 22, 1992, at 6; Cooper Sworn Statement at 10. 444 Jurgensen Sworn Statement, at 14; FD-302 Interview of John Twomey, November 26, 1993, at 3. According to Director Hudson, Twomey may have said that Sammy Weaver might have been wounded. Hudson FD-302, at 4. Twomey reported that he told Hudson that Sammy had been on the scene, but that there was "no indication of his being shot." Twomey FD-302, at 3. Hudson agreed that the Marshals Service did not know that Sammy had been killed until his body was found. Hudson FD-302, at 6-7. 445 Cooper Sworn Statement, at 11; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 27; Hunt Sworn Statement, at 28. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED E. Activation of FBI hostage Rescue Team and SWAT Teams on August 21, 1992 and Initial Intelligence Gathering. 1. Introduction Soon after the U.S. Marshals Service Headquarters learned of the shooting at Ruby Ridge it contacted FBI Headquarters officials. A decision was made to deploy the FBI Hostage Rescue Team ("HRT") to Ruby Ridge. Allegations have been made that the deployment of the HRT on August 21 was based on false information about the dangerousness of Randy Weaver, the situation at Ruby Ridge and the August 21 exchange of gunfire. In addition, it has been contended that the activation of the HRT and regional FBI Swat Teams was an improper, unnecessary, and exaggerated response to the situation. Specifically, critics have suggested that local law enforcement agents, who rescued the marshals, should have been left to resolve the situation and that the U.S. Marshals Service should have remained in charge. There has also been a claim that the federal response was driven by an influential Department of Justice official who had been a close friend of Deputy U.S. Marshal Degan and the Degan family. Critics have also charged that the FBI failed to assess the situation accurately after the August 21 shooting in large part because they failed to carefully gather and verify information on the background of the Weaver/Harris group and the events that transpired at the Y. The faulty information gathering techniques of the FBI is alleged to have contributed to the subsequent shots fired on August 22, 1992. 2. Statement of Facts a. The Marshals' Report of the Shooting Following the shooting at the Y, Deputy Marshal David Hunt, who was familiar with the terrain of the mountain, and Deputy Marshal Joseph Thomas left, at approximately 10:45 a.m. to get aid. They headed through the woods to the Rau house [FN446] where they arrived approximately 40 minutes later. Hunt immediately placed a "911" call for assistance which was received by the Boundary County Sheriff's Office, Bonners Ferry, Idaho, at 11:20 a.m. Hunt told the dispatcher: I have an emergency situation on my hands..... I got one officer dead. I got (inaudible) pinned down. I need help quick.....I want the State Police, I want all the help that I can get. I gotta go back in for more officers that are trapped. [FN447] Next, Hunt called Marshals Service Headquarters in Washington, DC and told Tony Perez, Chief of Enforcement Operations, that before the shooting began, a dog had picked up the marshals' scent and that they had run to avoid the Weavers. Hunt spoke of a "heck of a gunfight," in which Harris killed Degan. Hunt told Perez that he had not heard any gunfire since leaving the mountain. [FN448] Shortly thereafter, Hunt told Chief Deputy Ron Narvarro of the Boundary County Sheriff's Office that the marshals were still on the hill and that they required assistance. Hunt did not say that the marshals were "pinned down." [FN449] The Marshals Service Crisis Center ("Crisis Center") was activated under the direction of Duke Smith, Deputy Director of Operations, and the Special Operations Group ("SOG") was alerted to deploy. [FN450] Hunt was transferred to an open line in the Crisis Center, on which he explained: Initial reports indicate that the USMS surveillance team came under fire from occupants of the Weaver compound and are still pinned down in defensive positions. [FN451] (Emphasis added.) Twenty five minutes later, at 12:05 p.m., Hunt reported to the Crisis Center: Local sheriff has SWAT team on the way to the scene, which [sic] is no longer taking fire . . . . Team [of marshals] was trying to pull out when Weaver's dog alerted, team drew multiple volleys of fire from the house. Degan was struck in the chest. Return fire killed on e of Weaver's dogs. The rest of the team is still located on the mountain, but not under fire, unable to withdraw without exposing themselves to hostile fire. [FN452] (Emphasis added.) FBI Special Agent Donald Glasser was detailed to the Crisis Center. Perez briefed Glasser at approximately 1:00 p.m. and used the term "pinned down" to describe the marshals' state, but did not say that the marshals were "receiving fire." [FN453] By this time, agents from the U.S. Border Patrol, the Boundary County Sheriff's Office, and the Idaho State Police had reached the scene. The Idaho State Police Critical Response Team ("CRI") and the Marshals Service SOG unit were en route. [FN454] Various law enforcement officers ran sirens to "send a message to the mountain that they were there." [FN455] In the afternoon, Hunt spoke to Mays in the Marshals Service Office in Boise. Mays asked for an account of the events so that he could prepare court papers, if needed. Hunt started to tell Mays about the events of August 21 when Marshal Johnson took the phone. Later Johnson repeated to Mays what Hunt had told him. Mays used this information to prepare an affidavit in support of a warrant to search the Weaver cabin and property. [FN456] At some point, Cooper told Hunt that he may have shot Harris. this information was passed to the Crisis Center.[FN457] Hunt briefed many of the law enforcement officers on the scene, giving a detailed listing of the weapons each member of the Weaver family was known to carry. He told them he did not believe that there were booby traps on the property.[FN458] John Twomey, Deputy Director of Administration, informed Director Hudson of the shooting, while the latter was en route to North Carolina. Twomey reported that, according to Hunt, the Weaver dogs had been "spooked" by the marshals, Harris had killed Degan, and the marshals were pinned down. Twomey added that Hunt assumed that the marshals were still receiving gunfire. [FN459] Hudson instructed Twomey to notify Douglas Gow, FBI Associate Deputy Director of Investigations, at FBI Headquarters, of the incident. b. Decision to Deploy the HRT The FBI's involvement in the Idaho crisis began when U.S. Marshals Service Director Henry Hudson told FBI Associate Deputy Director W. Douglas Gow that a Deputy U.S. Marshal had been shot and killed in Northern Idaho; That two other deputy marshals remained pinned down, having previously received heavy gunfire from several subjects; and that the Department of Justice had instructed that the FBI would be the lead agency handling the situation. Director Hudson and Gow scheduled a meeting for 4:30 p.m. EDT to discuss the situation. [FN460] Before the meeting with the Marshals Service, FBI Assistant Director Larry Potts told FBI Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Section Chief E. Michael Kahoe to learn as much as he could about the incident. thereafter, Kahoe called Special Agent in Charge Eugene F. Glenn of the FBI's Salt Lake City Division at approximately 5:30 p.m. EDT (3:30 p.m. MDT). He told Glenn that a deputy marshal had been shot and killed during a firefight in Northern Idaho, that Gow had been called by the Marshals Service Headquarters and that FBI assistance had been requested. Kahoe said Hudson was en route to FBI headquarters to provide additional details to senior Bureau managers. [FN461] Glenn realized that there would be few resources in Northern Idaho and initiated a series of actions to prepare for a probable FBI response. he instructed Special Agent George J. Calley at the Boise FBI Office to obtain additional details of the incident. Calley subsequently reported that he had learned from U.S. Marshal Michael Johnson that, during a fugitive investigation, one deputy marshal had been killed, another had been wounded, and additional marshals were pinned down near the site of the original gunfire. In addition, Calley learned that the primary subject in this matter was Randy Weaver and that the current priority of the Marshals Service was to rescue the marshals on the hill. [FN462] Glenn relayed this information to Kahoe and over the next several hours, it was agreed that he would begin an FBI SWAT Team call-up in the Salt Lake Division and would prepare for deployment to Northern Idaho. Glenn also agreed with FBI Headquarters to deploy the Portland and Seattle SWAT teams and accepted management assistance from Special Agent in Charge William D. Gore, Seattle Division. [FN463] When Gow received word of the assault, he called Assistant Special Agent in Charge Richard Rogers, Commander of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team ("HRT"). The HRT is a specialized full-time tactical team, based at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Although its original purpose was to handle high-risk terrorist, hostage situations, its mission has evolved to cover a variety of sensitive, high-risk situations.[FN464] At 4:30 p.m. EDT, Gow told Rogers that a deputy marshal had been shot and killed in Northern Idaho, that other deputy marshals were still pinned down there, and that the Marshals Service had requested assistance. As a result, the HRT was put on alert. [FN465] Gow, Potts, and Deputy Assistant Director Danny O. Coulson met with Hudson and Marshals Service officials John Twomey and Herb Rutherford. Hudson described the situation and requested FBI assistance. He conveyed an urgency in the request, explaining that: "one DUSM had been shot, two DUSMs were 'pinned down,' a third DUSM was relaying information. The concern at the time was to get these deputies out of 'harms way' before additional casualties were incurred." [FN466] Hudson and the others reported that a team of marshals had been attempting to perform reconnaissance in preparation for serving an arrest warrant on Randy Weaver. They asserted that: [O]ne of the DUSMs had been attacked by a dog, and had shot the dog, which started a firefight. During the firefight, one DUSM had been killed and his body and the remaining surviving DUSMs had been able to escape and get to a telephone, the remaining DUSMs were in only sporadic radio contact, and their exact location was not known. The reported heavy fire had been directed at the DUSMs from numerous locations . . . the team of DUSMs had not intended a confrontation with the subjects, and had attempted to flee when confronted by the dog and subjects, but had been chased by the subjects, before the shooting death of the DUSM occurred. [FN467] During this meeting, the FBI representatives were shown an aerial photograph of the Weaver cabin and the surrounding area and were told that Weaver and his associates would leave their [Editor's Note: Page 135 in the text is unavailable, which includes footnotes 468 to 472.] cabin. It was believed that Weaver knew well the extremely rugged terrain near his cabin. He had told the media that he would not be captured alive and that the only way he would leave his cabin would be to die in a shoot-out. His entire family, including his wife and children, was reported to be heavily armed. [FN473] Following the meeting, Gow briefed the FBI Director William Sessions and called the Deputy Attorney Generals office in the Department of Justice. Although Gow acknowledged that Degan was a "high profile individual within the USMS", Gow stated there was no pressure on the FBI to activate the HRT by friends of Degan. [FN474] Robert Mueller, then Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, was a professional acquaintance of Deputy Marshal Degan's as they had both worked in Boston while Mueller was in the U.S. Attorney's Office. Mueller, however was not even in town during the first days of the crisis. Gow thought that Potts may have also known Degan in Boston. HRT deployments must be initiated by the Assistant Director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division ("CID"). After consulting with FBI Deputy Assistant Director Coulson, Potts decided to deploy the HRT fully. He had no conversation with anyone outside the FBI regarding this decision and was not pressured to deploy the HRT. Potts acknowledged, however, that he consulted with Coulson whom he considers the most knowledgeable tactical operations manager in the Bureau. They concluded that this would be an "extremely high-risk operation, possibly the highest risk situation [they] could encounter," given the information about Weaver's Special Forces background; his knowledge of explosives; the fact his children were trained with weapons; and his possible Aryan Nations affiliation. It was their understanding that: One law enforcement officer had already been killed, and others remained "pinned down," unable to be extricated. The attack on the retreating DUSMs had been extremely aggressive in nature, with a "barrage of gunfire" having been directed at them. The situation was so sever that these USMs, who were specially trained, were afraid to move. They were located in a remote area of rugged terrain, which was well known to the subjects. The family of Randy Weaver was armed, including his children. It was unknown whether the surviving DUSM's were still receiving fire and it was not known whether the subjects had reinforcements, were in the Weaver cabin, in the woods near the cabin, or whether they had escaped. Because of Randy Weaver's military background, it was believed that the subjects may have built tunnels and bunkers, making any approach to the area exceedingly dangerous. [FN475] Rogers was notified of the decision to deploy and immediately departed aboard an FBI aircraft. The Strategic Information and Operations Center ("SIOC") at FBI Headquarters was activated and other routine investigative steps were instituted. The Special Operations and Research Unit ("SOARS") in Quantico was notified to provide negotiators. Neither Potts nor Coulson had any discussions with persons from the Department of Justice, outside the FBI or the United States Marshals Service, regarding their decision to activate the HRT until after the decision had been made. That evening Gow discussed the trouble the FBI was having in getting HRT transportation to the crisis site with Attorney General Barr, who appeared to know about the situation. They discussed the "red tape" preventing the transportation of the main body of the HRT to Idaho. [FN476] c. Initial Intelligence Gathering and Rescue of the Marshals HRT commander Rogers departed for Idaho at approximately 6:30 p.m. EDT on August 21 with an advance team of HRT personnel, including Supervisory Special Agent Stephen McGavin, and Special Agents Lester B. Hazen and Dale F. Carnegie, accompanied by Marshals Service Deputy Director Duke Smith. Potts had instructed Rogers to advise Coulson immediately after an on-site assessment had been made. Potts knew that the Idaho State Police SWAT Team was on the scene, but Potts would not authorize them to rescue the surviving marshals until an FBI on scene evaluation of the mission had been made. The Marshals Service had not been authorized to conduct tactical operations and, as far as Potts knew, they were involved only in perimeter assignments given by the FBI. When the first FBI personnel arrived at the crisis site, Potts was advised that no shots had been fired for some time and that communications with the surviving marshals would make it possible to locate them. Captain David Neal, Commander of the Idaho State Police CRT, was informed of the incident and proceeded to the command post at the RAU meadow. After a briefing from Hunt, Neal decided that the CRT would wait until nightfall to rescue the marshals so as to avoid ambush by the Weavers. [FN477] A ten man CRT team, along with Deputy Marshal Thomas, left the command post at approximately 8:30 p.m. PDT (11:30 p.m. EDT). [FN478] The night was "pitch," and only two member of the team had night vision equipment. The others made their way by placing their hands on the person in front of them and forming a chain.[FN479] They proceeded slowly and with extreme caution for fear of being ambushed or encountering booby traps. At 11:21 p.m. PDT, the team reached the marshals at the Y. When Captain Neal arrived at the Y he was concerned about the security of the CRT team and asked Roderick for an update. The first thing Roderick told Neal was, "I shot the dog." [FN480] The CRT team secured Degan's body and headed down the mountain. The return was long and difficult due to the extreme darkness and the burden of Degan's body. They returned to the Command Post and 12:46 a.m. PDT. Earlier that day, Marshal Jurgensen had been dispatched to Idaho to render assistance. When the marshals were rescued, he accompanied the five marshals to a hospital at Bonners Ferry, Idaho. [FN481] The marshals kept their weapons because of reports that Weaver supporters were on their way to the hospital. [FN482] They were examined briefly at the hospital and then released. Thereafter, Jurgensen drove the marshals to the condominium at Schwaitzer Mountain, where they arrived at approximately 3:00 a.m. By this time, Roderick, Cooper, Thomas, Norris and Hunt had been awake nearly 24 hours. After awhile, they went to sleep. [FN483] Jurgenson collected the marshals' weapons and counted the ammunition. From this inspection, he determined that Hunt, Norris, and Thomas had not fired any shots; Roderick had fired one shot from his M16 rifle; Cooper had fired six shots from the .9mm; and seven shots had been fired from Degan's weapon. [FN484] Meanwhile, while en route to Idaho, Smith briefed Rogers and the other HRT personnel on the Weaver case. Rogers had seen a photograph of the crisis area, which Smith described as an isolated area of extremely rugged terrain. According to Rogers, Smith provided the following background on the family: [G.J.] Rogers also testified at trial about the impression of the crisis that Smith conveyed: Smith said the aggression was on the part of the members of the Weaver family and that Degan....and the others were actually pursued while attempting to retreat from Randall Weaver and Kevin Harris and after being observed by those subjects.....He told me that the family was heavily armed, they had both pistols and rifles. There was an indication that they might possibly.....have some armor- piercing ammunition. It was unclear as to whether there were grenades or explosives, because of Mr. Weaver's background in the military....I certainly had the impression that this was a heavily armed group, and based on what he had told me concerning the fire-fight breaking out and Marshal Degan dying, it was clear to me that they were willing to use these weapons. [FN486] Smith related Weaver's threats that a standoff would only end in his death, and explained that the Weaver family had threatened other law enforcement officials on numerous occasions. In response to letters about the pending charges, he stated that the Weavers asserted that Randy was not coming down willingly. Both Randy and Vicki Weaver had commented at an initial appearance that any attempts to arrest them would result in the deaths of law enforcement officers. Randy Weaver had told a local reporter that he would not come off the mountain. The Weavers sent letters to both state and federal court officials regarding Randy Weaver's unwillingness to face charges. Smith also reported that Weaver had been a Green Beret and had expertise in the manufacture of explosives and booby traps. He described the Weaver compound as a mountain stronghold, inaccessible except by a single extremely rough road, and protected by fighting positions. Smith reported that TV show host Geraldo Rivera had unsuccessfully attempted to interview Weaver and that there were unconfirmed reports that Weaver had fired at Rivera's helicopter. [FN487] [G.J.] [G.J.] Rogers said that it was his impression that a firefight was either "still in progress" or there was "intermittent gunfire taking place" or "sporadic gunfire . . . through the evening". He believed that the marshals were still on the mountain and that they could not extract Degan's body. [FN489] Rogers considered the subjects to be potentially still in an offensive, aggressive mode, and he concluded that the situation was dangerous with the potential for additional violence. [FN490] Potts and Coulson relayed to Glenn the information about the crisis situation that the Marshals Service had provided. Prior to Glenn's arrival Hunt had briefed two FBI agents who had responded to the call for assistance. He gave them information on the Weaver family and Kevin Harris, an overview of the morning's events, and a description of Weaver's tactical operations and defensive positions. Hunt told them that Weaver and the others had pulled back to their defensive positions and were preparing for and awaiting the arrival of government agents. Hunt also briefed local law enforcement officials. [FN491] These were the only times that Hunt was asked for information, with one exception. Late in the evening of August 21, Hunt was summoned to the command post and asked for the best position for sniper/observers. Hunt identified the high ground overlooking the Weaver compound and located it on a map. He was surprised that he was not asked additional questions. The FBI did not inquire about the intelligence he had collected during the early hours of the response. However, Idaho State Police and others retrieved his case files, including surveillance photos and topographic maps, from the Marshals Service command post. Hunt was frustrated that his files were disassembled and distributed without his consent. When Special Agent in Charge Eugene Glenn arrived in Sandpoint, Idaho, about 7:00 p.m.(PDT), deputies from the Boundary County Sheriff's Office took him and members of the Salt Lake SWAT Team and Technical Agents to a National Guard Armory to be briefed by law enforcement personnel. Deputy Sheriff Lonnie Ekstrom told Glenn that Randy Weaver was a violent, former Green Beret and explosives expert, who reportedly had a large cache of arms concealed on his property. Because of Weaver's political and religious beliefs, he had separated himself from the community and was living off the land. Weaver was said to have constructed bunkers and fortifications around his home and claimed he wanted to have a show down or last stand with the federal government. Ekstrom told Glenn that Weaver had stated he would never be taken off the mountain and in fact had not come down for nearly 18 months. [FN492] Glenn was told that Weaver was with at least one or two other people who may also have been present during the exchange of gunfire. He was told that these people, as well as Weaver's entire family, were committed to similar religious and political beliefs, such as white separatism and supremacism and an intense hatred of the federal government. [FN493] Following this briefing, Glenn travelled to the Command Post at Ruby Ridge, arriving at approximately 9:30 p.m. (PDT). Special Agent Wages told Glenn that it was believed that Randy Weaver, Vicki Weaver, their children, and at least one additional individual, Kevin Harris, were in the cabin. [FN494] Glenn began to solicit information from Idaho State Police Major Edwin Strickfaden, who was commanding the "predominant agency on site" and other "senior personnel from all of the major agencies at the scene."[FN495] Those personnel included the U.S. Marshal for Idaho, Michael Johnson, and Boundary County Deputy Sheriff, Lonnie Ekstrom. Glenn described the shooting incident to Special Agent in Charge William Gore, who arrived at the command post approximately 45 minutes after Glenn. Gore joined Glenn at the briefing, then in progress with the Idaho State Police, Boundary County Sheriff, and Marshals Service personnel. They learned that the Marshals Service was reporting that Kevin Harris may have been shot during the shootout. There was a report that the marshals still on the mountain had received sporadic gunfire until after dark. [FN496] U.S. Marshal Johnson provided information about BATF's investigation of Weaver, his arrest, failure to appear, and the entry of the Marshals Service into the case. Weaver was described as a "white supremacist who had been affiliated with the Aryan Nation." [FN497] In spite of the fact that the marshals were rescued in the early morning hours of August 22, first-hand information about the incident which began the crisis was not gathered immediately because the marshals were not made available until 2:00 p.m. Glenn reported that he "did not have the opportunity" earlier on to speak with any of the marshals who had been on the hill. He "wanted access to them but the USMS denied this request in order to give the Deputies time to compose themselves after their ordeal."[FN498] Glenn learned that first night that a cold front was approaching, with rain, snow, and temperatures in and around the twenties, and that the terrain around the crisis site was severe. There was no current intelligence as to the tactical preparations the Weavers might be making to engage law enforcement, but Glenn knew that agents would have to take positions close to Weaver's residence to address the situation properly. Glenn believed that Weaver was aware that he had been involved in killing a federal law enforcement officer and that he was intentionally resisting arrest. Glenn was concerned about possible reinforcements from the ranks of Weaver's supporters. Because of the information he had gathered and his understanding of the capabilities of someone with military training ascribed to Weaver, Glenn was seriously concerned for the safety of personnel at the scene. He saw Weaver as someone "trained in the tactics of escape and evasion, who had now chosen to fortify himself and remain at his cabin, when he could have effected an escape from capture." Glenn thought that he was "facing an individual who may have made considerable prior arrangements to inflict serious casualties or damage on any individual(s) who may attempt to challenge him."[FN499] Therefore, he decided that no aggressive effort should be made to attempt to arrest the subjects until additional tactical resources arrived. The goal to this point was to stabilize the situation, avoiding contact with the Weavers until the situation had been contained. With the arrival of the HRT, Glenn believed it was possible for the FBI to establish a perimeter around the Weaver cabin to assess the situation and establish communications with the cabin. Glenn thought those steps were necessary to resolve the situation peacefully through negotiations. [FN500] By early morning, August 22, HRT Commander Rogers and the HRT advance unit had arrived, along with senior Marshals Service personnel. Rogers reported Glenn: I asked Mr. Glenn for a quick briefing as to what the current situation was up on the mountain. He told me that they had managed to get Marshal Degan's body off and extricate the remaining marshals. Other than that, it was basically unknown what was taking place up around the cabin, because there were no law enforcement directly with eyes on at the shooting site or at the Weaver cabin. [FN501] Rogers knew that the firefight was not continuing, [FN504] but this did not change his opinion of the danger. [FN505] [G.J] Like Glenn and Gore, Rogers did not talk to any of the marshals involved in the shooting because he had been told that they were asleep or were being treated for exposure. According to Rogers, the "implication" of this report "was that they were not available to me and that they would certainly have to be debriefed before I would have a chance to talk to them... debriefed I assumed by their own marshals." [FN507] Although Rogers had not definitively concluded that Weaver had shot at a federal officer, he had concluded that Weaver "clearly demonstrated that he was willing to shoot at federal officers," in spite of the fact that he knew of no one who had seen Weaver shoot or point a gun at anybody. [FN508] The next Morning, Tony Perez spoke by telephone to Cooper, Roderick, and Norris and received "bits and fragments' of information. [FN509] Duke Smith, Deputy Director of Operations and the highest ranking Marshal Service official at the scene, visited to offer emotional support. Smith did not interview the marshals , and he received only a few details of the shooting. [FN510] The marshals told Smith that Harris had shot Degan, that Cooper may have killed Harris, and that Roderick shot the dog after the gunfire had started. [FN511] One of the marshals mentioned that Sammy Weaver was present, but there was no evidence that he had been injured. Smith spent approximately 30 minutes at the condominium. [FN512] Jurgensen drove Cooper, Roderick, and Hunt to the Boundary County Sheriff's Office for interviews by the FBI later that day. Thomas and Norris were interviewed the following day. [FN513] After the interviews, Cooper and Roderick went to the staging area by the Rau house. They offered their assistance to John Haynes and Lou Stagg of SOG, but were told that their help was not needed. [FN514] Cooper and Roderick informed HRT members about the layout of the Weaver complex, the terrain, and weaponry. They told the HRT that there were no booby traps or mines on the Weaver property. After that short debriefing, no one consulted with Cooper and Roderick again. [FN515] Duke Smith recalled Jurgensen telling him that the deputy marshals had been to the Boundary County Hospital for physical checkups and then taken to their command post condominium at Shweitzer Mountain. Smith recalled that Jurgensen had asked him to postpone his visit with the five marshals, who had been part of the August 21 team, until the afternoon of August 22. When Smith went to the command post that afternoon, Deputy Marshals Cooper and Roderick spoke to him about their mission but he did not formally interview them or debrief them. [FN516] Smith said the marshals were available to the FBI at all times and the marshals even came to the site on Saturday and Sunday. Smith told this inquiry that he never restricted access to the marshals for intelligence purposes. [FN517] 3. Discussion a. The Marshals' Report of the Shooting There have been allegations that the marshals involved in the shooting and others in the Marshals Service intentionally concealed the marshals' role in the August 21 shooting. It has also been charged that the Marshals Service lied about Weaver's dangerousness and the circumstances at the time of the shooting to gain the FBI's support and assistance and to cover up a confrontation with the Weavers' son, Sammy. At trial, the defense contended that a deputy marshal had fired the first shot, which killed the family dog Striker. After that shot a marshal knowingly and fatally shot Sammy Weaver in the back as he retreated from the firefight. The defense also contended that Sammy Weaver responded to the killing of his dog with gunfire, which Degan returned, and that Harris shot Degan in defense of himself and Sammy only after these events had occurred and because they were subjected to gunfire. Those who believe that sequence of events, particularly after Weaver and Harris' acquittal for Degan's murder, have charged that the marshals involved in the shooting engaged in a coverup to protect themselves. That coverup is said to have included exaggerated accounts of aggressive acts at the shootout on August 21, Weaver's role in the events, and the danger of Weaver and Harris. One area repeatedly challenged at trial was the claim that the marshals were "pinned down" and had sustained "continuing fire" hours after the fatal shots had been fired. [FN518] Defense counsel alleged in pretrial motions that after the shooting at the Y, Hunt falsely reported to his superiors and to other law enforcement agencies that the marshals who remained with Degan's body were "pinned down in a fire fight." [FN519] We did not find any evidence that Hunt or any of the marshals claimed that they were receiving continual fire well after the exchange at the Y. The debate focuses on Hunt's use of the phrase "pinned down." This inquiry has determined that "pinned down" is not a term of art in law enforcement with a universally accepted meaning. Although Hunt used the words "pinned down" in his first call for help to the Boundary County Sheriff's Office shortly after the shooting, he also repeatedly advised Marshal Service Headquarters as the day progressed that there was no "continuing fire fight." Less than an hour after his first call for help, Hunt notified his superiors at Marshal Service Headquarters that the marshals were not receiving continual fire. He also reported this to other law enforcement officers arriving at the scene. [FN520] Officials from many different law enforcement agencies were told throughout the remainder of the day that the marshals were "pinned down." [FN521] If they concluded that the marshals were under constant fire, that was the result, in our view, of miscommunication or misunderstanding. [FN522] Hunt's reports to the Crisis Center are consistent with the accounts given by the marshals on the mountain. They believed they were "pinned down" in the sense that they were "outflanked" by the Weavers and might come under fire if they moved. [FN523] We conclude that the marshals did not deliberately attempt to mislead other law enforcement agencies about the events at the Y or the condition of the marshals still on the mountain. b. Decision to Deploy the HRT Our investigation found that the HRT was properly deployed to Idaho to address this crisis, a deployment, which, in accordance with FBI policy, had received specific approval from the Assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI Headquarters. The training of HRT members and its ability to be deployed quickly made HRT a reasonable choice in this instance. Furthermore, jurisdiction for the investigation of assaults on federal officers ("AFO") rests with the FBI. Although this began as a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms case and became a Marshals Service case, the Marshals Service does not have primary jurisdiction for investigating AFOs. In addition, Marshals Service supervisors were understandably concerned that action by the Marshals Service would appear to have been taken in retaliation. The federal law enforcement response to the crisis at Ruby Ridge has been seen by some as an inappropriate insertion of the federal government into a local matter, which would have been better left to the state and local authorities to resolve. In particular, the federal government has been criticized for overreacting and overwhelming the area. As evidence of the ability of local and state forces to have handled the crisis, we not the rapid response they made to the stranded marshals and the successful night rescue. Various state and local law enforcement agencies were included in the early stages of intelligence gathering, and they played a continuing critical role in controlling the perimeter and keeping the peace during this controversial siege. However, it appears that they were not part of strategy and planning sessions as the siege continued. We can understand the opinion that Idaho State and local law enforcement should have led the efforts to resolve the crisis. However, it appears this is an after-the-fact view of events. Arguably, if the federal government had not responded to the crisis at Ruby Ridge, that inaction would also have been criticized. This situation had been generated by a federal warrant based on a federal indictment involving federal law enforcement agencies. In attempting to effectuate a federal arrest, a federal officer had been killed, and the subjects of that shooting and the outstanding warrant remained at large. In light of these circumstances and the resources available to the federal response teams, we find reasonable and appropriate the decision to send FBI SWAT teams, the HRT, and the Marshals Service SOG to resolve this matter. c. Initial Intelligence Gathering In this section we discuss what the FBI did in the first 36 hours to verify the information it had obtained and to secure the best and most current information. Our investigation addressed criticism concerning the failure of Special Agent in Charge Glenn and HRT Commander Richard Rogers during their first hours at the site to update intelligence from more knowledgeable people present. Almost within hours of setting up the command centers at Marshal Service Crisis Center and FBI Headquarters, both agencies had representatives at each other's command centers to aid communication. [FN524] The Crisis Center log reflects regular communications with the FBI SIOC. Although efforts to facilitate communications were made at Headquarters, we did not find intelligence gathering at the site to have been sufficiently thorough under the circumstances. Although Glenn spoke with the heads of the agencies at the scene, there were gaps in Glenn and Rogers' information about the underlying events caused by their failure to debrief the marshals involved in the shootout. We not specifically Glenn's failure to discuss the situation with Deputy Marshal Hunt, who had been present at the command post until the marshals and Degan's body had been rescued from the mountain. Hunt had been the primary source of information to Marshal Service Headquarters throughout the day, and he was the link with the other marshals who had been eyewitnesses to the day's events. Moreover, Hunt had been the lead case agent in Boise since 1991 and would have been the most valuable resource for information on the Weavers background and their circumstances. Rogers and Glenn also failed to discuss the situation with the other marshals at the site the next day. During this inquiry, we reviewed a videotape made at the site during Hunt's second briefing at the command post. The briefing contained valuable information based on intelligence the Marshals Service and especially Hunt had gathered over many months of surveillance. Significantly, Glenn admitted that when he was formulating the operational plan and Rules of Engagement, he was unaware that the Marshals Service had been on numerous missions to Ruby Ridge before August 21. [FN525] When questioned about the failure to interview the marshals, Glenn asserted that they were not made available after his arrival. We find little support for this assertion. Duke Smith, who had arrived with Rogers and was at the command site most of the day, knew where the marshals were. We found no evidence that anyone denied the FBI access to the marshals after they had been taken to the hospital and allowed to rest. In fact, the marshals felt ignored by those who had taken command. This feeling may have been justified. This inquiry also considered whether the Marshals Service tried to prepare the marshals for their interviews. FBI agents assigned to interview the marshals had been told to expect them the morning after the shooting. However, the marshals did not arrive until later in the day. Deputy Marshal Jurgensen, who had been ordered to look after the marshals once they were off the mountain, was not notified that the marshals were scheduled for interviews on Saturday morning. [FN526] We are satisfied that there was no impropriety regarding the timing of the marshals' appearance. We also find no evidence that the marshals were coached before their interviews. We note that the marshals were kept together for several hours before giving their statements. We question the wisdom of keeping the marshals together at the condominium for several hours, while awaiting interviews with the FBI. Isolating them in that manner created the appearance and generated allegations that they were fabricating stories and colluding to coverup the true circumstances of the shootings at the Y. These allegations could have been avoided by separating the witnesses until their interviews and debriefings. However, we acknowledge that security and health interests may have made such an arrangement appear necessary on the first evening following the rescue. However, this investigation has found no proof that the Marshals Service or the marshals themselves coordinated or altered their individual accounts of the events on the mountain. Certainly, there are enough differences in the marshals' statements to diffuse an accusation of collusion. Although the marshals had lengthy interviews on Saturday and Sunday with FBI agents and returned to the command post on Saturday and Sunday, none of them were interviewed by the FBI senior management team of Glenn, Rogers, or Fred Lanceley, the FBI's chief negotiator at the scene. In fact, Lanceley was not aware of the FBI interviews of the marshals until days later. It is not clear when the information developed in these interviews was shared with Glenn and Rogers. This inquiry found no misrepresentation of the status of the marshals as they remained on the mountain. Glenn and FBI Headquarters knew that there had been no gunfire after the original shooting, with the exception of shots at a passing aircraft. The term "pinned down" was not understood or intended to indicate the marshals were taking continuous fire. [FN527] It is difficult to estimate the impact additional intelligence gathering would have had on the decisions made during the crisis. Much of the information the FBI considered in assessing the danger and formulating Rules of Engagement and operational plans was consistent with what they would have heard from the marshals. Marshals Service Headquarters files contained information from BATF and other sources during the threat assessment and the eighteen-month fugitive investigation by the Marshals Service. The files included information about Weaver's military experience, his stockpiling of weapons and ammunition, the arming of the Weaver family, his Aryan Nations affiliation, and his refusal to surrender. We found the background information on Weaver, which the Marshals Service have the FBI and which served as a basis for the HRT deployment and the development of plans to secure the site, consistent with the information that was available in the Marshals Service files before August 21. 4. Conclusion We found no evidence that the Marshals Service intentionally covered up or exaggerated Weaver's background or the events that had occurred at the Y in order to obtain assistance from other law enforcement personnel. However, we did find that the initial intelligence gathering by the FBI lacked thoroughness because of its failure early in the crisis to seek information from the Marshals Service personnel who had been ion the mountain on August 21. Finally, this inquiry found that there was no abuse of discretion in the activation of the HRT in this situation. It was legally and factually justified and consistent with department of Justice policy and procedures. No evidence was discovered during this inquiry that the decision to deploy HRT was based on improper or personal motives. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART E) 446 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 28; Thomas Sworn Statement, at 11. The Raus, who were Weaver's neighbors, had been aware of the marshals' presence. 447 Transcript of call by Hunt to "911," August 21, 1992. Ruth Rau said that during on phone call Hunt referred to the incident at the Y as an "ambush" and called Degan's shooting "cold-blooded murder." Rau also reported that Hunt said "that his team was receiving fire from Vicki and the girls." Ruth Rau FD-302, October 12 & 13, 1993, at 9-10. All references to time are given in Pacific Daylight Savings Time. 448 Perez FD-302. A little later, Hunt told John Twomey, Deputy Director of Administration, that he assumed that the marshals on the hill were still receiving fire. FD-302 Interview of Twomey, November 26, 1993. According to the Strategic Information Operations Center (SIOC) log, the call to Perez occurred at 11:25 a.m., PDT (2:25 p.m., EST). 449 FD-302 Interview of Ronald Navarro, October 22, 1993, at 2. 450 FD-302 Interview of Duke Smith, November 19 & 24, 1993, at 2; Perez FD-302; USMS "Crisis Center Log - Degan Incident", August 21, 1992, at 11:40 a.m. (herinafter cited as "Crisis Center Log"). 451 Crisis Center Log, August 21, 1992, at 11:40 a.m. Smith FD-302, at 2-3; Perez FD-302, at 8-10. 452 Crisis Center Log, August 21, 1992, at 11:40 a.m. (Emphasis added.) At 1:05 p.m., Hunt again told the Crisis Center: "USMS personnel on mountain are not taking additional fire and detect substantial movement in the woods around them." Id. at 1:05 p.m. Hunt Sworn Statement, at 31; Ruth Rau FD-302, October 12 & 13, 1993, at 9. 453 FD-302 Interview of Donald J. Glasser, November 19, 1993. 454 Crisis Center Log, August 21, 1992, at 1:40, 2:00, 2:20, and 2:30 p.m. 455 FD-302 Interview of Dave L. Smith, October 12, 1993. 456 Mays FD-302, at 7. Not surprisingly, the affidavit contained some errors, such as a statement in paragraph 4 that the marshals "were fired upon by two or more individuals in a pickup truck." Affidavit of Warren Mays, August 22, 1992. Howen thought that this information had come to Mays directly from Hunt. When Howen had left Boise for Ruby Ridge, he asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Haws to complete the affidavit. Haws took no steps to confirm the information because he thought that Howen had corrected any factual inaccuracies. Almost immediately after the affidavit was transmitted to Howen, he told Haws that paragraph 4 was in error. Howen and Haw corrected the error in the next affidavit they filed on August 23, 1992. Howen Interview, Tape 4, at 32033; Tape 5, at 1-2; Memorandum of Interview of Marc Haws, December 17, 1993, at 2. 457 Hunt Sworn Statement, at 31. The Crisis Center Log reports, at 5:15 p.m., that: DUSMs Roderick, Cooper, and Norris are still in position on the mountain.....DUSM Cooper reports that he believes that he wounded on of the two adult suspects. 458 Hunt told the officers: This case is unique and complicated because of all the juvenile people that [Weaver] has up there.....For the last two years we have looked at this situation trying to come up with a way to separate him from his children. his defensive tactics have basically always been to keep the kids around.....[O]ur tactics on him have been to figure out a way to watch him, observe, figure out a way that we could get him without confronting, the juveniles with weapons. Transcript of Hunt Video Tape, August 21, 1992, at 7-9, 13-15, 19.) 459 Twomey FD-302, at 2-3. Hudson reports that Twomey told him that Sammy Weaver may have been wounded. Hudson FD-302, at 4-5. However, Twomey reports that he told Hudson there was no information that Sammy had been shot. Twomey FD-302, at 3. 460 Sworn Statement of W. Douglas Gow, January 4, 1994, at 2; Hudson FD-302, November 15, 1993, at 4-5. The Marshals Service first learned of the shooting when Deputy Marshal hunt called Marshals Service headquarters in Washington, DC The first entry in the Marshals Service Crisis Center Log noted: "The initial reports indicate that the USMS surveillance team came under fire from occupants of the Weaver compound and are still pinned down in defensive positions." Entry for August 21, 1992, at 2:40 p.m. (EDT). Soon thereafter the log states: "The rest of the team is still located on the mountain, but not under fire, unable to withdraw without exposing themselves to hostile fire." Id. at 3:05 p.m. (EDT). This was confirmed one hour later: "USMS personnel on mountain are not taking additional fire and detect substantial movement in the woods around them." Id. at 4:05 p.m. (EDT). 461 Sworn Statement of Eugene Glenn, January 12, 1994, at 2; Sworn Statement of E. Michael Kahoe, January 4, 1994, at 2-3. 462 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 3. 463 Id. at 3-4. 464 Sworn Statement of Larry Potts, December 17, 1993, at 4. The HRT is comprised of approximately 50 members with specialized skills and training. The HRT has been utilized in a variety of high risk situations since its formation in 1993, ranging from international antiterrorist operations to prison uprisings, arrest/search operations against white separatist organizations, and hostage situations. 465 [G.J.] 466 Gow Sworn Statement, January 4, 1994, at 2-3. 467 Sworn Statement of Danny O. Coulson, November 3, 1993, at 3-4) [Editor's Note: Footnotes 468 to 472 are unavailable.] 473 Id. at 3. 474 Gow Sworn Statement, January 4, 1994, at 3-4. 475 Potts Sworn Statement, December 17, 1993, at 4-5. Coulson viewed HRT as well suited for crises of this sort because: The HRT could better function in such a severe environment, and was highly trained in winter and rural operations. The HRT can deploy a sophisticated communications system, including satellite communication, which would be necessary in this remote rural mountainous environment. The HRT also provides and deploys with medical support which would be a necessity in such a dangerous operation . . . . FBI field office SWAT Teams could not have enough personnel to handle a situation such as this. Coulson Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 7. 476 Gow recalled that an earlier agreement with the military to provide transportation for HRT had expired and that the current arrangement was for the military to provide transportation on an "as needed" basis. Gow Sworn Statement, at 4. 477 FD-302 Interview of Brenda McGill, Dispatcher/ISP, October 22, 1992, at 5; Transcript of Hunt Videotape, August 21, 1992, at 11, 22. 478 See McGill FD-302, at 6. 479 FD-302 Interview of Cpt. David Neal, October 7, 1993, at 2; FD-302 Interview of Sgt. Michael Nauman, October 7, 1993, at 2. 480 Neal FD-302, at 3. Later, at trial, much controversy surrounded this statement. Neal told Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen that it was his impression that Roderick had shot the dog first before anyone in the Weaver family had fired. Howen gave this information to defense counsel almost one month after first learning it. The media reported that Roderick had admitted shooting the dog first. See discussion in Section IV (o), infra. 481 McGill FD-302, at 6. 482 Norris Sworn Statement, at 13. 483 The marshals talked at the condo about hearing the vehicle noise, and tried to figure out where it came from. They also became emotional and reminisced for awhile before retiring. Cooper Sworn Statement at 12; Hunt Sworn Statement, at 35; Jurgensen Sworn Statement, at 13. 484 Jurgensen FD-302, August 22, 1992, at 2-3. The marshals were surprised that Degan's gun had been fired because no one had seen Degan shoot. Norris Sworn Statement, at 16; Cooper Trial Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 192, April 16, 1993, at 318. 485 [G.J.] 486 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 16-17. 487 Sworn Statement of Duke Smith, January 6, 1994, at 4. 488 [G.J.] 489 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 18, 184, 187. 490 [G.J.] 491 Sworn Statement of David Hunt, February 5, 1994, at 33. 492 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 5 493 Id. at 7-8 494 Id. at 8. 495 Id. 496 Sworn Statement of William D. Gore, November 3, 1993, at 3. 497 Id. at 5. 498 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 9. Gore also did not see the marshals after the Idaho State Police SWAT team returned to the command post. He stated: [W]ithin a few minutes of their return, the rescued marshals were whisked away from the area of the command post to a location unknown by me. The decision to remove the marshals involved in the shooting was made by the Marshals Service. I did not have an opportunity to see any of them and I do not believe any of them had been debriefed for benefit of intelligence purposes with respect to the shooting and related events that day. Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 4. 499 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 5-6. 500 Id. at 10-11. 501 Roger Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 26. 502 Id. at 190-91. 503 Id. at 192. 504 [G.J.] 505 [G.J.] 506 [G.J.] 507 This failure to speak to the marshals was highlighted when Rogers testified that he did not know who David Hunt was nor did he know the identity of the source who had provided information about the previous day's events to Marshals Service Headquarters and Smith. Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 189-90. Rogers also admitted during cross examination at trial that he had no information as to who killed Degan and that he had never spoken to Cooper or Roderick during his entire stay at Ruby Ridge. 508 Rogers assumed that Glenn had received his information from marshals on the scene and, therefore, did not inquire about the source or validity of the information. 509 Perez FD-302. 510 Smith Sworn Statement , January 6, 1994, at 6; FD-302 Interview of Duke Smith, November 19 & 24, 1993, at 6; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 12. Thomas described the conversation as mostly "small talk." Thomas Sworn Statement, at 15. 511 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 29. 512 Smith Sworn Statement, at 6. Smith told the marshals that the agencies responding to the scene were going to "resolve this thing as soon as possible" and "go up there and take care of business." Cooper Sworn Statement, at 12; Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 29; Norris Sworn Statement, at 14-15. Thomas reported that Smith said that he had spoken with his FBI counterpart, who advised Smith that "this was not going to last long. That it was going to be 'taken down hard and fast'." Thomas Sworn Statement, at 15. 513 FBI agents had been told to expect the marshals at the Boundary County Sheriff's Office on Saturday morning, August 22. Hunt, Roderick and Cooper were not brought to the Sheriff's Office until that afternoon. FD-302 Interview of Gregory Rampton, October 18 & 19, 1993, at 3; FD-302 Interview of Timothy Kroupa, October 19, 1993, at 2. 514 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 30. Cooper reported that Haynes "blew me off," saying, "I've already heard your story." Cooper Sworn Statement, at 12-13. On August 23, Cooper reviewed a draft report of his interview and found it full of inaccuracies. For instance, the draft stated that Cooper saw a second man chasing the marshals in the fern field, that Cooper saw Randy Weaver at the "Y" after Harris shot Degan, and that Cooper saw Harris running up the trail toward Weaver's cabin. Cooper asked that the draft be corrected. Because this had not been done when Cooper returned from Degan's funeral, Cooper dictated the FD-302 himself. Id. at 13. 515 Roderick Sworn Statement (draft), at 30. 516 Cooper and Roderick told Smith that Degan was shot by Harris after Degan announced "U.S. Marshals." Cooper thought he shot Harris because he saw Harris go down and never saw him again. Roderick returned fire and shot the dog and both mentioned they had seen Randy Weaver coming down the other trail. Roderick told Smith how he took a round through his shirt and that there were a lot of incoming rounds. Weaver had turned and gone back up the hill after the initial shots. One of the marshals mentioned seeing Sammy Weaver but there was no mention of him being injured in the gun fight. Smith Sworn Statement, January 6, 1994, at 6. 517 Id. at 8. 518 Briefly, our investigation found no intentional exaggeration of facts or a failure to disclose material facts. Moreover, we were unable to find any material representations made to FBI Headquarters which were unsupported by information in Marshals Service files. In our interviews, FBI Headquarters personnel and Marshals Service personnel did not report any significant incorrect information on the status of the marshals on the mountain, in contrast to media reports on the subject. 519 Defendants' Memorandum, at 8-10. 520 For instance, FBI Special Agent Larry Wages arrived at approximately 3:30 p.m. He had the impression from Hunt that the stranded marshals were "pinned down," though he does not recall whether Hunt used those words. He understood from Hunt that the marshals were not in an ongoing firefight. Wages surmised that anyone trying to approach the stranded marshals might receive gunfire. He also believed that the marshals could have come down had they been willing to leave Degan's body. Wages did not hear gunfire during his stay at the Rau field. FD-302 Interview of Larry Wages, November 29, 1993, at 2; McGill FD-302, at 3 (dispatcher notes time of Wages' arrival). Sgt. Michael R. Nauman, a member of the Idaho State Police team that rescued the marshals, said that he knew during the rescue that no shots had been fired for several hours. He believed the marshals "felt they were pinned down because they did not know where Harris and Weaver were and believed that [Harris and Weaver] were watching their position." FD-302 of Sgt. Michael R. Nauman, October 7, 1993, at 2. 521 For example, at approximately 12:17 p.m.. (PDT), Perez told Kenneth E. Neu, Acting Chief of the FBI Fugitive Unit, that "the marshals were still on the mountain and were pinned down by gunfire." FD-302 Interview of Kenneth Neu, November 5, 1993. This was more than a half hour after Hunt advised the Crisis Center that marshals were "no longer taking fire." Crisis Center Log, August 21, 1992, at 11:40 a.m. PDT. 522 Twomey said that communications were bad and that it was "virtually impossible to get accurate information." Twomey FD -302, at 5. Hudson said that in the early hours of the crisis, "CNN appeared to obtain information faster than the Crisis Center or FBIHQ." Hudson FD-302, at 6. 523 Roderick Trial Testimony, May 24, 1993, at 128, 266. 524 Potts Sworn Statement, December 17, 1993, at 12. 525 Glenn Sworn Statement, January, 12, 1994, at 11-12. 527 Jurgensen Sworn Statement, at 13. 527 [G.J.] See Section IV E(2)(a), supra. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED F. FBI's Rules of Engagement and Operations on August 21 and August 22, 1992 1. Introduction The issues addressed in this part of our inquiry concern the initial response to the crisis by law enforcement agencies directed by the FBI and the decisions made to resolve the crisis. During the early hours of the crisis, in addition to the movement of personnel and equipment, the primary concerns were to stabilize the situation and to gather intelligence. Throughout this early period, FBI officials were formulating a proposed plan of action -- also referred to as an "operation plan" or "operational plan" -- and specialized "Rules of Engagement" ("Rules"). It has been alleged that during this initial period negotiations were ignored as a strategy and that only tactical responses were considered. Indeed, the FBI has been criticized for its failure to contact the occupants of the Weaver residence until Saturday evening, after the sniper shots had been fired and Vicki Weaver had been killed. We have been told by observers on the scene that law enforcement personnel made statements that the matter would be handled quickly and that the situation would be "taken down hard and fast." [FN528] Some individuals have contended that the helicopter flights over the Weaver compound were designed to lure the subjects out so that they could be targets for the snipers who were under orders to shoot and kill armed adult men. Furthermore, it has been alleged that the FBI's operations plan and Rules of Engagement were developed to eliminate witnesses to the shootout on August 21 in retaliation for the death of Deputy Marshal Degan. Of particular concern are the Rules of Engagement, which instructed the FBI Hostage Rescue Team ("HRT") sniper/observers that they "can and should" use deadly force against any armed adult male, even before a surrender announcement had been made to the subjects or notice given that law enforcement was present. The Rules have been interpreted as unlawful "orders to shoot" by their severest critics and as being inappropriate for the situation or being unartfully drafted by others. It has been charged that the Rules used at Ruby Ridge were orders to shoot, which violated federal and state law and the FBI's own standard policy on the use of deadly force. In this section we examine the factors considered in the formulation of the Rules and the reasonableness of some of these considerations, including the belief that the Weaver/Harris group was aware of law enforcement's presence and that every armed individual in the Weaver compound intended to cause bodily harm to law enforcement personnel. We also examine the intent of those who reviewed and approved the Rules and whether the Rules and the procedures used to develop and authorize their use conformed with FBI policy. Finally, we evaluate those who operated under the Rules of Engagement and the actions they took while at Ruby Ridge. This portion of the report examines the circumstances surrounding the two rifle shots fired by HRT member Lon Horiuchi on August 22, 1992 and whether the ensuing death and injuries were the result of lawful acts. 2. Statement of Facts a. The Formulation of Rules of engagement En Route to Idaho on August 21, 1992 When FBI tactical teams, such as HRT or SWAT, are deployed and confrontations are a possibility, Rules of Engagement are commonly established. Rules of Engagement are described as instructions to deployed units or individuals that clearly indicate what action should be taken when confronted, threatened, or fired upon by someone. They are intended to provide a context within which decisions about the use of deadly force are to be made. They serve two purposes: to restrict the application of the standard FBI deadly force policy or to heighten the awareness of tactical personnel regarding the threat level of individual situations. Formulation and approval of the Rules of Engagement are the responsibility of the on- scene commander. [FN529] The need for special Rules of Engagement for the Ruby Ridge crisis was discussed and agreed upon at an early point. While en route to Northern Idaho, Richard Rogers, Commander of the HRT, and Assistant Director Larry Potts had a series of conversations in which Potts advised Rogers of intelligence received. [FN530] [G.J.] [G.J.] [FN531] Rogers explained his initial thoughts about the Rules of Engagement: In this particular situation, after hearing the description of what had taken place, specifically the fire-fight, the loss of a marshal, it was clear to me that there was a shooting situation taking place at this location. It appeared to me that it would have been irresponsible for me to send my agents into the situation without at least giving them a set of rules within the greater framework of the standard FBI rules, that would allow them to defend themselves. With that in mind, I proposed that the rules be that if any adult is seen with a weapon in the vicinity of where this fire-fight took place, of the Weaver cabin, that this individual could be the subject of deadly force... [A]ny child is going to come under standard FBI rules, meaning that if an FBI agent is threatened with death or some other innocent is threatened with death by a child, then clearly that agent could use a weapon to shoot the child... that's the way it's stated, but quite frankly, we try to prevent ourselves from being put in positions where children can threaten us and where we would have to use deadly force. [FN532] When asked if he had considered the possibility that an adult might be seen with a weapon slung on his shoulder or carried in a nonoffensive way, Rogers replied: Yes, it was considered, and it's always my knowledge that my sniper observers and my other team members are clearly going to make a judgmental call as to whether to employ deadly force, and based upon the training, based upon the experience of these men, I know that they have absolutely the best judgment when it comes to use of deadly force. [FN533] Rogers acknowledged that the Rules of Engagement he proposed specified that any adult with a weapon observed in the vicinity of the Weaver cabin or in the firefight area "could and should be the subject of deadly force." [FN534] According to Rogers he discussed this rule with FBI Assistant Director Larry Potts who concurred fully. [FN535] [G.J.] [FN536] Potts considered the information provided by the Marshals Service to be the basis of the proposed Rules of Engagement. He recalled the proposed Rules of Engagement as providing that: Any adult with a weapon who was observed in the vicinity of Randall Weaver's cabin or the fire fight area, COULD be the subject of deadly force. All efforts should be made to avoid any confrontation with children, but if such a confrontation became unavoidable, that faced with the threat of death or grievous bodily harm, the standard FBI use of deadly force policy would be in effect. [FN537] According to Potts, he and Coulson believed that this crisis was the most dangerous situation into which the HRT had ever gone. Potts recalled that: I was extremely fearful of sustaining casualties while attempting to establish a perimeter at the crisis site, since the subjects possessed every tactical advantage. I was concerned that the subjects had been reinforced by others, and I considered every armed adult in the vicinity of the Weaver cabin to be potentially hostile and a threat to HRT personnel. I believed that Randy Weaver knew that a warrant existed for him, and knew a DUSM had been killed, he would have known that law enforcement personnel would be in the vicinity. I was also concerned that the deceased DUSM may not have made and immediate determination of the threat and had lost his life as a result... These ROE were established to assist the HRT personnel in making a determination regarding what constituted a threat to them in this extraordinary circumstance. The ROE were not intended to supersede the FBI standard deadly force policy. The final determination regarding such implementation of deadly force must always remain with the individual... and each individual must make an individual, final determination of threat. [FN538] Potts did not discuss the Rules of Engagement with the FBI's Legal Counsel Office during this crisis. He noted that legal review is not usually solicited because Rules of Engagement are written to fall within the bounds of the FBI's standard deadly force policy. Michael Kahoe, Section Chief of the Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Section FBI Criminal Investigative Division at FBI Headquarters, spoke to John Sauls, Supervisory Special Agent with the Legal Instruction Unit at the FBI Academy, on August 21 at approximately 5:00 p.m. (EDT) about the Rules for the crisis in Idaho. Sauls told Kahoe that two primary assessments needed to be made. First, there should be a determination of "dangerousness," that is, whether there was probably cause to believe that someone had caused or attempted to cause death or serious bodily harm to agents or other persons. According to Sauls, the fact that the subjects had apparently intentionally fired upon and killed a marshal indicated that they were dangerous. Second, Sauls spoke of the need to assess the "necessity" to use deadly force to resolve the crisis situation and to gain "control" of the situation or to protect the lives of other individuals. [FN539] Sauls told Kahoe that the element of dangerousness could be assessed by persons who were not at the scene. However, the second element of necessity could be determined only by on-scene personnel. Sauls defined having control of the situation as being when a subject was "in custody" and not merely forced into a position where movement was restricted, such as in a fortified house. [FN540] Kahoe asked Sauls "if agents encounter armed adults in the compound (around the Weaver house), would deadly force be permitted?" Sauls responded that deadly force would be permitted "if they refuse to surrender." However, Sauls stressed that he meant that on-scene personnel had permission to use deadly force, but that it was certainly not required. According to Sauls, only the agents at the scene could decide whether deadly force was necessary. [FN541] Around 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. (EDT) on August 21, Kahoe told Sauls that a plan was being formulated to permit snipers to fire at Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris from concealed positions around the Weaver cabin. Sauls explained that, as long as there was a "continued demand for surrender which the subjects continued to ignore, and they maintained themselves in a barricaded situation" the use of the tactics described by Kahoe would be permissible and within the FBI's deadly force policy. [FN542] No additional legal advice regarding the Rules was solicited from within the FBI. The legal advisor from the FBI's Salt Lake City Division was not at the scene. He reported that after the first few days all legal advice came from the Office of Legal Counsel, FBI Headquarters. Indeed, he was never consulted about the Rules of Engagement and was unaware of their existence until sometime after the siege had terminated. [FN543] Nor did the FBI officials drafting the Rules consult with the United States Attorney's Office having jurisdiction over the crisis. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Howen arrived at the crisis site shortly after the crisis began and remained there until the situation was resolved. While at the crisis scene, he provided legal advice and legal assistance regarding the preparation of legal documents, such as an affidavit supporting the government's request to obtain electronic surveillance of the cabin, and he forwarded information to the U.S. Attorney in Boise. Howen did not participate in any discussion about the operations plan or Rules of Engagement, and he was not involved in formulating or approving any of the operations plans or the Rules of Engagement. The local Boundary County prosecutor, who was also on site during the crisis, was also not consulted. Coulson recalls that the proposed Rules of Engagement "were words to the effect of 'any armed adult outside the Weaver cabin or on Ruby Ridge could be the subject of deadly force.'" [FN544] The basis for these Rules was Coulson's belief that the subjects knew that law enforcement personnel were on the scene and that a marshal had been shot after the slain marshal had announced his presence. Furthermore, Coulson believed that a "call out" or surrender announcement was not feasible in the early stages of the operation. Coulson reasoned: If the subjects had retreated and had barricaded themselves in the Weaver cabin, it was my belief that the only reason for this could be for an armed confrontation with law enforcement officers. It was my belief that as soon as the HRT personnel arrived in the area, they would be in grave peril.... It was also my belief that it was a possibility that supporters of Randy Weaver would attempt to reinforce him and assist in armed resistance. Due to the uncontained and remote nature of the crisis site, I was gravely concerned that this either had occurred or would occur. I was concerned that Weaver and or his associates would tactically move about in order to ambush law enforcement personnel. I believed that HRT personnel might observe subjects preparing to ambush law enforcement components who did not realize they were being threatened. [FN545] Coulson considered the children in the Weaver cabin hostages because he assumed that they did not have the option of leaving voluntarily. Notwithstanding this belief, he feared that the children might shoot at law enforcement personnel, who attempted to rescue the marshals. In the early stages, Coulson did not know whether they might be captured if not immediately rescued. Coulson believed that Weaver's family and his associates would defend him and that Weaver's supporters would attempt to reinforce Weaver and assist in armed resistance. He believed that the subjects had already demonstrated their willingness and ability to kill law enforcement personnel because they had shot deputy Marshal Degan after he had identified himself as a marshal. Coulson believed that the individuals inside the Weaver cabin knew that law enforcement personnel were outside the cabin and, thus, he reasoned that if an armed adult appeared outside the Weaver residence with the weapon, it was reasonable to assume that the individual intended to commit hostile acts against law enforcement personnel. In addition, Coulson was aware of the possibility that Randy Weaver had Explosives/Ordnance Device training due to his army experience, and believed that Weaver had received Special Forces training, designed to give a tactical advantage to small groups of highly trained people. Because of Weaver's Army experience and his history as a white separatist, Coulson expected that the Weaver property might contain fortifications and remote -controlled explosive devices. Coulson was aware that which separatists frequently armed family members, including wives and children, that they fortified their property against assault, engaged in tactical training with associates, usually belonged to highly trained, heavily armed groups, and were extremely dangerous and frequently willing to engage law enforcement personnel. [FN546] After Potts had approved the Rules of Engagement, Rogers told Smith that HRT believed that the Rules should be modified because of the circumstances of which they were aware. Smith understood the Rules as allowing "any adult armed with a long arm outside of the cabin to be shot." Smith told this inquiry that he had never modified standard Marshals Service shooting policy, which, he noted, is similar to that of other law enforcement agencies and allows deadly force to be used when human life is in danger. He interpreted the FBI's Ruby Ridge Rules as more liberal than the Marshal Service's standard policy. Nevertheless, he thought the Rules were appropriate, reasonable, and necessary in this case because it was probably that a federal marshal or agent would be confronted by armed individuals. Smith was concerned that law enforcement personnel could be harmed during the operation. Smith was not called upon to approve the Rules of Engagement because the FBI was responsible for the tactical operation. Nonetheless, he briefed the director Hudson and Twomey on the Rules and relayed them to Special Operations Group ("SOG") Commander John Haynes when he arrived at the command post. Smith intended that the marshals operate under the same Rules of Engagement as the FBI because the FBI was in charge of an operation, for which the Marshals Service would provide support. Smith recalls that the Rules were changed, so that "any adult male who is armed with a rifle should be neutralized". He understood "adult males" to include Kevin Harris, Randy Weaver, and any other male carrying weapons whom the agents or marshals encountered on the mountain. [FN547] Although he did not recall the operative words "can and should" in the Rules, he did not interpret those words as mandating that marshals or agents shoot. Smith stated, "there was nothing said that would cause a deputy or agent to substitute these rules for good judgment." [FN548] b. Formulation of the Rules of Engagement and Operations plan on August 22 When the remaining HRT members arrived, they went to the National Guard Armory in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho, where HRT Commander Rogers briefed them at 9:00 a.m. (PDT). [FN549] Rogers told the HRT members and SOG snipers that the Rules of Engagement had not yet been approved, and that HRT sniper/observer coordinator Lester Hazen would brief the sniper/observers before their deployment. The proposed Rules of Engagement provided at the initial briefing were: Any adult with a weapon who was observed in the vicinity of Randall Weaver's cabin or the fire fight area, could and should be the subject of deadly force. Following he briefing, the HRT travelled to Ruby Creek at the base of the mountain on which the Weaver cabin was located and began to establish tactical operations centers. This involved unloading and erecting command and bunk tents, clerical equipment and supplies, and weapons systems. Some HRT members began to assimilate the massive amount of information provided by the Marshals Service and local law enforcement agencies. [FN550] While these organizational activities were in progress, HRT supervisors were engaged in the drafting of the operational plan. McGavin prepared the original draft of the Rules. After reviewing this draft, Rogers told McGavin to scratch out what he had originally written and the proceeded to discuss with McGavin and Hazen what he wanted in the Rules. Rogers told McGavin to insert the "and should" clause into the Rules. McGavin believed that Rogers inserted those words to convey his perception, based on the briefing he had received, of the extreme risk posed by Weaver. [FN551] Hazen contributed the final paragraph to the Rules. Rogers testified that the words that comprised the Rules were his words and that McGavin and Hazen wrote them down to provide the sniper/observers and other team members with Rules that "clearly reflect what I know I had approved through our chain of command." [FN552] These rules were: If any adult in the compound is observed with a weapon after the surrender announcement is made, deadly force can and should be employed to neutralize this individual. If any adult male is observed with a weapon prior to the announcement deadly force can and should be employed if a shot can be taken without endangering the children. If compromised by any dog the dog can be taken out. Any subject other than R, V, + K, presenting threat of death or grievous bodily harm FBI rules of deadly force apply. [FN553] Once at the site, Rogers proposed to Glenn that several things be done quickly. First, communication should be established with the people in the cabin or in bunkers, if there were any. Next, Rogers wanted to "call-out," to let the subjects know that the FBI was there and that there were warrants for their arrest. Finally, and most importantly, he wanted to ask them and give them the chance to surrender to law enforcement authorities, which, according to Rogers, is "standard procedure." [FN554] Since law enforcement personnel had not surrounded the cabin, Rogers also wanted to place sniper/observers around the site to cover law enforcement personnel and to cordon the site. [FN555] Rogers testified that when the FBI makes an arrest, it tries to notify the subjects of the arrest that the FBI is present with a legitimate arrest warrant. This surrender announcement or "call-out" was going to be accomplished in this instance by agents going to the cabin area in armored personnel carriers and broadcasting the message with a megaphone or loud hailer. At the same time, the agents would drop off a phone at the site. [FN556] Rogers considered armored personnel carriers necessary protection for his agents. He saw no alternative to taking a phone to the cabin in the carrier beaus of the offensive posture the Weavers and Harris had taken. [FN557] Along with these plans, Rogers submitted the proposed Rules of Engagement to Glenn at a morning meeting also attended by Gore, Rogers, Smith, and HRT and Marshals Service supervisors. At the meeting, a number of options were discussed. [FN558] One plan Rogers suggested involved the HRT first establishing a perimeter around the compound followed by the Marshals service making a tactical entry into the cabin. When this proposal was presented to Louis Stagg, Deputy Commander of the SOG, Stagg recused his personnel from this task because he was concerned that any injuries to or deaths of the subjects might be construed as retaliation by the Marshals Service. Thereafter, it was agreed that the HRT would perform the entry, if necessary, but that one marshal would participate in making the formal arrests. [FN559] Glenn's assessment of the level of threat presented by the situation affected the development of the Rules of Engagement. He believed that Weaver's children were well trained and capable of firing at law enforcement and he knew at the same time that law enforcement officers are reluctant to fire at children, even when their own lives are in danger. Therefore, he was greatly concerned that tactical personnel on the inner perimeter and personnel attempting to assault the cabin might be exposed to serious injury from the children. Glenn was also extremely concerned that subjects leaving the cabin with firearms would pose a danger to law enforcement personnel because they were well versed on the terrain while the agents and officers had virtually no knowledge of the mountainous conditions or the "booby traps" possibly in place. Finally, Glenn worried that if any subjects entered the "bunker network" which might exist, they could fire on law enforcement officers in a manner that would make an effective response or defense impossible. [FN560] [G.J.] [G.J.] [FN561] When the HRT is activated, a proposed operation plan is written for resolving the situation. According to Rogers, when the HRT faces "a hostage situation or a barricaded subject situation, such as at Ruby Ridge," the plan includes "a proposed tactical resolution" that includes an "assault" or "a plan to send people inside the building to effect an arrest." [FN562] Any deliberate assaults must be approved by FBI Headquarters. The plan for such an assault is contained in an operations plan. At Ruby Ridge, McGavin prepared such a plan. McGavin discussed a deliberate assault with Rogers and told him he did not want to send a team into a situation in which an encounter with armed children seemed likely and agents might have to kill a child to defend themselves. Rogers agreed, but recognized that an operations plan had to be written. McGavin wrote a plan realizing that the crisis should be resolved, if at all possible, through action designed to minimize the prospect of armed engagement with the subjects. [FN563] McGavin drafted a plan, which included the travel of armored personnel carriers ("APCs") to the Weaver compound, attempts to contact Weaver with a loudspeaker or hostage phone, and the establishment of a 360 degree perimeter. Glenn, with the understanding that the situation was "extremely dangerous and highly volatile," approved the following Rules of Engagement in the plan before sending the plan to FBI Headquarters for approval: 1. If any adult male is observed with a weapon prior to the announcement, deadly force can and should be employed, if the shot can be taken without endangering any children. 2. If any adult in the compound is observed with a weapon after the surrender announcement is made, and is not attempting to surrender, deadly force can and should be employed to neutralize the individual. 3. If compromised by any animal, particularly the dogs, that animal should be eliminated. 4. Any subjects other than Randall Weaver, Vicki Weaver, Kevin Harris, presenting threats of death or grievous bodily harm, the FBI rules of deadly force are in effect. Deadly force can be utilized to prevent the death or grievous bodily injury to oneself or that of another. [FN564] According to the Marshals Service Crisis Center log, the operation plan was being assembled by HRT and SOG at 10:30 a.m. (PDT) on August 22. At noon, it was reported that the "operations plan [was] going forward to insert sniper team. Team should be in place in approximately two hours." [FN565] According to the plan, after the sniper teams were in position, the FBI negotiation team would move forward and attempt to contact the subjects. However, one half hour later, it was reported that the FBI was having difficulty obtaining armored personnel carriers. An entry in the crisis center log stated: "General Manning of the Idaho National Guard has refused to provide vehicle support to the FBI." [FN566] At 1:50 p.m. (PDT) U.S. Marshal Michael Johnson reported that SOG and HRT had completed the operational plan which he described as follows: 1. Contain perimeter of compound with HRT snipers. 2. Two armored personnel carriers will be deployed to the compound and loud speakers will be used to order the suspects to surrender. 3. If Weaver or his older son (sic) Exit the residence armed the snipers will neutralize them. 4. If there is no contact, then the APCs will retreat leaving the snipers in place. 5. The following day the APCs will return and again order the suspects to surrender. 6. If no compliance, the APCs will begin dismantling the outlying buildings by ramming them. 7. If no compliance, tear gas will be deployed into the main house. [FN567] Gore believed that the operational plan that he, Glenn, and Rogers developed fully considered the merits of a negotiation strategy as opposed to a tactical resolution of the situation. He explained: our objective was clearly the peaceful resolution of the crisis. A means of delivery of a hostage telephone to the Weaver compound, to secure a telephonic link between the command post and the crisis site could not be established prior to the deployment of sniper observers, and prior to the actual placement of the telephone, the negotiation strategy was not made a part of the initial operational plan.... [FN568] After the initial plan had been drafted, Gore and the others consulted with Johnson, Smith, and Stagg of the Marshal's Service, who opposed the plan. [FN569] At approximately 2:40 p.m. (PDT) on August 22, an operations plan, which included the Rules of Engagement, was sent by facsimile to FBI Headquarters and the Marshals Service for review. The Rules in the operations plan as submitted to the Bureau for review stated: If any adult in the compound is observed with a weapon after the surrender announcement is made, deadly force CAN AND SHOULD be employed to neutralize this individual. If any adult male is observed with a weapon prior to the announcement, deadly force CAN AND SHOULD be employed, if the shot can be taken without endangering any children. [Emphasis added.] [FN570] FBI Deputy Assistant Director Coulson received the operations plan at the FBI Headquarters' Strategic Information and Operations Center; he did not approve the draft plan because it lacked a negotiations option. Coulson stopped reviewing the plan once he realized a negotiation option was absent. Thus, he never saw or reviewed the Rules of Engagement in the plan which appeared after the section in which a negotiations strategy should have appeared. [FN571] After completing his partial review of the operations plan, Coulson made certain observations and raised certain questions in a facsimile to Glenn: 1. No mention is made of Sniper Observer deployment as of 5:30 p.m. EST 2:30 PST (sic). 2. What intelligence has been gathered from the crisis point? 3. There is no mention of a negotiation strategy to secure release of individuals at the crisis point. 4. There is no mention of any attempt to negotiate at all. 5. SAC Salt Lake is requested to consider negotiation strategy and advise FBIHQ. Coulson informed Glenn that Headquarters was "not prepared to approve the plan as submitted." The 6:30 p.m. entry on the SICC log reads: SAC Glenn advised DAD Coulson that Portland SWAT team had contact with who (sic) they believed was subject approximately 1/4 mile "up canyon" from home. He used profanity and told the to get off property. SAC WAS REMINDED OF RULES OF ENGAGEMENT AND TO TREAT SUBJECT AS THREAT IF CONFRONTED OUTSIDE HOME. SAC IS WORKING ON NEGOTIATION PLAN. [FN572] Coulson told this investigation that the entry refers to the Rules of Engagement that he and Potts had formulated. WE found no other entry in the SIOC log or situation reports approving either the operational plan as a whole or the Rules of Engagement set forth by Glenn. [FN573] Gore believed the tactical plan included incremental increases of tactical pressure on the subjects, to be effected only if the Weavers failed to enter into negotiations. Gore told us that FBI Headquarters refused to approve the operations plan because a negotiation strategy was not part of it. [FN574] When the operations plan was rejected, Frederick Lanceley, the FBI chief negotiator, was asked to write a negotiation addendum. Before this, Lanceley had played no role in developing an operations plan. He had attended Rogers' 9:00 a.m. briefing of the sniper/observers and heard Rogers tell the group that there would be "no long siege" and that the "Rules of Engagement" were to shoot armed adult males, if there was a clear shot. After attending this briefing, Lanceley concluded that a tactical solution would be sought without negotiations. [FN575] While en route to the crisis site, Lanceley told Rogers that he would work with HRT Intelligence because there was not going to be a negotiation effort. When Rogers said, "Good," Lanceley felt that his impression had been confirmed. Consequently, Lanceley did not participate in the planning on Saturday, August 22, until he was told in early afternoon that Headquarters had rejected the operations plan because a negotiation effort had not been included. [FN575] Lanceley wrote the follow-up negotiation addendum to the operations plan. This addendum provided: Crisis Negotiation Annex To Ops Plan A negotiator wll [sic] go forward to the residence in the APC [Armored Personnel Carrier]. When the APC is in view of the house, it will stop and the negotiator will make the following statement: 'Mr. Weaver, This is Fred Lanceley of the FBI. You should understand that we have warrants for the arrest of yourself and Mr. Harris. I would like you to accept a telephone so that we can talk and work out how you will come out of the house without further violence. I would like you or one of your children to come out of the house, unarmed, pick up the telephone and return to the house.' At the conclusion of this statement, the APC will proceed forward, drop the hostage phone and withdraw. If Weaver or a child retrieves the telephone, the negotiator will attempt to initiate a dialogue. [FN577] This addendum was sent to FBI headquarters and received the following response: FBIHQ agrees with negotiation annex as submitted. Salt Lake should Proceed with this negotiation plan on his [sic] own initiative. [FN578] Eugene Glenn, in a signed sworn statement given to the FBI team [FN579] that reviewed the shooting incident following the resolution of the crisis stated that, "[o]n August 22, 1992, at 12:30 p.m. PDT, FBI Headquarters approved the operations plan which included ... Rules of Engagement." Glenn is the only person who has stated that an operations plan was ever approved. [GARRITY] [FN580] In a statement given during this inquiry, Glenn recalled that, although FBI Headquarters did not approve the proposed operations plan, Potts told him that the Rules of Engagement had been approved as formulated and could be put into effect. Glenn told Rogers about this approval. [FN581] The Rules of Engagement remained in effect until they were replaced by the FBI standard deadly force policy on August 26, 1992. Although Rogers testified that the operations plan was modified in the ensuing days and submitted to FBI Headquarters, he stated that it was never approved and never implemented. fn 582 The only written operations plan provided to this investigation, the prosecutors, and defense counsel is dated August 23, 1992. c. Interpretation of rules of Engagement by Law Enforcement Personnel both Assistant Director Larry Potts and former Deputy Assistant Director Danny O. Coulson have stated that the Rules of Engagement were merely a means of identifying the level of risk presented by the situation and were not intended to change or modify the FBI's Standard Deadly Force Policy. Potts explained: These ROE [Rules of Engagement] were established to assist the HRT personnel in making a determination regarding what constituted a threat to them in this extraordinary circumstance. The ROE were not intended to supercede [sic] the FBI standard deadly force policy. The final determination regarding such implementation of deadly force must always remain with the individual faced with the actual choice, and each individual must make an individual, final determination of threat.... I was acutely aware that HRT personnel could encounter armed subjects, and as a result of the events leading to and resulting in DUSM Degan's death, it was my intention to ensure that HRT personnel in the area of the crisis were fully aware of a heightened degree of threat. [FN583] Similarly, in Coulson's view, the Rules of Engagement: were never intended to change or modify the FBI's Deadly Force Policy. They were intended to heighten the sense of awareness to the dangers presented to our personnel. I have personally issued Rules of Engagement on numerous occasions, both in real life tactical situations and in training exercises. They do not take away the judgment factor of those who implement them, nor do they change established FBI policy. [FN584] Special Agent in Charge, Eugene Glenn, believed that the Rules of Engagement were "within the Bureau's standard deadly force policy, but that they [were] an expansion of that policy." [FN585] He explained that during the initial stages of the standoff: [W]e were completely unable to communicate with the individuals in the Weaver compound, we had no current intelligence information as to the nature of the tactical preparations they were making to engage law enforcement personnel, and I wanted to make sure that the Agents who were moving into close proximity to the compound were clearly aware that they had been given MORE LATITUDE regarding their application of deadly force, if necessary, to ensure maximum safety of law enforcement officers approaching the compound. [FN586] Glenn intended the Rules of Engagement to decrease the reaction time in which deadly force is normally initiated by a FBI special agent. In Glenn's words: I believed that this heightened level of awareness (reflected in the Rules of Engagement) was absolutely essential to preclude further death or serious injury to law enforcement personnel responding to this crisis. By issuing these Rules of Engagement, I was indicating to all tactical personnel the serious nature of this situation and the necessity that they be ready to immediately employ deadly force, should be appropriate. [FN587] With regard to the phrase "can and should," Glenn intended this language to indicate clearly to all tactical personnel that they were fully authorized to utilize deadly force against the Weaver/Harris group if appropriate. He did not intend to remove the individual agent's responsibility to determine whether deadly force was necessary, but simply to advise personnel that action by individuals within the Weaver compound that jeopardized law enforcement personnel could be addressed with deadly force to prevent additional law enforcement casualties. Glenn stated that, although the Rules of Engagement were not a "license to kill, " as some have alleged, they probably put HRT personnel in a more "offensive mode." [FN588] This investigation also discovered several different interpretations of the terms "adult" and "adult male," as contained in the Rules of Engagement. Glenn told us he intended that these terms apply only to Randy Weaver, Kevin Harris, Vicki Weaver (as appropriate), and sympathizers who entered the Weaver compound to prevent law enforcement officers from resolving the crisis. [FN589] As is more fully explained below, other law enforcement officials who were questioned about the Rules stated that only Randy Weaver, Kevin Harris, and Vicki Weaver were included in the category "adult" while adult sympathizers would fall under the standard FBI deadly force policy. The FBI Special Agent in Charge, William Gore, believed that the Rules of Engagement seemed appropriate to the situation at Ruby Ridge. He understood that the Rules made any adult male with a weapon in the Weaver compound the object of deadly force. It was clear to him that Harris and Weaver were the adult males specified by these Rules. He understood that Vicki Weaver was excluded from the pre-announcement Rule because there was no probable cause to believe that she posed a deadly threat to law enforcement. However, before an announcement to surrender had been given, Gore believed that "any armed adult [who] emerged from the cabin... would be displaying clear disregard for the lawful demand to lay down arms and surrender." [FN590] Gore understood the Rules of Engagement as a "broadening of the FBI's deadly force policy ... based upon these specific subject having demonstrated their willingness to kill a Federal official to avoid capture." [FN591] Gore believed Rogers and Smith had formulated the Rules during their trip to Idaho and that they had been approved by FBI Assistant Director Potts. Supervisory Special Agent John G. Sauls, Legal Instruction Unit at the FBI Academy, noted that the nonspecific character of the terms "adult" and "adult male" made the Rules of Engagement too broad for the FBI's standard deadly force policy, unless HRT had also been given instructions as to who fell into these categories. He also found the word "should" inappropriate inasmuch as the final determination as to whether to use deadly force must be made by the agent. He added, however, that, with appropriate additional information simultaneously provided, the Rules could be brought within the requirements. [FN592] John C. Hall, also a Supervisory Special Agent with the Legal Instruction Unit at the FBI Academy, was similarly critical of the Rules of Engagement. In an "informal analysis" that was not an official opinion of the FBI's Legal Counsel division, he concluded that the portion of the Rules stating that deadly force could and should be used against any armed adult male before the surrender announcement could be misread to direct agents to use deadly force without first giving the subjects an opportunity to surrender. He raised the possibility that the Rules could have been misread to permit the use of force beyond that which is permitted by the Constitution or FBI policy. Hall was adamant, however, that, despite the language of the Rules, the decision of HRT sniper/observer Lon Horiuchi to use deadly force on August 22, did not violate either the Constitution or FBI policy. [FN593] Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Lindquist, one of the two prosecutors in the federal case against Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris, asserted that he had "struggled" with the Rules of Engagement. He asked Lon Horiuchi during trial preparation whether the HRT sniper/observers interpreted the word "should" to mean that they must shoot, if they saw an adult male with a weapon in the compound area. [FN594] According to Lindquist, Horiuchi said that he retained a great deal of discretion and that he and the other HRT members approached the situation according to the FBI's standard policy on the use of deadly force. [FN595] Frederick Lanceley, the FBI Hostage Negotiator, who participated in the negotiations with the Weaver/Harris group, was surprised and shocked by the Rules of Engagement. The Rules were the most severe he had ever seen in the approximately 300 hostage situations in which he had been involved. He characterized the Rules as inconsistent with the FBI standard policy on the use of deadly force. [FN596] HRT Commander Richard Rogers acknowledged that neither he nor any member of the HRT during his tenure had ever operated under Rules of Engagement such as those employed during the Ruby Ridge crisis. [FN597] He testified that under the standard FBI policy on the use of deadly force the FBI "ask[s] our agents for more-- we're asking that they wait a little longer to ensure that these individuals basically are going to employ some kind of deadly force against them." [FN598] At Ruby Ridge, he said, "we already know that the subject -- in this case, the males from the Weaver compound -- had already employed deadly force against the law enforcement officers, so they had clearly crossed that threshold in killing an officer already." [FN599] Rogers explained that the Ruby Ridge Rules told the HRT sniper/observers that they could wait a little less before employing deadly force. According to Rogers, the determination of how long to wait is left to the individual's discretion. [FN600] By the phrase, "can and should," Rogers meant that the sniper/observers had the authority to utilize deadly force and should utilize it, if an opportunity presented itself. The Rules did not refer to the agents' judgment because judgment "is understood by every FBI agent, and clearly understood by every member of HRT.... [T]hey should use deadly force in order to protect themselves or other individuals." [FN601] He testified that he did not explain his understanding of the phrase "can and should" to the HRT snipers because: [T]hey understood what I was talking about... [and] I trained with them every day, and we discussed -- I mean, an FBI agent, from the time he goes through training at Quantico, has the standard rules of engagement drilled into his head.... I also have a sign with the standard FBI rules printed on it, hanging in the classroom at the hostage rescue team. [FN602] HRT supervisor, Stephen McGavin, drafted the Rules of Engagement based on his understanding of the Rules as described by Rogers. He believed that the Rules were restrictive, as well as cautionary. according to McGavin, the Rules address the application of deadly force in terms of the identity of the subjects and impose certain age and gender restrictions. McGavin believed that the Rules of Engagement were intended to alert the HRT members to the extreme danger they faced and to inform them that they might or would probably encounter circumstances which might call for the use of deadly force. According to McGavin, regardless of the Rules' restrictive or expansive character, they were not intended to replace the FBI's deadly force policy. [FN603] McGavin explained that in the Ruby Ridge crisis, the perception of deadly threat, coupled with the fact that Weaver and Harris had demonstrated a willingness to kill a federal official, produced grave concern that HRT members needed to be made aware of the extreme danger. According to McGavin, individuals react differently in perceiving threatening action and deciding whether deadly force is necessary. He reasoned that the failure to react or a delayed reaction to a threat in an extremely dangerous situation could have deadly consequences for the individual confronted with the threat or for another team member who might be unaware of the threat. Thus, the Rules of Engagement "used in this cries" were designed to give the HRT a clear idea and understanding when a shot could or could not be taken. [FN604] Rogers told McGavin to insert the phrase "and should" into the Rules. [FN605] McGavin viewed the "can and should" terminology not as an order to shoot, but as a reminder that the lives of the sniper/observers and the lives of perhaps many more of their numbers might depend upon reacting quickly to the danger known to exist on the mountain. According to McGavin, "Deadly force 'should' be employed against a dangerous individual who poses a deadly or grievous bodily threat. The determination that it 'must' be employed is the sole responsibility of the person who perceives the threat and acts on that perception." [FN606] According to McGavin, "The 'any adult males' terminology in the second Rule of Engagement which applied to the time period before the surrender announcement, excluded Vicki Weaver from coverage because of uncertainty about her involvement in the shootout with the [Deputy marshals on August 21]." [FN607] McGavin explained that the qualifier, "'any' reflects our lack of information about the crisis site, and addresses the possibility that we could encounter Weaver supporters in the compound." McGavin believed that the supporters would have to display further actions of a threatening nature to be subjects of deadly force." [FN608] The HRT sniper/observers saw the Rules as not merely heightening their sense of danger, but as modifying the usual deadly force policy. For example, Dale Monroe interpreted the Rules as a "green light" to use deadly force against armed adult males. [FN609] Edward Wenger believed that, if he observed armed adults, he could use deadly force, but standard FBI shooting policy was to be applied to all others at the cabin. [FN610] Another sniper/observer, Warren Bamford, recalled that an arrest team was to be sent to the cabin to demand that Weaver and Harris surrender, but, under the Rules of Engagement, deadly force could be used against armed, adult males outside the cabin before the team arrived. Bamford found the Rules "not consistent with the Standard FBI Deadly Force policy, in that the obvious and imminent threat of death or grievous bodily harm had been predetermined," but he believed that the threat was severe enough to warrant such Rules. [FN611] Mark Tilton remembered: As a part of the briefing, we were also given the rules of engagement which set forth the conditions under which we are authorized to utilize our weapons. These rules were reiterated in detail by SA Lester Hazen, Sniper coordinator, prior to our tactical deployment. We were told that the FBI's standard policy concerning the use of deadly force applied in this situation and that there were additional special rules of engagement WHICH WOULD APPLY IN THIS SITUATION. (EMPHASIS ADDED.) [FN612] Similarly, Jerome Barker stated that, "[1]s part of the briefing given by Les Hazen, we were told that there were special rules of engagement WHICH WE WERE TO ABIDE BY." (Emphasis added.) [FN613] Among the FBI SWAT teams deployed to the RUBY Ridge site, there was a wide variety of interpretations of the Rules of Engagement. Denver SWAT team leader Gregory Sexton recalled the Rules as, "[i]f you see Weaver or Harris outside with a weapon, you've got the green light." He had never seen such severe Rules of Engagement, and he believed that they were inappropriate because briefings about the subjects, Degan's death, and observation of the terrain would be sufficient to alert tactical personnel to the dramatically increased danger without superseding standard deadly force policy. [FN614] Another member of the Denver SWAT team characterized the Rules as "strong" and as a departure from the FBI's standard deadly force policy. [FN615] A third member of Denver SWAT, who was briefed on the Rules by the Denver SWAT team leaders, remembered the Rules of Engagement as "if you see 'em, shoot 'em." this agent had never been given such Rules of Engagement before, and he felt that they were inappropriate. He said other SWAT team members were taken aback by the Rules and that most of them clung to the FBI's standard deadly force policy. [FN616] A fourth Denver SWAT team member's reaction to the Rules at the time was, "[y]ou've gotta be kidding." He viewed the Rules as an imperative without clarification and inconsistent with the FBI's standard deadly force policy. [FN617] One of the members of the Marshals Service SOG, who was deployed to provide rear protection for the HRT personnel, was briefed in the HRT tent by the FBI on the Rules of Engagement. Although he did not disagree with the Rules because "they had drawn first blood," he would have been "full of questions about the Rules," had been in a position to take a shot. [FN618] Most significant is the testimony of Lon Horiuchi, the sniper/observer who eventually fired at members of the Weaver/Harris group. Horiuchi conceded that the Rules were different from those in the FBI manual and the Rules under which the HRT usually operated. He had never before been asked to operate under such Rules, which differed from the standard deadly force policy in that "the decision that we were already in danger had already been made for us prior to going on the hill." [FN619] Horiuchi testified that this was the first time he had been asked to apply Rules that differed from the standard deadly force policy. Under the latter, he could not shoot a person, unless that person posed a threat to his or another person's safety, and the decision as to whether a person posed a threat was left to Horiuchi. Under the new Rules, the decision that there was a threat had already been made. [FN620] Horiuchi acknowledged that, under the Rules, he could and should shoot any adult male, if he had an opportunity. [FN621] The following exchange during cross-examination summarizes Horiuchi's perception of the Rules: Q: Were you advised that the folks there had a habit of coming out of the house with the weapons? A: Yes sir, I believe that was one of the briefings. Q: So you knew that sometimes they came out, the dogs barked, they came out with their weapons, you knew that, didn't you? A: Yes, sir. Q: Under your rules of engagement, you could then and should, if they came out of the house, you could and should use deadly force? A: Yes, sir, it is true. [FN622] d. Deployment of FBI HRT, SWAT and U.S. Marshals Service SOG Personnel at Ruby Ridge On Saturday, August 22, 1992, at approximately 11:0 or 11:30 a.m. (PDT), FBI Special Agent Lester Hazen, the HRT sniper coordinator, ordered Lon Horiuchi, the HRT "Blue" sniper/observer team leader, to prepare his team for deployment. He also ordered Roger Love, the "Gold" sniper/observer team leader, to have his personnel assist in setting up the HRT's Tactical Operations Center (TOC). [FN623] The teams were told that an armored personnel carrier would be sent to the Weaver cabin to announce that the occupants should surrender. An HRT assault team would be inside the carrier to effect the arrest, if the subjects complied. The teams were instructed to establish positions so that they could provide observation and long range precision fire in accordance with the Rules of Engagement. According to HRT Commander Rogers, the sniper/observers knew that a surrender announcement was part of the plan, but: [G.J.] [FN624] [G.J.] [FN625] Before the Rules of Engagement were given to the teams, McGavin, second in command of the HRT, brought the typed Rules to Rogers at the command trailer. When Rogers returned later with word that they had been approved by FBI Headquarters, the HRT and U.S. Marshals Service SOG sniper/observers were briefed on the Rules of Engagement. [FN626] [GARRITY] [FN627] Marshals Service SOG personnel were deployed behind the HRT personnel to protect the HRT sniper/observers from hostile action from the rear. SOG Deputy Commander Stagg told his sniper/observers to take orders from Hazen. [FN629] The sniper/observers were deployed to the mountainside overlooking the Weaver cabin to provide security for tactical units, which, after the sniper/observers were in position, would form an inner perimeter around the Weaver compound. The sniper/observers were also deployed to be used to safeguard law enforcement officers attempting to establish communications with the cabin. Additionally, they were to be used to gather information about the terrain, armaments, and fortifications, along with information about those present at the crisis site. [FN630] Hazen asked U.S. Deputy Marshal Ron Libby, who was familiar with the area, to identify observation positions and routes for HRT personnel to travel to those locations. The rough terrain made 4-wheel-drive vehicles necessary for transporting the HRT members; Hazen attempted to obtain these vehicles. [FN631] After waiting several hours for the 4-wheel-drive vehicles, HRT Command decided, at approximately 3:00 p.m. (PDT), [FN632] to send the sniper/observer teams to their positions on foot. After briefing the teams on the Rules of Engagement, Hazen dispatched nine HRT sniper/observers in four groups. One "overwatch" group of two HRT sniper/observers was held back to wait for the vehicles. The sniper/observers took several hours to work their way up the mountain to the observation posts. At 3:45 p.m. (PDT), during a reconnaissance flight, someone in the HRT helicopter warned the sniper/observers by radio of movement outside the Weaver cabin and in the compound area. The sniper/observer group halted until it was reported that the individuals had returned to the cabin. the group then continued up the hill. [FN633] e. Use of the Helicopter HRT helicopter pilot, Frank Costanza, flew six reconnaissance missions on August 22, 1992, from the staging area at the command post to an area above and around the hilltop where the Weaver cabin was located. He believed that the purpose of the flights was to afford FBI, Marshals Service, and U.S. Attorney's Office personnel the opportunity to assess the area and the terrain around the Weaver residence. Costanza tried to avoid hostile fire during the flights by remaining at least 200 yards away from the cabin. He described the weather conditions as a mixture of rain and snow and noted that visibility was limited. [FN634] According to Glenn, the helicopter was used to fly over the area to identify possible sites for the sniper/observer teams. Aerial operations were severely hampered by inclement weather. The low cloud ceiling made it impossible to operate the helicopters out of range of the weapons thought to be in the Weaver cabin. Accordingly, the helicopters were utilized at low altitudes, and they weaved "around the crisis site.....to avoid being an obvious target." Glenn took one flight that was within range of a rifle shot, but the helicopter never flew directly over the Weaver cabin. [FN635] A member of the Marshals Service SOG reported that, while he was at the command post area on Saturday, August 22, he saw the helicopter fly toward the cabin and return very quickly. He heard that the Weavers had come out of the cabin and had acted in a hostile manner toward the helicopter but that they had not fired at the helicopter. [FN636] f. Placement of HRT Sniper/Observers in Area Surrounding the Weaver Cabin Because of the rugged terrain and deteriorating weather conditions, HRT sniper/observers began arriving at positions on the ridge overlooking the Weaver cabin approximately two to two and one half hours after setting out from the command post/staging area. [FN637] At 5:07 p.m., the HRT sniper/observer team designated as Sierra 4, of "S-4," arrived at its position. this team consisted of Lon Horiuchi and Dale Monroe. At 5:20 p.m., the HRT team designated Sierra 2, consisting of Edward Wenger and Warren Bamford, arrived at its position. At 5:52 p.m., Sierra 3, consisting of Jerome Barker and Christopher Curran, arrived at its position. Between 5:52 p.m. and 5:57 p.m., S-1, consisting of HRT members Christopher Whitcomb, Roger Love, and Mark Tilton, arrived at its position. [FN638] Horiuchi's "Sierra 4" position was the closest of the four positions, almost due north of the cabin in a line almost parallel to the front wall. He was at a slight angle above the cabin, approximately 646 feet from the front door and approximately 579 feet from the outbuilding known as the "birthing shed." There was a ravine between Horiuchi and the cabin. [FN639] Horiuchi could see the top of the front porch of the cabin and straight through the porch. He could see the front of the door as it opened and when it was in an open position. Horiuchi could not see the front door when it was closed, nor could he see into the cabin. He could also see the deck at the back of the cabin. [FN640] g. Circumstances Involving the Two Rifle Shots Taken by HRT Member Lon Horiuchi (1) The First Shot At approximately 5:45 p.m., Horiuchi saw an unarmed, young female, slight of build, with a ponytail, run from the front of the Weaver cabin toward a rocky outcropping. [G.J.] [FN641] [GARRITY] [FN642] After viewing this female with the naked eye, Horiuchi observed her through his rifle scope and determined that she was a child. Although he could have fired at her, he did not because "the female was not armed at that time and [he] was assuming she was a child because of the size of the stature." [FN643] Horiuchi could not recall whether the front door was open when the child was outside the cabin, but after she returned to the cabin, the door was closed. [FN644] Within a minute after the girl returned to the cabin, Horiuchi observed an unarmed male on the back deck. The man moved to the back corner of the deck where ponchos or blankets were hanging on a string. "It seemed like he just felt them to see if they were dry and then he went back in." [FN645] The man was in Horiuchi's vision for perhaps ten seconds, an, although Horiuchi could have both fired and hit the person, he did not because "the individual did not appear to be armed, there was nothing in his hand, and I did not see any weapons around or on his person." [FN646] HRT sniper.observer Whitcomb, from his Sierra-1 position, the highest and farthest away from the Weaver cabin of the four positions, could vaguely observe this individual on the back porch. [FN647] The other HRT sniper/observers did not report that they saw a man on the back porch. At 5:57 p.m., the HRT helicopter took off for its sixth observation mission of the day. HRT Commander Rogers, Marshals Service Deputy Director Smith, Marshals Service SOG Commander Haynes, and HRT pilot Frank Costanza were aboard. [FN649] Haynes observed someone outside the cabin, but he could not identify the person or see whether the person was armed. [FN650] Rogers and Smith recall that someone aboard the helicopter reported seeing two persons outside the cabin, armed with rifles, although none of the other people in the helicopter recalls observing anyone outside the cabin. About the time the helicopter landed, Costanza recalls hearing radio reports that two shots had been fired. [FN652] Horiuchi heard the helicopter and the armored personnel carriers start their engines, and he saw the helicopter take off from the command post to the left of the Weaver cabin, circle to his left and out of his sight. [FN653] Within five to ten seconds after the helicopter engine started, Horiuchi saw two males and the female he had seen earlier come out of the front door of the cabin and run toward the "rocky outcropping" a defensive position near the front of the cabin. [FN654] [G.J.] [G.J.] [FN655] [G.J.] [FN656] [FN657] Horiuchi saw the three people run behind the "birthing shed,"a wooden building close to the cabin and disappear from his view. Horiuchi focused on the person he believed to be Harris because he was carrying a "shoulder weapon" at "port arms." [FN658] [G.J.] [FN659] and because the person was not making and threatening movement, [FN660] [G.J.] [FN661] Jerome Barker at the Sierra 3 position saw two adult males and one adult female, carrying "long barreled weapons," move from the cabin toward the birthing shed. [FN662] He perceived their movements as rapid, evasive, and indicative of a confrontational posture. [FN663] He lost sight of the second male who exited the cabin, and he saw the other male and the female move toward his position and the Sierra 4 position. He lost sight of these people as they entered a ravine, less than two hundred yards from Barker's position. Barker prepared to "encounter" the two individuals whom he considered a threat. [FN664] Horiuchi continued to concentrate on the person who had rounded the rear corner of the birthing shed. As he came back into view, Horiuchi believed that the man was the armed individual he had initially seen running from the cabin. [FN665] The man picked up a stick and appeared to be poking at the ground and looking up above and to the right of Horiuchi where Horiuchi sensed that the helicopter was flying. [FN666] GARRITY] [FN667] When the person reappeared at the side of the shed from which he had disappeared, he held his weapon at high port and scanned above and behind Horiuchi's position. He seemed to be looking for the helicopter. The person was "watching the helicopter, and at times he would kind of bring his weapon up and [Horiuchi] perceiv[ed] that perhaps he was trying to get a shot off." [FN668] [FN669] [GARRITY] Horiuchi fired one shot, just as the man suddenly moved along the side of the birthing shed out of sight. When Horiuchi shot, the man was at the corner of the shed, with his back toward Horiuchi. [GARRITY] [FN670] Horiuchi "assumed that he was raising [his arm] to grab inside the building to spin himself around the corner." [FN671] Horiuchi acknowledged that when he shot he was aiming at the man's back. [FN672] Horiuchi assumed that he had hit the man or the edge of the birthing shed. [FN673] After he fired, the person "continued to move around the corner of the birthing shed, so -- without any effect, it didn't seem like he was hit at all, so that's why my assumption was that I had missed." [FN674] Horiuchi assumed that the person at whom he had fired was Kevin Harris. [FN675] In fact, Horiuchi shot Randy Reaver. After the first shot, Horiuchi decided that he would shoot at this person again, if he got the opportunity. [FN676] Harris has said that he, Randy Weaver, and Sara Weaver left the cabin with rifles and that he went to the rocks near the cabin to retrieve a battery, while Randy and Sara Weaver went to the birthing shed to see Sammy Weaver's body. After hearing a shot, Harris ran to the birthing shed where Weaver exclaimed, "I'm shot." [FN677] Randy Weaver stated: Kevin, Sara and I (Randy) left the house to check the North perimeter. We didn't see anything so I (R) was going into the guest shed where Sam was to see him one last time. As I (R) reached up to unlatch the door I was shot from the rear and hit in the upper right arm." [FN678] (2) The Second Shot According to Horiuchi, after ten to twenty seconds, the man he thought he had initially shot at came back into his view, joined by the other male and the female. Horiuchi observed the male and female run toward the cabin trailed by nine steps by the man Horiuchi thought had been the target of his first shot. The first two people disappeared behind the open door, and, Horiuchi assumed, went inside the cabin. Horiuchi had determined after the first shot that he "was going to shoot at that individual again" because: I believed he was the same individual that had attempted to shoot . . . at the helicopter, and therefore, I assumed that he was moving back to the house to get a more protected location inside the house and I didn't want him back in the house. . . . [K]nowing that the children were inside the house, that would have been my last opportunity to shoot him before he got into the house because I probably would not have shot at anyone inside the house for fear of shooting the children.....[H]e would have been more protected inside the house and he could have shot at either me or my fellow agents or the helicopter still flying around at that location, probably knowing that we couldn't shoot back in there without harming some of the children. [FN679] Horiuchi fired as Harris approached the porch. Harris was reaching out with his left hand toward the door and taking a last step to the doorway, appearing to be holding the door open or moving someone out of the way. [GARRITY] [FN680] Horiuchi was leading the running target, that is, aiming slightly in front of him as he ran, so that the target subject would, in effect, run into the bullet. The cross hairs of the rifle's scope were on the edge of the door or just on the wood portion of the door. [FN681] The door was fully open, and Horiuchi could see the entire front face of the door, except for the bottom portion. At the time of the shot, the target had his weapon in his right hand and was reaching out with his left hand. [FN682] Horiuchi saw the individual flinch as if he had been hit and disappear into the doorway. The man reached like he had been "punched" or hit on the side; he fell behind the door. [FN683] Afterwards, Horiuchi heard a female scream for about 30 seconds. [FN684] He assumed that the female was screaming because Harris had been hit. [FN685] In fact, Vicki Weaver had been fatally shot. Horiuchi assumed that the individuals preceding the person at whom he shot had gone inside the cabin. He has testified that he did not see anyone standing behind the door when he shot and that he did not intend to shoot Vicki Weaver. [FN686] [GARRITY] [FN687] Horiuchi's report of the events and their sequence is compatible with the reports of the other sniper/observers on the scene. [FN688] At the base command post, HRT sniper coordinator Hazen heard a radio report of "shots fired," followed soon thereafter by a report that "two friendly shots [had been] taken." He recalls transmissions about "armed subjects with long guns," "screaming," and a "possible hit." [FN689] The HRT "Sniper Log" reports at 6:01 p.m.: "Shots fired, screaming." Various other logs contain similar information and more confused accounts of the events. [FN690] Harris has given a statement about the events of August 22. After the first shot, Harris says, he, Randy Weaver, and Sara Weaver ran to the cabin. Vicki Weaver held the door open while Randy Weaver entered first, followed by Sara. When Harris was almost at the doorway, at a point parallel with Vicki Weaver, he heard a shot, which penetrated the door window and hit Vicki Weaver in the head and Harris in the left arm and chest.[FN691] Randy Weaver has reported that he was turning the latch on the birthing shed door when he was shot. When Vicki Weaver exited the cabin, Randy Weaver told her that he had been shot. Vicki Weaver then turned, told the children to go inside, and was putting the "babies" inside when she was shot. Randy Weaver said that Vicki Weaver was holding the baby when she was shot.[FN 692] None of the sniper/observers heard a baby cry during or immediately after the shooting incident. h. Initial Surrender Announcement Following the shots, the helicopter landed at the command post. HRT Commander Rogers ran to the Tactical Operations Center and received confirmation that Horiuchi had fired.[FN693] Rogers and FBI Special Agent in Charge Eugene Glenn agreed to deploy the armored personnel carriers to establish communications with the Weaver cabin. [FN694] The hostage telephone, telephone wire, and other necessary equipment were on the carriers. At approximately 6:15 p.m., the two carriers were driven to the cabin area with only visual contact between them because the agents had been unsuccessful in establishing radio communication. On the way up the mountain the armored personnel carriers encountered an obstruction on the road. While this initially caused great concern, it was ultimately determined that the obstruction was not a booby trap.[FN695] Once they arrived at the cabin are, Frederick Lanceley, the FBI senior hostage negotiator, gave the prearranged surrender announcement. He told the cabin's occupants about the arrest warrants for Weaver and Harris and asked Weaver to accept the telephone so that negotiations for his surrender could proceed. [FN696] The announcement followed the script contained in the negotiations annex to the operations plan that Lanceley had prepared earlier. There was no response from the cabin. The carriers withdrew, laying telephone line as they descended the mountain. At 9:45 p.m., the telephone was operational and five unsuccessful attempts were made to connect Weaver, with the last made at 11:30 p.m.[FN697] 3. Discussion a. FBI Rules of Engagement (1) Factors Considered in the Formulation of the Rules of Engagement In our view, the information available to FBI supervisors justified their apprehension and their anticipation of extreme danger during the initial stages of the FBI response to the crisis at Ruby Ridge. However, we believe the Rules of Engagement formulated and implemented at Ruby Ridge were an extreme response to the perceived threat. HRT Commander Rogers testified that the HRT did not know for certain that the Weaver/Harris group was inside the cabin when the snipers were deployed. Nor did he know whether Weaver knew of the presence of law enforcement or of the withdrawal of the marshals.[FN698] In crafting the Rules of Engagement, Rogers had to consider the possibility that the subjects were in firing position and that they were scattered around the area. Rogers believed that the fact that the marshals had been rescued and that Degan's body had been taken off the mountain did not alter the potential danger. He found no evidence that the mind-set of the people who had killed Degan had changed. They had not surrendered or attempted any explanation for the death, and Rogers had no reason to believe that Degan's death had been accidental. As far as he knew, the Weaver/Harris group was prepared to kill other law enforcement officers.[FN699] We believe that it is reasonable to assume that the occupants of the Weaver cabin expected law enforcement presence in response to the events of August 21. By the time the snipers arrived at their positions on August 22, it is inconceivable to us that the Weavers did not know that they were the focus of an intense law enforcement effort. Helicopters were circling the mountain area and sirens could be heard. The Weaver/Harris group knew that Harris and Sammy Weaver had been in a gun fight with federal law enforcement officials and that Harris had severely injured or killed a marshal.[FN700] Indeed, Harris and Randy Weaver's statements and Vicki Weaver's diary reflect their knowledge that the gunfight at the "Y" was with law enforcement.[FN701] In addition, the Weavers had a television and radio in their cabin and could have received reports about the incident. However, knowledge of a law enforcement presence is different, in our opinion, from the specific knowledge that snipers had surrounded the cabin. We have not discovered any information establishing that the Weaver Harris group knew that they were surrounded by HRT snipers. (2) Approval of the Rules of Engagement Before addressing the legality of and the necessity for the Rules of Engagement, the question of whether the Rules given to the sniper/observers on August 22, 1992 were ever approved must be considered. The Rules of Engagement were initially formulated while Commander Rogers was en route to Idaho. Rogers testified that FBI Assistant Director Larry Potts approved the Rules of Engagement during that flight before Rogers landed in Idaho. The three people, who discussed the Rules of Engagement that evening, recall the proposed Rules differently. Potts recalled approving the following Rules: 1. [A]ny adult with a weapon who was observed in the vicinity of Randy Weaver's cabin or the firefight area, could be the subject of deadly force. 2. [A]ll efforts be made to avoid any confrontation with the children, but if such a confrontation became unavoidable, that faced with the threat of death or grievous bodily harm, the standard FBI use of Deadly Force Policy would be in effect. [GARRITY][FN702] [GARRITY] As the on-scene commander, Glenn had the authority to make such a modification.[FN703] Potts told this inquiry that he did not realize the Rules had been changed from deadly force "could" be employed to deadly force ~"can and should" be employed until after the crisis was resolved. However, he believes that "should" does not mean ~"must" and that it only serves to heighten the awareness of the threatening situation at hand.[FN704] Danny Coulson, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI at the time, also recalled the Rules as formulated as using the term "could" as opposed to "can and should~." He too was unaware that the proposed operations plan contained Rules of Engagement that used the term "deadly force can and should be employed.~"[FN705] Glenn, the senior FBI manager at the site and commander of the effort, had never established Rules of Engagement in spite of years of experience as a supervisory agent. Although Rogers presented "proposed" Rules, it appears that Glenn gave great deference to Rogers' expertise, especially in light of the Rules' Friday night approval by Potts and Coulson at FBI Headquarters. A lack of documentation in the FBI files made our review of the approval of the Rules of Engagement very difficult. For example, we found no entries in the FBI's SIOC log discussing the draft Rules of Engagement. There are no notes or records of Potts' and Coulson's initial approval of the Rules. Moreover, there is no documented approval thereafter. We find this lack of documentation significant and serious. The FBI prides itself on its attention to detail. We find no such attention given here. As was the case here, failing to preserve or create records could have serious consequences in future criminal or civil litigation arising out of similar events. The failure to record and preserve significant events, meetings, and discussions should be corrected. On Saturday, August 22, written Rules of Engagement were approved by Glenn, and sent by facsimile to FBI Headquarters as part of an operation plan sometime between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. (PDT) Glenn approved the written Rules in the morning in their original form and again in the afternoon, as modified to cover only armed adult males as subjects of deadly force before a surrender announcement. That plan was not approved. A negotiations strategy was requested, and other questions were addressed to Glenn about the deployment and the crisis site. Coulson reviewed the plan up to the point where a negotiation strategy should have been detailed. Finding none, he decided not to approve the plan and notified Potts and Glen of his decision.[FN705] No one at FBI Headquarters claims to have seen the Rules as written in the proposed plan, and an operation plan was never approved, although a number of plans were submitted throughout the siege. Before briefing the sniper/observers on the Rules of Engagement, Rogers asked Glenn if FBI Headquarters had approved the Rules. Glenn told Rogers that they had been authorized.[FN707] In his statement to this review team, Glenn stated that at approximately 12:15 p.m.: [The] operations plan, which included the ROE, was faxed to FBIHQ and USMS HQ for review. FBIHQ responded by requesting that we supply a negotiations option, which was not included in the plan, prior to approval. However, I was telephonically advised at that time, I believe by Assistant Director Larry Potts, that the ROE were approved as formulated and could be enacted. Based on this approval I informed ASAC Rogers, and the HRT personnel were briefed on these ROE.[FN708] It is our conclusion that Rogers justifiably believed that the Rules of Engagement provided to help the HRT and SOG personnel were fully authorized. On the trip to Idaho, Rogers had received oral authorization for the use of special Rules from Potts and Coulson.[FN709] Finally, before the snipers were briefed on the Rules and deployed, Rogers secured Glenn's acknowledgement that FBI Headquarters had approved the final version of the Rules. Although we found no written record reflecting approval of the Rules of Engagement, Potts acknowledged that he approved a version of the Rules early in the crisis without the word "should" and with the understanding that Glenn had authority to limit the Rules to "adult males" without Potts' approval. The only mention of the Rules of Engagement in the FBI's SIOC log is Coulson's reminder to Glenn about the Rules of Engagement in response to the latter's report that a SWAT team believed that it had seen Weaver away from the cabin. [FN710] Coulson's response is evidence that special Rules of Engagement in some form had been approved by FBI Headquarters. Potts and Coulson confirm this conclusion. However, since there is not written record of specifically what version of the Rules that FBI Headquarters approved, we cannot confidently say that the word "should" was approved by FBI Headquarters at any time. Nevertheless, since those Rules which contained "should" remained in force at the crisis scene for days after the August 22 shooting, it is inconceivable to us that FBI Headquarters' remained ignorant of the exact wording of the Rules of Engagement during that entire period. (3) The FBI Standard Policy on the Use of Deadly Force and the Constitutionality of the Rules of Engagement The FBI's Standard Deadly Force Policy states that: Agents are not to use deadly force against any person except as necessary in self-defense or the defense of another, when they have reason to believe that they or another are in danger of death or grievous bodily harm. Whenever feasible, verbal warnings should be given before deadly force is applied.[FN711] The purpose of the policy is to inform agents of circumstances when the use of deadly force in the line of duty is appropriate and to prohibit the use of deadly force in other circumstances. According to the FBI's training materials, the policy's importance is its uniformity of instruction, utilization, and administrative review. Such uniformity eliminates uncertainty and confusion.[FN712] "Deadly force" is defined in the policy as force likely to cause death or serious bodily injury. Under FBI policy, deadly force is justified, if the subject is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if not controlled and deadly force is necessary to achieve control safely. When deadly force is permissible, agents are instructed to utilize the amount of force reasonably necessary to eliminate the threat they face. When feasible, verbal warnings should be given before deadly force is applied, and, when a subject may be granted an opportunity to surrender without exposing agents or the public to unreasonable danger, the policy requires that the opportunity be given. [FN713] The FBI's standard deadly force policy comports with the constitutional standard enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985), and Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989). Garner requires that the officer have probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or others, before using deadly force to prevent escape. The standards for objective reasonableness set forth in Graham are considerably more explicit than those in Garner and also require consideration of whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others.[FN714] The preconditions in the FBI's deadly force policy for the use of deadly force are essentially the same as those stated in Garner, that is, that deadly force may be used to protect oneself or others against death or grievous bodily harm. The FBI's deadly force policy also includes a provision for giving warnings, when feasible, as mandated by Garner. We are considerably less sure about the constitutionality of the Rules of Engagement in effect on August 22, 1992 than we are about the FBI's standard deadly force policy. The Rules provided: 1. If any adult in the area around the cabin is observed with a weapon after the surrender announcement had been made, deadly force could and should be used to neutralize the individual. 2. If any adult male is observed with a weapon prior to the announcement deadly force can and should be employed if the shot could be taken without endangering any children. 3. If compromised by any dog the dog can be taken out. 4. Any subjects other than Randy Weaver, Vicki Weaver, Kevin Harris presenting threat of death or grievous bodily harm FBI rules of deadly force apply. We believe that these Rules contain serious constitutional infirmities. First, Garner states that, when feasible, warnings should be given. However, in paragraph 1 of the Rules, the giving of warnings apparently releases agents from evaluating the necessity of using deadly force, that is, from determining whether the subject "poses a threat of serious physical harm." Garner at 11. Garner specifically addresses the issue of the fleeing felon who refuses to surrender and does not sanction the use of deadly force, unless it is necessary to prevent escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others or that he has committed a crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious bodily harm. Garner at 11-12. Thus, although paragraph 1 of the Rules was never employed because Horiuchi used deadly force before warnings had been given, it falls outside the strictures of both Garner and Graham, which require that law enforcement officers evaluate the risk of grievous bodily harm or death to themselves and or others, before employing deadly force. Paragraph 2 suffers from a similar problem because it does not provide for evaluation by the agent of whether the armed adult male poses an immediate threat before employing deadly force against them. This contradicts the mandate of both Garner and Graham. Paragraph 4 suffers from a related defect in that it applies the FBI standard policy on deadly force to all parties, except Randy Weaver, Vicki Weaver, and Kevin Harris. The FBI drafted this Rule in that manner because it considered these three people particularly dangerous, especially because the agents believed that Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris had killed Deputy Marshal Degan. However, Garner and Graham do not exempt law enforcement officers from evaluating risk to themselves and others, even from persons they deem especially dangerous. The Constitution allows no person to become "fair game" for deadly force without law enforcement evaluating the threat that person poses, even when, a occurred here, the evaluation must be made in a split second. Finally, the instructions that deadly force "should be used" in paragraph 1 and that deadly force "should be employed" in paragraph 2 flatly contradict the commands of Garner and Graham, which require the careful evaluation of the risk posed by a suspect before law enforcement can employ deadly force. The word "should" strongly encourages the use of deadly force. The use of such language in the Rules was unconstitutional. Despite FBI protestations to the contrary, these instructions did not merely heighten the snipers/observers' sense of dangerousness presented by the situation but went further and sanctioned the use of deadly force without the evaluation of the actual threat posed by individuals encountered by the agents on the mountain. We believe that these Rules of Engagement created an atmosphere in which the sniper/observers were more likely to employ deadly force than had the FBI standard deadly force policy been in effect. In addition to the aforementioned problems, we must conclude that the Rules of Engagement were defective for three other reasons. First, they were imprecise. As we have seen from the accounts of law enforcement personnel who formulated, approved, and implemented the Rules, there was no uniform interpretation of them. Some interpreted the Rules as an expansion of the FBI standard deadly force policy which allowed the sniper/observers more leeway on when to fire their weapons. However, others argued that the Rules restricted the standard policy. There was also disagreement regarding who fell within the coverage of the Rules and the term "any adult." Furthermore, many were adamant that the words "can and should" did not create a mandate to shoot and that the judgment and discretion of the shooter always prevailed. Most, however, seemed to agree that the Rules served to heighten the awareness of danger, thereby reducing the time sniper/observers had to evaluate whether to shoot. The lack of precision and the resultant absence of a common understanding as to when to employ deadly force are serious problems. Regardless of whether the Rules of Engagement had an impact upon Horiuchi's decision to shoot, FBI supervisors at the Ruby Ridge crisis were responsible for giving precise orders concerning the use of deadly force by their personnel. In our view, Rules of Engagement that do not restrict the use of deadly force should not be implemented without clear authorization following the careful legal review of the proposed Rules. Our second objection to the Rules relates to the impact the Rules had upon the HRT during its deployment on August 22. The Rules seem to have created an atmosphere which Glenn described as a "more offensive mode." To this extent, we believe the Rules contributed to Horiuchi's decision to take a second shot.[FN715] Our final objection to the Rules is that they were an unconstitutional departure from the FBI's standard deadly force policy. As noted above, the FBI standard policy requires agents to assess the level of danger before using deadly force and to give warnings when feasible. The statements of the sniper/observers, along with Horiuchi's testimony, demonstrate that the Rules of Engagement did more than merely "heighten the awareness of the danger level" on the mountain. The Rules created an atmosphere that eliminated or significantly reduced the discretion of the agent to assess the nature of the threat, thereby eliminating the constitutionally required calculation of the threat level before deadly force is used. Nothing in the recent Supreme Court cases suggests that the approach adopted in the Rules is unconstitutional. Rather, the standards enunciated in Garner and Graham emphasize the vital significance of assessing the "immediate threat of grievous bodily harm or death to self or others" before law enforcement officers may use deadly force. However, it is clear from the sniper/observers' statements that they understood that the Rules did change and supersede the standard deadly force policy and that the Rules were to be "abide[d] by."[FN716] Although we appreciate that evaluations of whether to employ deadly force may occur in a split-second and should not be judged from the perspective of hindsight, we must conclude that the Rules in effect were unconstitutional. The Constitution places the decision on whether to use deadly force on the individual agent; the Rules attempted to usurp this responsibility. b. Initial Deployment of Law Enforcement Personnel to Ruby Ridge The FBI viewed the situation at Ruby Ridge as extremely dangerous. Potts, the Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI, feared that casualties would be sustained in the attempt to establish a perimeter at the crisis site. He characterized the situation at Ruby Ridge as "the most dangerous situation the HRT has ever gone into."[FN717] Similarly, Coulson, the Deputy Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI at the same time, assessed the situation as posing an extreme risk to law enforcement personnel. In his words, "these types of operations are the most dangerous type of tactical operations that can be undertaken, especially if the subjects have not been contained."[FN718] The first priority of the FBI at Ruby Ridge was to secure and control a perimeter around the Weaver cabin to ensure the safety of law enforcement personnel and to prevent the escape of those who may have been involved in the exchange of gunfire the previous day. In addition, the FBI wanted to obtain information about the situation based upon firsthand observation rather than having to continue to rely upon the reports from other law enforcement agencies. We agree that the deployment of tactical personnel at Ruby Ridge to establish a perimeter around the Weaver cabin was a sound decision. Indeed, a consensus exists among FBI tactical specialists and other professionals in the law enforcement community that securing and controlling the site should be the first priority in a crisis. For these reasons, the initial strategic step by the FBI to deploy HRT sniper/observers and members of the Marshals Service SOG around the cabin was appropriate. Another issue surrounding the initial deployment of law enforcement personnel was the delay in deployment, which occurred at least six hours after the HRT arrived at Ruby Ridge. A substantial portion of the delay resulted from the late arrival of four-wheel drive vehicles to transport the sniper/observers to the mountain area surrounding the cabin. This delay was crucial in that the first team of sniper/observers did not arrive at its position until approximately 5:00 p.m. Had the sniper/observers been deployed without waiting for the vehicles, they could have reached their positions some three hours earlier. Considering the gravity of the situation and the urgent need to gather intelligence, the delay was significant. However, the HRT supervisors explained to us that because of the rugged mountain terrain, they concluded that four-wheel drive vehicles were critical to a speedy deployment. Although in retrospect, it may have been advisable to deploy on foot, we believe that the decision to wait for the vehicles was reasonable under the circumstances existing at the time. A final issue presented during the early development period was the need for a call out or to give a warning to those in the cabin before an HRT member fired a shot. Constitutional case law and the FBI's standard deadly force policy require such an announcement to be given "when feasible" before deadly force is used. We find that the management team gave insufficient consideration to giving such warnings. Although we do not believe it was appropriate, or safe, for Horiuchi or any of the other HRT sniper/observers to give a surrender warning to those in the cabin after they had arrived in their positions,[FN719] it was of crucial importance that such warnings be given by others, if feasible. The plan in effect between the deployment of the HRT sniper/observers and the time of the surrender announcement was that contained in the Rules of Engagement which instructed HRT personnel to use deadly force if armed males were seen outside the cabin. We believe that FBI management team should have addressed the probability that once the subjects would come out of the cabin, especially considering the sounds of the helicopter and personnel carriers that were present during this time. The first planned warning, assuming the subjects were contained in the cabin, was the formal announcement which was to occur after the personnel carriers had arrived in the cabin vicinity. The lack of a planned "call out" as the sniper/observers deployed is significant because the Weavers were known to leave the cabin armed when vehicles or airplanes approached. The absence of such a plan subjected the Government to charges that it was setting Weaver up for attack. We believe that the management team did not satisfy its obligation to evaluate the feasibility of giving surrender warnings under those circumstances. The delay in giving the surrender announcement is discussed in greater detail below. c. The HRT Rifle Shots Fired on August 22, 1992 (1) The Applicable Standard for Review The Fourth Amendment provides persons with the right to "be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures," and this right extends to those persons suspected of actual or anticipated criminal wrongdoing. When police officers arrest a criminal suspect, they make a seizure, thereby bringing their conduct within the protection of the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment and the case law emanating from it provides that, while there are important governmental interests in effective law enforcement, there are equally powerful countervailing interests supporting a person's right to be free from the intrusiveness which inevitably accompanies a seizure. The U.S. Supreme Court has considered the question of seizures by the use of deadly force and has articulated a framework with which to analyze their constitutionality. In Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1,7 (1985), the Court stated that "there can be no question that apprehension by the use of deadly force is a seizure subject to the reasonableness requirement of the Fourth Amendment." When a police officer kills or mortally wounds a suspect while attempting to make an arrest, the ultimate seizure occurs. Not only is the suspect deprived of his life, in which he has the most fundamental interest, but society is deprived of the "judicial determination of guilt and punishment." Id. at 9. However, the Supreme Court recognized that effective law enforcement requires that deadly force be permissible in some circumstances. In Garner, a burglary suspect fled the crime scene while a police officer pursued him. Although the officer identified himself and ordered Garner to stop, Garner continued to scale a fence. The officer, who saw no weapon and who was reasonably sure that Garner was unarmed, fired shots that killed Garner. The state statute permitted an arrest by all necessary means if the suspect had been provided notice of the officer's intent to arrest him yet persisted in fleeing or forcibly resisting arrest. The Supreme Court ruled this statute unconstitutional because it justified the use of unreasonable force, regardless of the danger that the suspect presented. The Court in Garner enunciated a general theory permitting the use of deadly force by police officers: [W]here the officer has probably cause to believe that the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or to others, it is not constitutionally unreasonable to prevent escape by using deadly force. Thus, if the suspect threatens the officer with a deadly weapon or there is probable cause to believe that he has committed a crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm, deadly force may be used if necessary to prevent escape, and if, where feasible, some warning has been given." Id. at 11-12. It was not until 1989 in Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, that the Supreme Court articulated an objective standard for evaluating the use of deadly force. In Graham, police had forcibly detained Graham, a diabetic, and prevented him from drinking orange juice to prevent the onset of insulin shock. The police handcuffed Graham and ignored or rebuffed his attempts to explain and treat his condition. Graham sustained multiple injuries and was released when it was determined that he had done nothing wrong. The Supreme Court rejected the subjective standard the district and appellate courts had imposed which had required Graham to show that the police had applied force "maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm." Id. at 390 -391 (citations omitted). The Court held that instead of a subjective standard "all claims that law enforcement officers have used excessive force -- deadly or not -- . . . should be analyzed under the Fourth Amendment and its `reasonableness' standard. . . ." Id. at 395. (2) The First Shot With respect to the objective reasonableness of each of Horiuchi's shots, we must examine them in conjunction with the factors enunciated by the Graham court -- the severity of the crime, whether the suspect posed an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or the others, and whether he actively resisted arrest. Before assuming their position overlooking the Weaver compound, Horiuchi and the other agents had been briefed about the encounter at the Y. From this briefing, they knew that a marshal had been killed; that Weaver had sophisticated weapons experience; that the family had declared that they would never surrender to the federal government and were prepared for a confrontation with the government; that the family was generally armed when they left the cabin; and that the family made armed responses to approaching people and vehicles. Although FBI personnel did not have specific details about the August 21 shooting, they knew: that more than one shot had been fired at the "Y"; that Randy Weaver, Kevin Harris, and Sandy Weaver had been there; and that Kevin Harris had shot and killed Deputy Marshal Degan. In addition, they had been informed that shots had been fired at an airplane and that there had been unconfirmed reports of an April 1992 shooting at a news helicopter near the Weaver compound. Thus, before Horiuchi was in position to react to the quickly unfolding events of the evening of August 22, it could be said that two Graham factors had been satisfied: Horiuchi knew that a crime had been committed, and he knew that Weaver was resisting arrest with Harris' assistance. [FN720] With those two factors satisfied, we turn to the remaining question of whether the person whom Horiuchi shot posed an immediate threat to officers or others. Before Horiuchi fired his first shot, he had two opportunities to shoot, first at the young girl, then at the unarmed man who was prodding the ground with a stick. Horiuchi did not shoot either person because he believed the young female was an unarmed child and that the man was not behaving in a threatening manner. According to Horiuchi, he fired the first shot only after he heard and saw the helicopter. When the person whom he believed to be Harris reappeared at the side of the shed from which he had disappeared, he held his weapon at high port and scanned above and behind Horiuchi's position. Horiuchi believed that the man was looking for the helicopter. According to Horiuchi, the man was "watching the helicopter, and at times he would kind of bring his weapon up and [Horiuchi perceiv[ed] that perhaps he was trying to get a shot off." [FN721] The person in Horiuchi's sights moved along the side of the birthing shed, while holding his weapon high. Horiuchi believed that the person had seen the helicopter and was trying to get to the other side of birthing shed. Horiuchi concluded that the person was preparing to shoot at the helicopter with his scoped rifle. [FN722] He saw the individual watching the area where Horiuchi believed the helicopter was flying and saw the man "getting ready to take a shot at the individuals in the helicopter."[FN723] [GARRITY] [FN724] Horiuchi "assumed that [the man] was raising [his arm] to grab inside the building to spin himself around the corner." [FN725] It was at this time that Horiuchi fired one shot. At the time that Horiuchi shot, the man was at the corner of the shed, with his back toward Horiuchi. According to Horiuchi, he was aiming at the man's back at the time he fired the shot. [FN726] After the shot was fired, the man suddenly moved along the side of the birthing shed and disappearing from Horiuchi's vision. Horiuchi's colleague's, who were able to see the events at the cabin, gave considerable corroboration for his perceptions. Dale Monroe, Horiuchi's teammate, heard the helicopter and noticed it flying around the Weaver cabin. He "thought [the Weaver group was] going to shoot at the helicopter from various fortified positions around the cabin....." Although Monroe's view was obstructed by the brush, he eventually spotted an adult male with a rifle near the birthing shed just before he heard the first shot. Monroe assumed that "the immediate danger.....was to the helicopter". [FN727] Jerome Barker saw two males and a female, all armed with long barreled weapons, move from the residence to the birthing shed. He believed that they "posed a grave threat to the safety of the helicopter as well as [him]self and [HRT members] Curran, Horiuchi and Monroe." Barker was telling his partner Curran of their location so that Curran would "be prepared to encounter them at they approached" when he heard a shot from Horiuchi's position. [FN728] Some of Horiuchi's perceptions as he fired the first shot were not accurate. At trial, Horiuchi was adamant that he never saw a gun in the hands of Randy Weaver, even though Weaver was armed at the time he was struck by Horiuchi's first shot. [FN729] [G.J.], [FN730] Horiuchi was incorrect. Several HRT sniped/observers on the mountainside and Harris himself confirm that Sara Weaver, Randy Weaver, and Kevin Harris were all armed at the time they came out of the cabin. [FN731] Although we are troubled by Horiuchi's inaccurate perception of some of the facts when we took the first shot, we do not think that these misperceptions affected his ability to assess the risk presented. Indeed, we find his perception of the facts most relevant to our inquiry to be reliable and reasonable. More specifically we find reliable and reasonable his perceptions that the target was an armed man; the helicopter was in flight; and that the movements of the man indicated a threat to the helicopter. Based on these perceptions, Horiuchi, as well as the two other snipers, who were able to see the movement around the cabin, believed that the safety of both the people in the helicopter and the snipers were threatened by the armed individuals [G.J.] Special Agent in Charge Glenn noted that, on a reconnaissance mission on which he was a passenger, the helicopter was forced by bad weather to "stay at low altitudes and weave around the crisis site in an effort to avoid being an obvious target." [FN733] Glenn believed that the helicopter was within range of a rifle shot. [FN734] Weaver and Harris have stated that their actions were innocent and not indicative of aggressive conduct. According to them, they left the cabin to view Sammy Weaver's body in the birthing shed an to retrieve a battery. We are skeptical of this account. Indeed, we think it is unlikely they would have timed such innocent activities to coincide with event which would expose them to enhanced risk by leaving the secure cabin and venturing to an unprotected area when armed law enforcement personnel were nearby. Therefore, we find their explanation implausible. We are convinced that because of their knowledge of and involvement in the previous day's shooting of a marshal, the heavy traffic below that was audible in the cabin, and the loud helicopter flights above the Weaver cabin, that the cabin occupants knew that law enforcement personnel were in the area. In light of the circumstances, we believe they probably came out in response to the noise of the helicopter and the personnel carriers, not simply for the innocent reasons they offer. Accordingly, we believe that Horiuchi reasonably interpreted the actions of the three people as they ran from the cabin as aggressive. The law requires that we give some deference to Horiuchi's perceptions of the threat to the helicopter and the individuals aboard it. Indeed, the Supreme Court in Graham cautions that "the `reasonableness' of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight." Graham, 386 U.S., at 396. In Graham the Supreme Court also advised that, in assessing the reasonableness of the use of deadly force, one must allow for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split- second judgments in these circumstances, like those at Ruby Ridge, that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving. As the Sixth Circuit emphasized in Smith v. Freland: [W]e must avoid substituting our personal notions of proper police procedure for the instantaneous decision of the officer at the scene. We must never allow the theoretical, sanitized world of our imagination to replace the dangerous and complex world the policemen face every day. What constitutes `reasonable' action may seem quite different to one facing a possible assailant than to someone analyzing the question at leisure. 954 F.2d at 347 Applying these standards to the first shot taken by Horiuchi, we conclude that the first shot meets the constitutional standard of "objective reasonableness". We accept Horiuchi's justification for the first shot. Based on the circumstances present at the time, we find it reasonable for Horiuchi to believe that the armed male he observed was preparing to shoot down the helicopter. (3) The Second Shot We now look at the immediacy of the threat factor to evaluate whether the second shot was justified. The second shot, after passing through the window of the cabin door, killed Vicki Weaver who was standing behind the door and also seriously injured Kevin Harris. As a preliminary matter, the two conditions we found satisfied in regard to the first shot -- the reasonable conclusion that the suspects had been involved in a severe crime and that they were actively resisting arrest -- were satisfied at the time of the second shot. Again, our focus must be on whether the target of Horiuchi's shot posed an immediate threat to the officers or others. In our discussion above, we found that when Horiuchi fired the first shot, he made a judgment of threat and necessity based on his observation that the armed male posed an immediate threat of death or serious harm to the occupants of the helicopter. Horiuchi admitted that, after taking the first shot, he intended to shoot at that man again, given the opportunity, because the threat the subject posed would increase after he returned to the cabin. [FN735] Horiuchi feared that once the man returned to the cabin, he would have been more protected and could have shot at the HRT personnel or the helicopter. Horiuchi felt that the man probably knew that law enforcement personnel "couldn't shoot back in there without harming some of the children." [FN736] The second shot raises serious questions. On one hand, Horiuchi believe that at least one subject was armed and had intended to shoot at the helicopter, and that the subjects now knew at least generally where a sniper was located. However, this perception must be evaluated in conjunction with the reality that the subject were returning to their home and had not returned fire when shot upon. Thus, their actions as they ran into the cabin were not aggressive, but rather protective or defensive. We find Horiuchi's explanation of the threat and necessity of the second shot speculative. Based on the facts known and the actions of the subjects, we do not believe it was reasonable to perceive an immediate threat as they ran back into the cabin. Once the family was back in the cabin, the potential threat to the safety of the helicopter and law enforcement personnel was more remote than when Horiuchi had earlier believed that the armed male was about to position himself to shoot at the helicopter. Although we believe Harris and the Weavers knew that law enforcement personnel were present, no call out or surrender announcement followed the first shot. The subjects were never given a chance to drop their arms to show that they did not pose a threat. The subjects simply did what any person would do under the circumstances: they ran for cover. Horiuchi also confused his targets. He erroneously believed that the last man returning the cabin as the man he had originally tried to shoot. Thus, Horiuchi never saw Harris, the target of his second shot, take any threatening action toward the helicopter. Many of the sniper/observers saw three people running to the cabin after the first shot. None reported ny action that could immediately be interpreted as threatening to the helicopter or the sniper/observers. In a statement Horiuchi prepared later that evening, he explained that, just before Harris entered the cabin, he "stopped at the door looking for either the helicopter or where the shot came from...." [FN737] Thus, even Horiuchi does not characterize these movements as threatening or as provocation for the second shot. Indeed, he admitted that he had already decided to shoot when Harris paused in front of the door. Horiuchi testified at trial, " I had already made that determination after that first shot, so if I saw him again I was going to shoot at that individual again." [FN738] Although we agree that Harris and the Weavers could have fired from inside the cabin, we do not believe that this potential, especially considering the circumstances of the this case, warranted law enforcement to perceive an immediate threat. Since the exchange of gunfire at the Y, no one at the cabin had fired a shot. Indeed, they had not even returned fire in response to Horiuchi's first shot. Furthermore, at the time of the second shot, Harris and others outside the cabin were retreating, not attacking. They were not retreating to an area where they would present a danger to the public at large or take members of the public hostage. [FN739] Instead, they were retreating into a cabin and within rifle shot of well equipped law enforcement personnel. Finally, as we discussed below, prior to this time, law enforcement personnel had not viewed the presence of Weaver and Harris in the cabin as posing a particular threat. In our view these facts undercut the immediacy of the threat that Harris posed to Horiuchi and his colleagues. At Ruby Ridge, FBI supervisors in charge of the crisis determined that, following the deployment of HRT sniper/observers around the cabin, a negotiation strategy was to be employed, at least initially, to solve the crisis. [FN740] The supervisors has decided that the safest solution to the crisis was to contain the Weaver/ Harris group and induce its members to leave the cabin through negotiations. This strategy contemplated that sniper/observers would surround the cabin while Weaver and Harris were inside with weapons. It can be assumed that the FBI command contemplated that, during negotiations, risk form the cabin would be tolerated in the hope of a peaceful resolution. The plan did not contemplate the use of deadly force as the only safe alternative. Indeed, plans to assault the cabin because of a perceived immediate threat had been rejected earlier in the day. Horiuchi's explanation of the threat is, therefore, contrary to the approved negotiation strategy. However, even if Horiuchi's judgment on the necessity to use deadly force was supportable, we believe that his second shot was taken without regard for the safety of others near Harris. Although Horiuchi could not see behind the front door of the cabin, he had reason to believe that someone might be on the other side when he took his second shot. At trial he testified that it appeared that Harris "was trying to hold the door open or moving somebody out of the way" when Horiuchi fired. [FN741] When asked if he "knew there was somebody behind the door," Horiuchi responded that he "wasn't shooting at the individual behind the door." [FN742] However, by fixing his cross hairs on the door, when he believed someone was behind it , he placed the children and Vicki Weaver at risk, in violation of even the special Rules of Engagement: If any adult male is observed with a weapon prior to the announcement deadly force can and should be employed if the shot could be taken without endangering any children. (Emphasis added.) (GARRITY) In our opinion he needlessly and unjustifiably endangered the persons whom he thought might be behind the door. [FN743] (GARRITY) [FN744]. We also find no evidence that Vicki Weaver was the intended target of the second shot as has been alleged. Horiuchi testified that he did not intend to shoot her. [FN745] Our review of the evidence has produce nothing to discredit those statements. In sum, even giving deference to Horiuchi's judgment, we do not find that the second shot was based on a reasonable fear of "an immediate threat to the safety of officers or others." Moreover, we believe that the shot was unnecessarily dangerous and should not have been taken. We understand that the FBI standard policy on the use of deadly force has been interpreted as permitting deadly force when it is "necessary," that is, "when alternative steps are not likely to lead to safe control of the subject." [FN746] Some in the FBI interpret "safe control" to mean "in custody." [FN747] We are not convinced the this interpretation is sound policy and point out that the interpretation could allowably argue the use of deadly force whenever a dangerous person refuses to surrender, even is less violent measures could be used to apprehend the person. Such an approach raises serious constitutional concern. Supervisory Special Agents John Hall and Kimberly Crawford of the Legal Training Unit at the FBI prepared a legal analysis of the Ruby Ridge incident and determined that Horiuchi's shots were "reasonable under constitutional standards" [FN748]. The Hall/ Crawford analysis concludes that Horiuchi "has a reasonable basis for believing that the two armed, male suspects at whom he fired his rifle met the constitutional criteria for dangerousness" and the both shots were necessary, that is, "no safe alternatives were available to accomplish the seizure" of Harris and necessary to because "permitting a demonstrably dangerous (and armed) person to regain a position of cover and concealment dramatically increases the potential threat to effect the seizures of the suspects." [FN750] Hall and Crawford quote Garner for the proposition that deadly force is justified in preventing the escape of a suspect, "if the suspect threatens an officer with a weapon" or" there is probably cause to believe that [the suspect] has committed a crime involving the infliction of serious physical harm." [FN751] They conclude that because Horiuchi reasonably believed that his targets had "`committed a crime involving the infliction of serious physical harm' [to Deputy Marshal Degan], it was reasonable to believe that `the [targets] pose[d] a threat of serious physical harm'" to Horiuchi and his colleagues. Finally, the conclude that "[t]he Fourth Amendment does not require a showing that the threat was `imminent.'" [FN752] We reject this analysis to the extent that it implies that a reasonable belief that a suspect has committed a crime involving the infliction of serious physical harm eliminates the necessity of considering whether a threat is imminent before deadly force is used. The Hall/Crawford analysis accurately quotes Garner as saying `deadly force may be sued to prevent escape", if "the suspect threatens the officer with a weapon or there is probable cause to believe that he has committed a crime involving the infliction.....of serious physical harm." [FN753] However, this language was not intended to indicate that deadly force, without something more, could be used. Indeed, the following language in Garner was meant to explicate the previous sentence: "Where that officer has probable cause to believe that the person poses a threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or to others, it is not constitutionally unreasonable to prevent escape using deadly force." [FN754] Thus, the use of deadly force in such situations still requires that the officer have "probable cause to believe" that the person "poses a threat of serious physical harm." Such a requirement is consistent with the explicit holding of Garner announced earlier in the decision that deadly force "may not be used unless it is necessary to prevent [an] escape and the officer has probably cause to believe the subject poses a significant threat of death or serious physical harm." [FN755] Finally, the immediate threat requirement is reiterated in the Supreme Court in its conclusion that the "proper application" of the Fourth Amendment to the use of deadly force requires "careful attention to a number of factors, which include not only "the severity of the crime at issue," but also "whether the subject poses an immediate threat." [FN756] We conclude that, even if Horiuchi reasonably believed that Weaver and Harris had participated in Degan's killing, he still had to consider the imminence of the threat his targets posed to himself and his colleagues when he fired. Considering the totality of the circumstances of the second shot, we have concluded that the retreating subjects did not pose an imminent threat of physical harm. We cannot fault Horiuchi alone for these actions. We are persuaded that his judgment to shoot at the armed man again, if given the chance, was influenced by the special Rules of Engagement, which he had no role in creating but which he was instructed to follow. We believe that Horiuchi fired his second shot and Wenger prepared to shoot because the Rules of Engagement had a significant effect on the snipers/observers' sense of danger and had encouraged their use of deadly force. [FN757] Although we believe that, even under the special Rules, Horiuchi should not have taken a shot into the door with the possibility that persons other than the other than the target could be injured, the responsibility for taking that shot may not rest exclusively with Horiuchi. As we noted above, the special Rules of Engagement were subjected to different interpretations as to who was a subject and what conduct could be required before a shot could be taken. This inquiry finds that the Ruled expanded the use of deadly force beyond the scope of the Constitution and beyond the FBI's own standard deadly force policy. Despite this conclusion, we are convinced that those who prepared the Ruled believed that their provision were within the law. Having made these finding, we have proposed recommendations at the conclusion of this report. However, because we remain seriously troubled by the circumstances that surrounded the second shot, we recommend referral of the matter of the second shot to the appropriate component of the Department of Justice for a determination of whether federal criminal prosecutive merit exists. (4) Use of the Helicopter to Draw Subjects Out of the Cabin This inquiry found no evidence to support the allegation that the FBI intentionally used the helicopter to lure the Weavers and Harris out of the cabin so that they would be a target for HRT snipers. Utilization of overhead observation to collect information at a crisis site and to determine the possible presence of confederates or individuals in areas adjacent to the crisis site is a well recognized technique that gathers critical information for those responsible for responding to crisis situations. Notwithstanding this conclusion, we believe the FBI supervision of sniper/observers on the mountain was handled poorly. From information received at the Marshals Service, FBI management had reason to believe that the Weaver/ Harris group would respond to a helicopter in the vicinity of the cabin by coming outside with firearms. Notwithstanding this knowledge, they placed sniper/observers on the adjacent mountainside with instructions that they could and should shoot armed members of the group, if they came out of the cabin. Their use of helicopter near the cabin invited an accusation that the helicopter was intentionally used to draw the Weaver group out of the cabin. When asked it the helicopter could have been utilized to draw the Weaver subjects out of the cabin, HRT and SOG personnel were unanimous that such a tactic would not be sound strategy in that it would subject those in the helicopter to severe risk. We agree that the intentional use of a helicopter in such a fashion would be unwise. In view of the fact that three senior law enforcement officials were in the helicopter when Horiuchi fired the first shot, it is unlikely that the helicopter was used intentionally as a lure. However, we do believe that greater thought should have been given to the fact that Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris probably would come out of the cabin when the helicopter flew in the vicinity. We believe that the deployment of sniper/observers with the instructions that they "can and should" use deadly force against armed males outside the cabin, concurrent with the use of the helicopter, set the stage for the rifle shots on August 22. By not anticipating the consequences of snipers in position and helicopter in flight while special rules of engagement were in force, the FBI invited an accusation of an intentional lure. Other than rumors, we found no evidence to support allegations of the helicopter's use in such a fashion. (5) Surrender Announcement In examining the early stages of HRT's involvement in the crisis, the question of the timing of surrender announcement arises, namely, whether before or during the deployment of HRT personnel, the FBI could have announced to those in the Weaver cabin area the presence of law enforcement and could have demanded their surrender. When a crisis presents a heightened possibility that federal law enforcement may employ deadly force, those who have created the crisis situation should be notified, when feasible, that law enforcement personnel are in the area and that they should surrender. Indeed, the standard deadly force policy of the FBI requires that the agents issue a warning, when feasible, before deadly force is employed. At Ruby Ridge, it was of paramount importance to give notice to those in the Weaver cabin at the earliest feasible opportunity, given the Rules of Engagement in effect during the initial stages of the FBI operation. The FBI had a good reason to believe that the people in the cabin had a least a general knowledge of law enforcement's presence. [FN758] It is less certain whether they were aware of the imminent danger of being shot when they left the cabin before Horiuchi fired. [FN759] There was no attempt by the FBI to give notice to the individuals in the cabin prior to the shots taken by Horiuchi. However, immediately after the shots, at approximately 6:15 p.m., two armored personnel carriers were driven to the vicinity of the cabin and a surrender announcement was made. In our view, the factor that caused the FBI to make the surrender announcement at that time was Horiuchi's shots. The Rules of Engagement underscore the importance of the timing of the surrender announcement and make inexcusable and unjustifiable delay in giving the announcement. The announcement should have been a priority at Ruby Ridge, not a rushed afterthought. The FBI should have explored whether it was possible to make a surrender announcement before deploying sniper/observers. We believe it was possible to make an announcement earlier. Perhaps the announcement could have been made without great risk by using an armored personnel carrier or a sound transmitter from a safe distance. At a minimum, we believe that more consideration should have been given to this crucial part of the operation, particularly in light of the Rules of Engagement in effect. 4. Conclusion We find that the decision to deploy the FBI's HRT and components of the U.S. Marshals Service SOG to the Ruby Ridge site was proper. However, the Rules of Engagement drafted by the FBI were improper and failed to comply with constitutional standards regarding the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer. The Rules were also a departure from the FBI's standard policy on the use of deadly force. Implementation of such Rules may have created an atmosphere that caused an HRT sniper/observer to take a shot that he otherwise would not have taken. The imprecision of the Rules resulted in wide misunderstandings regarding the authorized use of deadly force by law enforcement personnel. In addition, the Constitution requires that surrender announcements be given, where feasible, before deadly force may be employed. For this reason, we believe that the FBI should have given a higher priority to making a surrender announcement at the earliest possible opportunity. We believe that in examining the "totality of the circumstances" surrounding the first shot taken by the sniper/observer, the shot met the constitutional standard of "objective reasonableness." Applying the same analysis, we believe, that the second shot did not meet that standard. Although we did not believe that the existence of an immediate threat is a precondition for the legitimate use of deadly force, we do believe that its presence or absence is important. In this case, we conclude that the sniper/observer did not have a reasonable fear of an immediate threat to the safety of law enforcement personnel or others when he fired the second shot. We find that the circumstances which justified the first shot were significantly changed by the time the second shot was taken. There had been no return of fire or further threatening action, there had been no surrender announcement, and most significantly, the targets were retreating into the cabin. In addition, we note that the sniper/observer's perception that the armed adults' return to the cabin would create an enhanced danger was inconsistent with the FBI plan in effect which was to attempt negotiation with the occupants of the cabin. As a result of these changed circumstances, we conclude that the second shot violated the Constitution. We recommend that the circumstances surrounding the second shot be reviewed by the appropriate component of the Department of Justice for prosecutive merit. [Garrity Material PAGES REMOVED 229-232] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART F) 528 Thomas Sworn Statement, at 15. 529 Potts Sworn Statement, December 17, 1993, at 9. 530 Id. at 6. 531 [G.J.] 532 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 20-21. 533 Id. at 22-23. 534 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 85-86. 535 ID., June 2, 1993, at 24. 536 [G.J.] 537 Potts Sworn Statement, December 17, 1993, at 8. (Emphasis added.) Furthermore, Potts said that any written records made by him pertaining to this matter would have been forwarded by him to the FBI Headquarters unit responsible for the management of the case, which was the violent Crimes/Major Offenders (VCMO) Section of the Criminal Investigative Division. Attempts to retrieve his written record were unsuccessful. In addition, toward the end of our inquiry, we made a broad request to the FBI for any and all documents relevant to our inquiry which had not previously been produced. this request went to all pertinent FBI components and offices. Al responses to the request were negative except for one response from the Salt Lake City office which contained no information significant to our inquiry that had not been provided previously. 538 Potts Sworn Statement, December 17, 1993, at 8. 539 FD-302 Interview of John Sauls, October 20, 1993, at 2-3. 540 ID. 541 ID. 542 ID. 543 FD-302 Interview of Lee C. Rasmussen, January 12, 1994, at 2. 544 Coulson Sworn Statement, November 23, 1993, at 9. 545 Coulson Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 10-11. Coulson reminded Rogers of a 1988 HRT deployment in Utah, which had resulted in the only killing of a law enforcement officer during an HRT operation. Coulson believed that the Utah incident was strikingly similar to the Weaver crisis. According to Coulson, in the Utah case, BATF had requested the FBI to assist in apprehending Adam Swapp who had been implicated in the bombing of a Mormon temple. Like Randy Weaver, Swapp was a survivalist who armed himself, his associates, and family members. The HRT was deployed to assist the Salt Lake City Division in apprehending Swapp. Thereafter, a standoff occurred during which Swapp and other adults routinely left their residence while armed. Throughout the siege, Swapp and others threatened law enforcement personnel, fired upon the perimeter of the FBI agents, and resisted arrest. At the end of the siege, a young boy, who was confined to a wheelchair, shot and killed a local police officer from a window of the house as HRT members and other law enforcement personnel attempted to apprehend Swapp. Coulson and Rogers discussed at length the circumstances of the 1988 case, and Coulson expressed concern that the HRT would incur casualties if adequate precautions were not taken at Ruby ridge. ID. at 4-5. 546 Coulson Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 6. 547 Smith Sworn Statement, January 6, 1994, at 5-6. 548 ID. at 6. 549 [G.J.] While waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, HRT Supervisor Stephen McGavin, second in command to Rogers, began writing the Rules of Engagement from his memory of the discussions on the airplane. 550 Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 5. 551 Sworn Statement of Stephen Peter McGavin, November 19, 1993, at 8. 552 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 44. 553 Trial Exhibit No. 41-3, UNITED STATES V. WEAVER, CR 92- 080-N-EJL. The Rule was modified from "adult" to "adult male" to exclude Vicki Weaver around 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. after consultation with Glenn because Vicki Weaver was not seen at the site of Degan's slaying. The change was communicated to the sniper/observers before deployment. Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 31. 554 ID. at 31-32. 555 ID. at 50. 556 ID. at 47-48. 557 ID. at 48. 558 There are no documentation or log entries related to these discussions. 559 Stagg FD-302, October 21, 1993, at 7. 560 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 11-12. 561 [G.J.] 562 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 99-100. See Trial Exhibit No. 41-4. 563 McGavin Sworn Statement, November 19, 1993, at 14. 564 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 12-13. 565 Crisis Center Log, August 22, 1992, at 3:00 p.m. (EDT). 566 ID. at 3:33 p.m. (EDT). 567 Crisis Center Log, August 22, 1992, entering at 4:50 p.m. (EDT). The Log also stated that weather was a major factor and that the plan was scheduled to commence late that afternoon but might be pushed back because of weather conditions. Concern was raised about the deployment of gas into the residence because of the high degree of risk to small children and the possibility that a one year old baby was inside. Although the Crisis Center Log notes receipt of the draft operational plan from the FBI at 5:40 p.m. (EDT), the FBI SICC log has no entries recording the plan's receipt or transmission to the Crisis Center. 568 Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 8-9. 569 Gore recalls this discussion as follows: Lou Stagg voiced an opinion it wouldn't work; it would get our people killed. I became aware that Marshal's Service representatives contacted the USMS command post in Washington, D.C. complaining about the FBI's handling of this matter. I do not recall that these Marshal's Service representatives provided and viable alternative to the Operational Plan as drafted other than the possible suggestion to effect it during hours of darkness. Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 9-10. 570 Coulson told Potts why he had not approved the proposed plan. Although Potts did not see the plan, he agreed with Coulson's rejection of it. 571 Coulson Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 9, 13-14. 572 FBI Strategic Information and Operations Center entry, August 22, 1992, at 6:30 p.m. (EDT) (hereinafter cited as "SIOC Log".) (Emphasis added.) Subsequent interviews determined that Weaver was not actually seen, but that tactical personnel had heard a person they believed to be Weaver, yelling from a distance. 573 Coulson FD-302, November 3, 1993, at 9-10. 574 Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 10. He stated that Headquarters "wanted our negotiation strategy which was an objective of our plan to be documented in the plan.... Despite FBIHQ's knowledge of our clear intent to initiate negotiations as soon as possible, written documentation was being required."ID. 575 FD-302 Interview of Frederick Lanceley, September 2, 1993, at 2. 576 FD-302 Interview of Frederick Lanceley, October 19, 1993 at 2-3. 577 SIOC Log, August 22, 1992, at 7:52 p.m. EDT (4:52 p.m. PDT). 578 SIOC Log, August 22, 1992, at 7:53 p.m. EDT (4:53 p.m. PDT). The Crisis Center Log states that the negotiation annex was received from the FBI at 7:50 p.m. (EDT). The command post explained that APCs would be "activated in 30 minutes." Crisis Center Log, August 22, 1992, at 7:50 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. (EDT). 579 The FBI conducted an internal administrative inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the two HRT rifle shots on August 22, 1992. For a discussion of the results of that inquiry see Section IV (G), INFRA. 580 [GARRITY] 581 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 16. 582 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at102. 583 Potts continued: ROE are utilized as a method of assisting tactical personnel in identifying and refining the perception of the level of risk. They are never intended to obviate the standard FBI deadly force policy. When HRT deploys, the initial mission is to isolate and contain subjects. Sniper/observers are usually utilized to begin this task, and they are usually deployed immediately. ROE are established and given these personnel as a means of further identifying the level of risk, in a concise manner.... As stated in the document ROE provide, in part: 'If any adult in the compound is observed with a weapon after the surrender announcement is made, deadly force can and should be employed to neutralize the individual. If any adult male is observed with a weapon prior to the announcement, deadly force can and should be employed, if the shot can be taken without endangering the children.' Although I personally would not normally, and did not use the word 'should' in that context, it is my belief that it only serves to heighten the awareness of the threatening situation at hand, and does not mean 'must'. Potts Sworn Statement, December 17, 1993, at 8-10. 584 Coulson Sworn Statement, December 7, 1993, at 6. 585 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 13. 586 ID. at 15. (Emphasis added.) 587 Glenn explained that he intended the Rules of Engagement to clearly differentiate this situation from similar situations where "operational personnel are precluded from using deadly force because of other ongoing initiatives." ID. at 16. 588 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 14-15. 589 ID., at 14. 590 Gore explained: In addition to the willingness to shoot a law enforcement officer as shown by the killing of DUSM Degan, the ROE [Rules of Engagement] were predicated on the totality of the intelligence information as provided up to that time, again primarily by the USMS. Weaver had been reported to have a large cache of weapons. It had been initially reported he was a Green Beret during his military service and that he had opportunity for 18 months to fortify his compound during the extended fugitive investigation by the USMS. I was also aware that newspaper articles had been written suggesting that Weaver would not be taken alive. It was also remarked that he would not come down from the hill.... This intelligence, at times, also included that he possibly possessed infrared equipment, explosives, hand grenades and had placed booby traps. Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 7-8. 591 ID. at 7. 592 Sauls FD-302, October 20, 1993, at 3-4. 593 Memorandum by Supervisory Special Agents John C. Hall and Kimberly Ann Crawford, entitled, " A Legal and Policy Analysis of the Shooting Incident at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, 8/22/92", December 2, 1993, at 7-8 (hereinafter cited as "Hall/Crawford Memo"). 594 Lindquist Interview, Tape 6, at 16-17. 595 ID. According to Lindquist, HRT Commander Rogers seemed sincere in explaining that he used the Rules to protect his personnel. Rogers characterized the Rules as an expansion of the FBI standard policy on the use of deadly force. Lindquist recognized the possibility that the Rules might be rejected by the jury at trial as overreaching and excessive. ID. 596 Lanceley FD-302, September 2, 1993, at 2, and October 19, 1993, at 2. 597 ID. at 69. 598 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 66. 599 ID. at 67. 600 ID. 601 ID. at 68. 602 ID. at 68-69. 603 McGavin Sworn Statement, November 19, 1993, at 9. 604 McGavin continued: At Ruby Ridge, shots had been fired by subjects unwilling to submit to arrest by the federal government. the ROE were needed to inform HRT members going into a continuing crisis between the government and these subjects, that they were moving in under great risk, and that an individual in that compound with a weapon was already a deadly threat. I am not saying that a decision to shoot would be made for anyone, nor am I saying that ROE would order an individual to shoot. ID. 605 ID. at 8. 606 ID. at 11. 607 ID. at 11-12. 608 ID. at 12. 609 Monroe was briefed two or three times on the Rules of Engagement, "which we all clearly understood." Sworn Statement of Dale R. Monroe, August 31, 1992, at 2-3, 6. 610 Wenger reports that the HRT was briefed on the Rules at the National guard Armory and later at the staging area. Sworn Statement of Edward C. Wenger, Jr., August 31, 1992, at 2. 611 Sworn Statement of Warren T. Bamford, October 26, 1993, at 4-5. Bamford recalled that the team was reminded at the National Guard Armory that normal Bureau policy regarding deadly force applied. However, HRT Sniper Coordinator Hazen added specific "Rules of Engagement" later at the command post. ID. at 2 612 Sworn Statement of Mark E. Tilton, August 31, 1992, at 2. 613 Sworn Statement of Jerome Anders Barker, August 31, 1992, at 2. 614 FD-302 Interview of Gregory Sexton, October 4, 1993, at 1-2. 615 FD-302 Interview of Danny Joe Harrell, October 5, 1992, at 3. 616 FD-302 Interview of Peter K. King, October 4, 1993, at 2. 617 FD-302 Interview of Donald Kusulas, October 4, 1993, at 1-2. 618 FD-302 Interview of Brian McKee, January 7, 1994, at 2- 3. 619 Trial Testimony of Lon Horiuchi, June 3, 1993, at 164- 65. 620 ID. at 166-67. 621 ID. at 172-73. He emphasized that all the snipers were present when the Rules of Engagement were discussed: The individuals that went up on the hill were present when the Rules of Engagement were discussed: The individuals that went up on the hill were pre-briefed by me and Mr. Love, the other team leader, to ensure that the individuals that we had under our control were well-briefed on the rules of engagement. ID. at 178. 622 ID. at 193. 623 Sworn Statement of Lester Hazen, November 19, 1993, at 8. 624 [G.J.] 625 [G.J.] 626 McGavin Sworn Statement, November 19, 1993, at 15. 627 [GARRITY] 628. There was concern that supporters of the Weaver group would approach the Weaver cabin and threaten law enforcement personnel. There were two reported episodes of reputed supporters of the Weaver/Harris group attempting come to their assistance. On Friday, August 25, 1992, two persons attempting to approach the cabin were arrested by the Idaho State Police. On Tuesday, August 25, 1992, five men were arrested after their vehicle was stopped five miles south of the crisis site in Naples, Idaho. The previous day, one of these men had purchased large quantities of ammunition at a local gun shop and had asked for directions to the Weaver cabin. Seven firearms, including two Mini 14 assault rifles, and large quantities of ammunition, were seized from their vehicle. 629. Stagg FD-302, October 21, 1993, at 7. 630. Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 15; Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 9. According to Glenn, inclement weather had limited the effectiveness of helicopter flights in gathering intelligence. Glenn had been given primary responsibility for management of the law enforcement response at Ruby Ridge. 631. Hazen Sworn Statement, November 19, 1993, at 8. 632. Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 23; McGavin Sworn Statement, November 19, 1993, at 15. 633. Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 32. See also, HRT Sniper Log, August 22, 1992, at 3:45 (PDT), at 1. 634. FD-302 Interview of Frank Constanza, September 10, 1992, at 1. 635. Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994 at 22-23. 636. FD-302 Interview of Luke Adler, January 7, 1994, at 1. 637. Shooting Incident Report, September 30, 1992, at 2. 638. HRT Sniper Log, August 22, 1992, at 1. Unless otherwise noted, times specified in that log are Pacific Daylight Savings Time. 639. Upon arrival at this position, Horiuchi took out his rain jacket because it had begun to rain. He positioned his rifle through the limbs of a small pine tree. His weapon was a Remington, Model 700 rifle which has a fixed Unertyl, ten power telescope sight. The weapon fires a .308 calibre, match grade 168 grain bullet. 640. [G.J.] Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 52-57. 641. [G.J.] 642. [GARRITY] At trial, he said that the female stayed outside the cabin "two of three minutes, I'm not sure." Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 63-64. 643. Id. at 64 644. Id. at 64-65 645. Id. at 66. 646. Id. at 66-67 647. Sworn Statement of Christopher Whitcomb, December 7, 1993, at 6. 648. HRT Sniper Log, August 22, 1992, 5:57 p.m., at 1. 649. Smith FD-302, November 24, 1993, at 7; and Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 60-61. 650. FD-302 Interview of John Haynes, October 20, 1993, at 7. 651. Smith Sworn Statement, January 6, 1994, at 7-8; Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 63-65. 652. Constanza FD-302, October 22, 1993, at 2. 653. Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 67-69. 654. Id. at 81. Horiuchi assumed that the female was the same person he had seen earlier because of her small stature. Id. at 74. 655. [G.J.] 656. [G.J.] 657. Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 71-72. 658. "Port arms" is a military term which describes a weapon being carried across the chest with both hands in a slanting direction with the barrel near the left shoulder. 659. [G.J.] 660. Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 86-87. 661. [G.J.] 662. Barker Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 3. 663. Id., November 12, 1993, at 2. 664. Id., August 31, 1992, at 3. Barker alerted Curran, who was preparing his position at Sierra 3 and did not observe any of this activity. Monroe, who was stationed with Horiuchi, did not see anyone leave the cabin until Horiuchi alerted him because Monroe's view was obstructed by brush. Monroe watched three persons run from the cabin with weapons at port arms or other positions of readiness. Monroe Sworn Statement, December 17, 1993, at 6-7. Whitcomb and Love at the Sierra 1 position and Wenger at Sierra 2 observed three armed persons move from the front of the cabin to rock outcropping. Tilton, the third sniper/observer at Sierra 1, heard radio transmissions that people were outside the cabin, but did not observe anyone. See Tilton Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 3. Warren Bamford, also at Sierra 2, did not observe anyone near the Weaver cabin because he was preparing his position. See Bramford Sworn Statement, October 25, 1993, at 6. 665. Horiuchi Trail Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 81-82. 666. Id. at 82. 667. [GARRITY] 668. Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 88, 90. 669. Id. at 93; [GARRITY] Horiuchi conceded that, although it may have not been effective, he could have yelled to Weaver and Harris to drop their weapons before he fired the first shot. Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 169. 670. [GARRITY] 671. Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 4, 1993, at 40-41. 672. Id. at 42. 673. Id., June 3, 1993, at 93. 674. Id. at 94. However, Horiuchi acknowledged that he know that the man had been hit "in the back up towards the fleshy part of his arm." Id. at 37. 675. Id. at 103. 676. Id., June 3, 1993, at 90-94. 677. FD-302 Interview of Kevin Harris, September 1, 1992, at 3-4. The only other sniper who saw the birthing shed activity was Monroe, Horiuchi's partner. Monroe saw an adult male, who he believed was Kevin Harris, armed with a rifle. The person appeared to be using the birthing shed as cover, while maneuvering to take a shot. Monroe Sworn Statement, November 17, 1993, at 7. None of the sniper/observers saw a female by the birthing shed. 678. Letter dated August 26, 1992, signed "Randall C. Weaver, Kevin Harris, Sara Weaver, Rachel and Elisheba," at 5 (Appendix at 27). 679. Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 110-11. 680. [GARRITY] 681. Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993 at 113 [GARRITY] 682. Id., June 3, 1993, at 111-15. Horiuchi testified that he could not see through the window in the door. 683. Id. at 126. 684. Id. 685. Id. at 127 686. Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 4, 1993, at 62. Horiuchi also testified that at the time Harris was reentering the cabin Horiuchi "knew that [Harris] was trying to move somebody out of the way when [he] shot, and that [Horiuchi] knew somebody was behind [the] door." Horiuchi emphasized that, "[he] wasn't shooting at the individual behind the door, [he] was shooting at Mr. Harris." Id. at 61-62. 687. [GARRITY] For a discussion of the discovery issues surrounding the Horuichi Shooting Incident Review sketch, see Section IV(M) (2), infra. 688. The view of Monroe, Horiuchi's partner, was obstructed by foliage, but he had focused his scope on armed people running toward the cabin. At the time of the second shot, an adult male dove toward the front door. Monroe could not tell if the male had been hit. Monroe Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 8. Approximately 30 seconds after the first shot, Wenger was three people running toward the cabin with a female in the lead. The female and male entered the cabin. The second male stopped on the porch and appeared to look in the direction from which he had come. While Wenger was lining up a shot, he saw the individual flinch before dropping below the vision of his scope. He heard unintelligible female screaming for approximately ten to twenty seconds, but did not see a female. Wenger Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 4. Whitcomb saw three people running toward the cabin. When they reached the front porch, he heard a second shot. The porch roof obstructed his view, and he was nothing more. While the people were outside, Whitcomb attempted to shoot, but was unable to do so because of obstructions and the speed with which they moved. Whitcomb Sworn Statement, December 7, 1993, at 7. Tilton saw three persons running toward the cabin and out of his view. He heard a second shot, followed by a woman screaming. Tilton Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 3. Love saw two persons running toward the cabin. After losing sight of them, he heard a shot, followed by screaming. Sworn Statement of Roger Love, August 31, 1992, at 4. Bamford was three people running toward the cabin, but lost sight of them as they got near the front door. He could not identify the three individuals, could not distinguish whether they were male and female, and could not determine whether they were carrying weapons. After he lost sight of them, he heard a second shot. Bamford Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 3. Approximately 15 to 20 seconds after the first shot, Barker saw three persons moving from the shed to the cabin. One of the males appeared to be holding his left side. As the three reached the porch, Barker heard a second shot and female scream. Barker Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 4. Curran did not see any people, but did hear a second shot and a scream. Sworn Statement of Christopher Curran, November 3, 1993, at 3. 689. Hazen Storm Statement, November 19, 1993, at 13. Cooper and Roderick were informed that night that an HRT sniper had killed Harris. Cooper expressed disbelief and insisted that he had shot Harris at the Y. Id.; Cooper Sworn Statement, at 12-13; Norris Sworn Statement, at 15. 690. The FBI SICC Log at Headquarters reports at 9:12 p.m. (EDT).: SAC Glenn advised that within the last 1/2 hour, FBI helicopter, flying over subject's house, had drawn fire from within the house. Thereafter, shots were exchanged between subject(s) in house and snipers. None of our personnel were struck. Unknown if subjects(s) were hit. The Crisis Center Log reports between 8:58 p.m. (EDT) and 9:43 p.m. (EDT) : two friendly sniper rounds fired into the Weaver house, and reported a possible hit. SIOC [FBI] advised that observation helicopter overflying the Weaver residence had take fire from the Weaver house. Ground observers had also taken fire when snipers returned fire. ADO Smith had telephonically confirmed that the observation helicopter had taken fire during a fly over of the Weaver residence. Law Enforcement officers at the point fired twice, possibly hitting one unidentified male, possibly Kevin Harris..... Mike McShane advised that: [I]nformation received from FBI Command Post is that the HRT believes that Harris has been shot and killed. This information is very sketchy at this time and its reliability is unknown. The Crisis Center Log also reports at 11:26 p.m. (EDT) that: ADO Smith confirmed and clarified that when the observation helicopter was fired upon, three persons -- one male (tentatively identified as Harris) and two females and exited the Weaver house, although it remains unclear whether the females were also firing weapons. When law 691 Harris FD-302, September 1, 1992, at 3-4 692 Transcript of Conversation Between James Gordon "Bo" Gritz and Randy Weaver, August 29, 1992, at 3-4. The bullet entered the right side of Weaver's face, severing her carteroid artery and vein and causing a massive, instantaneous loss of blood, resulting in death. The clothing Weaver has wearing when her body was recovered was saturated in blood. Autopsy report of George Lindholm, August 31, 1992, at 3-4. A holstered semi- automatic pistol was recovered from Weaver's body when it was removed from the cabin. FD-302 Interview of James Gordon "Bo" Gritz, November 17, 1993, at 10. 693 Rogers Trail Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 66-67. 694 Id. at 67 695 It was originally reported to FBI Headquarters in Washington that the progress of the carriers up the mountain was hindered "by a large truck in the road. The truck is anchored to the ground by a metal stake." SIOC Log, August 22, 1992, at 9:50 p.m. EDT (6:50 p.m. PDT) 696 HRT Sniper Log, August 22, 1992, at 6:12 p.m. (PDT) 697 Lanceley, FD-302, September 7, 1993. Attachment at 1. 698 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 64. 699 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 30. 700 U.S. Marshal Johnson reported "fly bys" of the compound and noted that "there still appears to be two white males in the compound." Crisis Center Log, August 22, 1992 at 13. 701 For example, Vicki Weaver described the dog chasing the "servants of the New World Order" down Farnsworth Road. Diary entry, August 21, 1992. 702 (GARRITY) 703 November 5, 1993, at 9 (GARRITY) 704 Id. at 10. 705 Coulson Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 9, 13-14 706 Having spent the previous evening at Headquarters, Potts was at home when the operations plan arrived. 707 Glenn told the Shooting Incident Review Team that, " at 12:15 pm on Saturday, August 22, 1992, the Operations plan which included the rules of engagement, was faxed to FBI headquarters and USMS Headquarters, and at 12:30 PM they approved the plan." Glenn Sworn Statement, September 2, 1992, at 6. 708 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 16. 709 This is confirmed by Special Agent in Charge William Gore in his sworn statement dated November 3, 1993, at 7. 710 This reference in the SIOC log states: SAC Glenn advised DAD Coulson the Portland SWAT team had contact with who (sic) they believe was subject approximately 1/4 mile 'up canyon' from home. He used profanity and told them to get off property. SAC was reminded of rules of engagement and to treat subject as threat if confronted outside home. SAC is working on negotiation plan. SIOC Log, August 22, 1992, at 6:30 p.m. (EDT) (Emphasis added.) 711 FBI Deadly Force Policy, November 1992, at 1. 712 Training Materials on the FBI Deadly Force Policy, November 1992, at 1. 713 Id. at 2-3. 714 The provision for warnings found in Garner, which is also part of the FBI Standard Deadly Force Policy, is absent in Graham. 715 A discussion of the propriety of Horiuchi's two shots may be found below. 716 Barker Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 2. After reviewing the statements and testimony of the sniper/observers and Horiuchi, we have concluded the Horiuchi's decision not to shoot the two armed males on sight is probably a testament to his training, given the Rules on which he had been brief at least three times that day. Those Rules directed him to dispense with the usual assessment of harm, to dispense with warnings, even if feasible, and to shoot armed males who emerged from the cabin. 717 Potts Sworn Statement, December 17, 1993, at 7. 718 Coulson Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 6. 719 A primary function of sniper/observers is to remain undetected. Consequently, an announcement by sniper/observers once in position would, in our view, unwisely disclose their position. Horiuchi acknowledge at trial that he could have stood up and told Weaver and Harris to drop their weapons. However, he also testified that "yelling may not have been effective" and that he "didn't have the time or the distance or probably the voice loud enough to yell at either Weaver or Harris to drop the weapon." Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 169 720 We believe Harris' behavior indicates that he was resisting arrest. After engaging in the firefight that killed Degan, Harris retreated with Weaver to the cabin and emerged only when armed. There was no indication that Harris or any member of the Weaver/ Harris group was going to surrender to law enforcement. 721 Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 88, 90 722 Id. at 93 [GARRITY] 723 Shots were not fired at the helicopter. The SIOC Log indicates that shots were fired during the events of August 22. SIOC Log August 22, 1992, at 9:12 p.m. (EDT), 6:12 p.m. That information is erroneous. We have found no evidence during this inquiry that shots fired at any helicopter during the Ruby Ridge crisis. The erroneous entry was never corrected. 724 [GARRITY] 725 Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 4, 1993, at 40-41 726 Id. at 42. 727 Monroe Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 4-5. 728 Barker Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 3-4. 729 Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 4, 1993, at 34-35. [G.J.] 730 [G.J.] 731 According to Kevin Harris, "All three had rifles" when they left the cabin. Harris FD-302, September 1, 1992 at 3. See also, Monroe Sworn Statement, December 17, 1993, at 6-7; Barker Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 3. 732 [G.J.] 733 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 23. 734 Id. 735 Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindquist, one of the attorneys who prosecuted Weaver and Harris, asked Horiuchi during the trial preparation why he believed that the conduct of the subjects, as they retreated to the cabin, constituted offensive action even under the standard FBI deadly force policy. Horiuchi explained that the subjects had been aggressive and that, if they got back to the house, Horiuchi and his colleagues would be exposed to fire without being able to fire back because of the children in the cabin. Lindquist Interview, December 2, 1993, Tape 6, at 21-22. 736 Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993 at 111. Horiuchi was not the only person disposed to shoot again. As Wenger watched three people running to the cabin, he "began to line up a shot with [his] sniper rifle....." Wenger Sworn Statement, August 31, 1992, at 4. 737 Horiuchi FD-302, August 22, 1992, at 1. [GARRITY] At trial, Horiuchi characterized Harris' action as a "pause" Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 4, 1993, at 86. 738 Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993 at 86 739 [GARRITY] 740 Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 8; Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 17-18 741 Id. at 111-12. 742 Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 4, 1993, at 61-62. 743 Ironically, Horiuchi's decision to shoot at the door is inconsistent with the justification he gave for the shot. Horiuchi testified that, once the subjects were in the cabin, the would be able to fire out and be protected from return fire because the HRT "probably would not have shot at anyone inside the house for fear of shooting the children." Horiuchi Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 110-11. 744 (GARRITY) 745 Id. at 140. 746 John Hall and Kimberly Crawford, Supervisory Special Agents at the Legal Training Unit at the FBI Academy, have concluded that Horiuchi's second shot was necessary because "permitting a demonstrably dangerous (and armed) person to regain a position of cover and concealment dramatically increases the potential threat to future efforts to effect the seizures of the suspects." Therefore, in their view, Horiuchi reasonably concluded that the armed men at whom he fired were likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, if not controlled, and that the use of deadly force was necessary to achieve control safely. Hall/ Crawford Memo, December 2, 1993, at 5. 747 See discussion of this issue by FBI Legal Instruction Unit in Sauls FD-302, October 20, 1993, at 2. 748 Hall/Crawford Memo, December 2, 1993, at 5. 749 Id. at 4-5. 750 Id. at 5. 751 Id. at 3 (quoting Garner, 471 U.S. at 11). (Emphasis in original.) 752 Id. at 4. 753 Garner, 471 U.S. at 11. 754 Id. (Emphasis added) 755 Id. at 3. (Emphasis added) 756 Graham, 490 U.S. at 396. (Emphasis added.) 757 We note that, having given several sworn statements on the topic, Horiuchi and HRT Commander Rogers declined to make a statement to us during the course of this inquiry. 758 For instance, Glenn concluded that those in the cabin "were continuing to resist arrest, knowing that law enforcement personnel were amassing around them because of the large number of vehicle they would have seen/heard coming up the road in the valley on a Friday night." Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 14. On Saturday morning, August 22, before HRT's arrival, the Portland SWAT team leader heard someone he believed to be Randy Weaver yell words to the effect of "Get the hell off my property." The FBI believed that Weaver knew he was addressing law enforcement officials. FD-302 Interview of Paul Hudson, October 5, 1993, at 3; Sworn Statement of E. Michael Kahoe, December 7, 1993, at 6. Furthermore, the helicopter mission occurring at the time Horiuchi took the two shots was the sixth reconnaissance mission by the HRT helicopter that day. 759 Gerald McLamb, one of the non-government negotiators who helped resolve the crisis, said that Randy Weaver did not mention whether he knew that law enforcement personnel were posted around the Weaver cabin when he left the cabin to go to the birthing shed. FD-302 Interview of Gerald Jackson McLamb, January 13, 1994, at 5. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [G.J.] [Editor's Note: Pages 229-232, all of Section G, were omitted from the copy provided to LCC and circulated in-house at the Department of Justice by DOJ editors. We have reprinted the table of contents as an outline of the material covered in that Section.] IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED G. FBI Internal Review of HRT Shots Taken on August 22, 1992 229 1. Introduction 229 2. Statement of Facts 229 3. Discussion 230 4. Conclusion 232 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED H. Law Enforcement Operations at Ruby Ridge From August 22, 1992 Until August 31, 1992. 1. Introduction Following the death of Deputy Marshal Degan, the FBI assumed primary jurisdiction over the investigation of the events relating to his death. The FBI's handling of the investigation at Ruby Ridge has been criticized on several grounds: that the FBI's command and control of the crisis site was not handled properly in that insufficient emphasis was placed on negotiations to resolve the crisis; that the FBI failed to coordinate law enforcement components properly; and that false information was knowingly given to the media to cover up the cause of Sammy Weaver's death, Vicki Weaver's death, and Kevin Harris' and Randy Weaver's injuries. Soon after learning on August 21, 1992 about the shooting incident at Ruby Ridge, U.S. Attorney Maurice Ellsworth authorized Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Howen to travel there to assist law enforcement personnel with legal matters. Howen arrived late in the evening of August 21st and spent the next ten days with law enforcement personnel who had responded to the crisis. Questions have been raised as to whether it was appropriate for Howen to have been at Ruby Ridge and whether some of his activities were improper and conflicted with his role as the federal prosecutor in the case. Foremost among these allegations is that he was an active participant in tactical decisions, negotiations, and searches which transformed him into a witness in the investigation at Ruby Ridge. 2. Statement of Facts a. Removal of Law Enforcement Personnel From the Mountain Following Horiuchi's Shots When the personnel carriers were near the Weaver cabin delivering the initial announcement and installing telephone communications equipment, worsening weather conditions were reported on the hill. HRT Gold Team leader Love reported to HRT Sniper Coordinator Hazen that visibility was poor and getting worse and that optical equipment was beginning to fog. Several of the snipers were suffering from hypothermia. [FN771] Hazen recommended to HRT Commander Rogers that the sniper/observers be removed from their positions and return to the lower command post.[FN772] Rogers and Special Agent in Charge Glenn agreed to withdraw the sniper/observers and establish an inner perimeter around the cabin area the following morning. Glenn concluded that the weather and poor visibility made it nearly impossible even for people with knowledge of the terrain, like the Weaver/Harris group, to move about without being detected. On the basis of the available intelligence, Glenn believed that the only way that Weaver and his group could leave the cabin area was by a road that passed through the FBI command post area. The sniper/observers were withdrawn after dark on Saturday evening, August 22. During the night, Glenn deployed FBI SWAT teams around the command post and controlled access to the road leading to the Weaver compound. He was confident that these measures would prevent any of the Weaver group from fleeing.[FN774] According to Hazen, the sniper/observers were also withdrawn for debriefings on the tactical and geographic information they had gathered while observing the Weaver compound.[FN775] Upon returning to the command post after the shooting, the HRT sniper/observers were debriefed and were instructed to document their actions and observations in FD-302 investigative reports. Glenn had reported the shooting incident to FBI Headquarters earlier in the evening. b. Command and Control Structure The death of Deputy Marshal Degan entailed violations of federal criminal statutes that gave the FBI primary jurisdiction over the investigation.[FN776] Eugene Glenn, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City Division, was assigned primary responsibility for managing the federal law enforcement response to the crisis. He was initially assisted by William Gore, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Seattle Division. As of August 23, Glenn was also assisted by Robin Montgomery, Special Agent in Charge of the Portland Division. In addition to intelligence gathering, the primary concerns of local and federal law enforcement were to rescue the surviving marshals, along with the body of Deputy Marshal Degan, apprehend the subjects without further loss of life, and prevent their reinforcement by sympathizers. State and local officers and a few representatives of the Marshals Service and the border patrol were the first law enforcement officials on the scene. two FBI agents, Larry Wages and Thelma Campos, who were attending personal matters in the area, heard about the shooting and responded. Soon after, a group of interested citizens began to gather. Following Deputy Marshal Hunt's calls for emergency assistance, in which he reported that a Deputy Marshall had been shot and that others were pinned down, local law enforcement agencies responded promptly and established a controlled access point at the bridge leading to the Weavers' cabin. Idaho State Police officers and a dispatcher arrived before their local commander, Captain E. Glen Schwartz arrived at 3:00 p.m. Captain Schwartz described the command structure as a "unified command" with each agency in charge of its own personnel.[FN777] On August 21, 1992, Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus declared a state of emergency in Boundary County, proclaiming that: the nature of the disaster is the occurrence and the imminent threat of injury and loss of life and property arising out of the standoff situation in Boundary County.[FN778] This proclamation allowed law enforcement agencies on the scene to use certain emergency services, such as Idaho National Guard resources.[FN779] Although Deputy Marshal Hunt was viewed as having the predominant law enforcement interest because the case was his and he was responsible for the marshals on the mountain, local law enforcement leaders believed that Hunt's decision making capacity had diminished due to stress. They have asserted that they would not have permitted Hunt to make ill-advised decisions.[FN780] Glenn arrived at the crisis site at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Friday, August 21, followed by Gore approximately one and a half hours later. They both arrived before the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (approximately 50 agents) and the Marshals Service Special Operations Group (approximately 58 agents). In Glenn's view, the Idaho State Police, commanded by Major Strickfaden, appeared to be coordinating the law enforcement response before his arrival. [FN781] When Glenn arrived, the primary goal of the law enforcement effort was to rescue the marshals on the mountain and stabilize the situation until additional federal resources arrived. Glen ordered that a perimeter be established around the command post/staging area to ensure safety, to prevent Weaver and his associates from coming into the area during the night, and to contain a crowd of Weaver sympathizers and supporters.[FN782} Glenn and Gore were unfamiliar with the crisis site. The command post/staging area was located in a flat area at the base of the mountain on which the Weaver cabin was located. Glenn and Gore directed FBI technical personnel to establish telephone communications at the command post.[FN783] Once the command post was secure, Glenn and Gore set about gathering information about the Weaver group. When Richard Rogers, Commander of HRT, and Duke Smith, Associate Director of the U.S. Marshals service, arrived early Saturday morning, August 22, Glenn and Gore briefed them on the situation.[FN784] The command post log entry for August 26 shows that power to the cabin was cut off on Saturday night, August 22. On Sunday morning, a 360 degree inner perimeter around the Weaver cabin site and a forward command post near the cabin were established, and they were maintained for the remainder of the crisis.[FN785] On August 23, Special Agent in Charge Robin Montgomery from the FBI's Portland Division reported to the Ruby Ridge site and took charge of the forward command post near the cabin were established, and they were maintained for the remainder of the crisis.[FN785] On August 23, Special Agent in Charge Robin Montgomery from the FBI's Portland Division reported to the Ruby Ridge site and took charge of the forward command post in alternating twelve-hour shifts with Gore. Rogers and the hostage negotiators were also in the forward command post with Gore and Montgomery. The forward command post was the central point for both tactical and negotiations efforts.[FN786] Investigative and intelligence functions continued at the rear command post, but the establishment of the forward command brought about a change in the control of the massive resources gathered at Ruby Ridge. Glenn remained at the rear or lower command post to marshal the many law enforcement agencies, coordinate with the leaders of those agencies, and maintain liaison with FBI Headquarters and the press.[FN787] Glenn retained ultimate approval authority for negotiation and tactical efforts proposed by his subordinates. If emergency tactical action were necessary, Glenn authorized Gore and Montgomery at the forward command post to act. A representative of the Marshals Service was also assigned to the forward command post to ensure immediate access to information gathered during the previous fugitive investigation that might assist in formulating negotiation strategies.[FN788] c. Tactical Operations and Discovery of Sammy Weaver's Body On Sunday morning, August 23, Rogers, with Glenn and Gore's approval, took two teams of HRT personnel to the vicinity of the Weaver compound in armored personnel carriers. Using a bull horn, Rogers made repeated announcements to the Weaver cabin for about 30 minutes to convince the occupants to negotiate.[FN789] FBI Hostage negotiator Frederick Lanceley asked to accompany Rogers, but Rogers told him that he was not needed.[FN790] As a consequence, Lanceley was not present during this attempt to communicate with those inside the cabin.[FN791] According to Lanceley, on Sunday afternoon, after Rogers and his team returned, Rogers told Lanceley that he had "delivered an ultimatum to the effect that if they don't come out, [Rogers] would begin to knock down the outbuildings and then start knocking down their house."[FN792] Rogers asserted that he now had to knock down the buildings because he could not back down from the ultimatum. [FN793] Lanceley told Rogers that the destruction of the buildings would limit negotiations strategies.[FN794] FBI hostage negotiator E. MacArthur Burke was astounded upon hearing that the outbuildings were to be removed because this might escalate the situation before negotiations had begun. Although he was aware of the tactical advantage to their removal, he agreed with Lanceley that it would be detrimental to the negotiations effort.[FN795] On Sunday evening, August 23, with the approval of Glenn, Gore, and Montgomery, personnel carriers began to remove outbuildings, such as the birthing shed and the water tanks, near the Weaver cabin to protect tactical personnel, should it become necessary to mount an emergency assault on the Weaver cabin. Removal of the outbuildings would also tighten the inner perimeter around the cabin by removing visual and physical obstructions to HRT and SOG personnel.[FN796] During the clearing of the birthing shed, the body of Sammy Weaver was discovered unexpectedly.[FN797] There is no evidence that law enforcement personnel knew of Sammy Weaver's death before this discovery.[FN798] FBI negotiators reported to the FBI's Special Operations and Research Unit on the morning of August 24 that "the mood among the commanders and HRT appeared to be to mount an assault on the Weaver residence no later than the evening of 8/24".[FN799] The discovery of Sammy weaver's body brought about renewed efforts to negotiate with the Weaver group. The discovery also brought aggressive tactical actions, such as removal of the outbuildings, to an end. It was believed that the Weavers would break their silence to express their wishes for the handling of their son's body and funeral arrangements. However, there was no response from the Weaver cabin.[FN800] d. Change from Rules of Engagement to the FBI Standard Deadly Force Policy On Wednesday, August 26 at 10:53 a.m. (PDT), the Rules of Engagement in effect since the arrival of the Hostage Rescue Team were revoked. At Glenn's direction, the FBI's standard policy became the guideline for the use of deadly force by law enforcement personnel deployed on the cabin perimeter.[FN801] On Sunday evening, August 23, after Sammy Weaver's body had been discovered, Glenn began to reevaluate the intelligence he had received at the command post. The cabin's occupants had not acted aggressively since the apparent attempt to fire on the helicopter about 24 hours earlier. A personnel carrier had been to the front of the cabin and had not been challenged, and outbuildings had been demolished without fire from the cabin. An inner perimeter had been established, and booby traps had not been found. Glenn believed that law enforcement personnel on the scene were adequately protected. He concluded that those in the cabin were not as threatening as originally believed or that their resistance was weakening. He did not entirely dismiss their propensity for violence, but concluded that the threat had diminished by Sunday evening.[FN802] For these reasons, Glenn changed the Rules of Engagement to the FBI's standard deadly force policy. He did not solicit Headquarter's advice on the change because it was not necessary. [FN803] Glenn stated that he made the change some time around midday Monday, August 24. This contradicts the HRT sniper log, which shows that the change occurred on Wednesday, August 26. The Strategic Information and Operations Center ("SIOC") Log at FBI Headquarters reflects the change on August 26 at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Within a day or two of the discovery of Sammy Weaver's body, Glenn told Gore that FBI agents assigned to the crime scene had reported that some of the early assumptions about the Degan shooting were in question and had not been substantiated by the crime spans. Glenn also told Gore that the debriefings of the marshals involved in the shooting and a review of the BATF case had raided other questions. According to Gore, the entire predicate of the federal effort was in question. Gore observed that the crisis situation had been stable for several days and that the Weaver group had not engaged in aggressive action. Glenn then decided to return to the FBI's standard policy on the use of deadly force. [FN804] Robin Montgomery arrived at the crisis site on August 23 and learned of the Rules of Engagement. Montgomery believed that the Rules were close to an authorization to shoot on sight. He did not believe that the Rules supported the negotiation effort, and he discussed them with Glenn, Gore, Duke Smith of the Marshals Service, and possibly two other members of the Marshals Service. Shortly thereafter, the Rules of Engagement were changed. [FN805] Rogers stated that by Wednesday the level of threat had diminished because the subjects had fired no shots since the original firefight and they had not committed any aggressive acts. HRT personnel had established well protected positions, completely surrounding the Weaver cabin. The subjects posed no immediate threat, and consequently the Rules of Engagement were changed to the FBI's standard deadly force policy. Rogers denied that the revocation of the Rules was related to the discovery of Sammy Weaver's body.[FN806] According to an entry in the FBI SIOC Log at Headquarters, on Wednesday, August 26, 1992, at 12:30 p.m. (EDT), Potts and Glenn agreed to change the Rules of Engagement to FBI standard deadly force policy, effective 1:00 p.m. (EDT).[FN807] There is no record of the decision to change the Rules of Engagement in the FBI's command post log at Ruby Ridge. The HRT sniper/observer log shows that Rogers changed the Rules of Engagement to the FBI standard deadly force policy on Wednesday, August 26, at 10:53 a.m. and that each sniper/observer position acknowledged the change at 10:54 a.m.[FN808] e. Evidence of Vicki Weaver's Death On Friday, August 28, at approximately 5:00 p.m., Bo Gritz, a nongovernmental negotiator, started a series of discussions that ultimately led to the resolution of the crisis without additional violence. Gritz was the first person to be told that Weaver's wife was dead and the first aside from those in the cabin to observe Vicki Weaver's body. Law enforcement personnel state that the initial evidence that Vicki Weaver was dead came in the first few moments of the first conversation Gritz had with Randy Weaver on August 28. [G.J.] [FN809] This conversation also confirmed that Harris had been wounded by HRT rifle shots on August 22. At the conclusion of the conversation, Gritz briefed Rogers and Glenn. Later that day, he also informed a group of sympathizers gathered near the crisis site. The efforts of Gritz and Jack McLamb, another nongovernmental negotiator, were successful, and on Sunday, August 30, between mid-morning and noon, Harris agreed to surrender, an important development for several reasons, not the least of which was that for the first time Gritz talked face-to-face with Randy Weaver. When Gritz and McLamb met Harris at the rear door of the residence and helped hi down the stairs, the cabin door opened, exposing Weaver and the interior. Later, Gritz saw Vicki Weaver's body on the kitchen floor, partially under a table.[FN810] A cloth had been placed over the top half of the body, leaving the lower half exposed. The feet were positioned near the front door, with the head and torso toward the interior. The manner in which the body was positioned was consistent with a backward fall from the front doorway. It appeared to Gritz that the body had not been moved after the shooting. [G.J.] [FN811] A review by the FBI of all audio and video tapes of the events at Ruby Ridge shows that no information had been received by the FBI or other law enforcement personnel about Vicki Weaver's death before Gritz' conversation with Randy Weaver on August 28. Interviews of personnel from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Idaho State Police, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and local agencies at the scene during the standoff do not reveal any earlier knowledge of Vicki Weaver's death. No notations concerning Vicki Weaver's death were found in any official log of the events or in any other records made during the standoff. [FN812] f. Initial Steps Toward Negotiation On August 22, Glenn and Rogers focused much of their energy on the procurement and outfitting of two armored personnel carriers with a telephone and enough line to reach the command post from one Weaver compound, a distance of approximately one mile. Glenn believed that resolution of the crisis through dialogue and negotiations was the most desirable and usually the safest outcome. He stressed that the FBI tried every proposed negotiation option from the beginning of the crisis.[FN813] Gore also believed that the objective was peaceful resolution of the crisis. In his view, tactical personnel first had to establish a means to communicate with the Weaver group in the cabin, which did not have a telephone. The objective of the operations plan was to establish a perimeter for containment of the crisis site and to get close enough to establish communications. [FN814] FBI senior hostage negotiator, Frederick Lanceley was notified of the situation at Ruby Ridge Friday afternoon, August 21. He traveled with the main group of HRT personnel from the Washington, D.C. area to Idaho, arriving early in the morning on Saturday, August 22. He received no request for consultation on negotiations until mid-afternoon Saturday, August 22, when he was called to the command post and asked to write a negotiations addendum to the proposed operations plan. He was not consulted before the submission of the initial plan, which FBI Headquarters rejected because it did not contain a negotiations component.[FN815] Early in the crisis, Lanceley was not a party to the discussions among command personnel. Nevertheless, he believed that they intended to resolve the crisis tactically. He was unaware of discussions between Glenn and other command personnel concerning negotiations. He strongly criticized the tactical actions taken, and he regretted not being more aggressive in voicing his objections on Saturday, August 22, and again on Sunday evening, August 23, when he opposed removal of the outbuildings. [FN816] The initial negotiations strategy was to approach the Weaver cabin, read a surrender statement over a loudspeaker, and attempt to resolve the crisis through the surrender of the Weaver group. The surrender announcement was to be read after tactical personnel had established a 360-degree perimeter around the Weaver compound. If the Weaver group did not surrender following the announcement, a hostage phone was to be delivered and telephone wire was to be laid down the mountain from the cabin to the command post. Immediately after Horiuchi's shots, HRT Commander Richard Rogers decided to drive two armored personnel carriers to the cabin area to deliver a telephone and establish communications with those inside the cabin.[FN817] When the carriers were within 30 to 50 feet of the cabin, Lanceley made the following surrender announcement at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night: Mr. Weaver, this is Fred Lanceley of the FBI. You should understand that we have warrants for the arrest of yourself and Mr. Harris. I would like you to accept a telephone so that we can talk and work out how you will come out of the house without further violence. I would like you or one of your children to come out of the house, unarmed, pick up the telephone and return to the house.[FN818] There was no response to Lanceley's message. The telephone was placed approximately twenty yards from the cabin. Both carriers left, laying wire for the phone as they returned down the mountain. Continuous attempts to contact the Weaver group by ringing the telephone were made throughout the night. There was no response. g. Continuing Efforts of the FBI Hostage Negotiators In mid-morning, Sunday, August 13, following the return of the HRT sniper/observers to their positions, Rogers took the two carriers back to the position near the Weaver cabin where they had been the previous night. The telephone was in the same position they had left it the night before. This required all communication with the cabin to be made by bullhorn or megaphone. Rogers spoke to the group in the cabin for approximately 30 minutes encouraging them "to come out, pick up the phone, establish dialogue, and let's move on with this and establish some kind of communications". [FN819] Rogers claims to have heard no response from the Weaver cabin. Two assault teams were deployed from the carriers to establish a 360-degree cordon around the cabin. According to Rogers, the assault personnel could not be seen from the cabin. After this deployment, between 20 and 21 assault personnel were around the cabin continuously until the resolution of the crisis on August 31.[FN820] The nature of Commander Rogers' message to the Weaver group on Sunday morning is at issue. According to Lanceley, before Rogers and his team ascended the mountain, Lanceley asked Rogers if Lanceley could accompany him to the cabin area. Rogers told Lanceley that he would not be needed.[FN821] [G.J.] [G.J.] [FN822] [G.J.] There was no response from the cabin.[FN823] During Bo Gritz' discussions with the Weaver group later in the week, Weaver and his daughters told Gritz that they had developed an intense hatred for Lanceley because of remarks directed to Vicki Weaver and questions he asked about what they were having for breakfast. Weaver said these remarks "pissed them off" and strengthened their resolve in the cabin."[FN824] On August 21, the HRT supervisors told behavioral scientists in the FBI's Special Operations and Research Unit about the HRT deployment and provided them with the limited information available. On August 23, the behavioral scientists were given incomplete additional information. When FBI Supervisory Special Agent Clint Van Zandt developed the profile, he was not aware that shots had been fired on August 22; that Vicki Weaver had been killed [FN825]; or that anyone had been wounded. He said that the shooting incident would affect the way in which the Weaver family perceived attempts by the government to negotiate.[FN826] The behavioral scientists sent an assessment to the crisis site on August 24. This assessment included several observations and suggestions for dealing with the Weaver group: the Weavers will not trust negotiators connected to the federal government; Randy Weaver's resolve would be strengthened if he has contact with local supporters; third parties should be considered to assist the negotiations; the Weaver group, including Vicki Weaver, her children, and Harris, could be expected to meet any attempt to enter the residence with armed resistance; if Vicki Weaver believed that efforts to overwhelm them physically or otherwise drive the Weavers from their home would be successful, she could be expected to kill the children and commit suicide; as those inside the cabin became fatigued, the Weaver group could resort to a suicide attack directed against federal law enforcement officials, if they believed the perimeter was too close to the cabin. On Tuesday, August 25, FBI negotiators continued their efforts, which included statements directed at Vicki Weaver and expressing concern for the family's welfare. The Weaver group was repeatedly asked to surrender, and they were assured that they would not be harmed. There was to response.[FN827] The command post log states that water to the cabin was cut off on August 25. The first contact with Randy Weaver occurred on Wednesday, August 26. In mid-morning, Lanceley told Weaver that the personnel carrier would approach the cabin to transfer the telephone to the robot and that the robot would approach the cabin with the telephone to improve communications weaver was also told that the robot would try to push the telephone through a cabin window, breaking the cabin window in the process. Weaver shouted "Get the fuck out of here" and made other statements that could not be understood. In the afternoon, Weaver said that he would not take the telephone. h. Efforts of Nongovernmental Negotiators [G.J.] [FN828] [G.J.] [FN829] [G.J.] [FN830] On Friday, August 28, Marnis Joy again unsuccessfully tried to establish contact with her brother. Later that day, Randy Weaver stated that he would talk to Bo Gritz.[FN831] Glenn approached Gritz, and he offered to assist in negotiating with Weaver. Gritz convinced Glenn that because Gritz and Weaver had a common background in the Special Forces, Gritz had a better chance of talking to Weaver than anyone else on site. After conferring with Rogers and Headquarters, Glenn agreed to Gritz' participation. [FN832] On Friday afternoon, Gritz was briefed by Rogers and FBI negotiators. At dusk, he went up the mountain toward the Weaver cabin.[FN833] After trying unsuccessfully to communicate with Weaver using the robot and then a bullhorn from the personnel carrier, Gritz walked to the cabin. Through a window, he began to talk to Weaver. When Gritz asked if everyone was "OK," Weaver said, "No...My wife was shot and killed last Saturday."[FN834] At that time Gritz also learned that Weaver and Harris had been wounded. [FN835] Law enforcement components at Ruby Ridge told us that they first learned that Weaver, Kevin Harris, and Vicki Weaver had been shot and that Vicki Weaver was dead from Gritz' conversation with Weaver on August 28.[FN836] On Saturday morning, August 19, Gritz received permission to return to the Weaver residence with Jackie Brown, a friend of the Weaver family, and Chuck Sandelin, a local minister. Weaver yelled at Sandelin to get off the property. Sandelin left and was not used in negotiations again.[FN837] Rogers tried to discourage Jackie Brown from approaching the cabin. According to Brown, Rogers told her that, if she did not come out of the Weaver cabin within a reasonable time, he would assume that she had joined the Weavers or had been taken hostage and that HRT may have to come in to rescue her.[FN838] Gritz and Brown went to the cabin. Gritz spoke throughout the day with Weaver, his daughters, and Harris through the cabin wall. Gritz believed by the sound of Harris' voice that he was in need of medical attention. In addition to suggesting that Harris needed medical attention, Gritz conversed casually with Weaver about the military, spoke philosophically to him, and prayed with him. [FN839] On Sunday morning, Gerald McLamb, a retired Phoenix police officer who was assisting Gritz in his campaign for President, began assisting Gritz in the negotiations. Both negotiators focused their conversations with Weaver and Harris on Harris' need for medical attention. In mid-morning, Harris decided to surrender.[FN840] Gritz resumed conversations with Weaver, who agreed to the removal of Vicki Weaver's body from the cabin. When Gritz and Brown returned to the cabin with a body bag, Gritz wore a transmitting device that allowed the forward command post to monitor his conversation. For security reasons, Rogers insisted on this precaution. According to Mr. Gritz, Vicki Weaver's body was positioned in the location or very near the location where she fell at the time of her death. Brown and Gritz carried Vicki Weaver's body to the forward command post.[FN841] After delivering the body, Gritz saw Brown return to the cabin with some water and begin cleaning blood from the floor. Brown reported that, at her request, she was given two five gallon buckets of water, three white bath towels, and a roll of paper towels. Brown said she cleaned Vicki Weaver's blood from the cabin floor because she did not want the Weaver girls to have "to deal with cleaning the blood of their mother."[FN842] Gritz resumed speaking with Weaver and learned that the Weaver family was convinced that the law enforcement personnel wanted to kill each of them.[FN843] Weaver told Gritz that he wanted to surrender, but that his daughters would not let him. While in the cabin Gritz noted the armaments available to the Weavers and the configuration of the cabin structure. He relayed this information to Rogers.[FN844] According to Gritz at some point on Sunday, Rogers told him that, regardless of the day's events, HRT was going to assault the residence on Monday and that the assault would involve blowing out the windows and doors. Gritz disagreed with this plan and was disturbed because he felt negotiations were going well and because he was concerned about the possibility of injuring those in the cabin. Gritz discussed strategy with Rogers that involved "physically taking down" Weaver and his daughters, if an assault was initiated, to protect them from injuries.[FN845] both Gritz and McLamb felt uncomfortable with the assault strategy, but agreed it was the only way to protect the Weavers from being "killed in a tactical assault by HRT."[FN846] At trial, Rogers testified that he vetoed an arrangement with Gritz and McLamb to overpower Weaver, if he did not surrender. [FN847] On Monday, Gritz and McLamb returned to the Weaver residence. Gritz had the robot and the APC move away from the cabin. After contacting attorney Gerry Spence, Gritz told Randy Weaver that Spence would represent him. Gritz also carried a handwritten note from Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen to Weaver that agreed to allow Weaver to present his account of the situation to a grand jury. The Weaver family surrendered on August 31. [FN848] i. Decision to Send Howen to Ruby Ridge In the afternoon of August 21, U.S. Marshal Michael Johnson informed U.S. Attorney Ellsworth about the shooting at Ruby Ridge.[FN849] Shortly thereafter, Ellsworth informed Howen, the Assistant U.S. attorney to whom the Weaver matter had been assigned, about the incident. The Marshals Service gave Ellsworth and Howen an additional briefing.[FN850] Based on this information, Ellsworth and Howen believed that a team of marshals had been involved in an undercover operation at Ruby Ridge, that there had been a confrontation in which Deputy Marshal Degan had been killed in an exchange of gunfire, and that several marshals were still "pinned down" at the scene of the shooting.[FN851] After having been apprised of the crisis, Howen drafted an application for a search warrant with a supporting affidavit. [FN852] Howen soon realized that it would be difficult to draft this affidavit as well as subsequent applications in Boise when the supporting factual information was 400 miles away at Ruby Ridge. Howen suggested to Ellsworth that he travel to Ruby Ridge. Ellsworth agreed.[FN853] Ellsworth envisioned that, at Ruby Ridge, Howen would assist in drafting applications for search warrants and supporting affidavits, as well as prepare applications for electronic surveillance. He did not intend that Howen play an investigative or tactical role.[FN854] Although Ellsworth did not recall giving Howen specific directives, he noted that the standing directive in his office was that assistants should not engage in activities that would make them a witness in a case.[FN855] Howen believed that his presence at the scene would allow him to see matters first hand and prepare his case. In addition, Howen considered himself to be the representative of the United States Attorney and as such responsible for reporting to him about events at the scene.[FN856] j. Howen's Activities at Ruby Ridge At Ruby Ridge, Howen was involved in preparing criminal complaints, applications for arrest warrants, search warrants, and emergency electronic surveillance applications with supporting affidavits.[FN857] He denied that he assumed an investigative role or that he directed the activities of the FBI. Howen insisted that he did not conduct any interviews while at Ruby Ridge.[FN858] Nonetheless, Howen conceded that he was not a mute observer. For example, Howen was present at the Boundary County Sheriff's Office when Deputy Marshals Roderick and Cooper were interviewed. Other than asking a few questions, Howen stated that he was not an active participant in these interviews and he was unable to recall if he took notes.[FN859] Howen said that at these interview he "basically the marshals and asked question, but he did not consider these exchanges to be interviews.[FN861] Howen denied being involved in formulating strategy or participating in negotiations between law enforcement personnel and Weaver. However, he did write one of the notes sent to Weaver during the negotiations.[FN862] FBI Agent Rampton told investigators that Howen was not involved in the negotiations process and that Howen told him that he should remain separated from that process. [FN863] On August 24, Howen was present at the search of the Y. [FN864] Special Agent Venkus told investigators that he invited Howen to go on the search and that Howen did not find any evidence.[FN865] Howen also participated in the walk-throughs that occurred later in the week of August 24. With the exception of the walk-through with Deputy Marshal Norris, in which Howen participated completely, Howen believed that he only participated in parts of the walk-throughs. He could not recall if he took notes.[FN866] However, he conceded that he may have taken notes during the searches and walk-throughs when he heard something of interest.[FN867] Special Agent Wayne Manis recalled that Howen participated in the walk-through with Hunt and that Howen asked questions and took notes. Manis thought that Howen's conduct was appropriate.[FN868] Special Agent George Calley recalled Howen as a member of the grou that participated on an August 30 walk- [[ PAGES 255-262 UNAVAILABLE ]] Finally, the profile developed by the FBI's behavioral sciences personnel was based on incomplete information, thus leading to inappropriate negotiation strategy. Initially, the FBI Special Operations and Research Unit was not informed of the HRT rifle shots fired on August 22 or of the fact that Harris might have been wounded. According to the behavioral scientists who compiled the profile, the shooting incident would affect the way the Weaver family perceived negotiations. The scientists reported that their assessment would have been different, had they been told that shots had been fired and that someone might have been wounded. [FN901] This information was critical to the development of an accurate profile of Randy Weaver. The failure of on-site supervisors to communicate accurate information appears to have had a negative impact on the attempt to resolve the crisis through negotiation. (2) Balance of Tactical and Negotiation Strategies In a crisis situation in which a deliberate assault option is considered a necessary part of overall strategy, a written operational plan for the assault must be submitted to the FBI Headquarters for approval. On the other hand, emergency tactical operation, whether or not they will contribute to the ultimate resolution of the crisis, are the responsibility of both the Special Agents in Charge and the HRT command structure at the crisis site. FBI hostage negotiator Lanceley was critical of FBI crisis management at Ruby Ridge. When he attended Rogers' initial briefing, he was surprised and shocked by the Rules of Engagement and did not believe them to be consistent with the FBI's standard deadly force policy. They were the most severe rules he had seen in hundreds of prior crises. Lanceley described the situation: [T]here was a barricaded subject at the top of a mountain, no hostages, family present and plenty of cover for perimeter personnel. The [Deputy Marshal] were no longer pinned down and the subject was barricaded at a location which had few of the problems inherent to crises that one would encounter in an urban setting. there had been on gunfire since the previous morning at the time of the firefight with the [Deputy Marshals].[FN902] Lanceley told this inquiry that, when he heard Rogers tell the group that this would be "no long siege," Lanceley knew that Rogers did not intend to engage in negotiations. Following the briefing, Lanceley conveyed his perception to Rogers and told officer in the HRT command post. Rogers' response, "good," confirmed Lanceley's belief that there would be no negotiations.[FN903] When he arrived at the command post, Lanceley told Special Agent in Charge Glenn that he was available and proceeded to work on intelligence gathering. Lanceley withdrew from the management structure and was not party to the discussions of command personnel, who he believed intended to resolve the crisis tactically. Lanceley is not aware of discussion among Glenn and other command personnel which considered a negotiations strategy because he was not consulted before the rejection of the operations plan.[FN904] After the plan had been rejected in mid-afternoon on August 22, Lanceley was called to the command post and asked to write an addendum. He understood FBI Headquarters had rejected the operations plan because it did not contain a negotiation component. Lanceley strongly criticized the tactical actions taken, despite his absence from meetings in which command personnel discussed and approved strategy. Lanceley told this inquiry that he regretted not being more aggressive on August 22 and again on August 23, when he chose not to voice objections to Glenn about removing the outbuildings.[FN905] Another FBI Hostage negotiator, E. MacArthur Burke, believed that it was Lanceley's responsibility, as senior FBI negotiator, to press the issue of negotiation. Burke concluded that negotiators and SWAT personnel are highly trained and Special Agents in Charge are not as well prepared to handle the often opposing forces weighing in favor of tactical or negotiated resolutions. Burke believed that the negotiation-free operations order showed that the negotiation and tactical elements of the Ruby Ridge response were considerably out of balance.[FN906] In contrast to Burke, FBI negotiator Wilson Lima spoke of Glenn's commitment to establishing communications with the Weaver cabin from his arrival on the evening of August 21. The next morning, Glenn agreed that a phone should be given to the Weaver group.[FN907] We are aware that the structure of the HRT and its impressive machinery may tend to overtake the negotiators' role in a crisis situation where an inexperienced commander is in charge. Such a charge has arisen in this case. The lack of balance between the negotiation and tactical efforts created an atmosphere supporting a tactical resolution from the very beginning. The strong influence of the HRT management team at the scene is reflected in the way Bo Gritz' participation at the crisis site was finally authorized. According to Gritz, Glenn told him that before Glenn would authorize his participation, he would have to confer with Rogers and FBI Headquarters. There is no evidence that Lanceley was consulted before Gritz was permitted to join the effort to resolve the crisis.[FN908] From the information gathered during this inquiry, it appears that no operations plan was ever approved throughout the entire siege. Unfortunately, FBI records provided during this inquiry do not contain all the operations plans. The records are so incomplete that we can not verify this conclusion. In our opinion, the available records reflect insufficient consideration of negotiation strategy as compared to tactical approaches.[FN909] We have been told that the lack of a negotiation component in the initial operation plan did not reflect a lack of intent to negotiate, but the understanding that tactical personnel had to establish communications with the Weaver cabin before negotiations could begin. We have been told that the first objective of the operations plan was to establish a perimeter containing the crises site and to get close enough to establish communications.[FN910] [G.J.] [FN911 -- G.J.] While we credit the argument that it was necessary to secure the site before negotiations could commence, we find much evidence that a negotiation strategy was not the highest priority of the FBI crisis management team. We note the following: the failure to consult with a negotiations expert while formulating the initial operations plan; the failure to bring an FBI negotiator along on Rogers' mission to the cabin on Sunday morning; the failure to inform adequately FBI behavioral scientists that shots had been fired and that someone in the cabin might have been wounded; and repeated misinformation form the site that shots had been fired from the cabin on August 22. These facts give weight to the complaint that the management team favored a tactical strategy over a negotiation strategy to resolve the crisis. We find that position disturbing and look to the FBI to establish a mechanism to ensure a more even balance between the two strategies in the future. d. Evidence of Vicki Weaver's Death It has been alleged that law enforcement officials knew that Vicki Weaver was dead before Randy Weaver spoke with Bo Gritz on August 28. The allegation accuses the FBI of covering up its knowledge of Vicki Weaver's death in order to conceal that it intentionally shot and killed her. We find no factual support for that position and find that the allegation is totally without merit. The foundation for the allegation is speculation. For example, questions have been raised as to why during the electronic monitoring of conversations inside the Weaver cabin did law enforcement personnel not become suspicious when Vicki Weaver's voice was not heard. In our view this can be explained by the poor quality of the audio recordings and by the fact that 16 year-old Sara Weaver's voice may have been mistaken for her mother's. There were also unconfirmed reports of something resembling a body bag on the back porch of the Weaver cabin. This, according to the allegation, was another indication that law enforcement had earlier knowledge of Vicki Weaver's death. A deputy marshal at the scene reported that he was told by an unidentified individual that "there was something wrapped on the back porch that could possibly be a body, and there was a `smell of death'. It was related to me as adult size." [FN912] The marshal believed that if such a bag were on the back porch, it contained the body of Kevin Harris not Vicki Weaver.[FN913] This would be a reasonable assumption on the part of the marshal in light of Horiuchi's report that he may have shot Harris with his second shot. It is the conclusion of this inquiry that law enforcement personnel did not know of Vicki Weaver's death before Friday, August 28 when Randy Weaver informed Bo Gritz. e. Howen's Activities at Ruby Ridge Howen was present throughout the crisis at Ruby Ridge. We find nothing inappropriate about his presence or his conduct. Indeed, considering the remoteness of the Weaver property and the need for expeditious applications for search warrants and Title III authority, we believe that there was a legitimate need for a representative of the U.S. Attorney to be at Ruby Ridge. Most individuals questioned that it was appropriate for Howen to be a Ruby Ridge and observed no improper conduct. As the prosecutor in the case, Howen had an understandable interest in learning about the shootings at Ruby Ridge, as well as becoming familiar with the evidence. He was present at some of the interviews of the marshals, but primarily as an observer. The fact that he may have asked some questions and may have taken some notes was not improper. No one characterized Howen as orchestrating or controlling the interviews. Special Agent Caster reported seeing Howen take the marshals aside and talk to them but he had no knowledge of what was discussed. The only suggestion that Howen may have been a more active participant came from Gore's impression after talking to an agent. Such an impression is not evidence of prosecutorial misconduct. Although others reported Howen talking to individuals on the scene and taking notes, there was no evidence that these conversations were improper. Indeed, Howen needed to obtain information to draft necessary legal documents. Furthermore, as the persecutor in the case, it is understandable and appropriate that Howen took notes of matters that would assist him in preparing the case. With the exception of drafting legal documents for search warrants and Title III authority, there was no evidence that Howen was in a position of control at Ruby Ridge or that he exercised a decisionmaking function. No evidence was discovered that Howen had any role in the decision to deploy HRT or in the formulation or modification of the Rules of Engagement. Nor was there any evidence that he was involved in tactical or operational planning or decisions or in developing or implementing negotiation strategy. Similarly, there is no evidence that Howen acted improperly at walk-throughs and searches or that he controlled the searches or selected the investigative methodology. Indeed, Special Agent Davis believed that Howen tried not to interfere with the investigations. Although Howen may have made a few suggestions as to materials the investigators should seize, these suggestions were not orders and appear to have been made to assist the agents conducting the search. The advice Howen provided at these searches appears to have been solicited and was limited to the specific inquiry made. Our investigation uncovered no evidence that Howen's actions impeded investigators at the searches. We believe that, in the future, serious consideration should be given to including a representative from the U.S. Attorney's Office to law enforcement teams responding to crises like Ruby Ridge. The representative could assist law enforcement personnel in many matters such as participating in resolving the controversy and providing legal advice about issues arising during the crises. We recognize, however, that in many instances the representative should not be the attorney responsible for prosecuting the case because this could lead to the charge that the prosecutor was a witness to the critical events at issue. With that caveat, we believe that many of the issues a Ruby Ridge could have been avoided, if a member of the U.S. Attorney's Office had been a more active participant in the events. 4. Conclusion We believe that questionable decisions by HRT managers unintentionally contributed to circumstances that required removal of HRT personnel form the mountain overlooking the Weaver cabin on August 22 after the two rifle shots were fired. The FBI management team favored a tactical strategy and gave insufficient consideration to negotiations as a means to resolve the crisis. Negotiation experts at the site were not adequately informed and consulted during the crisis. The failure of onsite supervisors to communicate accurate information to the FBI's behavioral sciences personnel appears to have had a negative impact on attempts to resolve the crisis through negotiation. the late decision to use third party non-governmental negotiators was a sound management decision that displayed flexibility on the part of FBI management. Finally, Howen's conduct was proper and consistent with the roe of a federal prosecutor. Indeed, it may have been advisable for a member of the U.S. Attorney's Office to have participated more actively in some of the events at Ruby Ridge, thereby possibly avoiding some of the problems that arose. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART H 771 Sworn Statement of Lester Hazen, November 19, 1993, at 13-14. HRT personnel did not bring their "cold weather package" that included clothing better suited for the conditions because HRT supervisors did not anticipate cold weather in August. See Sworn Statement of William Luthin, November 18, 1993, at 3. 772 Hazen Sworn Statement, November 19, 1993, at 13-14. 773 HRT Commander Rogers testified that he originally planned to keep the sniper/observers on the mountain until 10:00 p.m. or midnight. Because of the weather, he ordered them off the mountain at approximately 8:00 p.m. Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 78. 774 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 24-26. 775 Hazen Sworn Statement, November 19, 1993, at 14. 776 Local authorities maintained jurisdiction over the investigation of the other deaths and injuries that occurred at Ruby Ridge. 777 FD-302 Interview of E. Glen Schwartz, October 21, 1993, at 4. Major Edwin Strickfaden of the Idaho State Police assumed command of his personnel upon his arrival some time between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. Strickfaden stated that Glenn arrived about the same time he arrived. The Idaho State Police had about 50 people at or near the crisis site. This included additional patrols in nearby Bonners Ferry, Idaho who were placed there at the request of city officials. FD-302 Interview of Edwin Strickfaden, October 7, 1993, at 4. 778 See Undated Proclamation signed by Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus, August 21, 1992. 779 However, it should be noted that the delay in deployment of the HRT sniper/observers could be attributed in part to the refusal of the Governor's office to release armored personnel carriers to the site. 780 For example, Captain Schwartz stated that Hunt wanted to take some officers and rescue the remaining marshals. Schwartz and tow deputy sheriffs talked Hunt out of this with a little "arm twisting." Schwartz FD-302, October 21, 1993, at 3. 781 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 2-9. 782 Id. at 9. Glenn and Gore ordered the Salt Lake City and Seattle SWAT teams to establish the perimeter. Sworn Statement of William Gore, November 3, 1993, at 4-5. 783 Id. 784 Id. at 5-6. 785 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 82-90. 786 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 20. 787 Id. at 20-21. 788 Id. at 20. 789 Rogers testified that he was trying to "get them to come out, pick up the phone, establish a dialogue, and let's move on with this and establish some kind of communications." Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 82. 790 Lanceley FD-302, October 19, 1993 at 4. 791 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 82-83. 792 Lanceley FD-302, October 19, 1993, at 5. 793 Id. 794 Id. 795 FD-302 Interview of E. MacArthur Burke, October 5, 1993, at 2. 796 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 94. 797 Glenn stated that the discovery of Sammy Weaver's body was the first evidence that anyone in the cabin had been injured. Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 28-29. This is inconsistent with HRT reports that Horiuchi's second shot might have hit an adult male. 798 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 106. The only evidence that law enforcement knew that Sammy Weaver had been struck during the exchange of gunfire of August 21 is the interview of Marshals Service Director Hudson, who stated that Deputy Director Twomey informed him that "it was believed that Sammy [Weaver] had been wounded." FD-302 Interview of Henry Hudson, November 15, 1993, at 4. Twomey reported that he told Hudson there was no indication Sammy had been shot. See FD-302 Interview of John Twomey, November 26, 1993, at 3. None of the FBI personnel at Ruby Ridge appears to have known that Sammy Weaver had been wounded or killed during the fire fight on August 21. Initial reports of the location of the wounds on Sammy Weaver's body were incorrect. For example, the Marshals Service Crisis center Log contains an entry on Sunday night that gunshot wounds were discovered on his head and left breast. An entry, less than two hours later, corrects the information, explaining that he had been shot once in the back and once in the arm. Crisis Center Log, August 23, 1992, at 11:03 p.m. (EDT) and August 24, 1992, at 12:48 a.m. (EDT). 799 FD-302 Interview of Clint Van Zandt, December 21, 1993, Attachment, at 1. 800 Gore Sworn Statement November 3, 1993, at 16. 801 HRT Sniper Log, August 26, 1992; FBI SIOC Log, August 26, 1992, at 12:30 p.m. (EDT) (Potts and Glenn approved the change). 802 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 28-29. 803 Id. 804 Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 15. 805 Sworn Statement of Robin Montgomery, October 25, 1993, at 2. 806 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 3, 1993, at 74-75. Duke Smith, Stephen McGavin, William Luthin, and Lester Hazen were not involved in the decision to revoke the Rules of Engagement but were advised of the decision. 807 SIOC Log, August 26, 1992, 12:30 p.m. (EDT), at 31. Potts does not recall this change. 808 HRT Sniper Log, August 26, 1992, 10:53 a.m. and 10:54 a.m., at 22. HRT and SWAT team members deployed at the time of the change to the FBI standard deadly force policy reported to this inquiry that they received radio notice of the change from Rogers. Each observation point was required to acknowledge that it was "on the air" before Rogers announced the change to the standard FBI policy and that it had heard and understood the change. An HRT member told HRT and SWAT personnel who began the next shift that the standard deadly force policy was in effect. Each briefing subsequent to the announcement included a reminder that the standard policy on deadly force was in effect. 809 [G.J.] 810 Gritz was asked during this inquiry whether, at any point leading up to Harris' surrender, he had detected odors associated with a dead body. Gritz said that he had not detected such odors and explained that he was very familiar with the odor of death, due to extensive service in Viet Nam. Gritz retired from the Special Forces at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1979. Soon after Harris' surrender, Gritz persuaded Weaver to allow him and Jackie Brown to come inside the residence and remove Vicki Weaver's body. He obtained a body bag and, with Randy Weaver's assistance, placed Vicki Weaver's body in the bag. Gritz detected only minimal odor and was unable to explain why the very recognizable odor usually associated with a several-day-old corpse had not permeated the residence. When Gritz placed the body in the bag, he removed what he described as a holstered nine millimeter semi-automatic pistol. 811 [G.J.] 812 It was rumored among law enforcement personnel that, after the second shot, a body, possibly Harris', could be seen on the front or back porch of the cabin. FD-302 Interview of Luke Joseph Adler, January 7, 1994, at 2-3. One marshal was told that there was something wrapped on the back porch "that could be possibly a body." Sworn Statement of Mark Jurgensen, February 7, 1994, at 16-17. None of the HRT personnel in mountainside observation positions reported seeing Harris' body or any other. The Crisis Center Log reported that the rumor was "completely false and unfounded." Crisis Center Log, August 25, 1992, at 2:51 p.m. (EDT). 813 Glenn Sworn Statement, January 12, 1994, at 17-18. 814 Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 8-9. 815 Lanceley FD-302, October 19, 1993, at 3-4. 816 Id. at 3-5. Wilson Lima, hostage negotiator for the FBI's Salt Lake City Division, was deployed with the Salt Lake City SWAT. Line spoke of Glenn's commitment to establishing a means of communication with the Weaver cabin from the time of his arrival on Friday evening, August 21, 1992. Lima recalls Glenn reiterating the need to get a phone to the Weaver/Harris group again on Saturday morning, August 22, 1992. FD-302 Interview of Wilson Lima, October 12, 1993, at 1-2. 817 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 67-69. 818 Lanceley FD-302, September 2, 1993, Attachment A, at 1. 819 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 82. 820 Id. at 83, 90-91, 93. 821 Lanceley FD-302, October 19, 1993, at 5. 822 [G.J.] ; Lanceley FD-302, September 2, 1993, Attachment A, at 2-4. Earlier in the day, a carrier ran over and broke the line to the hostage telephone. 823 [G.J] ; Lanceley FD-302, September 2, 1993, Attachment A, at 4-8. 824 Gritz FD-302, November 17, 1993, at 15. 825 Although the FBI at the scene did not know that Vicki Weaver was dead, they knew that shots had been fired and had substantial information that the second shot had at least injured, if not killed, Kevin Harris. 826 Van Zandt FD-302, December 21, 1993, at 1-2. 827 Lanceley FD-302, September 2, 1993, Attachment A, at 8-11. 828 [G.J.] ; Lanceley FD-302, September 2, 1993, Attachment A, at 11-19. 829 [G.J.] 830 Command Post Entry for August 17, 1992; FD-302 Interview of James Scanlan, January 12, 1994, at 12. 831 Mr. Gritz was an independent candidate for President of the United States at the time. 832 Gritz FD-302, November 17, 1993, at 4-5. 833 Id. 834 Transcript of conversation intercepted from microphone placed under floor of Weaver residence, August 29, 1992, at 7:39 p.m. (PDT). According to Gritz' version of the conversation, Weaver asked, "Bo, is that you?" Weaver then stated, "They have killed my wife, they have killed Vicki, and they won't tell anyone" or words to that effect. 835 Gritz Fd-302, November 17, 1993, at 6. 836 Lanceley FD-302, September 2, 1993, Attachment, at 31-32. Lanceley's notes, generated at that time, state that he first learned that Vicki Weaver, Kevin Harris, and Randy Weaver had been shot as a result of Weaver's statement to Gritz. 837 Id., Attachment, at 32; Gritz FD-302, November 17, 1993, at 7. 838 FD-302 Interview of Jackie Brown, October 5, 1993, at 2. 839 Gritz FD-302, November 17, 1993, at 7-8. 840 Id. 841 Id. at 10-11 842 Jackie Brown FD-302, October 5, 1993, at 3. 843 The conversations Gritz had with the Weaver family on August 30 reveal that Weaver believed that the shotgun on the robot would be used to kill him if he attempted to pick up the telephone to negotiate. See Tape Channel 1. at 61-62 and Tape 2 at 5. 844 Gritz FD-302, at 11-12. 845 Id. at 12-14. 846 McLamb FD-302, January 13, 1994, at 6. 847 Rogers Trial Testimony, June 2, 1993, at 167-68 and June 3, 1993, at 108. 848 Gritz FD-302, at 12-15 849 Interview of Maurice Ellsworth on December 15-16, 1993, Tape 2, at 31 (hereinafter cited as "Ellsworth Interview"). 850 Ellsworth believes that the Marshals Service representative were Michael Johnson, Ronald Evans, and possibly Warren Mays. Id. at 31-32. 851 Howen Interview, Tape 4, at 23-27; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 2, at 31-32. 852 It was decided that Warren Mays, who had close contact with Dave Hunt, would be the affiant. Howen Interview, Tape 4, at 28-29. 853 Howen Interview, Tape 4, at 28-29; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 2, at 34-35. 854 FD-302 Interview of Maurice Ellsworth, October 29, 1993, at 5; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 2, at 42. 855 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 2, at 42. 856 Howen Interview, Tape 4, at 29-30. 857 Id., Tape 5, at 54; FD-302 Interview of Gregory Rampton, October 18-19, 1993, at 7. 858 Howen Interview, Tape 6, at 52. 859 Id., Tape 5, at 23. 860 Id. at 17, 22. 861 Id., Tape 6, at 52. 862 This note, which Howen gave to Glenn, was not found when the cabin was searched after the standoff. Rampton believes that the note articulated the Government's prosecutorial position, if Weaver surrendered. Rampton FD-302, October 18-19, 1993, at 17. 863 Id. 864 Howen Interview, Tape 6, at 9-10. 865 FD-302 Interview of Joseph V. Venkus, October 18-19, 1993, at 6. 866 Howen Interview, Tape 5, at 23; Tape 6, at 6-7. 867 Id., Tape 6, at 17. 868 FD-302 Interview of Wayne F. Manis, October 5, 1993 at 2. [Editor's Note: Footnotes 869 through 901 are unavailable.] 901 FD-302 Interview of James Wright, December 21, 1993, at 1-2; FD-302 Interview of Clint Van Zandt, December 21, 1993, at 1-2. 902 Lanceley FD-302, October 19, 1993, at 2. 903 Lanceley FD-302, September 2, 1993, at 2. 904 Lanceley FD-302, October 19, 1993, at 3. 905 Id. at 4. 906 Burke FD-302, at 2. 907 Lima FD-302, October 12, 1993, at 2. 908 Gritz FD-302, November 17, 1993, at 5. 909 See, for example, entries in the FBI SIOC Log concerning the proposed operations plan and strategy on the first day. 910 Gore Sworn Statement, November 3, 1993, at 8-9. 911 [G.J.] 912 Jurgensen Sworn Statement, February 7, 1994, at 16. 913 Id. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED I. FBI Crime Scene Investigation 1. Introduction The investigation of the events at Ruby Ridge from August 21-August 31, 1992, included several searches and attempts to gather evidence. There were three primary crime scenes and search areas. The first crime scene was at the intersection of two old logging roads known as the "Y"; the second was the weaver cabin; and the third was the area around the cabin, including out buildings such as the birthing shed. During the searches of the crime scenes, a wide variety of objects was retrieved for use as evidence in the Weaver prosecution. This section will address various allegations of errors, omissions, and misconduct relating to the crime scene searches. There have been allegations that the measurements taken during the searches were inaccurate; that the FBI staged or planted evidence; that the personnel, techniques, and equipment employed in the searches were inadequate because they lacked the requisite competence or technical efficiency; that third parties were allowed to infect the crime scene to cover up the government's wrongful conduct; and that the integrity of the crime scenes was not maintained. 2. Statement of Facts a. Background The FBI conducted searches of the Y area on August 24, August 27-31 and September 1, 1992. The FBI supervised searches of the Weaver cabin, grounds, and outbuildings on August 31 and September 1 and September 10, 1992. An additional search of the Y and the Weaver cabin and grounds was conducted on March 22 and March 23, 1993. The search teams consisted primarily of FBI personnel from the Salt Lake City and Seattle Divisions and the FBI Laboratory, augmented by personnel from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, tobacco and Firearms, the Idaho Bureau of Investigation, and the Boundary County Sheriff's Office. Special Agent in Charge Eugene Glenn maintained overall control and authorized all investigative activities relating to the crime scenes and evidentiary matters. T. Michael Dillon, Senior Supervisory Resident Agent of the FBI's Boise office, had overall supervisory responsibilities over the FBI's searches of the 'Y' and the Weaver cabin, grounds and outbuildings and acted as the search supervisor at the Weaver cabin. Two FBI special agents were assigned significant roles in carrying out the crime scene searches. Joseph Venkus was responsible for developing procedures and instructions for the searches and establishing a chain of custody for seized evidence. He was also responsible for organizing the search teams and handing out assignments. Venkus directed the initial search of the Y and acted in various capacities during the search of the Weaver cabin. Gregory Rampton was responsible for coordinating interviews of the marshals involved in the shooting incident at the Y on August 21 and for preparing affidavits for search warrants. Rampton also acted as a team leader during the search of the Weaver cabin. Other FBI agents played significant roles in the crime scene investigation. Special Agent Larry Wages was assigned search responsibilities during the initial search of the Y and directed the later searches of the Y. Wages also participated in the search of the grounds surrounding the Weaver cabin. Special Agent George Sinclair was team leader for the exterior search of the grounds and outbuildings near the Weaver cabin. The Strategic Information and Operations Center Log ("SIOC") at FBI Headquarters asserts that a specialized Evidence Response Team was available as early as August 22 to conduct and coordinate the retrieval of evidence at the Ruby Ridge crime scene. [FN914] Glenn was not aware that the Evidence Response Team was available, but he state that he would not have used the team in any case because he saw Ruby Ridge as a 'normal murder crime scene" and believed that the complexity of the crime scene would not become an issue. [FN915] On March 22-23, 1993, another search of the Y area was conducted, although there were between six inches and two feet of snow on the ground. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindquist, Rampton, Boundary County Idaho Deputy Sheriffs, and several U.S. Deputy Marshal were present, as well as two individual Lindquist had retained: Lucien Haag, a criminologist who was reconstructing the August 21 shooting at the Y and Richard Graham, a retired FBI agent who specialized in the use of metal detectors. [FN916] The partial butt plate of Sammy Weaver's weapon was discovered using Graham's metal detector. [FN917] b. Method of Searching the Y Crime Scene During the crisis, seven searches of the Y crime scene were conducted on August 24 and August 27-31, and September 1, 1992. Aside from the September search, the searches were conducted while the situation at Ruby Ridge was unresolved. Because Weaver and Harris were still in the cabin farther up the mountain, FBI supervisors were concerned about the security of the personnel who would conduct the searches. The Marshals Service and FBI SWAT teams provided security for those who conducted the crime scene searches, and the marshals first mad certain that there were no booby traps or unauthorized persons in the area. [FN918] The Weaver cabin could be reached in two ways: by a dirt road, which the weavers generally used, and by two old logging roads that formed the Y below the cabin. During the crisis and until the surrender of the Weaver group, the road beneath the cabin was considered too dangerous; the road through the Y crime scene was determined to be the safer way for access to HRT Command Post personnel and monitoring sites. Therefore, during the crisis, HRT Command Post personnel and equipment used the road that passed through the Y crime scene. On Sunday, August 23, Dillon conducted a two-hour meeting with the agents who ere to participate in the searches. [FN919] Venkus presented a detailed organizational plan and organized tow separate search teams to search the Y and the Weaver cabin. [FN920] Dillon arranged to obtain metal detectors to use during the searches. [FN921] For the Y crime scene search of August 24, Venkus developed an operational plan, providing specific assignments for spotters, a lead agent to collect evidence, a photographer, a video camera operator, and someone to sketch the crime scene and note the location of evidence. The Marshal Service, at Dillon's request, established a perimeter and provided security during the searches at the Y through September 1. [FN922] Venkus' operational plan included instructions establishing a chain of custody for evidence, governing the search and the recovery, documentation, and security of evidence found. Venkus established a tree stump as the reference point for making measurements to establish and memorialize the location of evidence. In order to find any evidence, he instructed a line of agents, on each side of the road at arm's length, to proceed across the crime scene. [FN923] The area around the Y was very dense, and searches were difficult. Agents had to rake through three to six inches of leaves and branches to locate cartridge casings and other pieces of evidence. FBI agents and representatives of the Boundary County Sheriff's Office used metal detectors to locate evidence. [FN924] As evidence was located, an index card or small flag was placed where the evidence was found. Venkus would observe the distance from the reference point to the spot where the evidence was found. The measurement would be recorded on the crime scene sketch that Thundercloud prepared. Evidence was photographed and assigned a letter designation. [FN925] Venkus retrieved the evidence and placed it in a plastic evidence bag with an index card noting the letter and number designation of the evidence. After the search was completed, Dillon held a meeting with the participants to discuss what they found. [FN926] Special Agent Larry Wages was placed in charge of crime scene searches at the Y as of August 28, 1992. Venkus and Dillon instructed him to follow the procedure that Venkus had established for searches. Dillon continued to hold meetings before and after each search to ensure that all participants understood their assignments and to discuss what had been found. [FN927] Wages cordoned off the Y crime scene into approximately 10- foot grids for the August 28 search. For each grid, Wages assigned a team of two agents, one to operate a metal detector and the other to act as a spotter. After completing the search of a grid, the team would repeat the process. The procedures Venkus established for the chain of custody of the evidence were followed, including the sighting, documentation, and recovery of evidence. At the conclusion of the search, Wages turned over all the evidence found to Venkus for storage and submission to the FBI Laboratory. [FN928] Later, under Rampton's direction, the fern field was searched with metal detectors for spent rounds or markings in the area where the marshals reported receiving gunfire form trees overhead. No rounds or markings were discovered. [FN929] Commencing on August 28, the five marshals, who participated in the events surrounding the shooting of Deputy Marshal Degan at the Y on August 21, were taken on individual walk-throughs of the crime scene so that the investigating agents could obtain a clearer understanding of the shooting location and the chain of events. During the FBI supervised searches of the Y area and the vicinity of the Weaver residence, the location of evidence was noted in relation to fixed reference point and in relation to the other objects of evidence found. [FN930] As evidence was locate, Agent Thundercloud made a sketch or diagram of the location of the objects in relation to the fixed point. The sketch was made by hand and was not drawn to scale. [FN931] (1) Triangulation Not Utilized Triangulation is a technique commonly used to memorialize the location of evidence discovered at crime scenes by measuring the location from two fixed reference points to ensure that the exact location of the evidence is pinpointed. Triangulation was not utilized during the recovery of evidence at Ruby Ridge. The FBI's failure to triangulate was harshly criticized by the other members of the trial team and by the defense at trial. The FBI's primary explanation for not using triangulation was that the uneven terrain made it impractical. Venkus believed that triangulation was not only impractical in this case, it was "ludicrous." [FN932] One of the other explanations given by the FBI for its failure to triangulate is that Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen may have told Wages that triangulation was not necessary and that he should "just get a compass direction and distance from the tree trunk." [FN933] Howen does not recall discussing triangulation, but does recall discussing the possibility of locating evidence through compass headings. [FN934] Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindquist believes that triangulation should be used at crime scene investigations, unless there is a clear reason not to do so. [FN935] (2) The "Magic" Bullet During the search of the Y crime scene on August 31, the FBI photographer Kelly Kramer was not available at the start of the search to take photographs of the evidence located and to assign letter designations to it. Furthermore, agents discovered that some of the flags marking the location of evidence had been walked on or moved as vehicles went through the area. [FN936] Considerable interest has been generated about an intact bullet Wages discovered at the center of the Y during this search. This bullet was designated "L-1" and was referred to by defense counsel as the "magic bullet." Wages could not understand why the bullet had not been discovered during the previous searches. The bullet was not "pristine"; it had been fired from a weapon and had a dent and striations on it. Later, it was determined that the bullet had been fired from one of the Ruger weapons found in the Weaver cabin after the Weaver/Harris group surrendered. [FN937] Wages recalled that he had FBI Supervisory Special Agent James Cadigan from the FBI Laboratory photograph the bullet. Later Wages realized that he needed to obtain a letter designation from the photographer and then have a new picture taken with the letter designation. [FN938] However, Wages was not able to find a photographer. Thereafter, Wages was instructed to end the search and return to the command post for a briefing. The photographer, Kelly Kramer, was still unavailable to assign letter designations to the bullet and to photograph them. before leaving the Y area, wages picked up the L-1 bullet, marked it, and placed it in a plastic envelope that he put in his pocket. After assisting in the search of the Weaver cabin, Wages asked Special Agent Kramer to return with him to where the bullet had been found. Kramer was told to photograph the spot. [FN939] According to Wages, he did not tell case agent Rampton that he had removed the bullet from the scene and replaced it until Rampton asked about it in October or November 1992. [FN940] c. Investigation by the FBI's Shooting Incident Review Test On August 31, the Y crime scene was subjected to a theodolite test [FN941] by Visual Information Specialists Cyrus Grover and Michael Taister from the FBI Laboratory in Washington, D.C. Grover and Taister were present in connection with their responsibilities as members of the FBI's Shooting Incident Review Team. They employed a theodolite test to measure distances with a laser beam from a reference point to the location of each piece of evidence. Grover saw that many of the small red flags in the area had been knocked over. Using the theodolite system, Grover began to take measurements of some of the undisturbed flags and some of the evidence that had not been removed. [FN942] The measurements were recorded and later used to produce a computer-generated diagram of the crime scene, fixing locations where evidence had been found. Upon his return to Washington, Grover began to prepare a sketch of the Y crime scene with appropriate orientation data. Before he had finished, he was injured during a vacation and went on extended sick leave. during Grover's absence, Taister faxed the working copy to the FBI's Salt Lake City office in the mistaken belief that it was complete and accurate. [FN943] On December 22, 1992, Rampton discovered that the orientation of the diagram Grover and Taister had generated was inaccurate and that the location of much of the evidence recovered was not on the sketch. Upon inquiry, Rampton was told that the diagram was an inaccurate working copy. [FN944] On December 22, 1992, Rampton discovered that the orientation of the diagram Grover and Taister had generated was inaccurate and that the location of much of the evidence recovered was not on the sketch. Upon inquiry, Rampton was told that the diagram was an inaccurate working copy. [FN944] HRT member Lon Horiuchi showed Robert Dean the position on the mountainside from which he fired two shots on August 22. On August 31, Dean showed Horiuchi's position to James Cadigan, who was assigned to assist the Review Team's inquiry. [FN945] Grover and Taister, as part of the FBI's Shooting Incident Review Team, used the theodolite measuring system to obtain information for the investigation of the August 22 shots at the cabin area. On September 1, Grover and Taister accompanied Cadigan to the mountainside. By this time, Horiuchi had left. Cadigan had difficulty finding the position that Dean had identified, but finally pointed to a position from which he believed Horiuchi had fired. [FN946] The diagram was erroneous because Cadigan had not correctly identified Horiuchi's position at the time of the shots to Grover and Taister. [FN949] Furthermore, the theodolite measurements were based on the location of the birthing shed when the measurements were taken. However, the Hostage Rescue Team had moved the birthing shed during the standoff. [FN950] d. Searches of the Cabin and Surrounding Area After Weaver and his family had surrendered, the cabin was searched on August 31, September 1, and September 10, 1992. In preparation for the searches, two briefings were held to give assignments and to review procedures for handling evidence. [FN951] The first search was made immediately after the BATF declared the cabin safe to enter. The cabin was videotaped before and after the search. [FN952] Approximately ten agents were inside the cabin when the searches were conducted, with Rampton in charge. [FN953] Each piece of evidence was identified by an evidence number and photographed with the evidence number. [FN954] An evidence log was maintained that included a description of each piece of seized evidence. Personnel inside the cabin wore gloves to preserved latent fingerprints. At the conclusion of the search, items seized were placed in a HUMMV vehicle for transportation to the base of the mountain. The evidence was then transferred from the HUMMV to a U-Haul truck under Rampton's supervision. The truck was padlocked, and the evidence was driven to Boise, Idaho for storage. [FN955] Rampton initially instructed the agents to retrieve only a representative sampling of the ammunition inside the cabin. This instruction was countermanded by Howen and Special Agent in Charge Glenn. [FN956] The searches of the areas surrounding the cabin were conducted by approximately twenty agents from the FBI and BATF and officers from local agencies. That group was broken down into four teams of two or three searchers. The teams worked in a counterclockwise direction, placing markers near objects that might have evidentiary value. After the area was searched, another group was responsible for photographing, sketching, logging, tagging, and seizing objects. [FN957] During one of the searches of the around the cabin, Howen found a blue spiral notebook in the birthing shed, which contained swastikas. "Arise on White Man" poems, and right wing statements and quotations. [FN958] Howen complained that the notebook was not available during his preparation for trial because it had not been seized. [FN959] On Sunday, August 30, Jackie Brown, a friend of the Weaver family, assisted Bo Gritz in carrying the body of Vicki Weaver out of the cabin. After taking the body to a helicopter, Brown returned to the forward command post. She approached a group of six to eight law enforcement officials and requested water and towels to clean the cabin. She was handed two five-gallon buckets, three white bath towels, and a roll of paper towels. She remembers that HRT Commander Richard Rogers was among the group. [FN960] FBI negotiator Lanceley remembers that he was in the forward command post when Brown came down the hill to get water. He saw once HRT member assist her in taking the water part way up. Lanceley remembers that Special Agent in Charge Robin Montgomery saw Brown with the water and told Lanceley to stop her. Lanceley ran out of the command post and yelled to Brown who had rounded the bend at the top of the hill and was approaching the cabin. She did not stop. According to Lanceley, Montgomery was not consulted before the water was given to Brown. [FN961] When Brown returned to the Weaver cabin, she cleaned Vicki Weaver's blood from the floor because she did not want the Weaver daughters to "deal with cleaning the blood of their mother from the floor," since they "had been through enough." [FN962] Brown gathered the blood soaked towels from the cabin and threw them off the rear deck. 3. Discussion a. Techniques Employed to Update Evidence The searches of the area near the Weaver residence, including the Y, coordinated by the FBI, have been criticized as disorganized, confused, and unsecured. Much of the criticism noted that too many people were involved in the searches, creating confusion, and that access to the crime scenes was not sufficiently restricted. [FN963] It was also apparent to some who conducted the searches that many agents who participated were inexperienced in crime scene search techniques and had not been trained for this assignment. [FN964] These allegations have some merit. The use of metal detectors by untrained FBI agents and other personnel at the crime scene resulted in incomplete searches. [FN965] For example, a private metal detection expert, Richard Graham, searched the Y in March 1993 and located the butt plate of Sammy Weaver's rifle. This search was conducted approximately six months after the FBI searches and with snow on the ground. We believe that the inexperience of the agents who used the metal detectors in the initial searches and the apparent lack of organization contributed to the failure to locate this and perhaps other pieces of evidence. If agents with expertise in the use of metal detectors had been on the scene at the initial searches, the butt plate of Sammy Weaver's rifle may have been discovered much earlier. Other valuable evidence which could have been utilized by the prosecution in formulating the charges may have been lost because of the use of agents inexperienced in metal detection. b. Techniques Used to Record the Location of Evidence Because Agent Thundercloud's diagram of the location of evidence and the other techniques the FBI employed were based on only one fixed reference point -- a tree stump -- locations could not be noted with precision. [FN966] To provide a second point of reference, Venkus would note that pieces of evidence were found, near some other point or near another piece of evidence. Compass headings were not utilized to memorialize the location of evidence, and an accurate record was not made of the elevations where evidence was located. [FN967] In our view, these techniques lacked the precision required for a crime scene search of this importance. As Lindquist noted, the FBI's methods allowed one to locate a piece of evidence "fairly close" to where it had been found, but "fairly close" was not sufficient for trial, in which, for example, the location of Degan's casings became "very critical." [FN968] Although the FBI explained that triangulation could not be utilized in the crime scene investigation because of uneven terrain, it was unprofessional not to use triangulation in such an important case. Triangulation is an established method of accurately locating significant pieces of evidence and is utilized in most homicide investigations. As noted earlier, the accurate location of the shell casings from Degan's rifle was significant. The exact placement of those shells using triangulation would have assisted in determining the credibility of Deputy Marshal Cooper in his account of Degan's actions with his weapon during the shootout. If agents with expertise in the use of metal detectors had been on the scene at the initial searches, the butt plate of Sammy Weaver's rifle may have been discovered much earlier. Other valuable evidence which could have been utilized by the prosecution in formulating the charges may have been lost because of the use of agents inexperienced in metal detection. b. Techniques Used to Record the Location of Evidence Because Agent Thundercloud's diagram of the location of evidence and the other techniques the FBI employed were based on only one fixed reference point -- a tree stump -- locations could not be noted with precision. [FN966] To provide a second point of reference, Venkus would note that pieces of evidence were found, near some other point or near another piece of evidence. Compass headings were not utilized to memorialize the location of evidence, and an accurate record was not made of the elevations where evidence was located. [FN967] In our view, these techniques lacked the precision required for a crime scene search of this importance. As Lindquist noted, the FBI's methods allowed one to locate a piece of evidence "fairly close" to where it had been found, but "fairly close" was not sufficient for trial, in which, for example, the location of Degan's casings became "very critical." [FN968] Although the FBI explained that triangulation could not be utilized in the crime scene investigation because of uneven terrain, it was unprofessional not to use triangulation in such an important case. Triangulation is an established method of accurately locating significant pieces of evidence and is utilized in most homicide investigations. As noted earlier, the accurate location of the shell casings from Degan's rifle was significant. The exact placement of those shells using triangulation would have assisted in determining the credibility of Deputy Marshal Cooper in his account of Degan's actions with his weapon during the shootout. We agree with the trial team that triangulation or some other scientifically precise method should have been used in an investigation of such importance. c. The "Magic Bullet" and Allegations of Staged Evidence The events surrounding the discovery and retrieval of the "magic bullet" generated allegations of staged or manipulated evidence. [FN969] We have not found evidence of intentional concealment, staging, or a lack of a good faith on the part of the FBI or the other law enforcement agencies that assisted in the searches. However, we believe that poor judgment by those who conducted the crime scene searches created confusion and, as manifested by the "magic bullet" episode, that poor judgment harmed the government's case. The inability of the FBI to have a photographer available at all times during the crime scene investigation is difficult to understand. At such a critical stage of the investigation, a photographer should have been available to photograph and properly designate all evidence as it was originally discovered. Such an important case demanded the proper identification of evidence in order to alleviate any questions of admissibility. Lindquist believed that the testimony of an FBI agent about the bullet's removal from and replacement at the crime scene left the jury with the impression that the agent was not being genuine: the jury must have concluded that "[e]ither [the agent's] deceitful or he's so incompetent that I can't rely upon [his testimony]." [FN970] Lindquist believed that the episode contributed to a taint that spread across the government's case, which made it impossible for the jury to trust what the government was saying. That lack of trust was a "big part of the trial." [FN971] d. Erroneous FBI Diagram of Sniper/Observer Position In our view, the erroneous diagram is attributable to Dean's failure to mark the position when Horiuchi identified the spot from which he had fired. Furthermore, had Grover and Taister been more thoroughly briefed on events during the standoff, they would have known that the outbuildings had been moved. The lack of precision in preparing the shooting position diagrams could have had a serious effect on the government's trial preparation and could have been admitted as demonstrative evidence during trial if the mistake had not been detected. Although the mistake was discovered before trial, the prosecution was concerned that the diagrams constituted exculpatory material that could have had a critical impact at trial. [FN972] e. Erroneous Diagram of the Y The investigators who were sent out to take the measurements and prepare diagrams of the crime scene did not have a sufficient understanding of the facts and circumstances. Surely, in such an important investigation, it was necessary for these agents to have a thorough knowledge of the events, possibly based on briefings from participants themselves. The FBI should have had complete and accurate briefings for agents conducting the Shooting Incident Review. The unavailability of one of the Visual Information Specialists during a crucial stage led to further confusion and further inaccuracy. This demonstrates a lack of overall planning and coordination in conducting such investigations. In our view, this error should have not occurred. The precision essential for crime scene searches and evaluations was inexcusably lacking in this investigation. The mix-up in sending the "working" diagram could have been avoided had communications been better and had more professional procedures been in place. f. Jackie Brown and Cabin Clean Up Jackie Brown's actions have been criticized as contaminating the crime scene. Technically, that is correct. However, her efforts may have served a more important purpose in contributing toward the resolution of the crisis. It is unclear whether the FBI command structure considered the significance of Brown's actions. Montgomery did not know whether Brown's actions were authorized or whether they were spontaneous. He affirmed that we was not consulted before Brown obtained the water and that he was not in a position to delay her while her plans were assessed. [FN973] We have not been able to determine whether anyone weighed the likely negative impact of contamination of the crime scene against the potentially positive impact Brown's actions might have in resolving the crisis. In our view, the fact that Brown was able to return to the cabin with water and paraphernalia without the approval of Montgomery, the FBI's ranking supervisor at the forward command post, shows that the command and control of the situation was less than perfect. Nevertheless, in retrospect we believe that the decision to allow Brown to clean the cabin, however it was reached, was proper. 4. Conclusion Those involved in the crime scene searches at Ruby Ridge have assessed those searches very differently. Those who planned and supervised the searches generally gave them high marks. [FN974] Other law enforcement personnel who participated in or became familiar with the searches were highly critical. The criticism came from FBI personnel, as well as others. In our view, three factors contributed significantly to the difficulty of conducting the crime scene searches. First, the searches were conducted during an ongoing effort to resolve the crisis. Second, an unusually large number of law enforcement personnel from a wide variety of federal, state, and local law enforcement components were at the site, adding to the confusion and congestion. Third, the terrain was extremely rough, uneven, and covered with dense foliage. Many of the deficiencies of the crime scene searches are attributable to one or more of those factors. However, in our view, other shortcomings probably could have been avoided, for example, the failure to cordon off the search ares at the conclusion of a search, the inexperience of those who operated metal detectors that resulted in the failure to discover at least one important piece of evidence, the "magic bullet" episode, the lack of precision in measuring the location of discovered evidence, and the failure to understand the possible negative impact of Brown's actions. Many of the problems that attended the crime-scene searches could have been avoided had an experienced evidence-recovery team been summoned. We disagree with Glenn's characterization of Ruby Ridge as a "normal murder crime scene." The use of the Evidence Response Team would certainly have added badly needed experience and expertise to the investigation and may very well have alleviated a number of the problems that we discuss here. The Ruby Ridge crime scene investigation was difficult. Those who conducted the search had participated in the tiring, tension filled operation that ultimately resolved the standoff. As a consequence, some aspects of the crime-scene search were confused and incomplete. The utilization of sophisticated, professional, evidence location, retrieval, identification, and preservation techniques in this case was necessary. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART I) 914 SIOC Log, August 22, 1992, at 5:20 p.m. (EDT). 915 Sworn Statement of Eugene Glenn, January 12, 1994, at 30. 916 FD-302 Interview of Lucien Haag, October 12, 1993, at 2. 917 Id.; FD-302 Interview of Richard Graham, October 13, 1993, at 2; FD-302 Interview of Gregory Rampton, October 18 & 19, 1993, at 44. 918 Local police had arrested armed individuals attempting to reach the Weaver cabin. 919 FD-302 Interview of Michael Dillon, October 25, 1993, at 4. 920 Rampton FD-302, October 18 & 19, 1993, at 6. 921 FD-302 Interview of Larry Wages, October 13 & 15, 1993, at 3; Rampton FD-302, at 5. 922 FD-302 Interview of Joseph Venkus, October 18 & 19, 1992, at 5-6. 923 Id. at 6. 924 Only one of the deputy sheriffs was familiar with the equipment. FD-302 Interview of Donald Magee, October 4, 1993, at 1-2; FD-302 Interview of Carl Shepherd, October 5, 1993, at 2. 925 For example, the first item of evidence photographed on the first role of film was designated "A-1." 926 Venkus FD-302, at 5-6. 927 Wages FD-302, at 5. On Thursday, August 27, agents videotaped the Y crime scene and the fern field, the area near the Y where the marshals' observation team had received fire while moving from their position to the spot where Deputy Marshal Degan had been killed. Following the August 24 search, Venkus was occupied with drying out the evidence that had been retrieved. Venkus FD-302, at 7. 928 Venkus FD-302, at 7. On August 29, Wages supervised a grid search of another portion of the Y crime scene. The same procedure was followed as had been utilized the day before. No evidence was found during this search. Wages FD-302, at 4-5. 929 Rampton FD-302, at 4-5. 930 Venkus FD-302, at 5-6; Wages FD-302, at 4. 931 Rampton FD-302, at 11. 932 Venkus FD-302, at 8.. 933 Wages FD-302, at 5. 934 Howen Interview, Tape 6, at 13-14. 935 Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 16. 936 Wages FD-302, at 5. 937 During the search, four additional brass/bullets were discovered and designated L-2 through L-5. Id. at 5-7. 938 See discussion in Section IV(O). 939 FD-302 Interview of Kelly Kramer, October 12, 1993, at 2. Wages also asked FBI Visual Information Specialist Grover to photograph a spent round of ammunition in place. Grover was not told that the evidence had been removed from and returned to the location. FD-302 Interview of Cyrus Grover, August 6, 1993, at 2. 940 Wages FD-302, at 6-7. However, Rampton told investigators that when Wages arrived at the command post he showed him the bullet. Rampton FD-302, at 6-7. 941 The theodolite system is a laser surveying instrument, which pinpoints locations in relation to a reference point. 942 Grover FD-302, at 2. 943 Id. at 3; Taister FD-302, at 4. 944 Rampton FD-302, at 11. 945 FD-302 Interview of James Cadigan, August 10, 1993, at 4. 946 Taister FD-302, at 3; Grover FD-302, at 3; Cadigan FD- 302, at 5. 947 Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 11-12. Lindquist was convinced that the diagram was wrong because Horiuchi consistently identified a different location as his position when he took the shots. Id. at 13-15. 948 Id. at 13-14. 949 Cadigan has said that he should have placed a stake or some other marker at the spot Dean had shown him. Cadigan FD- 302, at 5. 950 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 11-13. 951 FD-302 Interview of George Sinclair, October 7, 1993, at 3. 952 Rampton FD-302, at 8. 953 Grover FD-302, at 3. 954 Special Agent Curtis Kastens of the Idaho State Bureau of Investigation was assigned to the search as a photographer because the team responsible for the grounds around the Weaver cabin did not have a photographer. FD-302 Interview of Curtis Kastens, October 5 & 22, 1993, at 1. 955 Rampton FD-302, at 8. 956 Id. at 9. Only a representative sampling of the casings found outside the rear of the cabin was taken into evidence. Because the front of the cabin and the rocky outcropping were seen as more important to the investigation, all cartridge casings found in those areas were seized. FD-302 Interview of George Sinclair, October 7, 1993, at 4. According to Sinclair, Howen did not object to taking only a sample of the casings from outside the rear of the cabin. Id. 957 Sinclair FD-302, at 3. 958 Howen Interview, Tape 11, at 30-31. 959 On September 9, 1992, Dillon told FBI Special Agent Richard Powell to retrieve a blue spiral notebook and submitted it to the secure evidence storage area. FD-302 Interview of Richard Powell, October 8, 1993, at 3. We have been unable to determine why the notebook was unavailable for trial preparation. 960 FD-302 Interview of Jackie Brown, October 5, 1993, at 3. 961 FD-302 Interview of Frederick Lanceley, October 19, 1993, at 5. 962 Jackie Brown FD-302, at 3. 963 See, e.g., Grover FD-302, at 1-2; FD-302 Interview of Michael Taister, August 6, 1993, at 3; Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 15; FD-302 Interview of Curtis Kastens, October 5 & 22, 1993, at 2. After the Y had been searched on August 24 and 28, the area was not cordoned off because it was thought that additional searches would not be necessary. Wages FD-302, at 4. 964 FD-302 Interview of Greg Sprungl, August 30, 1993, at 3. 965 The FBI used three metal detectors during the initial searches at the Y. Two were rented and appeared to be "well used." The rented detectors were not as sensitive as the third. FBI Special Agent David Barker operated the third detector, but had no experience in using a metal detector. Apparently, none of the operators of metal detectors at the initial searches were experienced. FD-302 Interview of David Barker, October 12, 1993, at 1-2. According to Lucien Haag, the use of metal detection equipment is a skill that "needs to be continuously honed." He recommended that agents be taught how to operate detector equipment effectively. FD-302 Interview of Lucien Haag, October 12, 1993, at 3. 966 For example, if a bullet casing had been found 10 feet from the stump, Thundercloud's diagram would not reveal the precise location of the casing along an arc twenty feet from the stump. 967 Special Agent Curtis Kastens of the Idaho Bureau of Investigation participated in the searches. He thought that the searches at the Y wee not handled appropriately for a murder investigation and that some form of reconstruction, including "to-scale elevations," should have been attempted. Kastens also thought that more time should have been allowed for accurate measurements. Kastens FD-302, at 3. 968 Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 17. During Thundercloud's cross examination, the defense was very critical of the failure to utilize triangulation or compass headings. The issue consumed an entire afternoon. However, Lindquist does not believe that the jury considered the matter to be a major issue. Id at 10. 966 For example, if a bullet casing had been found 10 feet from the stump, Thundercloud's diagram would not reveal the precise location of the casing along an arc twenty feet from the stump. 967 Special Agent Curtis Kastens of the Idaho Bureau of Investigation participated in the searches. He thought that the searches at the Y wee not handled appropriately for a murder investigation and that some form of reconstruction, including "to-scale elevations," should have been attempted. Kastens also thought that more time should have been allowed for accurate measurements. Kastens FD-302, at 3. 968 Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 17. During Thundercloud's cross examination, the defense was very critical of the failure to utilize triangulation or compass headings. The issue consumed an entire afternoon. However, Lindquist does not believe that the jury considered the matter to be a major issue. Id at 10. 969 For a discussion of the controversy at trial involving photographs of this bullet see Section IV(O). 970 Id. at 26-27. 971 Id. at 27. 972 Id. at 12. 973 Sworn Statement of Robin Montgomery, October 25, 1993, at 3 . 976 Wages described the first search of the Y on August 24 as "well-organized." Wages FD-302, at 4. Dillon said that the search was conducted in a "very professional and methodical manner." Dillon FD-302, at 4. Venkus declared that, "given the circumstances and conditions that existed, an excellent job had been conducted by all who participated." Venkus, FD-302, at 7. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED J. The FBI Laboratory 1. Introduction The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Idaho ("USAO"), components of the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, local law enforcement agencies, and the trial court all criticized the performance of the FBI Laboratory ("Laboratory") during the course of the Weaver trial. In this section, we will examine the timeliness and quality of the Laboratory's response to requests for tests, its refusal to perform certain tests, and its neglect to do others. 2. Statement of Facts a. FBI Laboratory Processing Procedure Special Agents Gregory Rampton and Joseph Venkus, the FBI case agents for the Weaver/Harris prosecution, coordinated the submission of evidence to the FBI Laboratory for examination. They were responsible for disseminating the results of the examinations to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boise. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindquist was primarily responsible for Laboratory related issues for the prosecution. It is FBI policy that when the Laboratory receives a request from a field office to examine evidence, a principal examiner is assigned to the matter. The examiner assigns a priority to the request. Cases for which the FBI is primarily responsible are given the highest priority, followed by cases involving violent crimes, cases involving crimes against property, and cases in which a judicial proceeding is unlikely. In practice, we found that pendency of a trial date is the overriding factor determining whether a case becomes a priority. The principal examiner forwards items of evidence to the appropriate unit within the Laboratory, prepares a report when the examination has been completed, and returns the items to the field office with the report. The principal examiner in the weaver matter was Supervisory Special Agent James Cadigan of the Firearms/Toolmarks Unit. Cadigan directed the requests for examinations from the field to various Laboratory components; formalized the final reports; and oversaw the return of evidence. One hundred and ninety nine pieces of evidence were submitted to the Laboratory for 350 examinations. Cadigan conveyed the results of the examinations to Venkus or Rampton by telephone, who would send a written report by facsimile to the USAO. When the agents received the final, written Laboratory reports, they would also send them to the USAO. The Laboratory generated twelve reports in the Weaver matter. b. Timeliness and Neglected Tests On January 8, 1993, a conference was held in the chambers of U.S. District Court Judge Lodge. The defense requested that the trial date of February 2, 1993 be postponed because of the volume of information and documents to be reviewed and because not all of the Laboratory examinations had been completed. Judge Lodge admonished the government to provide the results of the examinations quickly. Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen told the court that he was attempting to comply with the court's instructions, but that he had no control over the delay caused by the FBI Laboratory. [FN975] Following Weaver's sentencing, Judge Lodge issued a contempt order against the FBI and levied a fine because the prosecution had "receiv[ed] less than full cooperation from the FBI" and the Bureau had not produced items of evidence "timely." [FN976] The court referred to the FBI's "recalcitrance" and held that he Bureau had "evidence[d] a callous disregard for the rights of the defendants and the interests of justice and demonstrate[d] a complete lack of respect for the order and directions of [the] court." [FN977] This inquiry had determined that, by January 8, 1993, the date of the chambers conference, the FBI Laboratory had completed four reports. [FN978] After the conference, the Laboratory submitted reports on January 8, January 13, January 21, January 22, February 25, March 17, April 12, and April 13. The 44 items analyzed in those reports were submitted to the Laboratory between August 28 and November 27, 1992. [FN979] The majority of tests outstanding on January 8 were serology tests and hair, fiber, and DNA tests of pieces of clothing. The FBI received Vicki and Sammy Weaver's hair and blood samples on January 5 and 29, 1993. Deputy Marshal Degan's blood samples were prematurely returned to the Seattle field office where they were allowed to spoil. Most of the test results on the Weaver blood samples were included in the January Laboratory reports. After the chambers conference, the FBI Laboratory received eight requests for examinations in the Weaver matter, which were completed according to the following schedule: Date of Communication - Date of Response January 11, 1993 - February 25, 1993 January 20, 1993 - March 17, 1993 January 28, 1993 - February 25, 1993 February 11, 1993 - February 25, 1993 March 21, 1993 - April 12, 1993 April 2, 1993 - April 13, 1993 April 9, 1993 - April 13, 1993 May 26, 1993 - June 7, 1993 [FN980] The first examination that appears to have been neglected was a request on August 27, 1992 to determine whether two pieces of metal were once part of Degan's canteen clip. The second neglected examination was a request on September 9 to compare blood samples of Vicki and Sammy Weaver with blood found on tow jackets and a pair of pants. [FN981] The third was a request on October 28 to determine whether holes in Degan's backpack and the clothing it contained had been caused by a bullet. [FN982] There was no response to these requests in the Laboratory report of December 23, 1992. The field office again requested these examinations on January 5, 1993. The Laboratory responded on January 22. A more detailed discussion of these tests follows. (1) Degan's Backpack Cadigan told our inquiry that he does not know why the examination of the backpack and its contents was overlooked. The report on the backpack notes that an "exit" hole in the backpack and holes in the clothing inside had a "linear relationship" and could have been caused by a bullet or bullet fragments. The report states that no other determinations or conclusions could be made. [FN983] During the trial, a defense attorney found another hole in a fold of the backpack. [FN984] We asked Cadigan whether he had attempted to locate all entrance and exit holes in Degan's backpack. He replied that he had examined the backpack closely and did not discover any damage, other than that noted in his reports. [FN985] (2) Blood and Hair Examinations After being retrieved from Ruby Ridge, Deputy Marshal Degan's body was taken to a morgue for an autopsy, which was performed on August 22, 1992 by Dr. George Lindholm. FBI Special Agent John attended the autopsy, along with representatives of the U.S. Marshals Service, the Boundary County Sheriff's Office, and the Boundary County Coroner's Office. A photographic record and log of the autopsy was kept, and John retained several items of evidence, including hair samples and two tubes of blood, which were sent to the Laboratory on August 14 for "whatever analysis you deem appropriate." The Laboratory received the evidence on August 25, 1992. Within two days, Cadigan performed the obvious tests on the bullet fragments which had been removed from Degan's body and provided the preliminary results to SIOC for transmission to the crisis site. Cadigan sent the final results to the Seattle field office which had sent the material. Because no specific requests had been made as to the blood and hair samples, Cadigan asked the field office to specify the tests that should be conducted. The field office was unsure about the tests needed and explained that the material had been sent just to "cover all the bases." [FN986] In September, 1992, the Laboratory received Harris and Randy Weaver's blood samples. Because the Laboratory had "insufficient space to maintain items of evidence," they were returned to the field office. [FN987] The items were placed in a bulky exhibit, and the blood spoiled because it was not refrigerated. The FBI Hostage Rescue Team discovered Sammy Weaver's body, while clearing the birthing shed near the Weaver cabin on August 23, 1992. Dr. Lindholm conducted an autopsy on August 25. Special Agent John attended, along with representatives of the Boundary County Sheriff and Coroner's Offices. At the time, the circumstances surrounding Sammy Weaver's death were unknown, and the Sheriff's Office was proceeding on the assumption that the death was a homicide. Consequently, the office took samples of all the evidence from the autopsy, including blood and hair samples, for the Idaho State Crime Laboratory. [FN988] On August 31, 1992, Dr. Lindholm conducted an autopsy of Vicki Weaver's body, attended by John and representatives of the U.S. Marshals Service, the Boundary County Sheriff's Office, and the Boundary County Coroner. The FBI retained several items, including hair samples, as evidence, but there is no indication that a blood sample was retained. [FN989] On September 3, the evidence was sent to the FBI Laboratory. [FN990] Dr. Lindholm's autopsy reports for Degan and Sammy and Vicki Weaver show that body fluids and tissue, including purge fluid and blood and hair samples, were taken during each autopsy. As standard procedure, Dr. Lindholm provided blood and hair samples to the investigating agency. [FN991] On September 3, 1992, the FBI Laboratory was asked to examine certain clothing to see whether blood and hair could be identified as that of Randy Weaver, Kevin Harris, Vicki Weaver, or Sammy Weaver. [FN992] Cadigan submitted the clothing for hair and fiber tests. These tests were completed on October 2. When Rampton reviewed the December 23, 1992 Laboratory report, he discovered that blood and hair examinations had not been performed. The Laboratory told him that blood samples for Degan, Vicki Weaver, and Sammy Weaver and Harris' hair sample had not been sent to the Laboratory. [FN993] On January 4, 1993, blood samples taken from Degan, Sammy Weaver and Vicki Weaver were obtained from Dr. Lindholm and sent to the Laboratory. [FN994] The examinations were completed and reported on January 21. On January 28, pursuant to a court order, samples of Harris' hair were taken and forwarded to the FBI Laboratory. When the FBI Laboratory received a request for additional blood and hair comparisons on January 5, 1993, Cadigan realized that the FBI did not have the blood samples. The samples were submitted on January 6. [FN995] The examinations were completed and provided to the USAO on January 15 and given to the defense on January 27. c. Refusal to Perform Tests and Hiring of Independent Experts In one instance, the Laboratory refused to conduct a requested examination and, in several instance, the Laboratory determined that certain examinations were not possible. During trial preparation, the USAO entered into contracts with three forensic specialists: Lucien Haag, a "shooting reconstructionist," Richard Graham a metal detection expert, and Dr. Marin Fackler, a wound ballistician. According to the prosecutors, these people were retained because the FBI Laboratory was unwilling or unable to provide assistance in their areas of expertise. [FN996] (1) Refusal to Conduct Test On March 21, 1993, the Laboratory was asked to determine the caliber of the bullet which passed through Sammy Weaver's jacket causing the fatal wound. The Laboratory may, at the examiner's discretion, refuse to conduct an examination if the examination and result have no basis in scientific theory, thereby precluding the examiner from testifying as to the result. Cadigan has asserted that no test recognized by forensic science enables an examiner to determine with any certainty the caliber of the bullet which caused a hole in clothing because there are too many variables and the exact anatomical position of the victim cannot be determined. For this reason, Cadigan refused to conduct the examination. When the Laboratory received another request to determine the caliber of the bullet that had struck Sammy Weaver, the Laboratory did conduct tests, but could not "definitely state exactly what caliber bullet went through the coat." [FN997] (2) Shooting Reconstruction Early in the trial preparation, Lindquist told the FBI case agents that the case needed an expert to reconstruct the shooting events at the Y on August 21 to corroborate the marshals' testimony. The agents replied that "there's no such thing." Lindquist explained that a shooting reconstructionist, on the basis of the physical evidence, can determine, among other things, the "directionality" of a bullet's trajectory. [FN995] After some discussion, case agent Venkus called the FBI Laboratory and was told that the Laboratory does not do shooting reconstructions. With a sense of exasperation, Lindquist asked one of the deputy marshals assigned to the case to find one of the best shooting reconstructionists in the country and, within 24 hours, he was given Lucien Haag's name. When they spoke, Haag asked Lindquist why he was not using the FBI Laboratory because Haag had worked previously with someone in the Laboratory on a reconstruction. Confused by the conflicting information he had received, Lindquist called Cadigan and was told that the Laboratory did do shooting reconstruction and that he was the FBI's expert in the area. Cadigan asked why a private expert was needed. Lindquist told Cadigan that he would continue with the private expert, though he would appreciate the FBI's cooperation. Lindquist accepted Cadigan's request to accompany the prosecutors when they visited the crime scene in March 1993. [FN999] According to Lindquist, Cadigan seemed enthusiastic about participating in the case. Lindquist found Cadigan very helpful from that point forward, although he appeared far less knowledgeable than the private expert. [FN1000] Rampton recalled Lindquist's request for a shooting reconstructionist and telling Lindquist that the Laboratory did not have shooting reconstruction as a single discipline. Rampton told Lindquist that he would check with the Laboratory. He spoke with Cadigan, who confirmed that the Laboratory did not have shooting reconstruction as a single discipline. Rampton claims he informed Lindquist of this and heard nothing more until Haag had been retained. [FN1001] Cadigan recalls a phone call from a case agent about whether the FBI had a shooting reconstructionist. Cadigan told the agent that no single person could testify about every aspect of the reconstruction. Cadigan confirmed this within the Laboratory and informed the case agent that a shooting was usually reconstructed within a confined space such as a building so that impact points could be located and angles established. Although the shooting at the Y would be more difficult to reconstruct, Cadigan said that the Laboratory would do what it could and that the agent should advise the Laboratory if the prosecution wanted a reconstruction. Cadigan heard nothing more on the matter. [FN1002] Lindquist does not recall Cadigan's explaining that the FBI Laboratory has a multi-disciplinary approach to shooting reconstruction or that no one person would be able to testify about the many examinations. [FN1003] (3) Wound Ballistics and Metal Detection During this inquiry, we found no requests by the USAO for FBI experts in metal detection or wound ballistics. Metal detection experts are available within the FBI's Information Services Division. Although the FBI Laboratory does not have a wound ballistics expert, it consults with experts at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and this expertise would have been available on request. (4) Acoustic Testing Initially the prosecution believed that evidence of the acoustics of the shooting scene on August 21, 1992 would be valuable. The prosecutors were referred to an FBI acoustics expert to evaluate this aspect of the case. Lindquist was disappointed with the FBI's expertise in the field. [FN1004] The prosecution did attempt an acoustics test in the area of the Weaver cabin with the assistance of two marshal and ultimately concluded that such a test would not be productive. d. Failure to Comply with Discovery The final issue raised by Judge Lodge about the FBI Laboratory concerns the mailing of notes and test firings of the weapons. The defense orally requested production of Cadigan's notes and the test firings at the end of the first week or the beginning of the second week in May 1992. Cadigan recalled receiving a call, possibly on Monday, May 10, 1993, from Venkus advising him that the court intended to order production of his notes and the test firings. Cadigan received "the distinct direction" from Venkus to wait until a court order had been issued before sending test samples and notes. [FN1005] He sought advice on the matter from the FBI's Legal Counsel Division, which suggested to the USAO reasons why the notes and the test firings should not be given to the defense. [FN1006] On Thursday, May 13, Cadigan received an angry call from Special Agent Dillon asking where the test firings were. Cadigan explained that he was waiting for a court order. Dillon told Cadigan to send the notes and test firings to Boise immediately. Because Cadigan did not wish to "cause the Agents a problem," he facsimiled his notes to Boise. The facsimile was poor, and Cadigan express-mailed the notes and test firings to Boise, securing the envelope flaps with tape before placing them into a box for shipment. The following day, Friday, Cadigan was informed that three of the envelopes had opened during shipment and that the contents had spilled out and had become commingled. He instructed the caller to express-mail the test firings to the Laboratory where he could rectify the problem by examining microscopic markings. The test firings arrived on May 17, 1993. Cadigan immediately placed them in the appropriate envelopes and sent the test firings. by express-mail to Boise. [FN1007] The prosecution advised the Court that the test firings available for defense review on May 18. According to Dillon, this delayed the trial and produced additional discovery problems. 3. Discussion In analyzing the performance of the FBI Laboratory, we interviewed field and Laboratory personnel; analyzed field communications requesting examinations and transmitting physical evidence; audited Laboratory reports and tracking of examined articles; assessed criticisms by agencies and interested parties; inspected the crime scenes; and reviewed grand jury testimony, court proceedings, and autopsy reports. a. Problems with Delays in Test Results Our investigation revealed that Judge Lodge, as well as the trial team, the FBI field agents, and their supervisors were not satisfied with the response of the FBI Laboratory in this case. [FN1008] In exploring the delays in conducting and reporting examinations, we discovered a lack of coordination, communication, and cooperation within the FBI. Unfortunately, these delays had significant impact on the government's discovery obligations and the way the government was perceived by the court and at trial. Perhaps every prosecution team thinks that its case is most important and that the Laboratory should respond accordingly. In this case, we agree with the prosecutors that the Weaver prosecution was a most important case that should have been placed on an expedited and coordinated tracking system. We question the wisdom of the FBI Laboratory's practice of using the trial date as the primary triggering criterion for Laboratory results. It is beyond dispute that a trial team needs test results well before the trial and, ideally, before they must be turned over to the defense. [FN1009] We also question the practice of accumulating test results in a single report. Reporting test results as they are determined would enable problems to be detected and resolved earlier. The procedure would also permit additional tests to be requested and completed in a ore timely fashion. Our inquiry found that written notifications to the field beyond these collective reports were also late or non-existent. Although or inspectors were told that telephonic notifications were made on a regular basis, no documentation could be located. Consequently, we can make no specific determination of the number, date, or contents of telephonic notifications. The prosecutors said they received no Laboratory test results until the latter part of November or the first part of December about evidence they began to collect in August. [FN1010] We find it unreasonable that tests requested in August and September were completed in December. We find the practice of sending samples back to the field because "specific instructions" are not contained in the request unreasonable and indicative of poor communication and coordination. [FN1011] When Laboratory tests require additional evidence or specific instructions, communication with the most knowledgeable people, the case agents or the prosecutors, should be continuous. The delay caused by the lack of blood samples could have been prevented by coordination and effort. When Degan's blood samples were shipped with requests that were not "specific" enough for the Laboratory, it should have contacted the case agents to get specific advice. Instead, the Laboratory sent the blood to the transmitting office where it was allowed to spoil. Cadigan noted that the case agents did not "key on" the return of samples. [FN1012] We do not believe the responsibility for this delay lies wit the agents alone. The December discovery that the blood of Vicki Weaver and Sammy Weaver and Kevin Harris' hair samples had not been transmitted to the FBI Laboratory for tests requested in early September in another example of a lack of coordination. Cadigan believed that the Laboratory received requests for examinations that fit the prosecutors' "theory of the week" and that the resulting tension between the prosecutors and the case agents adversely affected the coordination necessary between the field and the Laboratory for timely and effective processing of evidence. [FN1013] One of the reasons the case agents give for the continued delays after Judge Lodge's Order was the burden placed on the Laboratory by unnecessary and unreasonable requests by the USAO. According to Rampton, the sole purpose of some requests was to avid the defense focusing on Degan's weapon, upon which the Laboratory had already completed and ejection pattern test. However, Lindquist told us that test firings of all weapons were necessary to locate where Degan and the others, including Harris and Sammy Weave, were during the shooting at the Y. Although he conceded that the test of Degan's weapon was more critical, Lindquist wanted to have all the weapons tested to show the jury that the government was not being selective in its testing. We find this explanation reasonable. We are not convinced that the delays were the result of unnecessary requests by the prosecution team. Rather, we find a lack of initiative by the Laboratory in conducting examinations beyond the specific request. The use of private experts apparently renewed the Laboratory's interest in an commitment to the case. That was a costly and unnecessary expense. Our inquiry found that nothing done by the independent examiners fell outside the FBI's expertise. In addition we find that the Laboratory's failure to respond in a timely manner contributed to the trial judge's perception that the government was not meeting its discovery obligations. Although the FBI Laboratory did much significant and professional work, the problems apparent in delays and lack of initiative should be remedied. If the primary cause for delays and failure to coordinate is the result of strained resources, priorities should be reevaluated. If the response in this matter is typical of high profile homicide cases involving the death of a federal law enforcement officer and two citizens, we wonder about the response to matters of less importance. b. Failure to Provide Expertise and the Hiring of Independent Experts Our investigation revealed a lack of cooperation and initiative by the Laboratory beyond specific tests requested. We found that the requisite expertise was present at the Laboratory, but it was something that the USAO had to discover. We share the prosecutors' disappointment in the Laboratory's lack of initiative or involvement in the case. We can empathize with the prosecutors who wanted to use the FBI for experts and receive the benefit of the Laboratory's suggestions in developing the prosecution theory. Although we cannot address the soundness of the examinations the private experts and prosecutors requested, many of the problems and the perception of incompetence could have been avoided by direct conversation between the prosecutors and the Laboratory. Cadigan was aware that the idea for some tests, including the attempt to recreate the hole in Sammy Weaver's jacket, had originated with the private expert, and the case agents were frustrated that the prosecutors were going outside "normal investigative channels" by hiring experts to conduct "alternative examinations" that would not be done by the Laboratory. [FN1014] Cadigan believes that one of the main differences between the FBI Laboratory and private examiners is that the FBI Laboratory is "extremely conservative" and that FBI examiners will not testify to results not based on scientific fact because the Laboratory must maintain its reputation of being able to withstand cross examination. He believes that this distinguished FBI scientists from the majority of experts retained by defense counsel, whose primary purpose is to propose alternate theories to those advanced by the prosecution. If the government's cases are to be presented successfully and fairly in the courtroom, the technical expertise of the FBI Laboratory must be available to assist trial teams beyond areas about which Laboratory experts can testify. For example, test firings of the weapons at the Y during the August 21 shooting were significant for planning the prosecution's theory and establishing trial strategy. The prosecutors and the rest of the trial team needed timely assistance from experts in interpreting evidence. Developing alternate theories of how events occurred is part of the investigative and trial preparation process. The scope of information that a prosecutor must develop should not be limited during trial preparation only to admissible tests and evidence. An example of a test conducted by the independent examiner that the prosecution found helpful was an identification by elimination. The independent examiner did an analysis of cartridges found at the Y with weapons known to have been on the scene to exclude those that could not have been responsible for the cartridges. The FBI Laboratory expert viewed this form of identification as unscientific in that other unknown weapons may have been at the site. Nevertheless, the elimination of some weapons would assist the prosecutor in making decisions. It would also help at trial to know which weapons are capable of making a bullet hole associated with the fatal wound. We believe a more coordinated, professional, creative, and cooperative approach to litigation and investigations would be far more helpful than the process we discovered in the Weaver matter. c. Discovery Demand for Test Firings and Laboratory Notes Our investigation found that the delay in turning over Laboratory notes and test firings was one of several examples of the FBI resistance to, disagreement with, and misunderstanding of its discovery obligations in the Weaver case. We found the FBI's actions and decisions inappropriate. A court should not be compelled to order discovery compliance to resolve disputes between components of the government. Understandably, the delays caused by this attitude evoked a negative response from the court and counsel. We found no evidence that the delays in the Laboratory tests were designed or intended to postpone the trial or obstruct justice. The decision to wait for an order was in conflict with the "open discovery" strategy of the USAO and the government's representations of cooperation in court. Objections to discovery should have been addressed to the court through the USAO. The accidental commingling of the materials sent to Idaho and the events that followed contributed to the court's perception that the FBI had no regard for the rights of the accused and for the administration of justice. 4. Conclusion The lack of coordination and communication both within the FBI and with the USAO appears to be the major cause of the delays and the other problems examined in this section of the report. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART J) 975 Transcript of proceedings in United States v. Randall C. Weaver and Kevin L. Harris, CR 92-080-N-EJL, on January 8, 1993. 976 Order, October 26, 1993, at 2. 977 Id. at 10, 13. 978 These reports were submitted on September 2, 1992, October 31, 1992, November 18, 1992, and December 23, 1992. 979 Items were also submitted on January 5, 1992. 980 On January 20, 1993, Lindquist sent Cooper and Roderick's weapons to the Laboratory and, on February 11, he sent Harris and Sammy Weaver's weapons for ejection pattern tests. The results of the test on Degan's weapon were reported on January 22. On January 28, the Laboratory reported that the examinations requested on January 20 would take ten weeks to complete. They were actually completed on March 17. On February 9, the Laboratory reported that the examinations requested on January 28 would take ten weeks to complete. They were completed on February 25. On March 31, the Laboratory reported that the examinations requested on March 21 would take ten weeks to complete. They were completed on April 12. In our opinion, these inaccurate estimates show a lack of organization and probably made the prosecution less willing to request additional testing. 981 FD-302 Interview of James D. Cadigan, August 17, 1993, at 46-48. 982 Id. at 62. 983 Id. at 131. 984 The defense asserted that the two holes would be evidence that Degan received a shot to his back, spun around, and received a fatal shot from Cooper. This theory ignores the identification of Harris' bullet as the fatal shot to Degan's chest. 985 Cadigan FD-302, September 30, 1993, at 2. 986 Cadigan FD-302, August 10, 1993, at 7. 987 Cadigan FD-302, August 17, 1993, at 6. 988 FD-302 Interview of Jeffrey John, August 25, 1992. There is no indication in the field office that evidence from the autopsy of Sammy Weaver was sent to the FBI Laboratory. 989 Id. 990 The only evidence from the autopsy that was not sent to the FBI Laboratory were the fingerprint digits, which were examined by the local police department. 991 Dr. Lindholm told this inquiry that he was disappointed that the agents attending these autopsies were not knowledgeable about events surrounding the injuries. FD-302 Interview of Dr. George Lindholm, October 7, 1993, at 2. 992 Blood and hair samples were taken from Randy Weaver after he surrendered and were forwarded to the FBI Laboratory on September 1, 1992. Cadigan FD-302, August 17, 1993, at 25. There is no record of the Laboratory receiving blood samples of the Weaver group, other than Randy Weaver's. An FBI interview report erroneously stated that a sample of Harris's hair had been taken. After his surrender, Harris was taken to a hospital for treatment. According to a report prepared by FBI Special Agent James T. Davis, dated August 30, 1992, Davis took a blood sample from Harris at the hospital and Special Agent John took hair samples. The blood sample was forwarded to the FBI Laboratory on September 1, 1992. We understand that John did not obtain hair samples. 993 FD-302 Interview of Gregory Rampton, October 18-19, 1992, at 53. 994 FD-302 Interview of Mark Thundercloud, January 4, 1993. 995 Cadigan FD-302, August 17, 1993, at 76-86, 126. 996 Memorandum to Barbara Berman from Ronald D. Howen and Kim R. Lindquist, August 24, 1993. 997 Cadigan FD-302, August 10, 1993, at 13. 998 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 38-39. 999 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 40. Lindquist believes that these events were not the result of miscommunication and that the "image conscious FBI [attempted] to save face" after the U.S. Attorney's Office had retained a private expert. Memorandum from Ronald D. Howen and Kim Lindquist to Barbara Berman, August 24, 1993, at 4. 1000 Lindquist regretted having to spend $10,000 of taxpayers' dollars for something in which the FBI should have been expert and should have been willing to do. Id at 7. 1001 Rampton FD-302, October 18-19, 1993, at 46-47. 1002 Cadigan FD-302, September 30, 1993, at 1. Cadigan does not recall the events Lindquist described. He recalled that, in March 1993, a case agent told him that the prosecutors were going to Ruby ridge and asked whether he would be interested in accompanying them. Cadigan made arrangements to be there for two days. Cadigan said that the prosecutors never contacted him about the trip. 1003 Lindquist Interview, December 1, 1993, Tape 2, at 41. 1004 Memorandum from Ronald D. Howen and Kim R. Lindquist to Barbara Berman, August 24, 1993, at 7. Bruce Koenig, FBI Operational Support Unit, Information Resources Division, was prepared to render assistance, but Rampton or Lindquist told him to discontinue his work. FD-302 Interview of Bruce Koenig, October 28, 1993, at 2. See Section IV(N) of this report for additional discussion about this acoustical test. 1005 Cadigan FD-302, August 10, 1993, at 11. 1006 Id. 1007 Id. 1008 Both Glenn and Dillon expressed their disappointment in the Laboratory's performance. Sworn Statement of Eugene Glenn, January 12, 1994, at 31-33; FD-302 Interview of T. Michael Dillon, October 25, 1993, at 5. 1009 Although the Laboratory says that the trial date is important, FBI transmittal forms do not have a place for the date. The first record we found of a trial date was in a transmittal to the Engineering Section of the FBI Laboratory dated October 27, 1992. That entry reflects the trial date of February 2, 1993. Cadigan FD-302, August 17, 1993, at 58. Since the transmittal was sent to the Engineering Section in Quantico, Virginia, Cadigan never saw the transmittal. In fact, Cadigan 1009 (...continued) did not know the trial date until November or December. We find the principal examiner's ignorance of the data symptomatic of the poor coordination and communication in this case. We note that the case agents told our investigators that Cadigan must have been aware of the trial date because they referred to the date in their many conversations with him. 1010 Memorandum from Ronald D. Howen and Kim R. Lindquist to Barbara Berman, August 24, 1993. 1011 We also criticize the system in which the agent who collected the items is contacted when problems of this sort arise, instead of the case agent. 1012 Cadigan FD-302, August 10, 1993, at 7. 1013 Id. at 14. 1014 Cadigan FD-302, August 10, 1993, at 11. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED K. The Preliminary Hearings of Weaver and Harris 1. Introduction Following their arrests, government agents transported Weaver and Harris to hospitals to receive medical treatment for the gunshot wounds that they had suffered. Thereafter, the court decided to conduct separate preliminary hearings for the two men. In addition, the federal magistrate judges handling the preliminary hearings elected to combine the preliminary examination and detention hearing in one proceeding. The combined preliminary examination and detention hearing for Weaver was scheduled to begin on September 10, 1992; the combined preliminary examination and detention hearing for Harris was scheduled to begin on September 14, 1992. On Friday, September 11, 1992, one day after the Weaver preliminary hearing had begun, U.S. Attorney Ellsworth appeared in court to argue a motion seeking to continue the preliminary hearing of Harris from September 14 to September 15 in order to accommodate the additional security needs presented by the visit of Vice President Quayle to Boise on September 14. It has been alleged that Ellsworth represented in court that Harris would be permitted a full preliminary hearing that would not be terminated or interrupted by the return of a grand jury indictment. With the understanding that a full preliminary hearing would be conducted, counsel for Harris consented to the continuance. The preliminary hearing of Harris began on September 15. On the second day of the preliminary hearing, the proceeding were interrupted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Howen, who informed the court that the grand jury had just returned an indictment against Weaver and Harris. The Weaver preliminary hearing was also interrupted and the parties informed of the indictment. Although the magistrate judges ultimately decided to discontinue the preliminary hearings, they afforded Weaver and Harris the opportunity to question witnesses during the detention phase of the hearings. It has been alleged that the government acted improperly when it sought grand jury indictments while the preliminary hearings were in progress. In particular, it has been argued that once the government elected to proceed by preliminary hearing, it was stopped from abandoning the preliminary hearing. With regard to the Harris preliminary proceeding, the question has been raised whether the government, in light of the Ellsworth representations, was obliged to complete the preliminary hearing and whether the failure to do so violated any legal or ethical rules. 2. Statement of Facts a. Arrest and Initial Processing of Weaver and Harris On August 23, 1992, a criminal complaint was filed charging Weaver and Harris with violations of 18 U.S.C. 111, 1111 and 1114. Harris surrendered to federal authorities on August 30, and was taken for medical treatment to the intensive care unit at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington. The next day, Weaver surrendered and was taken to St. Lukes Hospital in Boise for treatment. On September 2, 1992, U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno conducted the initial appearance of Harris in the hospital and continued his preliminary examination and detention hearing until September 14 because of his medical condition. Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen originally planned to conduct joint preliminary hearings for Weaver and Harris but the delay caused by the medical treatment for Harris, coupled with federal time requirements, precluded this plan. [FN1015] As a result, the preliminary hearing for Weaver was scheduled for September 10th before Magistrate Judge Mikel Williams and the preliminary hearing for Harris was scheduled for September 14 before Magistrate Judge Lawrence Boyle. The magistrate judges decided to conduct the preliminary hearing and detention hearing in one proceeding. Howen was assigned to handled the Harris preliminary hearing while Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindquist was assigned to handle the Weaver preliminary hearing. [FN1016] Howen initially expected that he would present the government's case at the Harris preliminary hearing through a summary witness and that this presentation would take half a day. Lindquist expected each preliminary hearing to take two days "at the most." According to Howen, it was the normal practice of the magistrates in the district to schedule the preliminary hearing after the grand jury had convened, if the time requirements permitted, so as to avoid conducting a preliminary hearing if an indictment were going to be returned. Thus, Howen was surprised when the magistrates set the Weaver and Harris preliminary hearings before the grand jury met in [G.J.] [FN1019] From the moment that Weaver and Harris were taken into custody, Howen intended to present an indictment at the next session of the grand jury which was scheduled for [G.J.]. [FN1020] All attorneys working on the matter knew of this plan, including U.S. Attorney Ellsworth, who as head of the office, supervised Howen and Lindquist. Indeed, in his September 3, 1992 letter to Special Agent in Charge Eugene Glenn, Ellsworth noted that the grand jury proceeding would begin on [G.J.]. [FN1021] Howen always believed that if the grand jury were to return an indictment before the preliminary hearings were completed that the indictment would extinguish the right to the preliminary hearing. [FN1022] He believed that Ellsworth shared this view. [FN1023] Indeed, Howen recalled that prior to the beginning of the preliminary hearings, he discussed with Lindquist and he believes also with Ellsworth the possibility that the Harris preliminary hearing could be terminated by the return of an indictment. [FN1024] b. September 10-11. 1992 The combined preliminary examination and detention hearing for Weaver began on September 10. On that day the government spent the entire day examining Deputy Marshal Roderick. [FN1025] When the preliminary hearing resumed on September 11, defense counsel cross-examined Roderick and, in the afternoon, the government conducted the direct examination of Deputy Marshal Cooper. At the end of the proceedings on September 11, it was agreed, at the request of defense counsel Gerry Spence, that the hearing would resume on September 16, 1992. [FN1026] On Friday September 11, 1992, three days before the Harris preliminary hearing was to commence, U.S. Attorney Ellsworth, filed a motion and a supporting affidavit requesting that the Harris preliminary hearing be continued one day until September 15. Ellsworth explained that the Bose Chief of Police had expressed concern to him about being able to provide security to both the Harris preliminary hearing and to Vice President Quayle who was scheduled to visit Boise on September 14. [FN1027] In arguing the motion to the court, Ellsworth [FN1028] told the court that the U.S. Secret Service had also expressed concern over the increased security demands created by the Quayle visit. [FN1029] When Judge Boyle asked for Harris' position on the continuance, defense counsel Nevin replied: The primary concern that I have is that this not be simply an opportunity for the government to get a grand jury impaneled and to indict Mr. Harris and avoid the obligation to provide him with a preliminary hearing. And I've been afraid all along that was what was going to happen and that this would get delayed in some way so that would be possible. I understand . . . this is approximately the time when the grand jury sits and is available. And if this is just an effort to do that, then I certainly object to it. [FN1030] Now maybe Mr. Ellsworth could assure us or we could stipulate that a preliminary will be held on Tuesday and that there will not be an indictment filed which would supersede that, and in that case I would be glad to stipulate to it. The court then invited comment from the Government to which Ellsworth responded: As indicated in my affidavit there is no underlying basis for this . . . beyond the representations to me of the chief of police of Boise. . . . [W]e are prepared and ready to go to the preliminary hearing on Monday. I am willing to give assurances that we intend to have a preliminary hearing and there is no ulterior motive other than the request of the chief of police of Boise that the -- he's concerned about his security people. . . .But there is no ulterior motive other than what's expressed in the motion and affidavit. [FN1031] Thereafter, the following exchange occurred between the parties and the court, THE COURT: Okay. Do you gentlemen want to take a minute and talk privately and then I can come back in? MR. NEVIN: Yeah, I mean if -- if what counsel is saying is that there is going to be a preliminary hearing on Tuesday not matter what, why that's fine. I -- we -- no objection. THE COURT: So you would agree and stipulate to -- MR. NEVIN: Yeah. THE COURT: -- to postpone the preliminary examination and detention hearing from Monday the 14th to Tuesday the 15th? MR. NEVIN: Upon that condition, yes. MR. ELLSWORTH: The government has no problem with that stipulation. THE COURT: Well, let me just understand so I don't make a procedural mistake. And is it my understanding Mr. Nevin, that you agree based on the representations of the United States attorney that their motive is simply to honor requests by the chief of police regarding Mr. Quayle's visit to Boise, you will stipulate for a transfer of this -- or rescheduling of this from Monday until Tuesday? MR. NEVIN: Yeah. And just so I don't make a mistake in what I'm saying. I read what Mr. Ellsworth has said as a guaranty that we'll have a prelim on Tuesday, and that's there -- this is not an attempt to delay this proceeding so that an indictment could be filed or the grand jury could be impaneled, whatever. And that we will have a preliminary hearing on Tuesday no matter what. And upon that representation I stipulated that the matter may be continued until Tuesday. THE COURT: Okay, you're not asking as a condition of your stipulation that they not subsequently impanel a grand jury and return an indictment if that's such? MR. NEVIN: Yeah. No, I don't consider that to be part of our stipulation. THE COURT: All right. Mr. Ellsworth, is that agreement adequate for you? MR. ELLSWORTH: I have no problem with that agreement, Your Honor. . . . [FN1032] Thereafter, Judge Boyle granted me motion to continue the preliminary hearing until September 15. [FN1033] Ellsworth told investigator that when he argued this motion he expected that the Harris preliminary hearing would take no longer than one day. At that time, he was aware that Magistrate Judge Williams had permitted Weaver's defense counsel to subpoena the marshals to testify; however, Ellswroth did not know whether Magistrate Judge Boyle, who was new on the bench, would adopt a similar approach in the Harris preliminary hearing. Ellsworth knew that they intended to present an indictment on [G.J.] [FN1035] but denied discussing with anyone or giving serious consideration to what would occur if an indictment were returned while the preliminary hearing was in progress. [FN1036] Ellsworth stated that he was surprised when the defense objected to his request and believed that they distrusted his stated reason for the continuance. [FN1037] Ellsworth insisted that he did not believe that he was guaranteeing a full preliminary hearing. He saw no conflict between his representation and his knowledge that an indictment would be presented on [G.J.] since he thought that the hearing would take one day and, thus, would be over before the indictment was presented to the grand jury. [FN1038] Neither Howen nor Lindquist recall having any discussions with Ellsworth before he appeared in court on September 11th. [FN1039] However, Howen believed that Ellsworth knew that the government intended to present an indictment to the grand jury on [G.J.] [FN1040] and that the magistrate in the Weaver preliminary hearing was giving defense counsel unusually broad latitude in calling witnesses and in permitting expanded cross-examination of the government's witnesses. [FN1041] Furthermore, Howen told investigators that after the first day of the Weaver preliminary hearing it "was very apparent" to them that the preliminary hearing would be longer than a one or two day proceeding. [FN1042] c. [G.J.] (1) [G.J.] [G.J.] [FN1043] [G.J.] [FN1044] (2) Beginning of the Harris Preliminary Hearing The preliminary hearing of Harris began on September 15. For the first two hours, Howen argued 10 motions that the government had filed late the previous day. [FN1045] Thereafter, Lindquist spent the remaining part of the day conducting the direct examination of Special Agent Gregory Rampton while Howen left the hearing and presented witnesses before the grand jury in another room in the courthouse. At the end of the proceedings on September 15, Lindquist informed the court that he had a scheduling conflict if the Harris preliminary hearing continued the next day since he was supposed to participate in the Weaver preliminary hearing. Lindquist explained that Howen was unavailable to conduct either hearing because, "we have the grand jury convened, which is going to demand his time." [FN1046] As a result, Lindquist requested that the Harris hearing be continued. After defense counsel objected to the request, [FN1047] the following colloquy occurred: MR. NEVIN: . . . . The -- I have been concerned all through this, that where the United States was going with a grand jury indictment, and then an argument that would cut off our right to have a preliminary hearing. When we appeared in Court last Thursday, Mr. Ellsworth was there, and Mr. Ellsworth was there on a motion to continue these proceedings from yesterday until today. I said at that time, that was what I was afraid they were doing, and that if they would guarantee me that was not what they were doing, and that we would go forward with a preliminary hearing, no matter what, they holding it at another time was fine with me. I went outside here, and I saw grand jury witnesses going into the grand jury room, I know that's what they are doing. We've been told Mr. Howen can't be here tomorrow because he's got to appear before, and again that's a choice they have made for him to be there instead of here. But, in any event, if counsel will assure me that we will hold and complete this preliminary hearing, I don't mind if we continue it until a later time, and that there will be not argument upon -- if a grand jury indictment is returned, that we're not entitled to complete this hearing. And upon that insurance, let's hold it another time, whenever it's convenient, that's fine. . . . MR. LINDQUIST: . . . [C]ounsel will not have that assurance. We're all very much aware that the purpose of a preliminary hearing does not result in a charging document. The purpose is to get us to that grand jury, which is the institution that initiates the charging document. . . . I'm simply saying that we are proceeding with the grand jury as it is convened, pursuant to Court order, and I'm not going to make any commitment as to what that grand jury will do. That is not in my power. That's not my authority. [FN1048] The court then asked Lindquist whether he had "visited with Mr. Ellsworth about the nature of the hearing held last week on this very question," to which Lindquist replied that he had "about a two-meeting" with Ellsworth and had simply learned that defense counsel was cynical about the reasons Ellsworth had given for the continuance. Having ordered that the preliminary hearing reconvene the next morning, the court explained that it was going to "pull out the tape" of the earlier hearing because it believed that Ellsworth had represented that "there would be a complete preliminary hearing held in this matter." d. September 16, 1992 (1). [G.J.] [G.J.] [FN1050] [G.J.] [FN1051] Thereafter, the grand jury deliberated and returned two indictments against Weaver and Harris charging them with violations of 18 U.S.C. 1. 115, 1111 and 1114. Howen stated that when he presented the indictment to the grand jury his understanding of what Ellsworth had stated in court that previous Friday was that the continuance was requested to accommodate the security concerns of the police and the Secret Service and that the request was not a subterfuge to avoid having a preliminary hearing before an indictment was returned. He was aware of no other representations having been made by Ellsworth. [FN1052] In addition, Howen said it was unclear to him whether Judge Boyle was going to allow the same broad latitude in issuing subpoenas to Harris as Judge Williams had allowed for Weaver which would extend the length of the Harris hearing. [FN1053] Ellsworth believed that before the indictment was presented that he had briefly mentioned his September 11th statements to Howen and Lindquist but that he had not discussed the statements in detail including any representations he may have made to Nevin that Harris would have a preliminary hearing. [FN1054] Ellsworth denied that they ever discussed that the Harris preliminary hearing could be terminated by obtaining the return of an indictment. However, he conceded that they did contemplate ending the Weaver preliminary hearing in this fashion. [FN1055] (2) Harris Preliminary Hearing The Harris preliminary hearing resumed on September 16 with the defense examining its first witness, Deputy Marshal Hunt. Assistant U.S. Attorney Monty Stiles handled the proceeding while Lindquist continued to handle the Weaver preliminary hearing and Howen was before the grand jury. [FN1056] In the middle of the morning session, Howen interrupted the proceedings and informed the court that the grand jury had returned two indictments against Weaver and Harris. [FN1057] Howen requested immediate arraignment. Thereafter, the court declared a 10 minute recess. When court resumed, Howen stated that he had not been present in court when certain conversations occurred between the court and Ellsworth. The court then took another brief recess to allow Howen to review a transcript of the September 11 hearing transcribed by the judge's secretary the previous evening. [FN1058] When the proceedings resumed, Judge Boyle made it clear that he considered the initial appearance of Harris to have been at the Spokane hospital on August 30, 1991 before Judge Imbrogno and, therefore, that the time requirements of Fed. R. Crim. P. began to run from that date. [FN1059] Howen then argued that the case would have been indicted the prior week if the court had not delayed the impaneling of the grand jury for one week because of the Labor Day holiday. [FN1060] Howen then admitted that Ellsworth "did guarantee a preliminary hearing" but argued "[w]e appeared for the preliminary hearing. . . . [W]e think at this time, with the return of the indictments. . . the preliminary hearing now should go on to the detention hearing. . . ." [FN1061] Although Judge Boyle concluded that Ellsworth had moved for the continuance in good faith and seemed to agree that, as a legal matter, the return of an indictment extinguished the right to a preliminary hearing, he was concerned that the Ellsworth representations might have estopped the government from indicting Harris. [FN1062] In response, Howen adopted a narrow reading of the September 11 transcript and argued that preliminary hearings are typically brief and that all that Ellsworth was promising was that a preliminary hearing would be held on September 15 [FN1063] and that because a hearing had been held on that day, the Government was not estopped from indicting Harris. [FN1064] Howen denied having any improper motive in presenting the indictment to the grand jury and argued that because the defendants were in custody, they had a right to immediate presentment before a grand jury and indeed, that the Speedy Trial Act mandated that they be brought before a grand jury within 30 days of arrest. [FN1065] Defense counsel Nevin argued that this matter was not dependent upon the statutory provisions and caselaw that held that an indictment extinguished the right to a preliminary hearing but rather was dependent upon the effect to be given Harris' waiver of a right to object to a continuance in return for a promise by the U.S. Attorney that Harris would have a preliminary hearing. [FN1066] Nevin, pointing to the lengthy argument of motions and the lengthy direct examination of Rampton, argued that Howen had no intention of completing the preliminary hearing on September 15, 1992. [FN1067] He maintained that the clear import of what was stated in court on September 11th was that in return for Harris' consent to continuing the preliminary hearing the government agreed to give Harris a full preliminary hearing without interrupting it with the return of an indictment. [FN1068] Thereafter, Nevin moved to quash the indictment. After listening to the arguments of the parties, the court took the matter under advisement and commenced the detention phase of the hearing. [FN1069] Thereafter, the government resumed its direct questioning of Special Agent Rampton after which defense counsel cross examined Rampton. stigators found that Ellsworth had a somewhat confused recollection of the events during this time period. He recalled having concern after the Harris preliminary hearing proceedings concluded on September 15 because it became apparent to him that they would continue beyond the one day he had anticipated. It was at that point that he recalled discussing with either Howen or Lindquist that they might have to continue the preliminary hearing. However, he did not remember that they ever considered not presenting the indictment on September 16. Indeed, it was his recollection that they decided to proceed and to deal with any objections to the indictment that were raised. [FN1070] Howen told investigators that if he had been arguing the motion on September 11, he would not have made the statements that Ellsworth did. He attributed these statements to the fact that Ellsworth was not the attorney responsible for litigating the case and that he was unfamiliar with the issues in the case. Had Howen been in court, he would have explained that, if the court were to conduct the preliminary hearing before the convening of the grand jury -- a schedule that Howen argued was inconsistent with the practice in the district -- he would present an indictment, which, if returned, would extinguish the preliminary hearing. [FN1071] Despite his views about the statements made by Ellsworth, Howen stated that if had been provided a copy of the September 11 transcript before going before the grand jury it would not have changed his decision to present the indictment. [FN1072] Based on his conversations with Ellsworth, Lindquist believed that on September 11 Ellsworth intended to agree that Harris had a right to a preliminary hearing but not to agree that the government could not seek an indictment that would terminate the preliminary hearing. Lindquist thought that Ellsworth intended to guarantee at least a partial preliminary hearing. However, Lindquist admitted that he believed that they "all agreed that what was communicated to [Nevin] was probably ambigious and could easily have been interpreted as I get my preliminary hearing from beginning to end." [FN1073] (3) Weaver Preliminary Hearing On September 16, the preliminary hearing of Weaver resumed. However, before defense counsel began to cross-examine Deputy Marshal Cooper, Lindquist informed the court and defense counsel that a grand jury had been convened and would be handing down an indictment that day. [FN1074] Shortly thereafter, an indictment was served on Weaver and the court heard argument from the parties as to whether the preliminary hearing should be continued. The court then permitted defense counsel to cross- examine Cooper before ruling that the preliminary hearing was being terminated. Judge Williams concluded that the grand jury's finding of probable cause obviated the need for the preliminary hearing and opined that the issue of prosecutorial misconduct could be addressed by motion with the district court judge. [FN1075] Thereafter, the court proceeded to the detention phase of the proceedings. Lindquist rested after introducing a few exhibits; defense counsel called no additional witnesses. The court ordered that Weaver be detained. [FN1076] e. September 17, 1992 On September 17, the court ruled on the Harris motion to quash the indictment. Judge Boyle concluded that although he "truly believe[d]" that Ellsworth had made the request for a continuance in good faith, he interpreted "the stipulation entered into between counsel as contemplating that Mr. Harris would be entitled to a preliminary examination." [FN1077] With regard to what legal effect should be given the breach of the agreement, including whether it warranted quashing the indictment, Judge Boyle thought that the issue was better left to a superseding proceeding or appeal. However, he did not believe that Harris had been prejudiced by how the preliminary and detention hearings were conducted. [FN1078] The court concluded that the return of the indictment extinguished the need for the purpose of the preliminary hearing which was to determine whether probable cause existed that a crime had been committed and that Harris had committed it. As a result, Judge Boyle held that the preliminary hearing would not continue. [FN1079] Thereafter, the court began the detention phase of the hearing and defense counsel proceeded to cross-examine Special Agent Rampton. After Rampton completed his testimony, defense counsel called and questioned Deputy Marshals Dave Hunt, Arthur Roderick, Larry Cooper, Joseph Thomas and Francis Norris. Following argument by counsel, Judge Boyle ordered that Harris be detained. [FN1080] f. Subsequent Defense Challenges On November 16, 1992, Weaver and Harris sought to dismiss the indictments returned against them, arguing, among other grounds that the preliminary hearing had been improperly terminated. They asserted that the Government improperly obtained the indictments only after it realized that probable cause had not been demonstrated at the preliminary hearings because none of the witnesses offered had seen either defendant fire the shot that killed Degan. In addition, they argued that once the Government elected to proceed against the defendant by preliminary hearing it should "be estopped from abandoning that proceeding." [FN1081] To hold otherwise, in their view, would permit the Government to abuse the preliminary hearing, if it appeared that the defense might prevail, in violation of the due process rights of the defendants to introduce evidence. [FN1082] Harris also contended that dismissal was warranted in his case since his consent to a continuance had been secured by a false promise that the hearing would not be superseded by an indictment. [FN1083] The government filed its response to the Weaver and Harris motions to dismiss on November 23, 1992 and argued that there was no legal authority to support the proposition that it was unconstitutional for the prosecution to have the grand jury return an indictment while a preliminary hearing was in progress. [FN1084] Furthermore, the Government noted that Weaver had requested the continuance of the preliminary hearing from September 11, 1992 to September 16, 1992. [FN1085] The Government failed to address directly Harris' argument that the Government had represented that an indictment would not be returned prior to the completion of the preliminary hearing. It did, however, argue that Harris had been afforded a completed preliminary hearing that was completed on September 17, 1992, one day after the indictment had been returned. [FN1086] Magistrate Judge Williams concluded that the U.S. Attorney's Office had acted within the scope of the applicable laws and was not guilty of prosecutorial misconduct. In addition, he concluded that there was no legal barrier to an indictment being returned prior to the completion of the preliminary hearing. Once the indictment was returned, the need for the probable cause determination of the preliminary hearing became unnecessary. [FN1087] Shortly thereafter, Magistrate Judge Boyle ruled on the claims made by Harris in his Motion to Dismiss. [FN1088] In that opinion, Judge Boyle adhered to his earlier ruling on the issue and reiterated his conclusion that there was no legal impediment to a grand jury returning an indictment while a preliminary hearing was in progress. [FN1089] In addition, Judge Boyle found that Harris had failed to demonstrate that he had been deprived of any constitutional or procedural right or that he had suffered prejudice that justified dismissal of the indictment. [FN1090] Nowhere in his opinion did Judge Boyle address the impact of the Ellsworth representations. On January 8, 1993, Weaver and Harris filed a joint motion in which, among other forms of relief, they sought to dismiss the indictment. In this pleading, they repeated their allegation that the U.S. Attorney's Office had subverted the preliminary hearing process by securing a grand jury indictment when it had become apparent that probable cause could not be found at the preliminary hearing. In addition, they argued that this alleged subversion was exacerbated in the case of Harris since the U.S. Attorney had stated to the court that an indictment would not be sought until the completion of the preliminary hearing. [FN1091] District Court Judge Edward Lodge rejected this defense challenge and adopted the recommended report and order of Magistrate Judges Williams and Boyle in orders issued on February 17, 1993. Judge Lodge repeated his rejection of the motion to dismiss in his order addressing the motion to disqualify the U.S. Attorney's Office from prosecuting the case. 3. Discussion We agree with the judicial determinations in the Weaver and Harris prosecutions that the return of an indictment in the midst of a preliminary hearing extinguishes the right to a preliminary hearing. The sole purpose of the preliminary hearing is to determine whether probable cause exists to believe that the defendant has committed the criminal conduct described in the complaint. Once the grand jury has made an independent determination that probable cause exists and returns an indictment, that document becomes the charging document in the prosecution. There is no reason for the preliminary hearing to continue. Nor are we aware of any estoppel principle that would restrict the government from returning an indictment while a preliminary hearing is in progress. Despite this conclusion, we are troubled by the representations that Ellsworth made in court on September 11th, and question whether the members of the U.S. Attorney's Office- - especially Ellsworth -- behaved ethically in light of these representations. Our concern is not that Ellsworth fabricated the need for a continuance since the record is uncontradicted that law enforcement personnel had articulated the security problems created by the trial and the Quayle visit. Rather, our concern is directed at two other areas. First, whether the statements that Ellsworth made constituted a guarantee that Harris would have a "full" or "complete" preliminary hearing in return for agreeing to a continuance and, if such a representation was made, did Ellsworth make it with the intent to promise a complete preliminary hearing. [FN1092] Second, whether Howen or Lindquist understood that Ellsworth had made such a representation before the indictment was presented to the grand jury. Focusing on the first issue, an examination of the September 11 transcript reveals clearly that defense counsel Nevin was concerned that if the preliminary hearing were continued, the prosecution might obtain an indictment and terminate the hearing. Thereafter, there was an exchange among Nevin, Ellsworth and the court in which the agreement of the parties was formed. Ellsworth insisted that he had not ulterior motive for the request and stated that "I am willing to give assurances that we intend to have a preliminary hearing . . . ." [FN1093] Nevin said that he would have no objection to the continuance "if what counsel if saying is that there is going to be a preliminary hearing on Tuesday no matter what. . . ." [FN1094] Ellsworth responded that "[t]he government has no problem with that stipulation." The court then proceeded to ensure that the parties understood the terms of the agreement. Nevin agreed that he was agreeing to continue the preliminary hearing on the representation that Ellsworth was making the motion simply to honor the requests of the chief of police, that Ellsworth was not making the request to permit his office time to present an indictment to the grand jury and that Ellsworth was providing a guarantee that Harris would have a preliminary hearing on September 15. Nevin agreed that the agreement did not include a promise that the USAO would not subsequently impanel a grand jury and return an indictment. In response, Ellsworth told the court that he had "no problem" with the terms of the agreement. [FN1095] Critical to this issue is what did Ellsworth intend or believe he was promising when he entered into this agreement on September 11, 1992. The defense argued that he was promising a "full" preliminary hearing. In contrast, Ellsworth and Howen seem to believe that Ellsworth never promised a "full" preliminary hearing but rather "a" hearing or "some" preliminary hearing would be held on September 15. Ellsworth stated that he believed that the hearing could be completed in one day. Both men did not believe that any guarantees had been given that, if the preliminary hearing took longer than one day, that an indictment would not be returned. If we were to strictly construe the meaning of the words used by the parties, it is true that the word "full" or its functional equivalent was never uttered in court. However, we are uncomfortable with the hypertechnicality of such an approach. We believe that implicit in a request for a promise of "a" preliminary hearing is the idea of a full rather than a partial preliminary hearing. Indeed, when first confronted with the statements that Ellsworth made, Howen stated to the court, "[w]e think, in good faith, the United States Attorney, with the -- with the transcript I have here, did guarantee a preliminary hearing. [FN1096] The remarks of the court echoed this view. [FN1097] In its initial ruling on this issue, the Court concluded that the stipulation "contemplate[ed] that Mr. Harris would be entitled to a preliminary examination." [FN1098] Having concluded that a fair interpretration of the language used by Ellsworth was to promise a complete preliminary hearing we must proceed to our next area of inquiry which is what did Ellsworth intend when he made these representations in court. Ellsworth insisted that it was never his intent to guarantee that Harris would have a complete preliminary hearing but rather only to represent that there would be "a" preliminary hearing on September 15. [FN1099] A careful review of the evidence does not convice us otherwise. Thus, we cannot conclude that Ellsworth intended to guarantee Harris a full preliminary hearing. Despite this conclusion, we are concerned by the actions of Ellsworth. At the outset, we are troubled by the insensitivity or misunderstanding that he demonstrated concerning the impact of his September 11 statements. Ellsworth failed to appreciate the effect given to his words because they were uttered by someone in the position of the U.S. Attorney. We are also concerned about the apparent failure of Ellsworth to carefully and continually evaluate all of the information available to him. The evidence establishes that Ellsworth knew on September 11 that Howen would be seeking an indictment when the grand jury convened on [G.J.]. It also appears that Ellsworth may have participated in discussions concerning the possibility that an indictment could be returned while the preliminary hearing was in progress and that the legal effect of this action would be to extinguish the preliminary hearing. Finally, it seems probable that Ellsworth also was aware that judicial rulings in the Weaver preliminary hearing had permitted the defense board latitude in calling witnesses to testify in the preliminary hearing thereby transforming it from a summary proceeding into a longer hearing and that the potential existed that the Harris hearing might be similarly handled. Although this information was available to Ellsworth, there was no indication that he carefully evaluated it when considering the timing of the Harris indictment. Thus, despite our inability to comfortable conclude that Ellsworth intentionally misrepresented the nature of the government's agreement, we believe that his inattention to the clear import of his words coupled with his failure to monitor the progress of the Harris preliminary hearing and the timing of the presentment of the indictment came precipitously close to unethical conduct. The investigative record failed to develop evidence establishing that Howen or Lindquist understood the scope of what Ellsworth had arguably promised in court on September 11. Based on their remarks to the court and to us, both men, prior to the time when the indictment was returned, appeared to have been under the impression that the main issue discusses in court was whether the security concerns articulated by Ellsworth constituted a fabricated excuse designed to give the government more time in which to secure an indictment. [FN1100] From his remarks to the court on September 15, Lindquist did not seem to see Ellsworth's statements as providing a guarantee that there would be a preliminary hearing but rather only as an indication that they intended to proceed with the preliminary hearing on that date. However, we are concerned about the events after the court session on September 15. Based on a reading of the transcript of the proceeding, we find it difficult to believe that Mr. Lindquist did not realize at the end of that day that a serious issue had developed over the representations that Ellsworth had made four days earlier. Indeed, we believe that Lindquist may have raised his concern to Howen because [G.J.] [FN1101] It appears that neither Howen or Lindquist ever considered or discussed the need to evaluate the impact of the Ellsworth statements before resuming the grand jury proceedings. We think that the potential implications of these statements were apparent and, thus, we would have expected some discussion to have occurred about the impact of indicting Harris while the preliminary hearing was still in progress. As a practical matter we do not believe that Harris was prejudiced by this controversy since he was allowed to question witnesses during the detention phase of the proceeding that he would have probably called to testify at the preliminary hearing if had been allowed to continue. [FN1102] Rather, what concerns us is the appearance of impropriety created when Mr. Ellsworth, as the U.S. Attorney, made statements that reasonable indicated that a promise of a preliminary hearing was being made and then supervised actions that appeared to violate that promise. Moreover, we are also concerned that this situation may have been attributable in part to the failure of Mr. Ellsworth to have thoroughly evaluated and monitored the information available to him before and after his appearance in court on September 11th. 4. Conclusion We conclude that a reasonable interpretation of the language that Ellsworth used in court on September 11, 1991 was that Mr. Harris would have a full preliminary hearing. Although the government never promised that an indictment would not be returned it created the impression upon which the defense relied that such a return would not occur until the preliminary hearing had been completed. We do not believe that Mr. Ellsworth intentionally misrepresented the position of the government yet we do conclude that he gave insufficient consideration to the information available to him and to the plain meaning of his statements. Finally, the evidence does not sustain the charge that before the indictment was presented to the grand jury that Howen and Lindquist believed that Ellsworth had guaranteed a complete preliminary hearing to Harris. We find no misconduct by them in this matter. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART K) 1016. Howen Interview, Tape 7, at 4. 1017. Howen explained that it was his usual practice to use the case agent as a summary witness as opposed to calling first party witnesses. Id. at 4-5. 1018. Lindquist Interview, Tape 1, at 27. 1019. Howen Interview, Tape 7, at 5. 1020. Id. at 1-3; Lindquist Interview, Tape 1, at 27; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 3, at 26-27. 1021. Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, September 3, 1992. 1022. Howen Interview, Tape 7, at 5-6. 1023. Id. at S. 1024. Id.. 1025. See Transcript of Preliminary Hearing in United States V. Weaver, No. MS-3934, September 10, 1992 (hereinafter cited as "Weaver Preliminary Hearing Transcript"). 1026. Lindquist Interview, Tape 1, at 28. 1027. See Motion to Vacate and Continue Preliminary and Detention Hearings, United States v. Harris, No. MS-3935, filed on September 11, 1992; Affidavit of Maurice O. Ellsworth, United States V. Harris, No. MS-3934, September 10, 1992. See also, Ellsworth Interview, Tape 3, at 29-30. 1028. Ellsworth was arguing the motion because the Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned to the case were unavailable. Howen Interview, Tape 7, at 11. 1029. See Transcript of Motion Hearing, United State v. Harris, No. MS-3934, September 11, 1992, at 7. 1030. Id. at 5-6. 1031. Id. at 6-7. 1032. Id. at 7-9. 1033. Id. at 10. 1034. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 3, at 27-29, 31. 1035. Id. at 33. 1036. Id. at 31-32. 1037. Id. at 30-31. 1038. Id. at 32, 35. 1039. Howen Interview, Tape 7, at 12-16; Lindquist Interview, Tape 1, at 29-30. 1040. Howen said that if he had been in court that day and defense counsel had refused to consent to the continuance, he would have proceeded to have the preliminary hearing as originally scheduled. Howen Interview, Tape 7, at 21. 1041. Id. at 12-16. Howen thought Ellsworth was also aware that the court agreed to issue defense subpoenas for the five marshals involved in the incident at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992. As a result, the government had decided to call Larry Cooper and Arthur Roderick to testify in their part of the preliminary hearing rather than waiting for the defense to call them. Id. 1042. Id. at 15. 1043. [G.J.] 1044. [G.J.] 1045. The judge interrupted Howen early in his argument and stated that, "[W]e had a hearing last Thursday, September 10, where many of the issues you are raising today were argued by very able counsel for the Government." Harris Preliminary Hearing Transcript, September 15, 1992, at 12. Later, after Howen had finished arguing another point, the judge stated, "I believe that is consistent with, Mr. Howen, what I told counsel in our conference this morning. I think that you have just merely restated what I told you my position was." Id. at 38. Notwithstanding these remarks, Judge Boyle later refused to become involved in a debate as to whether the USAO had been attempting to delay the proceedings. Id., September 16, 1992, at 68. 1046. Id., September 15, 1992, at 226. 1047. Id. 1048. Id. at 228-30. 1049. Id. at 230-33. 1050. [G.J.] 1051. [G.J.] 1052. Howen Interview, Tape 7, at 24-26. 1053. Id. at 26-27. 1054. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 3, at 39. 1055. Ellsworth stated, "We were talking about getting an indictment and cutting off the Weaver thing, because the Weaver thing had been continued and was, was going on and ad nauseam, but we didn't anticipate that the, the Harris one would, uh, would likewise." Id. 1056. Howen Interview, Tape 7, at 22-23. 1057. The first indictment charged them with the sinful, malicious and premeditated murder of William Degan in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2, 115, 111 and 1114; the second indictment charged them with forcibly resisting, impeding and assaulting Deputy Marshals Roderick, Cooper and Degan in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2 and 111. 1058. Harris Preliminary Hearing Transcript, September 16, 1992, at 23-25. 1059. Id. at 27-29. 1060. Id. at 33-37. 1061. Id. at 37. 1062. Id. at 35-39. 1063. Id. at 39-40. 1064. Id. at 48-50, 90-91. 1065. Id. at 44-45. 1066. Id. at 53-54. 1067. Id. at 54-55. 1068. Id. at 56. 1069. Id. at 100. 1070. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 3, at 35-36, 39-42. 1071. Howen Interview, Tape 7, at 27-28. 1072. Id. at 34. 1073. Lindquist Interview, Tape 1, at 31-32. 1074. See Affidavit of Charles F. Peterson in Support of Motion to Dismiss Indictment and to Remand for Preliminary Hearing, filed November 16, 1992, at 2. 1075. Weaver Preliminary Hearing Transcript, September 16, 1991, at 157-158. 1076. Id. at 184. 1077. See Harris Preliminary Hearing Transcript, September 17, 1992, at 4. 1078. Howen and Ellsworth opined that by allowing the defense to call the marshals in the detention phase of the preliminary hearing it achieved the same or better result than if the preliminary hearing had been completed. Howen Interview, Tape 7, at 31-32; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 3, at 37-38. 1079. Harris Preliminary Hearing Transcript, September 17, 1992, at 5-9. Magistrate Judge Williams denied a similar motion filed by Weaver. See Order, United States v. Weaver, No. MS- 3934, filed on September 17, 1992. 1080. Harris Preliminary Hearing Transcript, September 17, 1992, at 208-15. 1081. See Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion to Dismiss Indictment and to Remand for Preliminary Hearing, United States v. Weaver, filed November 14, 1992, at 4. 1082. Id. at 3-5. 1083. See Affidavit of David Z. Nevin, United States v. Harris, dated September 16, 1992, at 3; Motion to Dismiss, United States v. Harris, filed November 16, 1992, at 1-2. 1084. Government Response to Motion to Dismiss Indictment and to Remand for Preliminary Hearing, United States v. Weaver, filed November 23, 1992, at 1-2. 1085. Id. at 2. The Government also noted that normally the grand jury for the District of Idaho would meed [G.J.] but could not do so in September 1992 because of delay caused by the Labor Day holiday and the need to swear in a new grand jury. If this delay had not occurred, the grand jury would have met on [G.J.] and returned the indictment before the preliminary hearing had begun. It was the Government's contention that the defense had attempted to manipulate the preliminary hearing proceedings so as "to frustrate and prevent the orderly receipt of evidence and testimony by the Grand Jury" and that its request for a remand for further preliminary hearing was no more that a discovery device since they has been unable to satisfy the deposition requirements of Fed. R. Crim P. 15. Id. at 3; Government Response to Motion to Dismiss, United States v. Harris, filed November 23, 1992, at 2. 1086. Government Response to Motion to Dismiss, United States v. Harris, filed November 23, 1992, at 2. 1087. Order, Report and Recommendation, United States v. Weaver, January 6, 1993, at 2-4. 1088. This order superseded a December 23, 1992 order that was withdrawn by the court on January 8, 1992. 1089. Order, Report, and Recommendation, United States v. Harris, January 8, 1993, at 2-3. 1090. Id. at 1-2. 1091. See Motion to Disqualify the United States Attorney's Office, To Dismiss the Indictment, To Strike Prejudicial Allegations, To Order an Evidentiary Hearing and For a Continuance Pending and Investigation by the United States Attorney General and Pending Interlocutory Appeals by the Parties, United States v. Weaver, filed January 8, 1993, at 2-3. In addition, Weaver and Harris filed separate pleadings on January 19, 1993 and January 25, 1993, respectively in which they objected to the report and recommendation filed by Magistrate Judges Boyle and Williams. 1092. Standard 3-2.9(d) of the American Bar Association Standards for Criminal Justice provides that, "[a] prosecutor should not intentionally misrepresent facts or otherwise mislead the court in order to obtain a continuance." Nor should a prosecutor "seek a continuance solely for the purpose mooting the preliminary hearing by securing an indictment." Standard 3.3.10(d), ABA Standards for Criminal Justice (1992). Although the Department of Justice has not adopted the ABA Standards as official policy of the Department, it recommends all U.S. Attorneys to familiarize themselves with the standards since the courts use the standards with addressing matters presented to them. United States Attorney's Manual, 9-2.102. 1093. Transcript of Motion Hearing, United States v. Harris, No. MS-3934, September 11, 1993, at 6-7. 1094. Id. at 7. 1095. Id. at 7-9. 1096. Harris Preliminary Hearing, September 16, 1992, at 38. 1097. For example, at the proceedings on September 15th, after Lindquist informed the court of his scheduling problems, defense counsel Nevin reiterated his concern about the grand jury returning an indictment. When Lindquist asserted that he could not assure Nevin that Harris would have a complete preliminary hearing uninterrupted by an indictment, the court inquired whether Lindquist had "visited with Mr. Ellsworth about the nature of the hearing held last week on this very question." Later the court stated that it was going to review that tape of the hearing that evening because he thought that "there was some representation that there would be a complete preliminary hearing held in this matter." Id. 228-233. 1098. Id., September 17, 1992, at 4. During their discussions with investigators, Lindquist agreed that the words uttered by Ellsworth were ambiguous while Ellsworth conceded that one could have concluded from his words that he was guaranteeing a full preliminary hearing. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 3, at 43. Lindquist Interview, Tape 1, at 31-32. 1099. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 3, at 43. 1100. Later, when asked to interpret the September 11 statements that Ellsworth made, both Howen and Lindquist interpreted them as promising "some" preliminary hearing but not a "full" preliminary hearing. For the reasons already discussed we do not agree with this interpretation of the record. Although we find these interpretations of the Ellsworth statements by Howen and Lindquist to be somewhat disingenuous we do not attribute these explanations to any bad motive on their parts but rather on an understandable desire to defend a colleague who they believe made ambiguous statements buy did not do so in bad faith. 1101. [G.J.] 1102. Members of the U.S. Attorneys Office reject Harris' argument that he relinquished a valuable right by consenting to the continuance since, if Harris had withheld his consent, they would have simply proceeded with preliminary hearing as scheduled. See, e.g., Lindquist Interview, Tape 1, at 30. This argument, in our view, misses the mark and overlooks the negative impact created by the U.S. Attorney making representatives and then failing to honor them. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED L. Scope of the Indictment and Alleged Prosecutorial Misconduct Before the Grand Jury 1. Introduction Following Weaver's surrender, the prosecution presented a series of charges against him and Harris to a grand jury on [G.J.]. An indictment was returned on September 16, charging the defendants with the murder of Deputy Marshal Degan and with an assault on Degan and Deputy Marshals Roderick and Cooper. [FN1103] [G.J.], which returned a superseding indictment on October 1 that included a broad charge of conspiracy by Weaver and Harris. [FN1104] [G.J.], which returned a second superseding indictment on November 19, setting forth essentially the same charge contained in the October 1 indictment. [FN1105] On January 8, 1993, counsel for Weaver and Harris filed pretrial motions to dismiss the superseding indictment, in part, because of alleged prosecutorial misconduct that occurred during the grand jury proceedings between September 16 and October 1. The defense claimed that Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Howen made improper statements to the grand jury, which were the equivalent of unsworn testimony, and that Howen had elicited irrelevant and protracted testimony regarding the violent criminal activities of white supremacist groups known as the Aryan Nations, Order 1 and Order 2. Defense counsel asserted that this evidence was introduced to inflame the grand jury and prejudice it against Weaver and Harris. [FN1106] Weaver's counsel also alleged at trial and to this investigation that the conspiracy charged in Count 1 of both superseding indictments was overly broad in that it covered a period beginning in January 1983 and continuing through August 31, 1992. During this investigation, members of the FBI also argued that the scope of the indictment was too broad and should not have included the conspiracy count. Furthermore, defense counsel claimed that the government brought certain charges in the superseding indictments, for which there was no factual basis. In addition to these allegations, we have also considered whether the prosecution improperly limited the scope of the grand jury's investigation to crimes committed by Weaver and Harris and precluded a broader inquiry into possible crimes committed by law enforcement officers in the shooting of Vicki Weaver. [FN1107] Finally we have examined the propriety of the decision of the government to seek the death penalty in the Weaver case. 2. Statement of Facts a. Scope of the Indictment: The Conspiracy Count Count 1 of both superseding indictments alleged the existence of a wide-ranging conspiracy among "Randall C. Weaver, Vicki Weaver, Kevin L. Harris and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, including some other members of the Weaver family," beginning from the time Weaver moved his family from Iowa to Idaho in 1983 and continuing through Weaver's surrender to authorities on August 31, 1992. The prosecution's theory was that the Weavers and Harris had long planned a violent confrontation with law enforcement, a plan that came to fruition on August 21, 1992, when Harris killed Deputy Marshal Degan. [FN1108] Weaver's counsel accused the prosecution of "engaging in the 'demonizaiton'" of Randy Weaver by adding the conspiracy count to the original indictment. Defense counsel alleged that the conspiracy count was used to justify the introduction of inflammatory and prejudicial evidence at trial. [FN1109] Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen had prosecuted a number of Aryan Nations and related cases and was well acquainted with the racist beliefs, violent philosophy, and anti-government sentiments held by those associated with such groups. [FN1110] Among these groups were the Order 1 and the Order 2, which had carried out a series of robberies and bombings in the Northwest in the mid-1980s. [FN1111] Early in the Weaver investigation, Howen noticed similarities between the views expressed by the Weavers and those espoused by members of the Aryan Nations and the Orders. [FN1112] Howen learned that, in a 1983 newspaper interview, Weaver had discussed plans to move from Iowa to Northern Idaho to live in an isolated hideaway and "survive the coming 'great tribulation.'" The article stated that Weaver was "developing defense plans that include[d] a 300 yard 'kill zone' encircling [his] compound." [FN1113] Howen decided to pattern the charges against Weaver and Harris after indictments he had used in Aryan Nations cases. [G.J.] [FN1114] [G.J.] [FN1115] Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindquist, who helped Howen draft the indictment, told this investigation that he and Howen knew that they would have to address the death of Vicki Weaver in the government's case. He reasoned that it would be strategically wiser to acknowledge the events of August 22 forthrightly at trial than to permit the defense to use the government's failure to mention these events to their advantage with the jury. [FN1116] Howen and Lindquist also feared that the trial court would not allow the prosecution to introduce evidence of the Weavers' past conduct to prove their intent to provoke a violent confrontation with law enforcement officials, unless that conduct was included in the indictment. [FN1117] They, therefore, sought to establish that Randy Weaver, his family, and Kevin Harris had formed a conspiracy to resist the U.S. Government and to assault government and to assault government agents and that the conspiracy began to take shape in Iowa as far back as 1983. [FN1118] The objects of the conspiracy were set forth in the indictment: 1. To forcibly resist, oppose, impede, interfere with, intimidate, assault and/or otherwise cause a violent confrontation with law enforcement authorities in the engagement in or on account of the performance of their official duties of enforcing the laws of the United States. . . as to said Randall C. Weaver, Vicki Weaver, Kevin L. Harris and others; 2. To purchase, develop and maintain a remote mountain residence/stronghold; 3. To illegally and otherwise make, possess, sell and/or conceal firearms and ammunition; 4. To fail to appear for trial on pending federal criminal charges after orally and in writing agreeing to appear for trial before a federal judge; 5. To hinder or prevent the discovery, apprehension, arrest and trial of federal fugitives from justice; 6. To steal, conceal, retain and/or convert the personal property of others to their own use; 7. To intimidate neighbors, as well as law enforcement officers and agents, by the use, display, threat to use and/or discharge of firearms; 8. To use, display, threaten to use, fire and/or discharge firearms at or near human beings, vehicles and/or aircraft; and 9. To assault, shoot, wound, kill and/or murder, or threaten to cause such to occur. . . by means of the use of deadly weapons. . . . [FN1119] The proposed conspiracy count initially listed 28 overt acts, including the 1983 newspaper interview, the Weavers' move to Idaho in 1983, the shooting death of Deputy Marshal Degan, and an attempt to take offensive action against a helicopter, which resulted in the death of Vicki Weaver. An additional 14 overt acts were added to the second superseding indictment. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Idaho did not have a formal review process for indictments. [FN1120] That office also did not require a prosecution memorandum for evaluating proposed indictments. However, Howen did discuss the superseding indictment with Ellsworth, who approved the conspiracy count. Howen and Lindquist also discussed the proposed conspiracy count with representatives of the Marshals Service, BATF, the FBI, and the Department of Justice. They received conflicting opinions as to the wisdom of including such a count. Henry Hudson, Director of the U.S. Marshals Service during the Weaver/Harris prosecution, spent several hours reviewing the indictment and believed that the conspiracy count detracted from the most significant charge which was the murder of Deputy Marshal Degan. [FN1121] [GARRITY] [FN1122] FBI case agents Venkus and Rampton also disagreed with the conspiracy theory. [FN1123] [GARRITY] [FN1124] None of the counts charged in the indictment required review or approval by the Department of Justice. Nonetheless, Howen sought input from the Department. James Reynolds, Chief of the Criminal Division's Terrorism and Violent Crimes Section, and Deputy Section Chief Dana Biehl had reservations about the manner in which the indictment had been drawn. However, since DOJ had no supervisory control over the case, they did not seek to impose their views on the prosecution. [FN1125] b. Evidential Support for Certain Overt Acts and Substantive Offenses Defense counsel, both in pretrial motions and in an interview with this inquiry, claimed that "a great majority" of the overt acts alleged in the indictment as part of the conspiracy count were without evidentiary support and should not have been charged. [FN1126] The defense also complained that many of the overt acts were not, in themselves, criminal or had no relation to the object of the conspiracy. The defense asserted in pretrial motions that Count 1 of the indictment, which charged a wide ranging conspiracy, forced them to defend against "alleged crimes that are irrelevant to the case." [FN1127] The overt acts challenged included those set forth in the following paragraphs of the second indictment: 7. On or about May 6, 1985, Randall C. Weaver and Vicki Weaver mailed a letter addressed to the President of the United States and the . . . United States Secret Service; . . . . 32. On or about April 18, 1992, Randall C. Weaver, Vicki Weaver, or Kevin L. Harris shot at or near a helicopter and its occupants; . . . . 36. On or about May 2, 1992, Randall C. Weaver and Kevin L. Harris stole a video camera and other equipment, later destroying it or converting it to their own use; . . . . 38. On or about August 3, 1992, Randall C. Weaver, Vicki Weaver, Kevin L. Harris and/or some other members of the Weaver family stole a water tank and pipe belonging to another; 39. On or about August 17, 1992, Kevin L. Harris and/or some other members of the Weaver family attempted to enter a residence occupied by another and took or attempted to take the personal property of others; . . . . 41. On or about August 22, 1992, Randall C. Weaver or Kevin L. Harris and an unidentified female, probably Vicki or Sara Weaver, took offensive action against a helicopter and its occupants, including attempting to shoot at the helicopter, resulting in the death of Vicki Weaver and the wounding of Kevin L. Harris and Randall C. Weaver. . . . [FN1128] The defense also claimed that there was no evidence to support the allegation that Randy Weaver shot Deputy Marshall Degan on August 21, 1992 and fired at the other marshals. The trial court adopted the finding of Magistrate Judge Boyle, who ruled that the overt acts complained of were relevant to the defendants' role in the conspiracy and that statements, acts, and threats of violence against other bore upon issues such as premeditation and malice. [FN1130] The court dismissed Counts 6 and 8 on the defendants' motion at the conclusion of the prosecution's case-in-chief. Count 6, which charged Weaver and Harris with assaulting federal officers in a helicopter on August 22, 1992, was dismissed because the court found no evidence that the officers knew of the assault. The court considered this knowledge to be an element of the offense. Count 8, which charged the receipt and possession of firearms by a fugitive, was dismissed because the court found no proof that Randy Weaver had travelled across state lines, as is required by the statute under which the crime had been charged. c. [G.J.] [Editor's Note: Pages 334-355 were omitted, which included footnotes 1131 to 1174.] f. Decision to Seek the Death Penalty Count 5 of the second superseding indictment charged Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris with the murder of Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan while he was "engaged in or on account of the performance of his official duties." [FN1176] Section 1111 of Title 18, provides for a sentence of death or life imprisonment upon conviction for the murder of a federal officer. Department of Justice policy requires the approval of the Department's Criminal Division before a U.S. Attorney may recommend application of the death penalty. [FN1177] Although the prosecution did not request permission to try the Weaver matter as a capital case for several months, the trial court considered it a potential death-penalty case from the time the first indictment was returned charging Weaver and Harris with Degan's murder. The Court advised both defendants at their arraignments that the maximum penalty for conviction on that count was death and, as a consequence, gave them additional appointed counsel, increased the compensation given to counsel, and provided for additional investigative expenses. [FN1178] On January 8, 1993, the defense filed a motion claiming that the possible penalties for Count 5 could not, under the Constitution, include the death penalty. The defense argued that the capital punishment provision of 18 U.S.C. 1111 had been invalidated by virtue of the Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972) and subsequent rulings by the Ninth Circuit. [FN1179] The prosecution responded that the capital provision of section 1111 was still viable and that the Court could fashion standards for its application that met the requirements of Furman. [FN1180] The prosecution's response recognized that this position had been rejected by the Fifth Circuit and by the District of Alaska. [FN1181] While the decision on the defense motion was pending, U.S. Attorney Ellsworth applied to the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice for authorization to seek the death penalty. As justification for the request, Ellsworth wrote: [T]he mutual premeditation [of Weaver and Harris], founded in racial bigotry and baseless hatred for authority, is cold and heinous in its direction at law enforcement. . . . The death of [Deputy Marshal] Degan was the direct and planned result of Weaver's selfish and monstrous proclamation that "[t]he tyrant's blood will flow." His legal and moral accountability fully supports imposition of the death penalty. [FN1182] The Terrorism and Violent Crimes Section recommended against Ellsworth's request because it did not think that the death penalty would survive a constitutional challenge under the statute. James Reynolds, Chief of the Terrorism and Violent Crimes Section, also had doubts about the seriousness of the U.S. Attorney's request. [FN1183] The application was transmitted to Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis, who believed that the killing of a federal law enforcement officer warranted the death penalty and that the penalty was constitutional as applied under the statute. However, he also shared Reynolds' reservations about the seriousness of the U.S. Attorney's intentions and thought it was possible the U.S. Attorney was "going through the motions." [FN1184] Margolis then telephoned Ellsworth and spoke with him and Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen. They assured Margolis that the case was sound and that they were seriously pursuing the death penalty in this matter. [FN1185] Thereafter, Margolis discussed the matter with Deputy Assistant Attorney General John C. Keeney. Both men were swayed by the serious nature of the charge, and they decided to approve the request to seek the death penalty. [FN1186] In making the decision, Margolis recognized that guilt would have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt before the death penalty could be invoked. [FN1187] Ellsworth was given formal permission to seek the death penalty through a letter from the Acting Attorney General. [FN1188] Shortly thereafter, on February 26, 1993, the trial court issued an order adopting the defense's position that the death penalty provision of 18 U.S.C. 1111 was void under Furman and Ninth Circuit precedent. [FN1189] 3. Discussion a. Scope of the Indictment: The Conspiracy Count It would be illogical and unfair to infer from the trial jury's verdict of acquittal on the conspiracy count that the prosecution's theory was wholly unfounded or wrongfully contrived. We have found no evidence that the prosecution acted without a good faith belief that sufficient proof existed to support the conspiracy charge, notwithstanding the often harsh accusations made by the defense before and during trial. That does not mean, however, that it was prudent to extend the scope of the conspiracy to 1983. Howen and Lindquist were concerned that, without a conspiracy charge, they would not be permitted to introduce evidence of the Weavers' past statements and conduct to explain the events leading up to the shooting on August 21, 1992. Count 2 of the indictment charged that the earliest substantive offense committed by Weaver, the sale of two sawed-off shotguns, occurred in October 1989. The BATF informant involved in that transaction first met Weaver at the World Aryan Congress in 1986, and there were tape recordings of conversations involving Weaver and the informant beginning in January 1987. Evidence of the circumstances under which the informant met Weaver would almost certainly be admitted, even without a conspiracy charge, especially since the defense claimed that Weaver had been entrapped into making the sales. Likewise, letters and statements following Weaver's arrest on the weapons charge in January 1991 showing that Weaver would not submit to authorities would have been admissible with regard to Count 3, which charged Weaver with failure to appear for trial. On the other hand, by describing the conspiracy as beginning in 1983, the prosecution was able to introduce evidence of the interview, in which Weaver discussed plans to move from Iowa to Northern Idaho and develop a "300 yard 'kill zone'" around his house. This was a key element of the conspiracy theory. Many of the criticisms of the conspiracy theory are legitimate. For instance, [G.J.] [FN1190] [G.J.] However, at trial, the defense effectively attacked the theory, claiming that the Government was trying to "demonize" Weaver by charging that everything he did proved that he hated the Government. [FN1191] Allegations that acts such as moving to Idaho and building a cabin were proof of a conspiracy clearly had the capacity to distract the trial jury from the killing of Deputy Marshal Degan. As for the defense claim that many of the overt acts charged in the conspiracy count were without evidential support, the magistrate denied the defense motion to dismiss the indictment after considering whether the allegations about which the defense had complained were "relevant to the charge contained in the indictment and [were] inflammatory and prejudicial." [FN1192] We have made the same inquiry. Overt Act 7 refers to two letters written by Randy and Vicki Weaver on May 6, 1985, [FN1193] which allegedly contain threats made by Randy Weaver against former President Reagan. Deputy Boundary County Sheriff Ekstrom testified that the U.S. Secret Service had investigated Randy Weaver in February 1985. Shortly thereafter, on February 28, 1985, the Weavers filed a handwritten affidavit with the Boundary County Clerk, claiming that certain persons were conspiring to place Weaver and his family in danger and to precipitate an attack on his life. The affidavit alleged that his "accusers" made false statements about his connections with the Aryan Nations, his ownership of illegal weapons, and threats he allegedly made against the President and the Pope. Weaver wrote that the plot was designed to provoke the FBI into storming his home. He also expressed the fear that he would be killed or arrested for assaulting a federal officer, if he tried to defend himself. The affidavit stated: "I make legal and official notice that I believe I may have to defend myself and my family from physical attack on my life." [FN1194] We agree that the Secret Service investigation and the February 1985 affidavit were relevant to whether Weaver planned a violent confrontation with law enforcement. However, we do not believe that the letters written in May 1985 were relevant to the issue. One letter was an apology to President Reagan, in which Weaver claimed that his neighbors had sent the President a threatening letter under his name. The other letter demanded a written apology from the Secret Service for falsely accusing him of making the threats. [FN1195] Neither letter appears to have furthered the overall conspiracy. Overt Act 32 alleged that a helicopter with a television crew had been shot at as it flew near the Weaver residence. When the first superseding indictment was presented to the grand jury, the prosecution had evidence that no shots had been fired at the helicopter. [FN1196] [G.J.] [FN1197] The failure of the prosecution to do either is significant. The justification given by the FBI sniper for shooting at Randy Weaver on August 22, 1992 was that he believed that Weaver and Harris were preparing to shoot at an FBI helicopter flying nearby. [FN1198] Evidence that Weaver and Harris had fired at a helicopter earlier would certainly have tended to bolster the sniper's testimony. The grand jury was entitled to a balanced view of the alleged incident. [G.J.] [FN1199] [G.J.] [FN1200] We find that this evidence was pertinent to at least one of the objectives of the unlawful agreement alleged in the conspiracy count: "hinder[ing] or prevent[ing] the discovery, apprehension, arrest and trial of federal fugitives from justice." Overt Act 36 was thus properly included in the indictment. We also conclude there was adequate evidence to support the inclusion of Overt Acts 38 and 39, which alleged the theft of property belonging to the Rau family. [FN1201] [G.J.] [FN1202] [FN1203] As noted above, one of the objectives of the unlawful agreement alleged in the conspiracy count was "[t]o steal, conceal, retain and/or convert the personal property of others." Evidence regarding the theft of the Raus' property bore on that allegation. [FN1204] Moreover, the Weavers' harassment of the Raus was a factor in the marshals' decision to resume surveillance of the Weaver property in August 1992. It was not improper to include these allegations in the indictment. In regard to the charge in Overt Act 41 that Randy Weaver, Kevin Harris, "and an unidentified female, probably Vicki or Sara Weaver" attempted to shoot at an FBI helicopter, Special Agent Hoiruchi testified that he saw three persons run out of the Weaver cabin upon hearing the helicopter, one of whom he identified as Kevin Harris. [G.J.] The prosecution knew full well when Overt Act 41 was drafted that Vicki Weaver had been killed while holding open the door of the cabin for the three persons who had responded to the helicopter, one of whom was a female. Even though Horiuchi could not identify the female, the prosecution had abundant evidence that Vicki Weaver had not run outside. Naming Vicki Weaver as one of the people who might have responded to the helicopter could readily be interpreted as an attempt to assert that Horiuchi was justified in shooting her. It was careless and wrong for the indictment to charge than "an unidentified female, probably Vicki or Sara Weaver" took offensive action against the helicopter. [FN1205] The prosecution never contended that Randy Weaver shot Degan, but it did assert that Weaver, Harris, and the other family members engaged in joint criminal activity that included murder, conspiracy, and assault on the marshals. [FN1206] [G.J.] [FN1207] Although Overt Act 40 does not specifically state that Weaver was being charged as an aider and abetter, the section of the conspiracy count defining the roles of the participants states that Weaver "committed the crimes of aiding and abetting murder and attempted murder." [FN1208] Count 5, which corresponds with Overt Act 40, also alleges that "Kevin L. Harris, as aided, counseled, induced or procured by Randall C. Weaver . . . did . . . shoot, kill and murder one William F. Degan. . . ." It is also evident that Weaver was charged as an aider and abetter in Count 5 with respect to shots fired at the other marshals during the confrontation at the Y. [G.J.] [FN1209] We believe that several of the overt acts discussed above should not have been included in the indictment. This appears to have been the result of overzealousness, or perhaps poor judgment, but not malice, on the part of the prosecution. However, the allegation that Randy Weaver was the moving force behind the violent confrontation that caused Kevin Harris to shoot at the four marshals, killing William Degan, was amply supported by evidence presented to the grand jury. We have found no intent of behalf of the prosecution to charge Counts 6 and 8 knowing there was insufficient proof of the elements of those offenses. Howen acknowledged to this inquiry that a more thorough researching of these statutes would have spared the government judicial dismissal of the counts. [FN1210] However, we find no impropriety in the charging of these counts. [FN1211] The conspiracy theory presented by the prosecution undoubtedly had the capacity to distract the trial jury from the killing of Deputy Marshal Degan. That is not to say that the prosecutors would have avoided acquittals by charging the case differently. The defense focused heavily on the arguments that Randy Weaver had been entrapped into making the weapons sale to the BATF informant, that firing at the marshals was an act of self defense, and that there was no justification for the shooting of Sammy and Vicki Weaver. We cannot assume that this approach would have failed, had the case been prosecuted solely on the murder charge and a few other substantive offenses. The case would be difficult, no matter how it was charged. We believe that some of the prosecution's difficulties could have been avoided by a more formal review of the indictment within the U.S. Attorney's office. The conspiracy theory was not seriously tested until after the indictment had been returned. In a case of this complexity, it would have been advisable for the office to have a written prosecution memorandum for discussion before seeking an indictment. b. [G.J.] [Editor's Note: Footnotes 1212 to 1217 were omitted here as were pages 366 to 367.] It is not improper for a prosecutor to express an opinion as to the merits of the case "as long as it is clear to the jury that the opinion is based only on the evidence that is before the jury and the jury itself can evaluate." [FN1219] We have found certain instances when Howen's comments went beyond explanation or summaries of the evidence and bordered on statements of personal knowledge. Howen's questioning of [G.J.] [G.J.] [FN1220] [FN1221] [G.J.] [FN1222] [FN1223] [G.J.] [FN1224] [FN1225] Prosecutors are accorded wide latitude in presenting their cases to the grand jury. [FN1226] However, although the prosecutor "properly has wide discretion in grand jury proceedings . . .this discretion is not boundless." [FN1227] The Department of Justice has set forth general standards of conduct for prosecutors before the grand jury: In his/her dealings with the grand jury, the prosecutor must always conduct himself/herself as an officer of the court whose function is to insure that justice is done and that guilt shall not escape nor innocence suffer. He/she must recognize that the grand jury is an independent body, whose functions include not only the investigation of crime and the initiation of criminal prosecution but also the protection of the citizenry from unfounded criminal charges. The prosecutor's responsibility is to advise the grand jury on the law and to present evidence for its consideration. In discharging these responsibilities, he/she must be scrupulously fair to all witnesses and must do nothing to inflame or otherwise improperly influence the grand jurors. [FN1228] The court's pretrial ruling that there was no misconduct regarding the presentation of evidence concerning the Aryan Nations and the Order is not conclusive for purposes of this inquiry. We agree, [G.J.] that some background on [G.J.] was important to put in context the tape recordings of Weaver and the BATF informant and to define words and phrases used in those conversations. [FN1229] Howen had been permitted to introduce similar evidence in past Aryan Nations prosecutions, and those convictions had been affirmed on appeal. [FN1230] We also recognize the need to clarify Vicki Weaver's citation to "Mathews" in a letter to the U.S. Attorney. However, we believe that the volume of evidence presented [G.J.] went beyond that which was necessary to accomplish those goals. [FN1231] For instance, [G.J.] Other examples of problematic testimony abound. [G.J.] [FN1232] Unless it is relevant to the offenses under the investigation, comments linking the accused to a criminal class are also inappropriate. [FN1234] It is generally improper to elicit testimony deliberately on irrelevant and prejudicial matters. [FN1234] [G.J.] Such expressions serve no legitimate purpose, other than to suggest to the grand jurors that the prosecutor, as an expert in cases like the one before them, should be accorded particular credibility. That is not a fitting posture for a prosecutor to assume. [G.J.] [FN1235] [FN1236] [FN1237] c. [G.J.] The United States Attorneys' Manual provides that the prosecutor is "to advise the grand jury on the law and to present evidence for its consideration." [FN1238] Instructions on the law must be accurate and not deliberately misleading. [FN1239] Although an indictment returned "by a legally constituted and unbiased grand jury" is presumed valid, [FN1240] an indictment may be subject to challenge, if the prosecutor's instructions are so flagrantly erroneous that the grand jury is deceived in some significant way. [FN1241] [G.J.] [FN1242] [G.J.] [FN1243] [G.J.] [FN1244] [FN1245] Rather, we attribute this failure in part to an institutional weakness existing between the USAO and the FBI. The prosecutors knew that the FBI had conducted an internal inquiry into the shooting and that the FBI had concluded that the shooting was within established rules and regulations. Such findings are not, as a routine matter, subject to examination by prosecutors or persons outside the FBI. Thus, the FBI considered the issue closed and resisted any act or inquiry which could be interpreted as challenging the actions of the HRT. Indeed, we have found that the FBI frustrated the prosecutors' efforts to interview FBI headquarters witnesses, [G.J.], and withheld documents relating to the shootings, including the shooting incident report. This created an environment in which the USAO was unlikely to even contemplate the HRT members being subjects of a criminal investigation especially since the USAO believed that the shooting incident had already been examined in an administrative review of the incident. d. Decision to Seek the Death Penalty Finally, regarding the decision to seek the death penalty, Ellsworth and Howen were aware that case law in the Ninth Circuit did not support the application of the death penalty in circumstances such as those presented by the Weaver/Harris case. [FN1246] The prosecution chose to proceed based on arguments raised by the Department of Justice in an appeal then pending before the Ninth Circuit. [FN1247] We do not fault the prosecution for adopting the Department's legal theory and seeking a ruling from the trial court based on that theory. We do, however, share the misgivings expressed by some members of the Department of Justice as to whether this was factually an appropriate case for imposition of the death penalty. [FN1248] Keeney and Margolis appear to have deferred to the Ellsworth and Howen's representations about the strength of the proof in the case. [FN1249] Ellsworth and Howen assured them and this investigation that they were serious and wanted to proceed with the request. [FN1250] There is no evidence to dispute the good faith of the prosecution in making the application to seek the death penalty. [FN1251] We are not convinced, though, that the confidence expressed by the U.S. Attorney's Office that this case presented a good set of facts to test the viability of the death penalty in Idaho was justified. 4. Conclusion We share many of the reservations about the scope of the conspiracy count expressed by members of the Marshals Service and the FBI. Although we did not find that the prosecutors charged Weaver and Harris in bad faith, we believe that their judgments were not always as thoughtful and well reasoned as they should have been. [G.J.] [FN1252] Finally, the decision to seek the death penalty may be viewed as overarching by the prosecution. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART L) 1103. See 18 U.S.C. 2, 111, 115, 1111, and 1114. 1104. [G.J.] 1105. See Indictments in United States V. Randall C. Weaver and Kevin L. Harris, dated September 16, October 1, and November 19, 1992. 1106. See [SEALED BY COURT] 1107. Defense counsel also charged that the prosecution withheld exculpatory information from the grand jury by failing to disclose a letter the Probation Office sent to Weaver, which referenced an incorrect date for his trial. See Memorandum from AIIP Daniel J. Wehr to Inspectors Roger Nisley and Paul Mallett, September 1, 1993, at 4. This issue is discussed in Section IV(B), supra. 1108. See [SEALED BY COURT] 1109. See Memo from AIIP Daniel J. Wehr to Inspectors Roger A. Nisley and Paul E. Mallett, September 9, 1993, at 11-12. At trial, Weaver and Harris were acquitted of the conspiracy count. Harris was acquitted on all the other counts that went to the jury. Weaver was convicted only on Count 3, failure to appear for trial on the original firearms violation, and Count 9, committing an offense while on pretrial release. 1110. Howen Interview, Tape 1, at 8-13. See, e.c., United States V. Winslow, 962 F.2d 845, 847 (9th Cir. 1992); United States v. Cutler, 806 F.2d 933, 934 (9th Cir. 1986). 1111. See Section IV(A), supra. 1112. In February 1991, U.S. Attorney Ellsworth showed Howen a letter he had received from Vicki Weaver addressed to the "Queen of Babylon." Howen identified a quotation Vicki Weaver used as a passage from the "Declaration of War" by Robert Mathews, the founder of a white supremacist group called "The Order." See "Declaration of War" by Robert Mathews, et al., November 25, 1984; Howen Interview, Tape 3, at 19-22. 1113. "Survivalist Makes Plans for Time of 'Great Tribulation,'" Waterloo Courier, January 9, 1983, at Bl; Objection to Report and Recommendation and/or Motion for Reconsideration, January 8, 1993, at 2-3. 1114. The initial indictment only charged Harris and Weaver with the murder of Deputy Marshal Degan and with the assault on Degan and two other deputy marshals. Howen began presenting evidence of the conspiracy immediately after that indictment had been returned. 1115. [G.J.] 1116. Lindquist Interview, Tape 1, at 40. 1117. Howen and Lindquist thought that the court might exclude evidence of past conduct under Rule 404(b) of the FederaL Rules of Evidence, which provides: Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. . . . 1118. See Howen Interview, Tape 11, at 31. 1119. See Second Superseding Indictment, United States v. Randall C. Weaver and Kevin L. Harris, CR92-080-N-EJL, dated November 19, 1992. 1120. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 6, at 10; Howen Interview, Tape 11, at 42. 1121. FD-302 Interview of Henry Hudson, November 15, 1993, at Director Hudson, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, believed that the case should have been kept as simple as possible because a more narrow indictment would prohibit the defendants from bringing in extraneous information. He said that, if he has been the U.S. Attorney, he would not have authorized such a broadly drawn indictment. The marshals assigned as case agents for the prosecution, however, were more supportive of the conspiracy charge. Sworn Statement of John Stafford, October 20, 1993, at 8-9; Sworn Statement of Robert Masaitis, October 20, 1993, at 17. Special Agent Herb Byerly, the BATF case agent for the prosecution, also concurred with the conspiracy theory. Sworn Statement of Herbert Byerly, October 22, 1993, at 24. 1122. [GARRITY] 1123. See Byerly Sworn Statement, October 22, 1993, at 24. 1124. [GARRITY] The report was later the subject of a protracted argument between the Idaho U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI Headquarters, which was withholding the report. See Section IV(M), supra. 1125. FD-302 Interview of James Reynolds, October 8, 1993, at 6-7; FD-302 Interview of Dana Biehl, August 9, 1993, at 2. 1126. Memo from AIIP Daniel F. Wehr to Inspectors Roger A. Misley and Paul E. Mallett, September 9, 1993, at 12. That much may be inferred from the fact that Weaver and Harris were acquitted on the conspiracy count. However, we do not find this verdict, which could have been based on various factors, conclusive of our inquiry. 1127. Weaver's counsel initially raised this issue in a Motion to Strike Surplusage contained in the Superseding Indictment and argued that certain overt acts did not allege federal offenses and should be stricken. Memorandum in Support of Motion to Strike Surplusage November 13, 1992, at 8-9. That motion was referred to U.S. Magistrate Judge Larry M. Boyle, who agreed that certain language should be stricken from the indictment as surplusage but denied the request that overt acts, which constituted nonfederal crimes, be stricken. Order, Report and Recommendation, January 8, 1993, at 9 (hereinafter cited as "Boyle Order"). [SEALED BY COURT] Judge Lodge found Judge Boyle's ruling on the issue dispositive and denied the motion. Order, February 26, 1993, at 16 (hereinafter cited as "Lodge Order"). 1128. Second Superseding Indictment, United States v. Randall C. Weaver and Kevin L. Harris, returned November 19, 1992. 1129. See [SEALED BY COURT] 1130. See [SEALED BY COURT] 1131. [G.J.] 1132. [G.J.] 1133. [G.J.] 1134. [G.J.] 1135. [G.J.] 1136. [G.J.] 1137. [G.J.] 1138. [G.J.] 1139. See [G.J.] 1140. [G.J.] 1141. [G.J.] 1142. See [G.J.] 1143. [G.J.] 1144. [G.J.] 1145. [G.J.] 1146. [G.J.] 1147. [G.J.] 1148. [G.J.] 1149. [G.J.] 1150. [G.J.] 1151. [G.J.] 1152. [G.J.] 1153. [G.J.] 1154. [G.J.] 1155. [G.J.] 1156. [G.J.] 1157. [G.J.] 1158. [G.J.] 1159. [G.J.] 1160. [G.J.] 1161. [G.J.] 1162. See [G.J.] 1163. See [G.J.] [G.J.] 1164. [G.J.] 1165. [G.J.] 1166. [G.J.] 1167. [G.J.] 1168. [G.J.] 1169. [G.J.] 1170. [G.J.] 1171. [G.J.] 1172. [G.J.] 1173. [G.J.] 1174. [G.J.] 1175. Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 18. [G.J.] 1176. See 18 U.S.C. 2, 115, 1111 and 1114. 1177. U.S. Attorney's Manual 9-2.148 (1992). 1178. See Order Respecting Potential Penalty, February 26, 1993, at 1; Memorandum [on behalf of Harris] in Support of Motion for Order Respecting Potential Sentence, January 8, 1993, at 3-4 (hereinafter cited as "harris Death Penalty Memo"); Memorandum [on behalf of Weaver] in Support of Motion for Order Respecting Potential Sentence, January 14, 1993, at 3-4 (hereinafter cited as "Weaver Death Penalty Memo"). 1179. Harris Death Penalty Memo, at 3-4, 6. See United States v. Harper, 729 F.2d 1216, 1225 (9th Cir. 1984). Counsel for Weaver subsequently joined in the motion. Weaver Death Penalty Memo, at 3-4. 1180. Furman requires that 1) the sanction of death be proportionate to the crime; 2) the sentencing scheme narrow the class of persons eligible for the death penalty and reasonably justify the imposition of a more severe sentence on the defendant compared to others found guilty of murder, and 3) the sentencer be allowed to consider all evidence that tends to mitigate moral culpability and militate against a sentence of death. See Zant v. Stephens, 462 U.S. 862, 877 (1983); Response to Motion for Order Respecting Potential Sentence, January 25, 1993, at 2-4. 1181. See United States v. Woolard and Bruner, 990 F.2d 819 (5th Cir. 1993); United States v. Cheely, 814 F.Supp. 1430 (D. Alaska 1992). The prosecution made no additional argument other that those made by the Department of Justice in its brief appealing the decision in Cheely to the Ninth Circuit, namely the district court could fashion procedures to govern the sentencing proceedings. 1182. Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Jim Reynolds, January 27, 1993. 1183. Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis told this investigation that Reynolds also did not support the request because the trial judge had said that he would declare the death penalty provision for this statute unconstitutional, if it were invoked. Margolis added that Reynolds thought the facts of the Weaver case were "somewhat 'muddy.'" FD-032 Interview with David Margolis, December 10, 1993, at 1-2. 1184. Id. at 2. 1185. Id. at 2-3. 1186. FD-302 Interview of John D. Keeney, December 10, 1993, at 1; Margolis FD-302, at 2-3. 1187. Margolis FD-302, at 3. 1188. See Letter from Acting Attorney General Stuart M. Gerson to Maurice Ellsworth, February 19, 1993. 1189. See Order Respecting Potential Penalty, February 26, 1993, at 2-3. See also United States v. Steel, 759 F.2d 706, 709 (9th Cir, 1985); United States v. Kennedy, 618 F.2d 557, 558, (9th Cir. 1980). 1190. [G.J.] 1191. Closing Argument of Gerry Spence, June 15, 1993, at 10. 1192. See Boyle Order at 8; United States v. Terrigno, 838 F.2d 371, 373 (9th Cir. 1988) (motion to strike surplusage language from an indictment is within the sound discretion of the trial court). 1193. The alleged threats also included threats against then Governor John Evans and law enforcement officials. Ekstrom did not mention that the Secret Service interviewed Weaver and found the accusations to be without foundation. See Section IV(A). 1194. See [G.J.] The affidavit was included in the indictment as overt act 6. 1195. See Letter from Patrick F. Sullivan, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (Seattle) to Chris Nelson, Special Agent in Charge, BATF (Seattle), August 28, 1992, at 2. 1196. Only one of the four people in the helicopter thought he heard shots; the other three heard nothing of were certain that the helicopter had not taken fire. A photographer in the helicopter saw someone gesture at the helicopter and thought he heard two shots on a boom microphone. FD-302 Interview of Dave Marlin, September 16, 1992. However, another passenger said that no shots has been fired and that "it would have been 'grossly unfair' to accuse the Weavers of shooting." FD-302 Interview of Richard Weiss, September 11 & 18, 1992, at 1-2; see FD-302 Interview of Brooke Skulski, September 28, 1992. Weaver denied that shots had been fired at the helicopter. "Fugitive: No Surrender," Cour D'Alene Press, May 3, 1992, at 1. Deputy property on the day of the alleged shooting, but was unaware of any evidence that shots had been fired. See Report of Investigation by Mays, April 18, 1992. 1197. See U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Grand Jury Practice, January 1993, at 104; United States Attorney's Manual 9-11.233. 1198. See [G.J.] 1199. [G.J.] For a discussion of the installation of the surveillance cameras, see Section IV(C). 1200. [G.J.] the charred remains of the camera equipment were found near the Weaver house after Weaver surrendered. A battery from the camera was also found intact. Moriarty FD-302, at 6. 1201. [G.J.] 1202. [G.J.] 1203. [G.J.] 1204. We note that, compared to the other charges facing Weaver and Harris, the theft of the water system and gasoline was a trivial matter unlikely to prejudice the jury unduly. 1205. We reject the assertion that Vicki Weaver aided and abetted offensive action against the helicopter by hoding the door open. From Horuichi's testimony, it is clear that the threat to the helicopter had ceased by the time Randy and Sara Weaver and Harris ran to the cabin. The overt act alleges that the named individuals personally threatened the helicopter. 1206. [G.J.] Cooper Trail Testimony, April 15, 1993, at 122-24. 1207. [G.J.] 1208. The conspiracy count also cites 18 U.S.C. 3, which defines an accessory after the fact as someone who, "knowing that an offense against the United States has been committed, receives, relieves, comforts or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial or punishment." The grand jury heard extensive testimony about the week-long standoff with authorities which followed the shooting at the Y. 1209. [G.J.] 1210. Howen Interview, Tape 11, at 21-22. 1211. A prosecutor should not pursue criminal charges when he "knows that the charges are not supported by probable cause," or where there is "insufficient admissible evidence to support a conviction." ABA Standards for Criminal Justice: The Prosecution Function, Standard 3-3.9(a) (3d. ed. 1992). The investigative team did not find that Howen continued the prosecution knowing that there was not sufficient evidence to support the charges. 1212. See [G.J.] 1213. See [G.J.] 1214. [G.J.] 1215. [G.J.] 1216. [G.J.] 1217. United States v. Troutman, 814 F.2d at 1443. See also ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility, DR 5-101(B) (1) and (2). 1218. [G.J.] 1219. United States v. McKenzie, 678 F.2d 629, 632 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1038 (1982). See U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Grand Jury Practice, January 1993, at 63. 1220. Lanceley complained to this inquiry that he thought that Howen "put him on the spot" by asking a series of questions that were "beyond his knowledge. . . and area of responsibility." Lanceley FD-302, September 2, 1993, at 3-4. 1221. See [G.J.] 1222. [G.J.] 1223. [G.J.] See U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Grand Jury Practice, January 1993, at 54. 1224. [G.J.] 1225. [G.J.] 1226. United States v. Mechanik, 475 U.S. 66, 74 (1986) (O'Conner, J. concurring). 1227. United States v. Al Mudarris, 695 F.2d 1182, 1184-85 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 932 (1983). 1228. United States Attorney's Manual 9-11.020. The American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Standards similarly provide that a prosecutor "should not make statements or arguments in an effort to influence grand jury action in a manner which would be impermissible at trial before a petit jury." ABA Standards for Criminal Justice: The Prosecution Function, Standard 3-3.5(b) (3d ed. 1992). 1299. For example, during a recorded conversation, Weaver, the BATF informant, and Frank Kumnick spoke of someone in the Order shooting "a talk [show] host" and noted that there would soon be a change in leadership within the Order, that the Order was passing "funny money," and that a lot of people in the "movement" were "facing 100 year [jail] sentences." Transcript of conversation between Randy Weaver, Kenneth Weaver, Kenneth Fedeley and Frank Kumnick, January 20, 1987, at 11, 19-20, 30. 1230. See, e.g., United States v. Winslow, 962 F.2d 845, 850 (9th Cir. 1992); United States v. Cutler, 806 F.2d 933, 936 (9th Cir. 1986). 1231. In affirming the conviction of Robert Winslow, an Aryan Nations member Howen prosecuted before the Weaver case, the Ninth Circuit held that it was permissible to introduce background evidence of "controversial aspects of the Aryan Nations organization." United States v. Winslow, 962 F.2d at 847. However the trial court had not permitted Howen to offer "in depth explanations of objectionable terms that came up during testimony" and allowed only "a limited explanation of some of the practices of the organization." 962 F.2d at 850. 1232. See United States v. Venegas, 800 F.2d 868, 870 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1100 (1986) (prosecutor's elicitation of testimony from former members of group to which the accused belonged that the group was radical and dangerous and that the former members testified at great risk to their lives was "inappropriate"); United States v. Serbo, 604 F.2d 807, 818 Nostra hatchet men. . . was a blatant invitation to associate the defendants with a disfavored criminal class" and constituted extreme prosecutorial misconduct); United States v. Riccobene, 451 F.2d 586, 587 (3rd Cir. 1971) (prosecutor's comment connecting defendant with organized crime was improper); See also United States v. Samango, 607 F.2d 877, 883 n.10 (9th Cir. 1979) (evidence of the "bad character" of the accused in generally inadmissible in grand jury proceedings). 1233. Id. See United States v. Venegas, 800 F.2d at 870; United States v. Serubo, 604 F.2d at 818; United States v. Riccobene, 451 F.2d at 587. 1234. See United States v. Sears Roebuck & Co., 719 F-2d 1386, 1391-92 (9th Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1079 (1984). 1235. [G.J.] 1236. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Grand Jury Practice, January 1993, at 62 (citation omitted). 1237. See [G.J.] 1238. United States Attorney's Manual, 9-11.020. 1239. See United States v. Wright, 667 F.2d 793, 796 (9th Cir. 1982) 1240. Costello v. United States, 350 U.S. 359, 363 (1956). 1241. See United States v. Wright, 667 F.2d at 796. Compare United States v. Linetsky, 533 F.2.d 192, 200-01 (5th Cir. 1976). 1242. See United States v. Al Mudarris, 695 f 2.d 1182, 1188, (9th Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 932 (1983) (prosecutor's right to exercise discretion and selectively in presenting evidence to the grand jury does not permit him to mislead the grand jury in the performance of its duties). 1243. [G.J.] 1244. See 18 U.S.C. 241. 1245. [G.J.] 1246. Ellsworth Sworn Statement, Tape 6, at 21; Howen Sworn Statement, Tape 11, at 45-56. 1247. Response to Motion for Order Respecting Potential Sentence, January 25, 1993, at 2-4. 1248. The trial court ruled that the death penalty did not apply as a matter of law and did not address the factual underpinnings of the prosecution's position. 1249. Margolis believes that, by approving the U.S. Attorney's request, the Department of Justice was simply authorizing the U.S. Attorney to seek the death penalty. The jury would still have had to find Weaver and Harris guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before the penalty attached. Margolis FD-302, at 3. 1250. Maurice Ellsworth Sworn Statement, Tape 6, at 23; Ron Howen Statement, Tape 11, at 45-46. 1251. We note, however, that the defense did not suffer any harm as result of the prosecution's effort to seek the death penalty. To the contrary, Weaver and Harris were assigned additional counsel when it appeared that the matter might be tried as a capital case. The court continued those appointments, even after ruling that the death penalty could not be applied. 1252. See United State v. Birdman, 602 F.2d at 553 (prestige of prosecutor's office may enhance his credibility). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED M. Alleged Problems with the FBI's Participation and Cooperation in the Discovery Process 1. Introduction From the beginning of its preparation of the Weaver case for trial, it was always the intent of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boise, Idaho ("USAO") to provide discovery to the defense in accordance with a modified open discovery policy. [FN1253] This discovery policy together with the scope and breadth of the indictment created concern among members of the FBI including those at FBI headquarters. [FN1254] Such concern contributed to a resistance by the FBI to produce certain materials that the USAO deemed pertinent to the case but which the FBI believed were either irrelevant to what it perceived to be the real issues in the case or too sensitive to be disclosed. In addition, some believed that the failure of the FBI laboratory to process materials and to conduct tests in a timely fashion further impaired the ability of the USAO to respond to the discovery demands of the Weaver case. [FN1255] A final discovery problem surfaced during trial when the FBI produced, in response to a defense subpoena, additional documents related to the FBI shooting incident report which the USAO maintained it had requested in discovery throughout the pretrial period. It has been alleged that these problems and the delays and embarrassment that resulted were unnecessary and adversely affected the Weaver case. 2. Statement of Facts a. Defining the Scope of Discovery Immediately after Harris and Weaver surrendered to law enforcement authorities, the USAO began preparing the case for indictment and trial. Important components of this process included taking steps to insure that evidence was located and preserved and developing a discovery strategy. [FN1256] Due to the intense media interest in the Weaver case coupled with the defense allegations that law enforcement personnel had acted unlawfully and that government officials were participating in a coverup, members of the USAO decided to adopt a modified open discovery policy. [FN1257] Such a discovery policy was consistent with the USAO practice in handling other cases in their district. On October 16, the USAO and defense counsel entered into an agreement captioned "Stipulation and Reciprocal Request for Discovery and Inspection, Notice of Alibi and Notice of Mental Condition" which set forth the discovery obligations of the parties. Pursuant to the terms of the stipulation, the parties were to provide the reciprocal disclosure of the materials stated in Rule 16(a)(1) and 16(b)(1) and the "reciprocal pre- trial disclosure and inspection of Jencks Act (18 U.S.C. 3500) materials, Rule 26.2, F.R. Crim. P materials and transcripts of testimony and exhibits presented to the Grand Jury." [FN1258] It was further agreed that "rough notes [were] generally not Jencks or Rule 26.2 materials unless they [were] a substantially verbatim recital of the trial or intended trial witness' oral statement or seen, signed or otherwise adopted by the witness' oral statement, or seen, signed, or otherwise adopted by the witness . . ." [FN1259] The stipulation added that "in the exchange of Jencks or Rule 26.2 materials including rough notes, the parties [were] authorized to redact information from those materials as permitted by case law, statute or rule, including but not limited to . . . information directly or indirectly relating to equipment, tactics and strategies of investigation, apprehension or arrest and case preparation. Such redaction [was to] be subject to in camera inspection by the Court upon written motion or objection of a party." [FN1260] With regard to the timing of discovery the stipulation stated that, "[i]t is the intention of the parties to accelerate the time table for discovery and inspection to a time significantly in advance of trial so that all pre-trial motions are fully and promptly made and ruled on, so that trial preparation is completed in advance of trial, so that unjustifiable delay and expense are eliminated which may result from literal application of the statutes and rules, and so that a fair, just and truthful determination of the charges pending against the defendants may be resolved consistent with the security concerns of the Court, the parties, defendants and prospective witnesses. . . . The parties further stipulate[d] and agree[d] to file a written response to [the] stipulation on or before October 23, 1992, and on a continuing basis thereafter pursuant to Rules 12.1(c), 12.2 (a) and (b) and 16 (c), F.R. Crim. P." [FN1261] A week after signing of the stipulation, the government provided its initial discovery response. [FN1262] The government continued to provide material during the pretrial period and into the trial. Indeed, the government filed multiple addenda summarizing the huge volume of materials that had been produced to the defense, including video tapes, audio tapes, investigative reports, laboratory reports and thousands of pages of documents. Much of the material that the government produced in discovery originated from the FBI and was produced on a timely basis. However, questions have been raised as to whether actions by the FBI impeded the discovery process. In particular, allegations have been made that the FBI failed to cooperate with allegations have been made that the FBI failed to cooperate with the USAO in meeting its discovery obligations and unjustifiably resisted producing certain documents. These actions are alleged to have impacted adversely on the prosecution of the Weaver case. b. The FBI Response to Discovery Demands From his very first communications with Special Agent in Charge Eugena Glenn on September 3, 1992, [FN1263] U.S. Attorney Ellsworth made it clear that it was important for the FBI to preserve and produce a broad range of documents that would be pertinent to discovery and trial. Ellsworth and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Howen, who was primarily responsible for the discovery matters in the Weaver prosecution, strongly believed that a complete production of relevant materials [FN1264] was critical to defend against the charge of a government coverup. Throughout the pretrial period members of the USAO repeatedly requested the FBI to produce all pertinent materials and requested an opportunity to review all the relevant files at FBI headquarters. According to Supervisory Special Agent T. Michael Dillon, most of the conversations with the USAO concerning discovery occurred between the FBI case agents -- Special Agents Joseph Venkus and Gregory Rampton -- and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howen and Kim Lindquist. Rampton and Venkus passed these discovery requests to Dillon, who relayed them to FBI Headquarters. Dillon told investigators that from the beginning of the Weaver case he was required to make frequent phone calls to FBI Headquarters in an attempt to assist in the release of discovery materials. He stated that most of his contacts were with Gale Evans of the Violent Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigative Division ("CID") although he did recall at least one phone conversation with Section Chief Michael Kahoe. [FN1266] It is normal FBI practice for the Principal Legal Advisor at the Field Division level to handle discovery requests since they usually have access to the requested materials. [FN1267] In this case, however, the Boise Resident Agency produced those materials over which they had access and then coordinated with FBI headquarters regarding the other materials that were housed or controlled there. [FN1268] [GARRITY] [FN1269] [FN1270] The first discovery conflict surfaced on September 23, 1992, when Lindquist travelled with Rampton to Quantico, Virginia to meet with Assistant Special Agent in Charge Richard Rogers to discuss the actions of the Hostage Rescue Team ("HRT"). While at Quantico they met with special agent Lester Hazen who showed them a copy of the operations plan drafted for the HRT during the Ruby Ridge crisis. When Lindquist requested a copy of the operations plan Rogers responded that the operations plan had never been approved and he did not want to produce the document to Lindquist because it contained sensitive information. Finding this position unacceptable, Lindquist is reported to have told Rogers that he would obtain a court order that would permit him to have access to the operations plan. Because it appeared that neither Rogers nor Lindquist were willing to compromise, Rampton suggested that Lindquist be able to review the report but not be given a copy of it. If the court requested the information later, Rampton proposed that the parties could negotiate further about the release of the information. Rampton reported that Lindquist and Rogers acceded to this compromise. [FN1271] Rogers also informed Lindquist and Rampton that all of the HRT members had prepared signed sworn statements as part of an internal shooting review conducted by the Inspection Division of the FBI. When Rampton requested these statements, Rogers told him that he did not have the authority to release them and instructed Rampton to contact the Inspection Division. Later Rampton spoke with Paul Philip, the Deputy Assistant Director of the Inspection Division about obtaining these statements. [FN1272] Rampton recalled that Philip contacted Dave Binney who told him that the signed statements could be given to Lindquist. Thereafter, Rampton informed Rogers of the authorization, obtained the sworn statements from the HRT members, attached a cover 302 and produced them to Lindquist. [FN1273] Lindquist recalls that he reviewed these statements on this trip but that he never was given access to the entire shooting incident report. [FN1274] [GARRITY] [FN1275] [FN1276] [FN1277] [FN1278] [FN1279] [FN1280] c. Attempts to Resolve the Discovery Disputes Unable to resolve its disagreement with the FBI regarding these documents, both the USAO and the FBI sought the assistance of the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section ("TVCS") of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. The initial disagreement between the USAO and the FBI focused on a relatively small number of documents. The most significant documents in this group were the September 30, 1992 shooting incident report; the November 9, 1992 shooting incident Review Group memorandum; the FBI operations plan and annex; and, later, the FBI critique of the U.S. Marshals Service. [FN1281] [GARRITY] [FN1282] [GARRITY] (1) Documents at Issue The first document at issue was the shooting incident report dated September 30, 1992. That document was a report prepared by a shooting incident review team of the Inspection Division of the FBI and represented the findings of an administrative inquiry into the August 22, 1992 shootings by the HRT at Ruby Ridge which resulted in the death of Vicki Weaver and the injuries to Kevin Harris and Randy Weaver. [FN1283] It consisted of: a 5-page cover memo with findings from Inspector Thomas W. Miller dated September 30, 1992; the statements of the HRT members some of which were signed sworn statements and others which were in the form of a FD-302; [FN1284] autopsy reports of the three individuals killed at Ruby Ridge; a statement of the prospective status of the subjects; crime scene photographs and diagrams; and news clippings. The notes of the investigators who conducted the interviews of the HRT members were not included as part of the report. The shooting incident report had been forwarded to the Shooting Incident Review Group ("Review Group") which reviewed it to determine if any administrative action was warranted against any FBI employee involved in the shootings. After analyzing the report, the Review Group prepared a four-page memorandum articulating its views as to whether administrative action was appropriate. In this memorandum dated November 9, 1992, the Review Group concluded that the actions taken were lawful and within FBI rules and procedures and thus no administrative action was necessary. This memorandum was attached to the September 30, 1992 report and forwarded to Steven Pomerantz, the Assistant Director of the Administrative Services Division. [GARRITY] Although the FBI had produced in discovery most of the FD-302 statements of those interviewed in the internal investigation, it was unwilling to produce the entire shooting incident report because it was an internal document that had never previously been produced in discovery. [GARRITY] [FN1285] [GARRITY] [FN1286] Another document at issue was the operational plan and annex which set forth the initial strategy contemplated for the operational plan to be used at Ruby Ridge. [FN1287] Components of this plan included controlling the crisis site through the deployment of sniper/observers followed by establishing communications with Weaver and others in the cabin. [GARRITY] [FN1288] [GARRITY] [FN1289] The third document that the FBI did not want to produce in discovery has been referred to as the "marshals critique." [FN1290] This is a two page document containing 12 critical observations of the actions of the Marshals Service at Ruby Ridge. These observations are supposed to be based on interviews of members of the Marshals Service and the HRT. Special Agent Venkus and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindquist first learned of this document on December 1, 1992 when they traveled to Washington, D.C. to review the FBI headquarters file and to talk with HRT members. Venkus made a copy of the critique and took it back to the FBI office in Boise where Venkus gave Lindquist access to it under the condition that it be returned. [FN1291] Because of the critical nature of the critique, the Bureau resisted its disclosure. inappropriate because it [GARRITY] [FN1292] Dillon reportedly told Deputy Marshal Masaitis that he would rather see a mistrial than produce the marshals critique in discovery. [FN1293] When Lindquist tried to explain to Dillon the serious repercussions that would occur if the government failed to produce the critique in discovery but later produced it in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, Dillon responded that the document had come from someone's desk and was not in any official file that would be searched for a FOIA. request. From Dillon's comments, Lindquist was concerned that someone from the Bureau might be contemplating destroying the document so that it would not have to be produced. Lindquist advised strenuously against such action. [FN1294] (2) Negotiations Among the Parties Due to the complaints received from the USAO and the FBI, attorneys from the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section of the Department of Justice contacted FBI officials in an attempt to solve the impasse. [FN1295] [GARRITY] [FN1296] With the arrival of 1993, the USAO and FBI could still not agree on what documents needed to be produced in discovery. On January 4, Howen and Lindquist met with the FBI case agents and repeated their request for all pertinent documents at FBI Headquarters, including the shooting incident report. [FN1297] On January 6, Howen sent a letter to Glenn in which he formally repeated his earlier requests for all pertinent materials from FBI headquarters and elsewhere, including files, reports, documents, that they had not previously received. Howen then wrote, "[i]n other words, we want access to everything." Howen also requested a copy of "[t]he administrative file concerning the review of the HRT sniper shooting on August 22, 1992 . . . but not limited to, the shooting reports, the names and phone numbers of the agents who participated in the preparation of the report, any diagrams or charts of angles, including a preliminary diagram that showed the sniper shot directly into the house, and any other document or papers" and "[a]ny other documents or reports of any evaluations or critiques of the actions of . . . the HRT team on August 22-31, 1992." [FN1298] Copies of this letter were sent to James Reynolds and Michael Dillon. Later that same day, U.S. Attorney Ellsworth called James Reynolds, Chief of the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section of the Criminal Division of DOJ, and complained that the local FBI was refusing to produce documents needed in the Weaver case. Although a number of documents were involved involved, Ellsworth identified the most critical ones as being the shooting incident report and the HRT operations plan. Following his conversation with Ellsworth, Reynolds arranged a meeting for the next day at the Department of Justice with FBI officials to discuss the discovery dispute. [FN1299] The first meeting was held on January 7. Attending the meeting on behalf of the Department were Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mark Richard who chaired the meeting, Reynolds, and Deputy Section Chiefs Dana Biehl and Mary Incontro; attending the meeting on behalf of the FBI were Danny Coulson and Mike Kahoe, the Chairman of the Shooting Incident Review Group. At the meeting the participants focused on the scope of the indictment and the specific documents that the FBI did not want to produce. The FBI maintained that the indictment was too broad and should have been limited to the death of Deputy Marshal Degan on August 21. The FBI argued that a more narrowly drafted indictment would have eliminated the need to produce the documents at issue. [FN1300] Richard, who opined that it was much too late to shift the government's theory of the case, agreed with Reynolds that a more narrow indictment would not have shielded the documents from production. [FN1301] With regard to the documents at issue, Coulson articulated his concern that the operations plan had never been approved and that if the operations plan were to be released it would disclose HRT operational secrets. As a compromise, Coulson offered to allow the prosecutors to view the operations plan after the sensitive information had been redacted. Reynolds believed that this compromise was reasonable and stated that when the USAO was informed of the proposal they agreed with it. [FN1302] At the end of the meeting, the FBI agreed to allow the USAO to view but not possess or produce the following documents: the November 9, 1992 Review Group memorandum; the August 23, 1992 operations plan and annex; the September 15, 1992 internal FBI headquarters note; an undated internal FBI headquarters note regarding the Weaver and Harris matter [FN1304]; 19 situation reports from August 23-31 1992; and the shooting incident report dated September 30, 1992. [FN1305] Later that day, Kahoe instructed Gale Evans, Unit Chief of the Violent Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigative Division, to send the shooting incident report to Mike Dillon by overnight delivery. Evans, who obtained a copy of the report from the files of Kahoe who had been the Chairman of the Shooting Incident Review Group, did not recall seeing interview notes with the report. Thereafter, Evans prepared a memorandum to accompany the report which incorporated instructions from Potts that the report was to remain within FBI space and was to be reviewed by prosecutors only within this space. [FN1306] On January 12, Evans forwarded the documents to Dillon that the FBI had agreed to produce in the January 7th meeting [FN1307] and stated in the accompying memorandum: As with the Shooting Report furnished to Salt Lake Division over the weekend of 1/8/93, the above documents are to be maintained in the Boise Resident Agency and afforded appropriate security. Per Assistant Director Potts, these documents are not to be released to the prosecution and are only to be reviewed under FBI supervision. [GARRITY] [FN1309] Venkus stated that when they received these instructions, he, Rampton and Dillon were upset that they could not turn the report over to the USAO. [FN1310] Lindquist reviewed these documents in the FBI office in Boise on January 20. [FN1311] Following this review, Lindquist informed Howen that the report was not harmful to their case and that he believed it was discoverable. [FN1312] Shortly thereafter, Ellsworth wrote a letter to Dillon requesting that he provide the following documents to review, to produce in discovery and to use at trial: administrative shooting report, headquarters memo of shooting report, operations plan and annex, internal headquarters note with entries regarding the case and headquarters situation reports such as SIOC log synopses. [FN1313] Ellsworth opined that the documents were either responsive to the government's obligations under Jencks and Brady or were otherwise discoverable. He then wrote: Your agency requested that our office not have possession of these documents or review them in discovery without first giving you written notice and an opportunity to intervene or persuade the Department of Justice to intervene in our decision regarding discovery and inspection. We remain sensitive to your concerns and wish to work with the F.B.I. in this regard, but, as we addressed in our letter of January 6, 1993, our office needs access to all files and documents at F.B.I. Headquarters that related to this case, not only for use at trial, but, also, to complete pretrial interviews of all potential witnesses. We reiterate the need to review all such materials as they might be further identified. [FN1314] Ellsworth closed the letter by requesting "immediate and permanent possession of these materials and a review of any additional possession of these materials and a review of any additional that might still be identified." [FN1315] In early February 1993, Lindquist again requested the FBI to produce all documentation at FBI Headquarters that was pertinent to the Weaver case including the SIOC logs which Rampton subsequently determined had already been produced. [FN1316] It was not until the middle of March 1993 that Department of Justice officials learned that the FBI had still not produced these documents to the USAO. Thereafter, Reynolds retrieved a copy of the January 12, FBI memo transmitting the documents at issue to the Boise Resident Agency. Using that document as a reference Reynolds contacted the USAO and reviewed whether the documents listed in that memorandum, including the FBI critique of the marshals which Reynolds added to the list, were needed at trial or for discovery. [FN1317] After his discussion with the USAO, Reynolds requested Dana Biehl to examine the documents that the USAO wanted to produce in discovery and to provide his views as to whether they were discoverable. [FN1318] On March 17, Biehl sent a memorandum to Reynolds in which he opined that the three documents at issue were either Brady or Jencks material. [FN1319] After reviewing the Biehl memorandum, James Reynolds, on March 18, sent a memorandum to Mark Richard informing him of the continuing discovery dispute between the FBI and the USAO. In addition to the documents discussed at the January 7th meeting, Reynolds told Richard that an additional document -- a marshal's critique which the prosecution knew existed but had never seen- - had been added to the list of documents that the FBI did not want to produce. Reynolds informed Richard that all of the documents at issue, with the exception of some internal FBI headquarters notes, appeared to be discoverable or to constitute Jencks or Brady material. He recommended that they work with the FBI and the prosecutors to resolve the issues and to develop a strategy to protect sensitive information within some of the documents. In addition, Reynolds noted, "we need to ensure that there is no additional material at Headquarters that is discoverable. While personnel of this Section are prepared to staff this effort, we have not been successful in initiating it, as the Bureau's intransigence appears to emanate from Larry Potts' level or above." [FN1320] Five days later, a second meeting was held at the Department of Justice to discuss the discovery dispute. This March 23rd meeting was attended by Richard, Reynolds, Incontro, and Biehl from the Department of Justice and Potts, Coulson, Kahoe from the FBI. According to Reynolds, the FBI continued to complain about the scope of the indictment and its impact on their discovery obligations. [FN1321] Incontro and Biehl recalled that they supported the USAO position that most of these documents, including the shooting incident report, should be produced in discovery. [FN1322] Reynolds recalled that Coulson finally consented to the production of the documents if sensitive portions of the operations plan were redacted. Those individuals at the meeting thought that the proposal to redact the operations plan was reasonable. [FN1323] On March 26, the USAO filed its Eighth Addendum to its Response to the Discovery Stipulation. In that document, the government identified additional items that were being produced in discovery including the November 9, 1992 Review Group Memo, the situation reports, the shooting incident report, the operations plan and annex and the marshals critique. [FN1324] Although identified in this filing, these documents were not produced to the defense until later. [FN1325] The shooting ] incident report was delivered by hand on April 7, 1993; [FN1326] the situation reports and the operations plan were delivered on April 10, 1993; and the Review Group memo and the marshals critique were delivered on April 12, 1993. [FN1327] The Weaver trial began the next day on April 13, 1993. d. The Defense Subpoena Deuces Tecum For the Shooting Incident Report On April 13, 1993 the defense filed an ex parte application for subpoenas duces tecum. Among the subpoenas sought was one ordering Inspector Thomas W. Miller, who had headed the review team examining the FBI shooting at Ruby Ridge, to bring "any and all records used by the 'Shooting Incident Review Team.'" [FN1328] Other subpoenas requested the FBI to produce copies of certain manual provisions and certain personnel files. [FN1329] Judge Lodge approved the issuance of these subpoenas on April 14. It appears that defense counsel delivered the subpoena for Miller to the Boise office of the FBI. Dillon sent the subpoena to Miller and forwarded a copy to FBI Headquarters. Dillon recalled discussing this subpoena with Kahoe and telling him that the defense would want the notes developed during the shooting investigation. Thereafter, Dillon learned that the notes were in the Legal Counsel Division and he told Kahoe that they would have to be mailed to Miller for him to testify. [FN1330] The evidence is conflicting as to whether the FBI notified the USAO of this subpoena. Rampton believed that during the trial Lindquist asked Venus to obtain a copy of the subpoenaed materials but that Venkus did not think that the information was needed until Miller was scheduled to testify. [FN1331] A July 29, 1993 chronology of events prepared by Rampton and Venkus after the trial and an April 28, 1993 handwritten note by Venkus indicate that Lindquist was advised that once Venkus received the "1-A" material sought by the subpoena he would produce it to Lindquist who would give the material to the defense. [FN1332] Lindquist who would give the material to the defense. Lindquist had a vague recollection of perhaps hearing that a subpoena had been served on Miller but he could recall no further details. [FN1333] Howen had no recollection of discussing with Lindquist in late April 1993 any efforts that the FBI was taking to check the "1-A" files for the interview notes. [FN1334] Although Howen was aware of subpoenas issued at the same time for FBI manuals and personnel files, he did not recall learning about this subpoena until early June. [FN1335] However, he added that if he had known about the subpoena he would not have been concerned because he would have assumed that the FBI would have produced the same documents as they had produced in discovery. [FN1336] On April 14 or 15, Supervisory Special Agent Brian Callihan from the Civil Litigation Unit I ("CLU I") of the LCD received a phone call or a facsimile from the FBI office in Boise informing him of two subpoenas that had been sent by Weaver's counsel. According to Callihan, someone had decided that the subpoena requesting the manual would be handled by the local office of the FBI as a routine request for the FBI manual while the subpoena directed to Miller would be handled by the LCD even though it had not been properly served. Attached to the subpoenas was a letter dated April 12, 1993 from defense counsel Charles Peterson to "potential witness" advising the witness as follows" Although the subpoena requires your attendance on April 17, 1993, I expect that you will not be called to testify until the completion of the Government's case, some six weeks into the trial. Please call my office as soon as possible so that you may be advised of a specific date and time to appear -- otherwise the subpoena requires you to attend continuously from the beginning of the trial until your testimony is given. If I am unavailable, please ask for Diane or Yvonne. [FN1337] Calihan stated that the letter left him with the belief that defense counsel would advise Miller when to appear. [FN1338] Because Callihan believed that Miller would probably not testify for at least another two months, he saw no reason to expedite the production of the subpoenaed documents. Callihan insisted that no one ever informed him that there was a need to expedite the handling of the subpoena or that the records were needed prior to the testimony of Miller. In addition, he believed that proper service of the subpoena had never been made on Miller. [FN1339] Accordingly, he processed the subpoena consistent with routine procedures by sending it to the Civil Discovery Unit ("CDRU") of the LCD. On April 30, two weeks after first learning of the subpoena, Callihan prepared a request to the CDRU and described the litigation as follows: Criminal trial is ongoing. The U.S. Attorney's office has previously released a number of documents to the defense. The attached subpoena requests additional documents for release to the defense. [FN1340] He then described the work that needed to be done: Locate and process for release to the defense attorney documents responsive to the attached subpoena. The shooting report has previously been released. The records used by the Shooting Incident Review Team would include 1-A's in the Shooting Review file and any other documents referred to and relied upon in the Shooting Report. [FN1341] Callihan also requested that the search be coordinated with CLU I and with Division 6. [FN1342] The Callihan request was directed to Monique Wilson. When Wilson first reviewed the subpoena she did not think that it included a request for the handwritten notes so she discussed the issue with Callihan on April 30. Callihan instructed her that the notes should be included. Later that day she requested the file from the confidential file room and received it shortly thereafter. However, when she examined the materials that had been produced she noticed that the handwritten notes were missing. She then returned to the confidential file room where they found the handwritten notes in the bulky exhibit section. Wilson stated that there was initial confusion in locating these notes because an incorrect date had been placed on the outside of the bulky package. Thereafter, Wilson processed the documents, made 5 copies as requested by Callihan and forwarded these materials to Callihan on May 11. [FN1343] When Callihan received the package from CDRU he reviewed it, approved it for dissemination and sent it on May 21, 1993 to the FBI mail room with a cover letter instructing them to send it to Miller and to send courtesy copies to the USAO. [FN1344] Callihan did not include instructions as to how the package was to be mailed; he concluded later that considering the size of the package and the absence of specific mailing instructions that it would have been sent by fourth class mail. [FN1345] Two weeks later, on June 4, the package arrived at the USAO. Roberta Cruser, the docket technician for the USAO, opened the package, dated stamped the Callihan cover letter and routed the materials at about 10:00 a.m. that morning to Howen. [FNB1346] At the luncheon recess Howen returned to his office. The court had just excused HRT member Lon Horiuchi after defense questioning hag been completed. When Howen arrived in his office he discovered the package on his desk with the May 21 cover letter from Callihan which indicated that Callihan was enclosing two copies of documents responsive to the defense subpoena seeking "any and all records used by the Shooting Incident Review Team." In addition, the letter stated: These documents consist of the original statements, and the FBI Manual of Investigative Operations and Guidelines provisions noted in the report as being read by all members of the Shooting Incident Review Unit and we believe that they are ready for release to the defendants' attorneys. [FN1347] Howen recognized that many of the documents in the package had been provided previously to them and to the defense in discovery. However, other documents in the package had never been produced. These never produced documents were: the agents' interview notes from the "1-A" files of all FBI personnel interviewed in the investigation except for Eugene Glen; and two drawings by HRT sniper Horiuchi including a shooting diagram of the second shot taken through the Weaver front door on August 22, 1992. When Howen examined the materials in the package and saw the Horiuchi diagram he knew that the late production of these materials would be difficult for the prosecution to explain and would result in significant criticism by the media. The impact was even greater because it followed closely behind several other damaging and embarrassing disclosures made during the trial. [FN1348] Howen stated that he does not think that he had ever "been as low professionally." [FN1349] Thereafter, Howen returned to the courtroom and informed the parties of the package that he had just received. Defense counsel referred to it as the latest in a series of incidents that had prejudiced the rights of the defendant and moved for the case to be dismissed because of alleged prosecutorial misconduct and for sanctions to be imposed on the government. Howen, after noting that many of the materials in the package had been previously produced, [FN1350] informed the court that his office was in the process of trying to determine the reasons for the late production of these materials. Howen stressed that his office produced the materials as soon as they were received and suggested that the responsibility for the late production of these materials rested elsewhere. The court deferred a definitive ruling until after the weekend and then stated, [T]he Court is very upset about these things happening. It does appear that it is somewhat of a pattern on the part of people, agencies outside of the District of Idaho. The Court does not agree that there is any evidence that the U.S. Attorney's Office at least locally, is doing anything to hinder the prosecution of this case or prejudice the defense. The comments of Mr. Howen just now indicate his veracity and his sincerity in trying to comply with the rules . . . . It seems to be totally inexcusable and extremely poor judgment on the part of whoever is involved to send something like this fourth class mail when a trial of this nature is going to, the cost of time and human tragedy that is involved. [FN1351] Following the court session, the USAO and others sought an explanation for the late arrival of the package of materials sent by Callihan. Callihan recalls that on June 4, a woman from the USAO called and asked in a "rude and obnoxious" manner why the documents had been sent by fourth class mail and why it had taken so long to send them. Callihan stated that he inquired why there was such a concern to which the woman said that Howen was upset about the delay. Callihan then told her that the request had been handled like similar requests and that Howen could call him to discuss the matter if he wanted. [FN1352] Sometime between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. on June 4, Dillon telephoned Joseph R. Davis, Assistant Director of the Legal Counsel Division and informed him that the FBI headquarters was responsible for the late production of the documents in the Weaver case and that the judge in the case was very upset. [FN1353] Dillon also mentioned that he had received an earlier discovery request for these documents but had not received the documents until that day. He told Davis that the U.S. Attorney had requested the FBI to provide an explanation for the delay to give to the judge. Davis left messages on the answering machines of Brian Callihan and Thomas Clawson to call him. [FN1354] Later that same day, Callihan returned Davis' call. Davis informed him that the U.S. Attorney and Dillon were upset about the lateness of the transmittal and were unsure of what documents were in controversy. Callihan explained how he processed the request and repeated his understanding that there was no urgency to the request since Miller had not been expected to testify for several months. [FN1355] Thereafter, Davis called Ellsworth to attempt to resolve the conflict between the accounts given by Dillon and Callihan. During a conference call in which Davis, Callihan, Ellsworth, Dillon and perhaps others participated, Callihan repeated his version of events. Howen remarked that these documents were responsive to a number of discovery requests and should have been produced earlier. Ellsworth agreed and, along with Howen, requested LCD and Dillon to prepare sworn declarations to the court explaining the production delay. These declarations were prepared and sent to the USAO. [FN1356] Sometime around June 5, the government received an affidavit prepared by Brian Callihan in which he detailed how he learned of the subpoena, the actions he took in responding to it and the beliefs he had concerning the time requirements for production of the materials. Callihan then stated, "[a]lthough I may have been aware of a request from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Shooting Incident Review Group Report, I was unaware that the U.S. Attorney's Office had previously requested any or all other records, documents, and notes in connection with this investigation." [FN1357] Dillon also prepared a draft affidavit in which he accepted responsibility for not adequately relaying the USAO request to FBI headquarters. Howen decided not to file any of the affidavits filed by individuals involved in the incident. [FN1358] On June 8, the parties made additional arguments to the court concerning how they should proceed after the disclosure of the subpoenaed materials. Of particular focus of the parties was the Horiuchi drawing and its significance. The court reserved its ruling until the next day but before doing so stated that: The Court does not excuse the FBI Agency, The Court thinks there has been a failure to comply with what was fully understand [sic] to be required. They get involved in these technicalities as to who was served, but it is obvious they had notice of it, they were aware of what was required, and again, it is not anytime to be playing games with the Court on technicalities. [FN1359] Judge Lodge issues his ruling on June 9 and ordered Horiuchito return for further examination in court due to the failure of the government to produce the materials in a timely manner. In addition, he assessed against the government the costs and defense attorney fees for the one-day delay. [FN1360] Almost five months later, on October 26, Judge Lodge issues an order imposing a separate fine of $1920 against the FBI. This fine represented the fees paid to defense counsel on the day that Horiuchi was brought back to testify. In this order, which is discussed more fully in section IV(o), Judge Lodge was highly critical of the actions of the FBI which he believed hampered the ability of the government to comply with its obligations to produce discoverable documents including Jencks and Brady materials. As a result of these actions, Judge Lodge found that the FBI had failed to comply with its discovery obligations under Fed. R. Crim. P. 16 and held them to be in contempt of court in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 401. [FN1361] 3. Discussion a. FBI Resistance to USAO Discovery Requests Our investigation has revealed that the prosecution of the Weaver matter was plagued and complicated by a continuing series of disagreements, misunderstandings and preconceptions that existed between the FBI and the USAO. One of the areas where such problems surfaced involved the efforts of the USAO t respond to its discovery obligations in the case. Over the course of the pretrial period, the FBI produced a large volume of material on a timely basis. Indeed, the FBI Resident Agency in Boise appeared to have been cooperative with the USAO and to have made good faith efforts to comply with the requests of the USAO. Although the overall effort of the FBI to respond to the discovery requests of the USAO appeared to have been good, we have found two areas where problems existed. The first involves the problems associated with the actions of the FBI Laboratory, which are discussed elsewhere in this report. The second area concerned the resistance of personnel at FBI headquarters to produce a group of documents that was small in number but significant in importance to the issues in the case. [FN1362] With regard to the production of this group of documents, it is our conclusion that FBI personnel, predominantly at the headquarters level, [FN1363] imposed unreasonable resistance and applied inappropriate standards to the discovery requests from the USAO, exhibited an unjustified unwillingness to cooperate as a teen member in the prosecution, and evidenced a troubling distrust of the USAO. Indeed, we were distressed by the persistent intransigence shown by FBI headquarters personnel. From the outset, officials at FBI headquarters opposed the prosecutors' theory of the case. They steadfastly adhered to their view that the indictment should be limited to the assault of a federal officer charge and that the conspiracy count was not supported by the evidence. The prosecutors were aware of this view but disagreed with it. Although a free exchange of ideas and information should always occur between the FBI and the USAO, the FBI in this case failed to appreciate that it is the prosecutor not the FBI that controls the direction of the prosecution. The FBI failed to identify the point where healthy debate became destructive resistance. The FBI used their disagreement over the scope of the indictment to support their refusal to produce certain materials in discovery. In the final analysis, with one exception, there seems to have been little basis for their refusal to produce these materials. Although the shooting incident report was an internal document, it was certainly pertinent to the issues in the prosecution. Even members of the FBI conceded its relevance. [FN1364] Standing alone, the fact that such a report had never been produced in discovery was not a basis to resist its production. Furthermore, as a practical matter, most of its contents, including the statements of the HRT members, had already been produced in discovery. Nor do we think that the resistance of the FBI to producing the November 9, 1992 Review Group memorandum was justified. Again, a document that was shielded from criminal discovery simply because it is evaluative in nature. Similarly, with respect to the marshals critique, there seemed no sound basis upon which the FBI could object to its production. The marshals critique may have been embarrassing to the FBI and the Marshals Service and it may not have been the result of thorough research and analysis but those factors are totally irrelevant to its discoverability. Of all the contested documents, the only one for which the FBI would seem to have had a valid concern was the operations plan and annex. However, as was ultimately done, the sensitive portions were redacted from the document before being produced to the defense. The prosecutors did not object to the redactions and, indeed, from the beginning of the controversy had been willing to consider the redaction of the document. [FN1365] Despite this willingness to compromise, the FBI maintained a course of stubborn resistance. In addition to the unjustified refusal to produce these materials we are concerned by the bureaucratic resistance of the FBI. Although objections were raised to producing these documents in discovery, no one ever assumed control at the headquarters level in an attempt to resolve the dispute expeditiously. Instead the controversy lingered for months before all of the documents were eventually produced in discovery. During this process, the FBI seemed to lose sight of its role as the investigative arm of the Department of Justice which is supposed to assist, not impede, federal prosecutors in pursuing violators of federal criminal laws. It was not until the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice intervened that the discovery dispute was received. [FN1366] Our investigation revealed that the discovery problems were symptomatic of a disturbing distrust by the FBI of the local federal prosecutors. Nothing in our investigation provided any explanation or justification for this lack of trust. We hope that the uncooperative attitude displayed by the FBI in the Weaver matter was an aberration. James Reynolds characterized the discovery dispute in the Weaver case as "unique." He told investigators that it was unusual for the Department to become involved in pretrial discovery disputes in cases litigated by the U.S. Attorneys. The refusal and reluctance of the FBI to permit the prosecutors to view the documents was, in Reynolds' view, inconsistent with his prior experience with other agencies in releasing material that was classified or of even greater sensitivity than the documents at issue in the Weaver case. Reynolds stated that it was apparent to him that the Violent Crimes Section of the FBI did not have a good idea of what was legally discoverable in a criminal case. [FN1367] FBI officials blamed some of the discovery difficulties to the attitudes of members of the USAO. [GARRITY] [FN1368] Our investigation found no support for these claims. From the beginning of the preparation of the case for trial, the USAO made it clear as to the scope of discovery and the types of materials that needed to be produced. Despite its repeated requests to review the headquarters files related to this case, the prosecutors were never afforded this opportunity. [FN1369] Indeed, to this day, the prosecutors are not confident that all pertinent materials located from FBI Headquarters were shown to them. [FN1370] The prosecutors recognized the discoverability of the contested documents and believed that they were obligated to produce them. The determination to obtain and produce discoverable materials cannot be classified as intransigent behavior. Although we believe that the USAO was clear in articulating the materials that needed to be produced in discovery, we are somewhat perplexed as to their failure to keep the Department of Justice officials who were assisting them in resolving the dispute better informed of the progress of the FBI in producing the documents at issue. After the January 7 meeting, over two months passed before the USAO contacted the Department of Justice to inform them that the FBI still needed to produce these documents so that the USAO had gained possession of these documents. The USAO never informed the Department of Justice officials of this additional delay and thus, never gained the further benefit of any assistance that they could have provided. Perhaps if the USAO had been more aggressive in keeping the Department informed of the progress of the production of the documents the controversy could have been resolved sooner. It is unclear what exact impact the dispute over these documents had on the government's case. Neither Howen nor Lindquist viewed this controversy as determinative of the outcome of the case. [FN1371] However, Lindquist thought that the repeated controversies over discovery issues had a cumulative effect on the judge that resulted in the judge imposing sanctions on the government after the untimely delivery of the subpoenaed version of the shooting incident report. [FN1372] In addition, the dispute needlessly diverted the valuable time, energy and attention of the prosecutors from critical trial preparation tasks. Ellsworth stated that they felt that they were "battling on two front" -- the defense counsel and the FBI. [FN1373] The prosecutors did not need the added aggravation of engaging in this debate at a time when they were required to prepare the case and witnesses for trial and to respond to continuous defense motions. The discovery debate also worsened the already tense relationship between the USAO and the FBI Resident Agency in Boise. [FN1374] Indeed, Dillon thought that the reluctance of the FBI Headquarters to release the documents contributed further to the tension between his office and the USAO.1375 The USAO had the right to expect the cooperation of the FBI throughout all phases of the discovery process. However, instead of a partner in this process, FBI Headquarters assumed the role of an adversary. b. Problems With Producing the Complete Shooting Incident Report and Supporting Materials Our investigation confirms that the USAO from September 1992 and throughout the pretrial period repeatedly requested the FBI to provide all materials pertinent to the events that occurred at Ruby Ridge. [FN1376] As the case preparation proceeded, the USAO renewed their requests for this material on a number of occasions. Moreover, as they learned that particular documents existed they included these documents in their requests. One such document was the shooting incident report dated September 30, 1992 and the memorandum of the Shooting Incident Review Group dated November 9, 1992. When the USAO finally received these documents on the eve of trial they believed that the materials produced to them constituted all of the documents related to the shooting report. However, unknown to them at the time, the production was incomplete. Shortly after the trial began and apparently without the knowledge of the USAO, the FBI received a defense subpoena for the shooting incident report and supporting materials. Five weeks later, the Legal Counsel Division of the FBI completed its response to the subpoena and sent the large package, without mailing instructions, to its mail room for shipment. Two weeks later, the package arrived at the USAO in Boise. Howen discovered upon opening the package that it contained, in addition to the shooting incident report that the government had already produced to the defense, the interview notes of the HRT members and two drawings by FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi. None of these latter materials had ever been shown or given to the USAO. The late production of these materials was significant and had a detrimental impact on the prosecution of the Weaver case. Indeed, this event provided additional support for the defense argument that the government was covering up the events that had occurred at Ruby Ridge. Moreover, the U.S. Attorney opined that when Horiuchi was called back for further cross examination, it afforded the defense another opportunity to remind the jury of the death of Vicki Weaver and how she had been killed. [FN1377] The untimely production of these materials raises a number of concerns. First and foremost is why these materials were not produced during the pretrial discovery phase of the case. there can be no doubt that the USAO requested these materials in a timely fashion and that they were entitled to have the FBI produce them promptly. Throughout the pretrial period the USAO, most notably Howen, repeatedly requested the FBI to produce all materials related to the FBI's participation at the crisis at Ruby Ridge. It appears that Dillon transmitted many of the USAO discovery requests to FBI Headquarters. Moreover, in addition to any communications received from the Boise Resident Agency, FBI Headquarters personnel were notified of these requests from direct communications with the USAO as well as by their discussions with members of the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section of the Department of Justice. Indeed, FBI headquarters officials were disgruntled because of the persistent attempts of the USAO to obtain 'everything." However, if there was ever any question as to the scope of materials that the USAO wanted with respect to the shooting incident report it surely was resolved by the January 6, 1993 letter from Howen to Glenn. The specificity of that letter in our opinion left no doubt that investigative notes and certainly drawings by an HRT sniper were encompassed within the request. Based on our investigation, we conclude that headquarters personnel were informed of the scope of discovery sought by the USAO yet failed to take adequate efforts to locate responsive materials. Dillon seeks to accept fully responsibility for this production problem because he may not have made adequate request for the investigative notes of the internal shooting inquiry. [FN1378] Howen opined to investigators that he thought it was unfair for Dillon to take the blame for what he believed to be omissions of FBI Headquarter's personnel. [FN1379] We agree. Perhaps someone should have been more aggressive in formulating instructions to FBI headquarters and monitoring the quality of their response. Nevertheless, the primary responsibility in this case must rest on the doorstep of FBI headquarters. They understood the requests and they were responsible for generating and storing the records being sought. We have yet to obtain clear evidence of what actual efforts were taken by the FBI to search their files for documents responsive to the discovery request as outlined by the USAO. However, our impression is that it was not a well organized search. Indeed, during our investigation, we found at least one document that fell within the scope of discovery but which the FBI had not located and produced. [FN1380] With regard to the shooting incident report, FBI officials argued that as a practical matter the original investigative notes are not considered to be part of the shooting report and that the discovery request was not broad enough to encompass these notes. [FN1381] We find this explanation unavialing since discovery request was certainly broad enough to encompass such notes. [FN1382] These officials indicated that they consider the shooting report to consist of the report without the backup notes. [FN1383] Also troubling is the apparent failure of CID to consult with the Inspections Division -- which was responsible for preparing the report -- and determine if they had retained any pertinent files. [FN1384] David Binney, who is the Assistant Director of the FBI Inspection Division, was very sure that he never received a discovery request for the shooting incident report. Binney emphasized that because a shooting incident report contains sensitive information the Legal Counsel Division would have to authorize the release of the document before it would be produced. Accordingly, if he had received a request, he would have forwarded it to Assistant Director Davis in the Legal Counsel Division. He has no recollection of making such a referral. [FN1385] In addition to our concern over the quality of the FBI's response to the discovery requests, we are distressed by the apparent lack of coordination between the CID and LCD after the subpoena was received. The FBI's pretrial response to the discovery request appears to have been handled totally by CID. We learned that such involvement by CID in criminal discovery was unusual. [FN1386] No evidence was found that CID ever communicated with LCD when it was responding to the discovery requests. [FN1387] Later, when the subpoena request arrived at FBI Headquarters, it was handled by LCD with no apparent assistance from CID. We find no evidence that CID and LCD worked together to produce the materials requested in the subpoena. [GARRITY] [FN1388] Although the April 30 search request prepared by Brian Callihan referenced that the report had been produced previously, there is no indication of when Callihan acquired that knowledge. The only conflicting evidence of whether CID was aware of the subpoena came from Dillon who recalled directing the subpoena to Miller and to FBI Headquarters. He seems to believe that he forwarded the subpoena to CID since he recalled speaking to Kahoe about the need to obtain the notes developed during the investigation and that he later learned that the subpoena had been transferred to LCD for handling. At that time, he recalled telling Kahoe that the investigative notes would have to be sent to Miller in order for him to testify. However, Dillon's recollection conflicts with that of Brian Callihan of LCD. Callihan did not recall learning about the subpoena from CID but rather from either a phone call of a facsimile on April 14 or 15, 1993 from the Boise Resident Agency. [FN1389] In addition to issues associated with the thoroughness of the FBI's response to the discovery request, we are concerned about the nature and quality of the FBI response to the defense subpoena. It is our view that aspects of that response could have been undertaken in a more responsible manner. [FN1390] At the outset, we are troubled that the FBI did not communicate with defense counsel Peterson to determine when Miller would testify. Callihan told investigators that he expected defense counsel to contact Miller. However, we think that the letter was clear that the obligation was upon the FBI not defense counsel to make the contact. We cannot countenance the laissez-faire attitude shown by the FBI to its legal obligations in an ongoing federal trial. Indeed, we are troubled by the relaxed pace at which the FBI responded to the subpoena when they had not even determined a date for Miller's testimony. After receiving the subpoena, Callihan waited two weeks before forwarding it for processing and when it was returned to him, he waited another ten days before drafting a cover letter and sending the package to the mail room. Then, when he forwarded it to the mail room, he neglected to provide specific mailing instructions. Finally, we fail to comprehend why the USAO was not consulted about responding to this subpoena. None of the prosecutors in the USAO -- Howen, Lindquist or Ellsworth -- ever recall being told of the subpoena or of any efforts by the FBI to assemble the requested materials. Nor is thee any evidence that Dillon alerted the prosecutors to the existence of this particular subpoena which was received at the same time as the subpoena for the FBI manual. [FN1391] The cryptic references to the USAO in a few notes do not suffice to establish such knowledge. Some of these discovery problems seem to have been caused by the failure of the FBI to have an organized system for responding to discovery requests. As previously mentioned, we requested the FBI to conduct another search of its files to ensure that all documents responsive to the discovery obligations in the Weaver case had been produced. [FN1392] We made this request because of our concern over the thoroughness and care in which the earlier searches had been conducted. We see a compelling need for a centralized tracking system in the FBI that would monitor and coordinate discovery and subpoena requests and then record actions taken in a case. Included in this tracking information should be the name of the person responsible for handling the requests as well as an identification of the files searched and the materials produced. Such requests should be handled by one person in one division not by multiple persons in multiple divisions. In addition to improving the methodology of retrieving responsive documents, we believe that the FBI needs to examine its practices concerning the preservation of case related materials. During our investigation, there were a number of instances in which an interviewee told us that he had prepared a document but no one could produce a copy of it. For example, we were told that there were multiple drafts of the operations plan yet we only were able to locate one draft version. Similarly, we never located any original facsimiles or notes of headquarters personnel that were prepared during the crisis at Ruby Ridge. We are troubled by the apparent lack of a system to preserve such critical records and believe that the FBI needs to institute a system to avoid such omissions in the future. 4. Conclusion Although we found no intent by the FBI headquarters personnel to violate the discovery obligations of the government, we believe that the FBI unreasonably resisted the efforts of the USAO to comply with their discovery responsibilities in the Weaver case. In addition, it appears that the FBI did not put forth its best efforts in responding to the discovery requests or the subsequent defense subpoena. Indeed, the decision of the court in October 1993 to fine the FBI for its intransigence on various discovery issues is consistent with our conclusion. Although the facts giving rise to the problems in the Weaver case may be unique, we believe that serious organization problems exist and must be corrected. There is a critical need in the future to improve the quality of the response of the FBI to discovery demands. Such improvement must include establishing an organized system of responding to and monitoring discovery requests and improving the coordination among FBI components. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART M) 1253. This modified open discovery policy provided the defense with greater access to governmental materials and at an earlier time than required under the federal discovery rules. However, unlike an open discovery policy which permits complete access to the files of the prosecution, a modified open discovery policy does not permit such review. The modified discovery policy in effect in the Weaver case was incorporated into a reciprocal discovery stipulation executed by the parties on October 16, 1992. 1254. For a discussion of issues surrounding the scope of the indictment, see Section IV(L), supra. 1255. For a complete discussion of the issues surrounding the performance of the FBI laboratory and the impact of its actions on the discovery process and pretrial preparation in the Weaver case, see discussion in Section IV(J). 1256. On September 3, 1992, U.S. Attorney Maurice Ellsworth wrote letters to U.S. Marshal Michael Johnson and Special Agent in Charge Eugene Glenn requesting them to preserve and copy a list of materials that were needed for discovery and trial. See Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Mike Johnson, September 3, 1992; Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, September 3, 1992. Ellsworth reiterated this demand in a letter to Glenn on September 8, 1992. See Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, September 8, 1992. 1257. FD-302 Interview of Maurice Ellsworth, October 29, 1993, at 7; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 1, at 30-31. 1258 Stipulation and Reciprocal Request for Discovery and Inspection, Notice of Alibi and Notice of Mental Condition, filed October 16, 1992, at 2. 1259. Id. 1260. Id. at 3. 1261. Id. at 4-5. 1262. See Response of the United States to Stipulation and Request for Discovery and Inspection, filed October 23, 1992. 1263. See Letters from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, September 3, 1992 and September 8, 1992. 1264. FD-302 Interview of T. Michael Dillon, October 25, 1993, at 8-9. For example, according to Special Agent Rampton, Lindquist requested all paperwork related to the Weaver case that was in the possession of FBI Headquarters. Thereafter, Rampton passed this request to Dillon. FD-302 Interview of Gregory Rampton, October 18-19, 1993, at 37. 1265. Rampton FD-302, at 32. 1266. FD-302 Interview of T. Michael Kahoe, October 25, 1993, at 9. 1267. See Sworn Statement of Danny O. Coulson, October 4, 1993, at 6; FD-302 Interview of Joseph R. Davis, August 10, 1993, at 5. 1268. Lee C. Rasmussen, the Principal Legal Advisor for the Salt Lake City Field Office, was not involved in the discovery in the Weaver case nor did he ever provide any legal advice regarding any discovery issues. FD-302 Interview of Lee C. Rasmussen, January 12, 1994 at 1-2. 1269. [GARRITY] 1270. [GARRITY] 1271. Rampton FD-302, at 19. 1272. Id. at 30; FD-302 Interview of Gregory Rampton, November 9, 1993 and November 22, 1993. Philip may have a slightly different recollection of this incident. He told investigators that he had a vague recollection of an FBI agent from "out west" and an unidentified individual coming to the Inspection Division and requesting the report. He told the agent that the report belonged to another division and, thus, he was without authority to release it. FD-302 Interview of Paul R. Philip, November 3, 1993, at 2. 1273. Rampton FD-302, October 18-19, 1993, at 30. See Rampton FD-302, November 9, 1993 and November 22, 1993. This conflicts with the recollection of Dillon which was that the request for the 302s of the HRT members was cleared through the Legal Counsel Division. Dillon FD-302, at 8. Our investigation suggests that Dillon's recollection is in error since LCD did not appear to have become involved in pretrial discovery issues. 1274. Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 1-2. The USAO produced most of these statements to the defense in October and November 1992. A few were not produced until April 7, 1993. See Memorandum from Richard T. Jessinger and Daniel R. Dzwilewski to Robert E. Walsh, October 17, 1993. 1275. [GARRITY] 1276. [GARRITY] 1277. Paul Philip of the Inspection Division disagrees with this advice. According to Philip, once an Investigation Division gives the report to the requesting division, that division becomes the owner of the report and entitled to rule on whether the report should be released. FD-302 Interview of Paul R. Philip, November 3, 1993, at 2. Special Agent Venkus told investigators that early in the case he spoke with Brain Callihan of the Legal Counsel Division at FBI headquarters regarding obtaining a copy of the shooting report. Venkus FD-302, at 13. 1278. [GARRITY] 1279. [GARRITY] 1280. [GARRITY] 1281. [GARRITY] 1282. FD-302 Interview of Dana D. Biehl, August 14, 1993, at 2. 1283. See discussion of this administrative inquiry and the report in Section IV(G). 1284. The FBI FD-302 is the form that FBI agents use to report of summarize the interviews that they conduct. 1285. [GARRITY] Sworn Statement of Eugene Glenn, January 12, 1994, at 36. 1286. [GARRITY] FD-Interview of Gale R. Evans, October 13, 1993, at 7. 1287. See Section IV(F) for a discussion of the development of and importance of this plan. 1288. [GARRITY] 1289. [GARRITY] W. Douglas Gow, Associate Deputy Director of the FBI, requested that this document be prepared in response to a call from Henry Hudson who asked him whether he "had any thought about the handling of [the Weaver] crisis or crisis in general." Hudson told Gow that as the new Director of the USMS he would appreciate any ideas that Gow could provide. Thereafter, John Uda was assigned the task of preparing the document. From the instructions that he received, Uda understood that he was identifying talking points that Coulson and Hudson would want discuss about the Weaver/Harris matter. Uda emphasized that these items were not intended to be criticisms of the USMS but with Hudson. Although Gow had intended to give the critique to Hudson, he never conveyed it to him. See Sworn Statement of W. Douglas Gow, January 4, 1994, at 12; [GARRITY] Douglas Gow, January 4, 1994, at 12; [GARRITY] Gale Evans FD-302, at 10; [GARRITY] FD-302 Interview with John Uda, November 23, 1993, at 1. 1291. Venkus FD-302, at 14; Rampton FD-302, at 33. See also, Lindquist Interview, Tape 5. at 2. 1292. [GARRITY] 1293. Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 9. 1294. Lindquist Interview, Tape 5. at 29-31. 1295. Although TVCS may sometimes manage a prosecution of a case designated as "major," their role in the Weaver prosecutive was only supportive. FD-302 Interview of James Reynolds, August 11, 1993, at 1. 1296 [GARRITY] 1297. See FBI Internal Memorandum on "89B-SU-38378 Issues," from Joseph Venkus and Gregory Rampton, August 3, 1993, This memorandum was given to investigators during the October 18-19, 1993 interview of Joseph Venkus. 1298. See Letter from Ronald Howen to Eugene Glenn, January 6, 1993. 1299. Reynolds FE-302, at 2-3. 1300. [GARRITY] Reynolds FD-302, August 11, 1993, at 3. 1301. Reynolds FD-302, at 3; Memorandum from James Reynolds to Mark Richard, March 18, 1993, at 2. 1302. Reynolds FD-302, at 3. 1303. This document is a two page chronology of significant events in the Weaver matter. 1304. This is a one page document which in four paragraphs summarizes the shootings and the surrender at Ruby Ridge. 1305. Reynolds FD-302, August 11, 1993, at 3. 1306. Gale Evans FD-302, at 5-6; [GARRITY] 1307. Gale Evans FD-302, at 6. 1308. FBI Memorandum, January 12, 1993. 1309. [GARRITY] 1310. Venkus FD-302, at 13. 1311. See Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Michael Dillon, January 25, 1993, at 1. 1312. Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 5-6 1313. Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Michael Dillon, January 25, 1993, at 1-2. 1314. Id. at 2. 1315. Id. 1316. Rampton FD-302, at 32. 1317. Reynolds FD-302, at 4. 1318. Id. When Biehl attempted to gain access to the shooting incident report from the FBI, Gale Evans told Biehl that the "section copy" was missing from their files. Reynolds was suspicious of this excuse and believed that it was part of the "shell game' that the FBI was playing with these documents. Reynolds FD-302, October 6, 1993, at 2. 1319. Memorandum from Dana Biehl to James Reynolds, March 17, 1993, at 1-4. 1320. Memorandum from James Reynolds to Mark Richard, March 18, 1993, at 307; Reynolds FD-302, August 11, 1993, at 5. 1321. Id. at 5. See also, Biehl FD-302, at 1-2. 1322. Incontro FD-302, at 3, Biehl FD-302, at 1-2. 1323. Reynolds FD-302, at 5. Howen stated that he had not problem with the reductions made to the operations plan. Howen Interview, Tape 9, at 55. See also, [GARRITY] Biehl FD-302, at 2. 1324. These documents were items 1431, 1432, 1433, 1434, and 1435 on the discovery list of items produced. See Government's Eighth Addendum to Response to Discovery Stipulation, filed March 26, 1993. 1325. Biehl informed Howen and Lindquist of the results of the meeting. Initially, he believed that the resolution reached at the March 23 meeting ended the disagreement between the USAO and the FBI. He assumed that the documents were produced to the USAO. It was only later that he learned that the documents had not been immediately produced. He told investigators that Howen and Lindquist conceded that they had "dropped the ball" by not pursuing the matter further by contacting DOJ. Biehl FD-302, at 2-3. At his interview with investigators, Howen was unable to recall the circumstances surrounding the delay: Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 11-14. 1326. Government Tenth Addendum to Response to Stipulation and Request for Discovery and Inspection, filed April 7, 1993 at 4-6. 1327. Government Tenth Addendum to Response to Stipulation and Request for Discovery and Inspection, filed April 12, 1993 at 3, 5. 1328. Subpoena Duces Tecum to Inspector Miller, April 13, 1993. 1329. See Section IV(O) for a discussion of the compliance of the government to these other subpoenas. 1330. Dillon FD-302, at 9. [GARRITY] 1331. Rampton FD-302, at 31. 1332. See Document entitled. "89B/SU-38378 Issues," July 29, 1993, at 10; Handwritten Notes of Joseph Venkus, April 28, 1993. 1333. Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 18-20. 1334. Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 19. 1335. Id. at 41. 1336. Id. at 56-57. 1337. Letter from Charles F. Peterson to Potential Witness, April 12, 1993. 1338. See FD-302 Interview of Brian Callihan, August 6, 1993, at 2; Declaration of Brian Callihan, June 5, 1993, at 1-2. It does not appear that anyone from the FBI ever called Peterson's office to determine a specific date for Miller to appear. 1339. See Declaration of Brian Callahan, June 5, 1993, at 2- 4. 1340. CDRU Discovery Request from Unit Chief of Civil Litigation Unit to Ms. Keeley, Unit Chief of CDRU, April 30, 1993. 1341. Id. 1342. Id. 1343. FD-302 Interview of Monique Wilson, November 5, at 1- 2. 1344. Callihan FD-302, August 6, 1993, at 2-3; Callihan FD- 302, November 5, 1993, at 1-2. 1345. Callihan FD-302, November 5, 1993, at 1. No one has ever been able to determine exactly when the package was forwarded to the FBI mail room. The date-stamped file copy of the May 21, 1993 cover letter has never been located. Although no one could ever find any indication that the package had been sent by forth class mail, the assumption by the Information Services Unit, which operates the FBI mail room, was that this was the manner in which the package was sent because of its weight and the absence of mailing instructions. See Declaration of Brian Callihan, June 5, 1993, at 4; FD-302 Interview of Joseph R. Davis, August 10, 1993, at 2-4. 1346. Affidavit of Roberta Cruser, June 4, 1993. 1347. Letter from Brian Callihan to Maurice Ellsworth, May 31, 1993. 1348. See discussion in Section IV(O) which discusses the problems that occurred at trial because of the untimely disclosure by the government of discoverable information. 1349. Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 45, 59. 1350. The USAO had produced most of the sworn statements and the FD-302 statements in this package in October and November 1992. The remaining statements had been produced on April 7, 1993. See Memorandum from Richard Jesinger and Daniel Dzwilewski to Robert Walsh, October 17, 1993. 1351. Trial Transcript, June 4, 1993. 1352. Callihan FD-302, August 6, 1993, at 3. 1353. Davis FD-302, at 2. Davis was unable to recall the name of the Senior Supervisory Resident Agent but Dillon held that position at the time and others, such as Brian Callihan recall that Davis told them that he had discussed the matter with Dillon. 1354. Id. 1355. Callihan FD-302, August 6, 193, at 3; Davis FD-302, at 3. 1356. Callihan FD-302, August 6, 1993, at 3; Davis FD-302, at 3-4, On June 5, 1993, Clawson prepared a note to Davis explaining how they received the subpoena. He opined that the response to the subpoena was not delinquent because Miller has not yet been called to testify. However, Clawson informed Davis that the USAO had made two previous requests for all FBI documents pertaining to the Weaver case but that these requests had been handled by the Resident Agency in Boise and the Criminal Investigative explained to Davis that the USAO believed that the recently produced interview notes should have been produced earlier in response to the discovery requests. See Davis Fd-302, at 4; Note dated June 5, 1993, from Clawson to Davis. 1357. Affidavit of Brian Callihan, Jun 5, 1993 1358. Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 55. 1359 Trial Transcript, June 8, 1992, at 84. 1360 Id., June 9, 1993, at 60-61. 1361 Order in the United States v. Weaver, No. CR 92-080-N- EJL, filed October 26, 1993, at 2-13 (Appendix at 16). 1362 Glenn told investigators that he believed to the extent that any controversies arose over certain documents such as the shooting incident report, he attributed them to differences between the FBI Headquarters and the USAO. With regard to those controversial documents that were controlled by FBI Headquarters, Glenn stated that he was simply a conduit transmitting the request and had no role in the decision of whether the document would be produced in discovery. Glenn Sworn Statement, at 35-37. 1363 Howen attributed the resistance to producing these documents to FBI Headquarters rather than the local FBI office. Howen Interview, Tape 9, at 51. Lindquist opined that the FBI case agents were very diligent and helpful in assisting with discovery except when they were under contrary instructions from superiors. Lindquist interview, Tape 5, at 31. 1364 Special Agent Rampton believed that there was an unnecessary delay in producing the shooting incident report and the operations plan. He could understand the need of the USAO for these documents and did not believe that there was anything in the documents harmful to FBI interests. Rampton FD-302, at 36. Although he did not think that the conclusions of the report were relevant to the issues in the Weaver prosecution, Davis conceded that the factual content of the report probably rendered it subject to discovery. Davis FD-302, at 5. Lindquist recalled that Rampton, Venkus and Dillon agreed with him that there was no reason not to produce the report. Lindquist believed that they had recommended to FBI Headquarters that the report be released. However, they indicated to Lindquist that they were encountering significant resistance from FBI Headquarters regarding the production of the report. Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 4-5. 1365 Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 15; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 5, at 27. 1366 FBI officials were consistently positive in their comments concerning the handling of the discovery disputes by the Criminal Division of DOJ. [GARRITY] 1367 Reynolds FD-302, August 11, 1993, at 7. 1368 [GARRITY] 1369 TVCS Section Chief Reynolds believed that the USAO was never given the opportunity to review the complete field office file. Reynolds FD-302, October 6, 1995, at 6. 1370 Howen was never allowed to review the FBI headquarters files on the Weaver matter and told investigators that he is still not confident that all relevant materials were produced. Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 10-11; accord, Ellsworth Interview, Tape 5, at 29-30. 1371 Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 16-17. Defense Counsel Nevin told investigators that he did not have nay significant criticism with regard to the actions of the USAO and that in general, with the exception of laboratory related materials, he would not quarrel with the time that it took to produce the discovery materials. Memorandum from Paula Wolff to Barbara Berran on Interview of David Nevin, December 17, 1993. 1372 Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 16-17. 1373 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 5, at 28-29. 1374 See discussion in Section IV(N) concerning the history of the problems between the USAO and the FBI. 1375 Dillon FD-302, at 9. 1376 Howen stated that on a number of occasions that the USAO made both written and oral requests of the FBI to produce all materials having any relevance to the Weaver matter. These requests were made to the FBI office in Boise and presumably relayed to FBI Headquarters. Howen said that they also told members of the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section of DOJ that they suspected that there was some type of file on the shooting incident report and that they wanted access to everything. Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 4-6. 1377 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 5, at 39-40. 1378 Dillon FD-302, at 9-10. Joseph Davis, Assistant Director of LCD also appears to assign responsibility for the problem to Dillon. Davis believes that the primary responsibility for responding to criminal discovery in the FBI usually rests with the office of origin and, in those situation when responsive documents are located elsewhere, it is the responsibility of the office of origin "to set appropriate leads to insure their timely production." Davis FD-302, at 5-6. 1379 Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 55-56; accord, Ellsworth Interview, Tape 5, at 37. 1380 This document consisted of 15 pages of personal notes taken by Gale Evans during the "after action" conference held on November 2, 1992. The after action conference examined a wide range of command and control issues that arose with regard to the response of the FBI to the crisis at Ruby Ridge. Included as topics for discussion were deployment problems, tactical issues and negotiation issues. Gale Evans FD-302, at 3-4. As a precautionary measure, we requested the FBI to search its files again at Headquarters and at the field offices involved in responding to the Weaver crisis to determine if any additional responsive documents existed. This search resulted in the location of one document that had not been previously identified and produced. However, this document did not contain any information significant to the issues examined in this investigation. 1381 See FD-302 Interview of Austin Anderson, October 7, 1993, at 3. 1382 [GARRITY] 1383 Howen stated that when he viewed and finally received the shooting incident report he never thought to ask the FBI for material in the 1-A file. He told investigators that because it was an internal investigation, he did not know if the 1-A procedure was being followed. Howen Interview, Tape 9, at 21. 1384 The Inspection Division of the FBI is responsible for conducting a shooting incident review when requested by another division. When the review is completed, the report is sent to the requesting division. According to Paul Philip, the Inspector Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI Inspection Division, once the Inspection Division forwards this report to the requesting division, that division becomes the owner of the report and has the right to decide whether the report should be released. FD-302 Interview of Paul R. Philip, November 3, 1993, at 1-2. 1385 See FD-302 Interview of David G. Binney, October 19, 1993, at 1-2. 1386 Gale Evans stated that CID does not normally become involved in discovery in criminal cases. Evans FD-302, at 12. 1387 Thomas Clawson, Unit Chief of the Civil Litigation Unit I of the Legal Counsel Division, was certain that LCD was not involved in responding to the discovery request in the Weaver case. FD-302 Interview of Thomas Clawson, August 12, 1992, at 1. Similarly, Austin Anderson, Unit Chief of the Investigative Law Unit of the LCD, did not recall ever participating in any discussions concerning criminal discovery matters in the Weaver case. He told investigators that Gale Evans, the Unit Chief of the VCMO Unit, confirmed that he had no notes or records indicating that Anderson had discussed any discovery issues with him. Anderson FD-302, October 7, 1993, at 2-3; Gale Evans FD-302, at 12. 1388 [GARRITY] 1389 Callihan FD-302, August 6, 1993, at 2. 1390 Lindquist stated that his initial reaction to the late production of the shooting incident report was that "somebody was intentionally trying to impede the process." Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 21. We found no evidence to support this suspicion. 1391 See Section IV(O) for a discussion of the response of the FBI to the subpoenas for manual provisions and personnel files. Joseph Davis recalls one phone call with Ellsworth in which Ellsworth informed him of the defense request for the manual provisions as well as the shooting incident report. Ellsworth was unable to tell Davis when these requests were made or when they were due. As a result of this conversation, Davis sent an electronic mail message to Beau McFarland around April 26, 1993 requesting him to investigate the matter and to make sure that FBI was responding appropriately. Davis FD-302, at 5-6. However, in that message, Davis wrote only about the subpoena for the manual provisions; no mention was made of the subpoena for the shooting incident report. Memorandum from Davis to McFarland, April 27, 1993. 1392 See discussion in note 1278 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED N. Alleged Problems With the Participation of the FBI in Case Preparation and Its Relationship With Other Members of the Trial Preparation Team 1. Introduction One of the issues that arose as the various law enforcement entities converges at Ruby Ridge was which agency had the primary responsibility for planning, organizing and coordinating the activities of law enforcement personnel. It was decided early in the crisis that the FBI would have the lead role in the operations at Ruby Ridge. However, after Weaver and Harris surrendered, the focus shifted from crisis resolution to trials preparation and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boise ("USAO") assumed the lead role. Initially, the FBI believed that it was to be the sole agency assisting the USAO in trial preparation. Later, for reasons that the USAO and the FBI dispute, agents from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ("BATF") were assigned by their respective agencies to assist the USAO. The FBI believed that the addition of these agents was unnecessary, improper and was accomplished in a less than forthright manner by the USAO. The arrival of the marshals and the BATF agents coupled with disagreements over how witness interviews in Iowa were to be conducted worsened the already fragile working relationship between the FBI and the USAO. Thereafter, various actions and attitudes of the investigative team created significant discord between the FBI and the other team members. In addition, the USAO alleges that their efforts to prepare their case for trial were also hampered by the failure of officials at FBI Headquarters to make themselves available for interviews. 2. Statement of Facts a. Defining the Structure of the Trial Team and the Role and Responsibilities of the Individual Members (1) The Lead Agency Concept and the Initial Disagreement Regarding the Interviewing of Witnesses in Iowa As the various law enforcement agencies arrived at Ruby Ridge on August 21 and August 22, 1992, it quickly became evident that there was a need for one agency to assume the leadership role during the crisis. Because the assault of a federal officer charge fell within the jurisdiction of the FBI, it was decided that it was appropriate for the FBI to perform this role. Once the crisis was over, and the focus had shifted to trial preparation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen believed that the leadership role was transferred from the FBI to the USAO. [FN1393] Although Howen and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindquist would entertain suggestions from the FBI, they viewed themselves as the "captains' responsible for directing case preparation and any additional investigative activities that were necessary. [FN1394] From the outset, tensions existed between the FBI and the USAO. A number of early incidents intensified the growing animosity between the two government entities. One of these incidents centered around the request of the USAO to transport the birthing shed on the Weaver property from Ruby Ridge to Boise. The USAO argued that it was important to have the shed accessible to permit the testing and use of the shed at trial. [FN1395] The FBI disagreed and maintained that the shed was not necessary and that the transportation and storage costs were too high. The FBI ultimately agreed to transport the shed to Boise. Later, when it became apparent that the USAO would not be using the shed, the FBI questioned whether the initial request to transport the shed had been well considered. [FN1395] Another issue that created controversy concerned the conducting of witness interviews in Iowa. Howen had informed the FBI case agents that to support the conspiracy theory it was important to interview witnesses in Iowa who knew Weaver before he moved to Idaho. Howen and Lindquist wanted one of the case agents to conduct these interviews since they believed that they best understood the facts and nuances of the case. [FN1397] [GARRITY] [FN1398] However, the FBI informed the USAO that a [GARRITY] case agent could be sent to handle an important interview or a followup interview. [FN1399] At a September 28, 1992 meeting, Special Agents Venkus and Rampton advised Howen that they were going to send out leads to Iowa. According to Venkus, Howen expressed no opposition to this plan. [FN1400] On the next day, Howen gave Venkus a list of witnessesb for the FBI to interview [FN1401] and noted on the list that he wanted "clean 302s." [FN1402] Soon after Venkus sent out the leads, Howen told him that he had misunderstood his instructions and that he had just wanted to have the addresses of the prospective witnesses updated. [FN1403] Ellsworth protested this action to Special Agent in Charge Eugene Glenn and argued that the agents had only been instructed to conduct "background leads" which consisted of identifying [GARRITY] individuals and places of residence. [FN1404] Howen, who did not recall instructing Rampton to send out the leads, explained to Rampton that he did not want the leads conducting the interviews because of the animosity existing between the people being interviewed -- many of whom were friends or supporters of the Weavers -- and the FBI because he wanted to avoid creating a paper trail of FD-302's which would reveal his case preparation strategy to the defense. He told Rampton that if the FBI were going to conduct the interviews, he wanted the case agents who were familiar with the case to handle it. [FN1405] Lindquist instructed Dillon to stop all of these interviews and that if he failed to do so, the interviews would have to be redone. [FN1406] At some point during this time period, Howen informed Rampton that he wanted to participate in the Iowa interviews and that he would not have to generate interview reports. [FN1407] Rampton told Howen that Iowa FBI agents would be conducting these interviews. One week later, Lindquist informed Rampton that the Marshals Service had offered them two marshals to assist with the case and that they had accepted the offer. [FN1408] A third dispute between the USAO and the FBI involved [G.J.] Lindquist explained that it was an essential part of the government's case to show what had occurred at Ruby Ridge on August 22 as well as on August 21. Part of this proof consisted of [G.J.] [FN1409] [FN1410] [G.J.] [FN1411] [G.J.] [FN1412] [G.J.] [FN1413] [GARRITY] [GARRITY] [G.J.] [GARRITY] [FN1415] [GARRITY] [FN1416] [FN1417] [G.J.] [FN1418] Howen viewed this incident as the "defining moment" when the working relationship between the USAO and the FBI on the Weaver case "was over." [FN1419] (2) The Decision to Assign Members of the Marshals Service and BATF to Assist in Case Preparation In late October 1992, Deputy Marshals Robert Masaitis and John Stafford were assigned to assist the USAO in the preparation of the Weaver case for trial. At around the same time, BATF also assigned two special agents -- Herbert Byerly and Jane Hefner [FN1420]-- to assist the USAO. Various accounts were provided to investigators as to who was responsible for assigning the marshals to assist in the preparation of the case. Some individuals, including FBI members, believe that the U.S. Attorney or someone in that office had made the request [FN1421] while others insist that Director Henry Hudson volunteered the services of the marshals. Hudson told us that he assigned the marshals to the case sometime in October 1992 after he had a telephone discussion with Ellsworth during which Ellsworth complained about the FBI. [FN1422] However, according to Ellsworth and Howen, Hudson offered the assistance of the marshals and they accepted the offer. [FN1423] Lindquist remembers the incident differently and believes that he first presented the proposal to Tony Perez and that the final acceptance of his proposal occurred during an October 1992 meeting with Hudson. [FN1424] In addition to who precipitated the inclusion of the Marshals Service and the BATF in the case of preparation, was the issue of why it was necessary to include them. The perception among some was that the USAO was unhappy with the performance and attitude of the FBI including their refusal to have case agents cover leads [FN1425] and their failure to accomplish the tasks assigned them. [FN1426] Howen insisted that the decision to bring the marshals into the case had nothing to do with any disagreement with the FBI but rather was because the USAO needed the help. [FN1427] Ellsworth, who maintained that he had always envisioned the BATF and the Marshals Service as having a role in the Weaver case, agreed that the decision was influenced by the need for more assistance in preparing the case. He was also concerned that the FBI decision to send leads to conduct out of state interviews indicated that they were not devoting enough resources to the matter. He was particularly concerned because the agents, in contrast to the marshals, were not based in Boise but rather hundreds of miles away in Northern Idaho. Furthermore, the availability of Venkus was potentially threatened by the demands created by the illness of his mother.[FN1428] Lindquist stated that in addition to needing more help, [FN1429] the presence of the marshals and the BATF agents demonstrated to the jury a united effort by the government.[FN1430] Rampton disagreed that the USAO needed the help and maintained that there was insufficient work for all of these agents. [FN1431] The FBI was also displeased by the failure of the USAO to consult with them and to inform them of the decision until after the agents had begun working in Boise. Ellsworth could not recall how the FBI was informed about the addition of the marshals. He argued that the marshals were always a part of the case and, indeed, their involvement had preceded that of the FBI. He believed that the only change was that two marshals were being brought in to substitute for Cooper and Hunt who had an obvious conflict since they were witnesses to the events at issue. [FN1432] Howen did not have a clear recollection of how he informed Venkus and Rampton but suspected it was about the same time that he told them that they were going to be working together as a team with the USAO as the chief decision maker. [FN1433] Lindquist believes that he told Venkus and Rampton that he had asked the Marshals Service about providing marshals to assist in the case preparation and that they were being made available. [FN1434] When Rampton first learned that the marshals would be working on the case he expressed his concern to Lindquist. According to Rampton, Lindquist responded that the decision had already been made and that it was not a Bureau decision. Later Rampton learned that the marshals had been in Boise for a week and had been conferring with the Howen and Lindquist at the time that he first learned that they would be working on the case. [FN1435] Dillon said that when he called Lindquist and voiced his displeasure, Lindquist responded that he did not have to tell Dillon anything and that "you guys can't work with anyone." [FN1436] Thereafter, Glenn sent Ellsworth a letter protesting the bringing in of the marshals to which Ellsworth responded. [FN1437] Rampton stated that BATF Agent Byerly was also brought into the investigation without the knowledge of the FBI. [FN1438] With the addition of the marshals and BATF agents to the team, issues also arose as to what tasks these agents would be performing and to whom they would be reporting. Some in the FBI initially understood that these agents would be assisting in case preparation but would not be conducting any investigatory activities. [FN1439] According to Hudson, Ellsworth told him that he wanted the deputy marshals to participate in conducting the investigation. Hudson expressed reservations about this plan because he did not believe that any statutory authority existed for this role and he was concerned that Ellsworth might use the deputy marshals as leverage against the FBI. To guard against such a result, Hudson had Duke Smith work out the details with Mike Dillon with the understanding that the marshals were to support the FBI but receive their instructions from the USAO. [FN1440] Deputy Marshal Stafford had a somewhat different understanding. He believed that his responsibilities would include conducting interviews, locating witnesses and preparing backgrounds of the defendants. [FN1441] Rampton said that Lindquist told him that the marshals would do whatever came up in the investigation. [FN1442] Ellsworth agreed with this statement and acknowledged that he had initially envisioned that the marshals might be conducting interviews. [FN1443] The FBI officials always considered the Bureau to be the lead investigative agency. Accordingly, it believed that the other agents would report to and through them. For example, it was Rampton's initial understanding that the Marshals Service had assured Dillon that the marshals would be assigned to the FBI. Rampton said this plan was never followed. [FN1444] Dillon told Venkus that FBI Headquarters had confirmed that the marshals were to report to the FBI and were not to conduct any investigation or interviews without the approval and knowledge of the FBI. [FN1443] When the FBI realized that the USAO was adamant that the FBI would not be the lead agency and that the other agents would not report through it, the FBI was outraged and responded that it was "their investigation" and that "they would proceed as they deemed necessary." [FN1446] Chief Deputy Marshal Ronald Evans originally understood that Masaitis and Stafford would be assisting FBI case agents Venkus and Rampton. [FN1447] However, Hudson stated that while the marshals would be assisting the efforts of the FBI he intended that they would receive their orders from the USAO. [FN1448] Stafford was told by his superiors that he would be working as a team member with the FBI as opposed to working for the FBI. [FN1449] Similarly, Masaitis was told that he was being assigned to assist the USAO and was never told that he would be working under FBI direction. [FN1450] Howen and Lindquist always intended the agents to work on teams as equal partners and to report directly to them not through the FBI. [FN1451] The plan was for each of the agencies to be responsible for three counts of the indictment as well as some of the overt acts of the conspiracy. [FN1452] Howen anticipated that the Marshals Service and the BATF agents would assist in case preparation as well as perform some investigatory tasks. [FN1453] However, Howen stated that the FBI resisted this approach and wanted to be a "buffer" between the USAO and the other agencies. [FN1454] Ellsworth did not have a clear recollection on this issue but thought that there may have been an initial understanding that the FBI case agents would be the intermediary between the USAO and the marshals. [FN1455] The FBI also questioned the jurisdictional authority of the Marshals Service to be investigating certain counts of the indictment. Glenn maintained that the FBI had primary jurisdiction over all counts in the indictment because the assault on a federal officer charges were the main offenses alleged in the indictment and the other charges were "lesser included offenses." In this regard, Glenn argued that "[t]he FBI has always retained primary jurisdiction when other crimes have arisen out of a substantive violation over which the FBI has jurisdiction" and that [i]t would not be cost effective to include numerous agencies whenever an investigation results in lesser included offenses." [FN1456] Ellsworth noted in his response to Glenn that he was correct that the FBI had primary investigative jurisdiction over the federal officer assault count but reminded Glenn that the FBI did not have exclusive jurisdiction over all counts in the indictment. Ellsworth accused Glenn of being myopic when he advocated that the FBI had exclusive jurisdiction since the other agencies had a vested interest in the case and should be permitted to participate "on the same footing as the Bureau.' [FN1457] (3) The First Team Meeting Howen and Lindquist convened the first team meeting in Post Falls, Idaho on October 30, 1992. [FN1458] The parties memories differ somewhat as to the tone of this first meeting and what was discussed. Howen and BATF Agent Byerly recalled it as an organizational meeting where the team approach was discussed and responsibilities were assigned for the various counts of the indictment and the overt acts of the conspiracy. [FN1459] Byerly thought that all participants were enthusiastic at this first meeting. [FN1460] Deputy Marshal Stafford had a different impression. He recalled FBI agents Venkus and Rampton as being "very formal and chilly." [FN1461] Deputy Marshal Masaitis sensed that Rampton and Venkus were unhappy about the Marshals Service being involved in the case. [FN1462] Venkus told investigators that it was not until he arrived at the meeting that he realized that BATF Agent Byerly would also be assisting in the case preparation. [FN1463] Among the topics discussed at the first meeting were the organization of the case preparation effort and the responsibilities of the individual team members. Howen and Lindquist informed the agents that each agency would be responsible for three counts of the indictment and for some of the overt acts alleged in the conspiracy. The BATF was responsible for the original gun charges; the Marshals Service was responsible for the failure to appear charge; and the FBI was responsible for the assault of a federal officer charge. The agents were to work in teams and to report to Howen or Lindquist. [FN1464] Another subject discussed was the conducting of interviews in Iowa. Rampton recalled that Howen indicated the need to do additional interviews in order to develop information that could be presented to the grand jury. Rampton interpreted these comments as a request and sent a teletype asking that leads be sent. b. Specific Problems in Case Preparation Interviews Conducted by the Marshals Service and BATF Agents During the pretrial period, members of the investigative team had several discussions concerning the conducting of out of state interviews and whether these interviews should be documented. Lindquist recalled Howen expressing concern that if these interviews were documented that they would have to be produced under the open discovery policy and such a disclosure would alert the defense to the manner in which the prosecution was preparing its case. According to Lindquist, Howen then asked the FBI case agents if they could conduct an inquiry without generating a report and then review the substance of the interview with him to determine if any exculpatory or otherwise discoverable information had been learned. Lindquist understood that if such information had been discovered Howen intended to have a report written and to produce the information to the defense. Lindquist recalled that Rampton and Venkus stated that such an approach was "probably" not a bad idea but that Bureau policy required them to generate a 302. At that point, Stafford and Masaitis stated that they were not mandated to create such forms and would be able to proceed as Howen had proposed. [FN1465] Lindquist had no problem with the approach because he was convinced of Howen's integrity and knew that if any Brady material were uncovered that Howen would produce it. [FN1466] At some point, Masaitis remembered that after FBI agents had conducted some interviews in Iowa and obtained negative results, the USAO suggested that Stafford interview these witnesses again. The FBI opposed the suggestion. [FN1467] Stafford suggested at the team meeting that he "conduct [the] investigation like cases [he] had worked as a pre trial investigative arm of the United States Attorney's Office in the past." Stafford said he tried "to prepare witnesses to talk to the U.S. Attorney prior to trial and not write reports on it.~ According to Stafford, it is the normal practice of the U.S. Marshal`Marshal's Service when "doing a case" to document interviews and information acquired for lead purposes. However, if they are assisting the U.S. Attorney's Office in preparing a case for trial or the grand jury, that form is not used. [FN1468] Stafford claimed that Howen and Lindquist reacted favorably to this suggestion. [FN1469] He does not recall them stating that it would be "a good idea not to produce paper." [FN1470] Venkus recalled that in one team meeting Stafford told the participants that he could conduct an interview without creating discoverable documentation. In response, Venkus advised Stafford that this was contrary to FBI policy and that he disagreed with the suggestion. Venkus thought that Stafford prided himself on not having to create paper like the FBI. fn 1471 Rampton thought that the documentation issue was first raised by Howen and Lindquist. He stated that they wanted investigation done, especially in Iowa, and that they did not want any interview documentation created so as to avoid having to produce it in discovery. Because of the FBI's practice of documenting all interviews with a 302, Rampton stated that Howen and Lindquist decided that the marshals would do the Iowa interview since they had "volunteered" not to produce paper on the interview. Rampton expressed concern about this plan to Dillon, as well as to Howen and Lindquist. Thereafter, Howen and Lindquist qualified their instructions to the FBI and said that they should continue to document their interviews as they had in the past. [FN1472] Rampton had suggested tot Howen that FBI agents in Iowa do the interviews and then, if necessary, Howen, who wanted to participate in the interviews, could do a followup. According to Rampton, Howen and Lindquist wanted the marshals to do the Iowa interviews and Rampton disagreed, stating that those interviews were an FBI function. [FN1473] Howen stated that when it became apparent to him that the FBI would not allow its case agents to conduct the out of state interviews, he thought that perhaps the marshals could do it. He then asked Stafford if he could conduct the interviews and whether he was required to prepare written documentation. Stafford told Howen that he could conduct the interviews and that he was not required to document it. [FN1474] Thereafter, Howen had the marshals and the BATF agent serve subpoenas and conduct witness interviews. Stafford said that Howen and Lindquist asked him to serve approximately 100 subpoenas and to conduct interviews of individuals in Iowa, Northern Idaho, Oregon, Spokane, Washington and Denver, Colorado. [FN1475] Most of these interviews were conducted in Iowa. Stafford thought that the FBI did not want to participate in these interviews because they had other things to do. However, he did not know whether the FBI agents had ever been asked to conduct the interviews. [FN1476] He did believe that the FBI agents knew what he would be doing since before he left to conduct the Iowa interviews he informed Mike Dillon about his anticipated activities. [FN1477] While serving subpoenas, Stafford said he would conduct interview of those individuals being served. One such interview was of Howard Brashure in Iowa who was developed as an informant/witness. [FN1478] Stafford explained that because this was a high profile case, identifying information about the witness was not placed on the subpoena but rather on a separate sheet of paper attached to the subpoena. [FN1479] Stafford wrote down on this sheet any information that he received during the interview that he judged to be important as well as providing his impression of the person as a witness. Thereafter, he mailed the sheets back to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Stafford did not know whether any of these sheets were ever produced to the defense although he said he was not aware of any exculpatory material not being turned over to the defense. [FN1480] A review of the discovery records in the Weaver case revealed that other than the cryptic notes on some of the subpoena cover sheets, Stafford did not document these interviews and that these sheets were not produced in discovery. Howen said that Stafford knew whom to interview based on the subpoenas that were given to him. According to Howen, the goal was to ask questions that would determine whether a person should or should not be a witness. [FN1481] Howen told investigators that he did not instruct Stafford to as specific questions of the subpoenaed parties but rather informed him of general subject areas that were important to case development. These areas included: the Weavers' activities primarily during the 1983-85 time period; any information about Weaver's alleged plan to build a 300 yard kill zone; and identifying any other witnesses who might be helpful and Howen might want to interview personally. [FN1482] When Stafford returned from serving the subpoenas he would brief Howen on the information that he had learned. [FN1483] Howen insisted that he never instructed Stafford no to create documentation but rather used Stafford because he understood that it was the policy of the Marshals Service not to create documentation for this type of interview. fn 1484 Howen never discussed with Stafford what constituted exculpatory information nor did Stafford ever raise the issue. Howen assumed that Stafford understood the nature of exculpatory information based upon his experience in the Marshals Service. Howen never remembered Stafford conveying to him any exculpatory information from the interviews conducted in Iowa. [FN1485] Lindquist stated that Howen was primarily responsible for giving Stafford any instructions regarding the serving of the subpoenas and the interview questions to be asked. [FN1486] To the extent that Lindquist gave Stafford instructions, they were general in nature and intended to obtain information that would reveal the type of person that Weaver was. [FN1487] Lindquist did not recall any specific instructions given concerning the documentation of these interviews although he assumed that the documentation issue had been resolved at the earlier meeting. [FN1488] It was not until before trial that Lindquist learned who had been interviewed in Iowa. [FN1489] BATF Agent Byerly did not conduct any interviews in Iowa. [FN1490] However, he did participate with Stafford, BATF Agent Gunderson, Deputy Marshal Hunt and Sheriff Whittaker in serving subpoenas on 20-40 people in Northern Idaho [FN1491] who were neighbors of the Weavers and in conducting "related interviews." [FN1492] Byerly could not recall Howen or Lindquist requesting them to conduct interviews without documenting them. [FN1493] With regard to the interviews that Byerly conducted, he told investigators that he told the witness "to tell the truth and cooperate with both the prosecution and the defense." [FN1494] Of the conversations that he had with witnesses, Byerly said he prepared approximately five or six interview reports. His criterion for whether an interview report was necessary was whether the new information would help the prosecution or the defense. [FN1495] Masaitis did not conduct any interviews in Iowa but did conduct several interviews while assisting the USAO. Because none of these interviews produced any positive information, Masaitis did not document them. Masaitis said it is his practice to only document an interview if significant information is developed. He denied that the USAO ever instructed him not to document the interviews. [FN1496] Masaitis never considered his actions "as conducting investigation." [FN1497] Rampton and Venkus said that they were never informed about when the Iowa interviews were conducted or about the results of these interviews. Indeed, it was not until later that the FBI case agents learned of them. [FN1498] Glenn did not learn about these interviews until after the trial when the case agents told him that some of these interviews had been conducted without their knowledge. [FN1499] Rampton said that the Iowa interviews were done primarily to support the conspiracy count but also developed information to support other counts. [FN1500] He did not know whether these interviews produced any exculpatory information. [FN1501] There is no record of what the Iowa witnesses told Stafford. Howen insisted that if these interviews had produced exculpatory information he would have produced it to the defense. [FN1502] To the extent that he was informed of the information, Lindquist never learned of any Brady information being disclosed in these interviews. [FN1503] Although Venkus did not know the specifics of what Stafford had learned in the interviews, he suspected that some of it was of significance. For example, he recalled hearing Stafford discussing "voluminous" information that a witness had given him about the John Todd tapes and the concept of "Illuminating." Venkus believed that Stafford viewed the Todd tapes as a critical link in the proof required to show the origins of Weaver's alleged conspiracy. [FN1504] (2) Acoustical Test The marshals involved in the August 21, 1992 shooting at Ruby Ridge reported receiving a hundred or more incoming rounds. However, investigators recovered far fewer bulled casings. Some theorized that echoes may have caused it to sound as if more rounds had been fired. Another important issues in the case was who fired the first shot. Deputy Marshal Norris had reported hearing a shot that sounded like it came from the type of gun that Roderick and Degan were carrying. This conflicted with Cooper's version of events which was that Harris had fired the first shot. Thereafter, the USAO and members of the investigative team discussed the need to conduct an acoustical test to explain these arguably conflicting findings. [FN1505] Lindquist believed that he first identified the need to consider whether an acoustical test should be conducted. [FN1506] He recalled discussing the issue and that he and Rampton took some steps to determine if there was an expert at the FBI that would address the issue. At some point, Lindquist recalled discussing the issue with someone and the FBI laboratory. He remembered that this individual thought that it would be difficult to control the environment sufficiently so as to be confident that the were duplicating the acoustical reality as it existed on August 21, 1992. [FN1507] Lindquist recalled that he was not completely satisfied with the response given by the individual from the FBI lab and had the impression that the individual had not given adequate consideration to his questions. Soon thereafter, Lindquist spoke with a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles who confirmed that it was difficult to control all of the factors so as to be comfortable with the accuracy of an acoustical test. [FN1508] Thereafter, Lindquist suggested to a team member that when they accompanied Lucian Haag to Ruby Ridge to work on the shooting reconstruction that they might want to fire a few rounds to see what they heard. Thereafter, he understood that this was done and that those present could reach no conclusions as to the effect of echoes or whether it was possible to distinguish the weapons being fired. fn 1509 Rampton confirmed that on approximately October 21, 1992, he had discussed with Lindquist the need to have and acoustical test conducted to determine what echoes or reverberations were caused by the firing of weapons like those involved in the August 21st shootings. Thereafter, Rampton communicated with the FBI Laboratory about having the test conducted. [FN1510] Following this initial contact, Rampton and Lindquist had several phone conversations with Supervisory Special Agent Bruce Koenig who was assigned to the FBI's Engineering Research Facility in Quantico, Virginia, about the feasibility of conducting an acoustical analysis of the gunshots fired at the top of the mountain at Ruby Ridge. Koenig understood that the Assistant U.S. Attorney with whom he spoke was anxious to determine if echoes could have accounted for the difference between the number of shots heard by the marshals and the number of casings found. He told the attorney that certain structures such as cliffs would cause echoes and recommended positioning listeners at the various locations where the marshals reported being and then firing multiple shots in various directions and from various locations to listen to the effect. Koenig told the attorney that he was willing to travel to Ruby Ridge and conduct the test firings. Indeed, arrangements were made for Koenig and his team to fly to Idaho but at the last minute either Rampton or the attorney contacted him and told him that the trip was unnecessary because they had conducted the tests and no echoes were heard. [FN1511] Masaitis recalled learning that the FBI had expressed some resistance to conducting the test. The other team members then explored the option of hiring an expert to conduct the test but learned that this option would be too costly. At that point, they decided to conduct their own informal experiment. [FN1512] At the end of October, Howen, Stafford, Masaitis, Hunt and Bruce Whittaker from the Boundary County Sheriff Department travelled to Ruby Ridge to participate in an acoustical test which consisted of firing weapons similar to those belonging to the marshals involved in the August 21st shooting. Stafford believes that Venkus and Rampton were asked to accompany the group but did not do so. [FN1513] Once everyone assumed their positions, Masaitis fired some rounds from the rock outcropping adjacent to the Weaver house while Hunt was down by the & areas. fn 1514 Shots were also fired from the & and the area where Sammy started his retreat back to the cabin. [FN1515] Howen could not recall if the marshals present made any comments about how the shots sounded. [FN1516] Although Masaitis could not hear echoes because he was firing the gun, he recalled that someone had stated that they had heard echoes. [FN1517] All parties involved in this test stated that no record, either audio or written, was produced. [FN1518] At the initial team meeting on October 30, 1992, Lindquist announced that the test had been completed and that the FBI laboratory did not need to conduct the examination.[FN1519] He was not aware that at the time Rampton was still in the process of locating an FBI expert to conduct an acoustical test. [FN1520] Rampton, who was informed of this acoustical experiment after it had been completed, was surprised by the unscientific methodology used. [FN1521] Howen explained that he decided not to pursue an expert opinion since he questioned whether an expert would be able to provide an accurate opinion since any test that he would conduct would be after the leaves had fallen from the deciduous trees thus rendering the conditions different from those present at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992. [FN1522] The USAO never informed defense counsel about this experiment. [FN1523] Lindquist explained that he did not think this rudimentary experiment, which used neither an expert or equipment, constituted the type of activity that was required to be disclosed under Fed. R. Crim. P. 16. He characterized their activities as "preliminary" to see if a formal test might be warranted. [FN1524] Howen agreed this was not a test and was something that anyone, including the defense, could have conducted. [FN1525] (3) Cooperation and Trust Among Trial Team Members (i) Historical Problems in the Working Relationship Between the USAO and the FBI Almost everyone questioned about the subject agreed that the USAO and FBI experienced numerous problems in their working relationship during the Weaver prosecution. However, these problems did not originate with the Weaver matter but rather appear to have been developing over a number of years. Indeed, many individuals in the USAO and the FBI agreed that the two agencies had a history of a poor relationship which deteriorated further in the Weaver matter. From the FBI perspective, Supervisory Special Agent Dillon felt that there were numerous incidents which contributed to the problems. He stated that one factor was Howen's personality which because noticeably hostile to the FBI after the prosecution of Randy Baldwin. [FN1526] Dillon characterized Howen's personality after the Baldwin case as being "very pompous and condescending." Problems between Howen and the Fbi continued when the two offices strongly disagreed over whether a local sheriff from Shoshone County should be prosecuted for public corruption. The FBI ultimately presented the case to the Department of Justice for consideration. Thereafter, the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice prosecuted the matter -- the first trial ended in a hung jury while the second trial ended with an acquittal. According to Dillon, Howen and Ellsworth were extremely upset over the handling of that case. [FN1527] Dillon told investigators that one major criticism that he and others had about Howen was that he would discuss and issue with the FBI or give an instruction to the FBI and then later forget the discussion or having given the instruction. Howen would then portray the FBI action as being contrary to his wishes. Dillon gave as an example a 1990 case involving the arrest of Aryan Nation members with the arrest scenario proposed by the FBI. According to Dillon, Howen repeatedly complained "who was working for who" [FN1528] Special Agent in Charge Glenn reported that the relationship between the USAO and the FBI had been strained for "some time" and "seemed to deteriorate" further with the Weaver prosecution. as examples of prior disagreements between the two offices he pointed to several cases in which the USAO had concluded that a case lacked prosecutive merit but subsequent review by the Department of Justice had concluded otherwise. [FN1529] U.S. Attorney Ellsworth agreed that the relationship between the USAO and Glenn and Dillon had not been the best. He attributed this problem in part to the case involving the Shoshone County Sheriff. Although the two offices managed to work together on matters, Ellsworth stated that the relationship was one characterized "by pleasantries and ... cordiality at a very superficial surface level ... but one where we never really ... were able to ... deal with hard issues. [FN1530] Lindquist was the only member of the USAO and the FBI who stated that there was not a history of problems between the USAO and the FBI. Lindquist insisted that the Weaver case was an anomaly and that before and after the Weaver case he has had a "marvelous relationship" with the FBI. [FN1531] To the extent there existed any bad blood" between the FBI and the USAO he characterized it as "bad blood" between Ellsworth and Dillon who did not get along. [FN1532] this statement seems inconsistent with the statements of other individuals interviewed including Special Agent Wayne F. Manis who provided a 13-page chronology of a problem that he had with Lindquist which indicated Lindquist's knowledge of the animosity between the USAO, especially USA Ellsworth, and Dillon and Glenn that had occurred over the handling of the prosecution of the Shoshone County Sheriff. [FN1533] Officials at FBI headquarters were aware that there were problems in the working relationship between the USAO and the local and district offices of the FBI. This knowledge was based largely on the controversy over the public corruption case involving the Shoshone County Sheriff. [GARRITY] [FN1534] Other than this incident, we found no indication that FBI Headquarters had intervened. (ii) Problems in the Working Relationship Among Team Members From the moment that the USAO and the FBI began working on the Weaver case problems surfaced in their historical hostilities. Much of the difficulty can be traced to their negative perceptions that each agency had developed from working together on prior matters. The USAO found the FBI to be very inflexible and inextricably attached to the idea of being the lead agency and exercising total control over any investigative task in the case. In addition, the prosecutors were critical of the unwillingness of the FBI to become a "team player." Howen noted a significant difference between the attitude of members of the Marshals Service and members of the FBI. He found the former to be open, flexible and willing to assist with case preparation in any way that they wee needed while he found the FBI to be uncooperative and unwilling to volunteer information. [FN1535] Similarly, Lindquist characterized the Marshals Service and BATF as "very open, very cooperative, very accessible" in contrast to the FBI which he characterized as a "brick wall." [FN1536] Ellsworth attributed part of the difficulties between the USAO and the FBI to the FBI mentality that "the FBI way is always right." [FN1537] The FBI case agents found the USAO to be very controlling and unwilling to include them in the case preparation process. In addition, the FBI criticized the prosecutors for being to autocratic, abrasive and confrontational. While preparing the case for trial, there were a number of incidents that contributed to the negative perception that each agency had of the other. For example, early in the case, Lindquist learned that the FBI had issued a directive to the case agents that they were only to take instructions from Ellsworth. This directive also required Howen to transmit in writing to the agents any leads or investigative requests that he wanted pursued. Apparently this directive was the result of several incidents including the inclusion of the marshals on the trial team and the miscommunication concerning the sending of leads to Iowa. Lindquist and Ellsworth were very angered by this directive and contacted the Terrorism and violent Crime Section of the Department of Justice. Lindquist believed that they intervened and had the directive revoked. [FN1538] The USAO was also troubled by the resistance that the FBI showed to the discovery obligations of the prosecution and to the USAO request for expert assistance from the FBI Laboratory. [FN1539] From the FBI perspective, they were quite upset with how the USAO was handling the Weaver prosecution including: the decision to bring the Marshals Service and BATF into the case, the USAO opposition to sending leads to conduct the Iowa interviews, [FN1540] the broad scope of the indictment and the open discovery policy followed by the USAO. Other issues that concerned the FBI included the debate over the need to transport the birthing shed from Ruby Ridge to Boise for use at the trial, criticism voiced by other team members about the FBI crime scene search and the USAO treatment of FBI members. [FN1541] The FBI case agents assigned to the Weaver matter complained that they felt isolated from the activities of the other team members. For example, Rampton complained that he was unaware of the projects on which the marshals were working in part because they were creating no documentation of their activities. [FN1542] In addition, the FBI case agents believed that efforts were taken to exclude them from team meetings and other team activities. Lindquist denied that they intentionally excluded FBI members from meetings or activities but acknowledged that there may have been occasions where teams or subteams met without the other group members. [FN1544] Howen tried to conduct a team meeting every two or three weeks. He insisted that everyone was invited and notified of these meetings to discuss matters on which a particular subteam was working. [FN1545] Both Howen and Lindquist denied ever instructing the marshals or the BATF agents to conduct some type of investigative activity and not inform the FBI about it. [FN1546] Ellsworth suggested that the reason that the FBI agents felt excluded and believed that the marshals had a more active role than they did was because the FBI agents were somewhat physically isolated because they were not always in Boise. [FN1547] In addition to the problems that they attributed to the USAO, the FBI agents also detected hostility and a lack of cooperation from other team members, most notably the marshals. For example, although they made their files available to the other agencies to assist in case preparation, the FBI case agents did no feel that the other agencies reciprocated. 1548 The FBI case agents also recognized that the marshals assigned to the case were sensitive to any remarks or actions by the FBI that seemed to question the truthfulness of statements made by Deputy Marshals Cooper and Roderick. For example, at some point, Venkus and Rampton discussed the possibility that Degan may have been moving as he fired his weapon since the spent cartridges from Degan's gun were spread over 22 feet. This theory was contrary to the marshals' account that Degan had not fired his weapon. When Rampton presented this theory, he recalled Masaitis becoming very upset, stating that he did no have to listen to this and then leaving the discussion. Thereafter, Rampton informed Howen that he was going to send Degan's gun for an ejection pattern test to determine how far the spent shells would be ejected. Rampton insisted that Howen concurred with the plan but later failed to acknowledge his approval thereby making it look as if Rampton had taken this action on his own. [FN1549] Several weeks later, Rampton recalled that Howen met with him and asked if he felt that he could continue as a team member considering the hostility he had created by questioning the veracity of Cooper. Rampton insisted that he was not accusing Cooper of lying but only wanted the team to focus on a possible conflict between the physical evidence and Cooper's statement that Degan had not fired his gun. [FN1550] From the perspective of the marshals, Stafford was troubled by Rampton's questioning of the truthfulness of the Cooper and Roderick statements regarding who fired the first shot. Stafford felt that when Rampton characterized these statements as being "less than truthful" he was suggesting that Cooper and Roderick had "purposely" omitted some information. [FN1551] Another incident that angered the marshals concerned the inaccuracies that appeared in the FBI draft of the Cooper FD- 302. [FN1552] The other team members were aware that the FBI agents were having difficulty integrating into the team and that discord existed between them and the FBI agents. For example, after the first meeting, Stafford perceived that the FBI case agents were not greatly involved in the case and that they did not appear to attend very many of the meetings. [FN1553] He characterized the behavior of the FBI on the case as lacking initiative and response [FN1554] yet he admitted that he had no knowledge of the FBI ever refusing to do an investigative task in this matter. However, he stated that he knew of instances in which work was assigned to FBI agents but was not completed. [FN1555] Another team member, BATF Agent Byerly attributed the discord between the FBI and other team members to "the reluctance by the FBI to attempt techniques beyond the norm," and the resistance of the FBI to release certain documents and information to the USAO. [FN1556] Byerly was never aware of any attempts to exclude a team member from a meeting or to withhold the existence or the results of an investigative activity from another team member. [FN1557] According to Byerly, any disagreements related to issues involving investigative techniques and proposed approaches to supporting the government's case such as the proposed reconstruction of the shooting scene. [FN1558] According to Howen, throughout the case preparation and trial period, issues continually arose that created discord between the FBI and the Marshals Service. In his words, the problem "never got better." [FN1559] Howen took no specific actions to diffuse the hostility other than to try to listen to all sides and allow them equal input into issues. [FN1560] Howen also attributed some of the discord between the FBI and the Marshals Service to an attitude which he believes is pervasive in the FBI which is that they are the premier investigative agency and that the other federal agencies are inferior. There was also a perception among the Marshals Service members of the team that the FBI had made many errors in their handling of the crime scene, including the triangulation issue [FN1561], and that their efforts would have been better if it had been an FBI agent who had been killed. The discovery of a document prepared by the FBI that was highly critical of the Marshals Service actions in the Weaver case further deteriorated the relationship between the case agents and the FBI. [FN1562] Lindquist attributed the disagreements with the FBI to the actions and directives of upper management officials and their failure to communicated with the prosecutors. He believed that the difficulties that they experienced communicating with the decision makers in the FBI were due to the command structure of the FBI and their refusal to communicate with those not at a comparable rank. [FN1563] To the extent that disagreements arose between him and the case agents, they were always able to resolve them except when upper management became involved and issued orders as to the position to take. [FN1564] Lindquist said he believed that the FBI case agents were confronted with the dilemma of wanting to perform their jobs but being required to adhere to the FBI position on issues such as the lead agency concept and the sending out of leads. By the early part of 1993, Lindquist thought that the FBI case agents were working well with the others on preparing the case for trial. [FN1565] (4) Attempts to Interview FBI Officials at Headquarters As part of their case preparations, Howen and Lindquist wanted to interview FBI officials who were involved in the deployment and instruction of the Hostage Rescue Team ("HRT") and in the formulation and modification of the rules of engagement. Among the individuals that they wanted to interview were Danny Coulson, Larry Potts and Mike Kahoe. Howen and Lindquist identified two separate occasions when they unsuccessfully sought to interview these individuals. The first occurred in October 1992 when the prosecutors came to Washington to meet with DOJ officials and the Marshals Service. [FN1566] According to Howen, they had provided advance notice to the FBI that they were going to be in Washington and wanted to interview these officials. However, when they arrived in Washington and contacted the FBI, they were informed that the FBI officials were unavailable. [FN1567] Neither prosecutor made the interview arrangements. Howen did not know who had set up the interviews with the FBI but speculated that it was Dillon or Rampton [FN1568] while Lindquist believed that the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section at the Department of Justice had made the arrangements for a specific day. [FN1569] The second time that Howen and Lindquist were unsuccessful in interviewing the headquarters officials was sometime in early March 1993. Although Howen could not recall what, if any, prior arrangements had been made to conduct the interviews, [FN1570] Lindquist believed that specific times and been set for these interviews. [FN1571] Lindquist stated that when they arrived they were told that the FBI officials were unavailable. It was his impression that they were being "put off." [FN1572] In a March 17, 1993 memorandum, Dana Biehl mentioned that the prosecutors expressed a need to interview Potts, Kahoe, Coulson, Uda and Apple. [FN1573] On the next day, James Reynolds informed Mark Richard, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, of the need of the prosecutors to interview these individuals. In addition, Reynolds noted that when the prosecutors had been in town the previous week, the FBI had declined to make them available until the Waco standoff was resolved. Reynolds opined that this position was unacceptable. [FN1574] He told investigators that his impression was that Howen and Lindquist had not made advance appointments with the FBI officials. [FN1575] Mary Incontro told investigators that when the interview request was made almost everyone was involved with the WACO crisis. She added that the FBI always indicated a willingness to meet with the prosecutors. [FN1576] Thereafter, Reynolds attempted to arrange interviews with the FBI officials. The FBI agreed to make the officials available on two or three consecutive days between the hours of 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. When Reynolds informed Lindquist of this proposal, Lindquist responded that they had been in Washington two weeks ago and now the FBI officials could come to Boise. In a later call, Howen and Lindquist indicated that they would try to complete the interviews during a one week recess in late April 1993. [FN1577] Howen said he may have conducted one or two interviews by phone but that the time demands of the trial caused him to abandon further telephone interviews. [FN1578] [Garrity] [FN1579] [Garrity] [FN1580] [Garrity] [FN1581] [Garrity] [FN1582] 3. Discussion a. Decision to Have the Marshals Service and BATF Assist in Case Preparation The USAO created great conflict between it and the FBI when it decided to add the marshals and BATF agents to the trial preparation team. We find the FBI's actions and attitudes to have been unjustified and terribly disruptive to the USAO's trial preparation efforts. Although conflicting evidence exists as to whether the USAO requested the addition of the marshals to the trial team or whether the Marshals Service volunteered its services, we are confident that it was a decision that was welcomed by both the Marshals Service and the USAO. Perhaps the USAO could have been more tactful or sensitive in the timing and manner in which they informed the FBI of this action. However, we do not consider such a decision to have been one that required FBI concurrence or approval. We believe that the decision was appropriate and was certainly one within the purview of the USAO. We accept the representations of the USAO as to why these agencies were added to the trial team, including that they needed additional assistance in preparing the case for trial. This was a complicated case that was made dramatically more labor intensive by the scope of the indictment and the inclusion of the conspiracy count. Investigative activities needed to be conducted outside of Boise and large amounts of evidence needed to be processed, organized and analyzed. We think it was entirely appropriate for the USAO to turn for assistance to the Marshals Service and the BATF, both of which had prior investigative interest and involvement in the case. We are troubled by the reaction of the FBI to the addition of these new members to the trial team and its tenacious adherence to its position of being the lead agency. Such resistance was unjustified, distracted the USAO from its task of preparing the case for trial, and set a negative tone for the working relationship between the FBI and the other team members. That the FBI had primary jurisdiction over the assault charges does not confer power on it to control the entire case. There was room on the case preparation team for the participation of other agencies having an interest in the case. Once the case became the responsibility of the USAO we think that they, not the FBI, were the appropriate governmental body to control the direction of the case preparation activities. Although a component of these activities included additional investigation, we do not find it inappropriate for the USAO to control and direct such activities. Indeed, it is the USAO that must present evidence at trial to satisfy all of the elements of the charged offenses and to meet the defenses raised by the defendants. Consequently, we believe that the USAO was in the best position to assess how to prepare the case for trial. Having the FBI function as an intermediary between the USAO and the other agencies would have added a needless and burdensome bureaucratic layer. We respect the decision of the USAO not to have instituted such an approach and are extremely critical of the rigidity of the FBI on this issue. In our view, the FBI lost sight of its role as assisting rather than controlling the actions of the USAO. b. The Iowa Interviews and the Failure to Document the Results We are not aware of any legal principle or statutory requirement that requires governmental investigators to document all of the interviews that they conduct. See United States v. Martino, 648 F.2d 367, 387 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 943 (1981). Although the FBI requires its agents to document their interviews, other governmental agencies do not impose requirements that are as exacting. In this case, the prosecutors took advantage of the less restrictive documentation requirements of the Marshal Service and had the marshals conduct approximately 100 witness interviews during the serving of subpoenas. [FN1553] It is our opinion that this practice was imprudent. Under the Brady doctrine the government is required to disclose to the defense material evidence that is both favorable to the accused and material to either guilt or punishment. See United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 676, 682 (1985); Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87 (1963). This requirement is not limited to information that is in written form but extends to oral statements of which the government is aware. See generally, Carter v. Rafferty, 826 F.2d 1299 (3d Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 101 (1988). In addition, the prosecutor is responsible for producing Brady information which is within the knowledge of persons working as part of the prosecution team of intimately connected with the government's case. United States v. Butler, 567 F.2d 885, 889 (9th Cir. 1978); United States v. Morell, 524 F.2d 550, 555 (2d Cir. 1975). Although we discovered no evidence that these interviews produced any exculpatory information, our inquiry was severely restricted since no written, audio or video record was created of these interviews. Without memorializing these interviews, we were forced to rely on the memories of two individuals: Howen and Stafford. Howen insisted that if these interviews had produced any exculpatory information that he would have notified defense counsel. No matter how sincere Howen is on the issue, we are not comfortable that the interview process in place was adequate to ensure that exculpatory information was identified. No one ever instructed the marshals or took steps to ensure that they, particularly Stafford, understood the type of information that qualified for production under the Brady rule. Moreover, some of the notations that Stafford made on the subpoena cover sheets suggest that significant information might have been learned. [FN1584] Although this information may not have been Brady material, we have no reliable means to comfortably conclude that it is not. Although we recognize that prosecutors may sometimes participate either directly or indirectly in interviews that are not documented, we are concerned by the actions of Howen in this case. Here, we are not talking about one or two undocumented interviews but rather we are faced with a situation where approximately 100 interviews were conducted in this manner. [FN1585] Although there may be no direct evidence that exculpatory information was learned and concealed, we think that adverse interferences may be drawn by the undocumented interview process followed in the Weaver prosecution. There were no reliable safeguards in place to ensure that if exculpatory information were learned that it would be provided to the defense. [FN1586] Relying on the memory and judgment, regardless of how well intentioned, of a marshal who was not specifically trained or instructed regarding the identification of exculpatory information, does not suffice. Accordingly, we find the procedure to be inappropriate and advise against adopting a similar practice in the future. c. Acoustical Experiment at Ruby Ridge We find nothing improper about the acoustical experiment that members of the prosecution team conducted in late October 1992 at Ruby Ridge. Indeed, we accept the explanation provided by Lindquist that it was nothing more than a preliminary attempt to determine if expert assistance was necessary. The test firings were not scientifically planned or conducted. Even Rampton was surprised by the unscientific methodology used. The test consisted only of the firing of guns at the approximate locations where the participants of the August 21, 1992 shooting were located. There were no controls on the experiment or written findings. Nor, as Howen recognized, was there any way to duplicate the August 21st conditions since most of the leaves had fallen from the deciduous trees. The test results were clearly not discoverable under Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a)(1)(D) for two obvious reasons. [FN1587] First, the test would not qualify as a scientific test or experiment as that term is commonly understood. The actions that the participants took in conducting their rudimentary test did not utilize modern scientific techniques. [FN1588] Second, Rule 16 has been interpreted as requiring only the disclosure of written reports and written test results. United States v. Peters, 937 F.2d 1422, 1425 (9th Cir. 1991); United States v. Glaze, 643 F.2d 549, 552 (8th Cir. 1981). The government is under no duty to turn over informal internal documents, but need only disclose final results and reports. United States v. Iglesias, 881 F2d 1519, 1523-24 (9th Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1088 (1990). Here, no written results were ever prepared. Even if the experiment were not discoverable under Rule 16, the issue remains whether the government should have disclosed it to the defense as Brady material. We find that such disclosure was not required. From the evidence produced in our investigation, we found no indication that the test produced any type of result that could be properly classified as being exculpatory in nature. No one present for the test could recall what, if any, conclusions were reached. Lindquist, who was not present at the test, recalls hearing that the results were inconclusive as to the effect of echoes and whether the firing of different types of guns could have been distinguished. Howen told investigators that he never gave any consideration to informing the defense of the acoustical test because he did not consider what they were doing to be exculpatory. [FN1589] Moreover, in our view, the unscientific nature of the test coupled with the difference in conditions caused by the fallen leaves were significant variables that would call into question any results obtained. For all of these reasons, we conclude that the test did not constitute Brady material. d. Attempts to Interview FBI Officials Although we find the difficulty that the prosecutors encountered in attempting to interview FBI officials in Washington to be unfortunate, the evidence was inconclusive that these officials or others in the FBI were intentionally avoiding being interviewed. Indeed, we are not convinced that explicit interview arrangements were ever made. No one was able to provide us with a satisfactory account of who set up the interviews, what specific arrangements were made, and what information was provided to the interviewees. Neither Howen nor Lindquist had a good sense as to who was making the arrangements to interview the FBI officials. Nor did the clearly recall having exact times set during which the interviews would occur. Furthermore, none of the FBI officials recalled the first unsuccessful interview attempt. All denied that they had ever refused an interview request from the prosecutors. Mary Incontro indicated that the officials always appeared willing to meet with the prosecutors. To the extent that these officials may have been unavailable for interviews during the Waco crisis, we do not find the excuse to have been a fabrication. These officials were closely involved in the Waco crisis, were working long hours and were responsible for monitoring the crisis and making critical decisions. When James Reynolds contacted them, they agreed to make themselves available for evening interviews. Although perhaps the FBI officials could have shown more flexibility in accommodating the needs of the prosecutors, we cannot conclude that their actions were totally without justification. In the future, we would hope that the FBI will work to facilitate the access of prosecutors to FBI headquarters officials who are important to the preparation of federal prosecutions. A system needs to be instituted whereby the local FBI office either can make firm arrangements for such interviews or can introduce the prosecutors to the officials so that direct arrangements may be made. Although we appreciate the continuous demands made of many FBI officials, they must recognize that assisting federal prosecutors in preparing their cases for trial is included among their responsibilities as a member of the federal law enforcement team. e. Relationship Among the Investigative Team Prior to the beginning of the Weaver case preparation, problems existed in the working relationship between the FBI and the USAO. However, the relationship between these two branches of the department of Justice dramatically deteriorated with the Weaver prosecution. Although our investigation did not reveal that either side was intentionally taking actions to aggravate the other or to sabotage the prosecution, we were dismayed by the failure of the parties to more actively try to resolve their disagreements. Many of the individuals questioned about the relationship between the USAO in Boise and the FBI attributed the discord to a personality clash between the parties involved. [FN1590] Some, including Stafford, attributed the problem as being traceable primarily to the FBI Headquarters and the regional office in Utah. [FN1591] We agree that some of the difficulties were probably worsened by personality clashes between members of the USAO and the FBI. However, we believe that the problem goes much deeper and originated in the bureaucratic rigidity of the FBI and the institutional bias displayed by some members of that institution. The behavior of the FBI in the Weaver case revealed their troubling unwillingness to work as a team player. If the FBI could not be in control or it its views were not adopted, the FBI participated in an unreasonable manner by either refusing to cooperate or going through the motions of cooperating while exhibiting a negative attitude. Examples of such behavior included the intransigence that the FBI showed with regard to its opposition to the case agents conducting the interviews of the Iowa witnesses, the unwillingness of the FBI to accept and work with representatives from the other investigatory agencies, the failure of the FBI to actively assist the USAO by providing expert assistance, [FN1592] and the resistance of the FBI to producing materials that the USAO believed were discoverable. [G.J.] [G.J.] The FBI is supposed to work together to assist the prosecutors in developing and presenting criminal cases for trial. In the Weaver case the FBI lost sight of this crucial responsibility. When decisions were made by the USAO with which they did not agree, the FBI found it difficult to accept them and to proceed with the task of preparing the case for trial. This problem appeared both to emanate from the managerial levels of the FBI and to filter down in a diluted form to the case agents. We also detected a prevalent and troubling attitude among members of the FBI that they are the superior investigators and that all other investigative agencies are inferior. This attitude was detected by the other agencies which served to further weaken the already fragile working relationship. Although we sympathize with the pressures under which members of the USAO were operating in prosecuting this case, we were left with the impression that perhaps further actions and discussions might have lessened or resolved the disagreements between the USAO and the FBI. With regard to the clash between the FBI and the other investigative agencies, the USAO appeared to allow matters to proceed without taking any significant steps to improve the working relationship among these groups. We suspect that the personalities involved in these disputes contributed to the standoff that seemed to exist between the USAO and the FBI. What was needed was a strong personality that could have risen above the fray and attempted to resolve the disagreements and misunderstandings that existed. We are encouraged by the actions and attitude of the new U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho and are hopeful and optimistic that she and the FBI will be successful in eliminating some of the problems that have plagued the relationship between her office and the FBI. 4. Conclusion The working relationship between the FBI and the USAO and other team members in the Weaver case was poor and, in our view, adversely impacted upon the preparation of the Weaver case for trial. Active steps must be taken to ensure that such problems do not repeat themselves in subsequent prosecutions. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART N) 1393 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 21-22. 1394 FD-302 Interview of Gregory Rampton, October 18-19, 1993, at 19. See also, FD-302 Interview of T. Michael Dillon, October 25, 1993, at 13-14. 1395 Lindquist Interview, Tape 1, at 21-24. 1396 Rampton FD-302, at 35. 1397 FD-302 Interview of Joseph V. Venkus, October 18-19, 1993, at 19; Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 5. 1398 See also, Venkus FD-302, at 19. Lindquist rejected the economic justification argument advanced for using leads since the Weaver matter was a major case and the FBI had always found the money to investigate major cases. He believed that the FBI was insisting on leads simply because that was the way the Bureau always handled such matters. Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 5-6. 1399 Dillon adamantly opposed having the case agents conduct out of state interviews. Dillon FD-302, at 11. 1400 Venkus FD-302, at 22. 1401 This document is captioned, "Things to Do." The first item on the list states, "Get agent in or near Cedar Rapids to get all articles on the Weaver's for background," and then to interview the nine witnesses on the list. See Undated Document entitled "Things to Do," authored by Ronald Howen. 1402 Venkus FD-302, at 22. Rampton explained that a "clean 302" was one in which the identifying FBI file number was not present. According to Rampton, Howen did not want the FBI file number on the document because it would impair the ability of the defense to obtain all of the information in that file under a Freedom of Information Act request. Rampton FD-302, at 21. 1403 Venkus FD-302, at 22. 1404 Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, October 23, 1992, at 3. 1405 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 44-47. 1406 Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, October 23, 1992, at 3. 1407 Venkus FD-502, at 19. 1408 Rampton FD-302, at 22. 1409 [G.J.] 1410 [G.J.] 1411 [G.J.] 1412 [G.J.] 1413 [G.J.] 1414 [G.J.] 1415 [G.J.] [GARRITY] 1416 [G.J.] [GARRITY] 1417 [G.J.] 1418 [G.J.] 1419 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 16. 1420 It appears that Ms. Hefner had very little involvement in case preparation and that Mr. Byerly was the more active participant. See Lindquist Interview, Tape 1, at 16. 1421 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 2; Sworn Statement of Robert Anthony Masaitis, at 2. Special Agent in Charge Glenn told investigators that Duke Smith had told him that the Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned to the case had made this request to the Marshals Service. Sworn Statement of Eugene Glenn, January 12, 1994 at 19. 1422 FD-302 Interview of Henry Hudson, November 15, 1993, at 8. 1423 Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, dated October 23, 1992, at 2; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 18; Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 26-28. 1424 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 3-4. However, Venkus stated that Lindquist told him that Smith had offered the assistance of the deputy marshals. Lindquist is then reported to have asked Venkus how could they refuse such an offer. Venkus FD- 302, at 17. 1425 FD-302 Interview of Ronald D. Evans, dated October 21, 1993, at 5. 1426 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 8. 1427 Howen Interview, Tape 6, at 32-36 1428 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 12, 19-20. 1429 Lindquist did not believe that the local FBI office had the resources to accomplish the required trial preparation tasks. Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 4-5. 1430 Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 3. 1431 Rampton FD-302, at 22. 1432 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 19; Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, October 23, 1992, at 2. 1433 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 34-35. 1434 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 13-14. 1435 Thereafter, at the instruction of Dillon, Rampton called the marshals and invited them to review the FBI file on the case. Rampton stated that the marshals never accepted the offer. Rampton FD-302, at 23. 1436 Dillon FD-302, at 11. 1437 Dillon FD-302, at 12. See Letter from Eugene Glenn to Maurice Ellsworth, dated October 22, 1992; Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, dated October 23, 1992; Letter from Eugene Glenn to Maurice Ellsworth, dated October 27, 1992. 1438 Rampton FD-302, at 23. 1439 Glenn Sworn Statement, at 39-40. 1440 Hudson FD-302, at 8. 1441 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 2. 1442 Rampton FD-202, at 22. 1443 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 20. 1444 Rampton FD-302, at 22. See also, Memo to Weaver/Harris File from Kim R. Lindquist, October 26, 1992 (hereinafter cited as "Lindquist File Memo"). 1445 Venkus FD-302, at 17. 1446 Lindquist File Memo, October 26, 1992, at 2. 1447 Evans FD-302 1448 Hudson FD-302, at 8. 1449 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 1-2. 1450 Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 2-3. 1451 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 14-15, 17; Lindquist File Memo, October 26, 1992. 1452 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 23-25; 35-37. 1453 Id. at 37. 1454 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 22-23. 1455 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 22. 1456 Letter from Eugene Glenn to Maurice Ellsworth, October 27, 1992, at 1. 1457 Ellsworth stated that: the FBI had primary investigative jurisdiction as to the two assault on a federal officer counts and the murder count; the Marshals Service had primary investigative jurisdiction as to the three counts of the indictment charging the failure to appear, harboring a fugitive and commission of a crime while pending release for trial; the BATF had primary jurisdiction for the three gun related offenses; and that all three investigative agencies had responsibility for parts of the conspiracy count. Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, October 23, 1992, at 1-2. 1458 Initially, Venkus and Rampton informed Howen and Lindquist that they would be unable to attend the first meeting because of a conflicting meeting with Dillon. Venkus FD-302, at 18. The USAO believed that this was an excuse made by the FBI because they were embittered by the decision to bring in the other agents. Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 15-16; Memo to Weaver/Harris File from Kim R. Lindquist, dated October 26, 1992; Memorandum from Maurice Ellsworth to Kim Lindquist and Ron Howen, dated October 26, 1992. the FBI disputes that charge and maintains that there were legitimate reasons for their inability to attend the meeting scheduled. After initially declining to attend the first team meeting in Post Falls, Idaho, Dillon, ASAC Tubbs, Rampton and Venkus attended the meeting after Howen rescheduled it to another date. Venkus FD-302, at 18. 1459 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 37-40; Sworn Statement of Herbert Byerly, December 20, 1993, at 19-20. 1460 Byerly Sworn Statement, at 19-20. 1461 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 3. 1462 Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 5. 1463 Venkus FD-302, at 18. 1464 Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 5. 1465 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 20. 1466 Id. at 20-21. 1467 Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 15-16; Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 18. 1468 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 7-8. chief Deputy Marshal Ronald Evans seemed to confirm this practice. He stated that it is standard procedure for deputy marshals to document the results of any investigation that they conduct but that it is "up to the individual and is generally discussed with the AUSA." Evans FD-302, at 6. 1496 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 6. 1470 Id. at 8. 1471 Venkus FD-302, at 10. 1472 Rampton FD-302, at 24. 1473 Id. at 25. 1474 Howen Interview, Tape 8, 15 46-47. 1475 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 5. 1476 Id. at 3. 1477 Id. at 8. 1478 Id. at 2-3. 1479 The U.S. Attorney's Office prepared a master list of witnesses from these sheets. Id. at 6. 1480 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 7. Howen insisted to investigators that he had never seen these sheets prior to his November 1993 interview. Howen Interview, Tape 9, at 11. 1481 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 44-48. 1482 Id. at 49-53. 1483 Id. at 51-56. 1484 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 49. 1485 Id. at 56-57. 1486 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 18. 1487 Id. at 19. 1488 Id. at 20. 1489 Id. at 20. 1490 Byerly Sworn Statement, at 22-23. 1491 Byerly recalled wondering why Venkus, who lived in Northern Idaho, was not participating in serving the subpoenas. He did not know whether Venkus and Rampton were aware that they were serving the subpoenas and conducting the interviews. Byerly Sworn Statement, at 24. Howen said that normally the marshals would serve their subpoenas. He could not recall why Deputy Marshal Cluff, who had the region, did not serve the subpoena but he speculated that he might have been unavailable. In any even, Howen stated that Stafford was a marshal and that was consistent with his practice of having the marshals serve the subpoenas. Howen Interview, Tape 9, at 1. 1492 Byerly Sworn Statement, at 23; Stafford Sworn Statement, at 3. 1493 Byerly Sworn Statement, at 23. 1494 Id. 1495 Id. 1496 Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 13-15. 1497 Id. at 18. 1498 Rampton FD-302, at 25; Venkus FD-302, at 19. Rampton reported that following a February 1993 team meeting at which Howen and Lindquist agreed that the FBI should conduct some Iowa interviews, Rampton sent out leads to conduct these interviews. At a subsequent team meeting, Rampton was surprised to learn from Stafford that he had already conducted some of these interviews. 1499 Sworn Statement of Eugene Glenn, at 40. 1500 Rampton FD-302, at 36. 1501 Id. at 27 1502 Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 21. 1504 Venkus FD-302, at 20. 1505 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 21-22. 1506 Id. at 21; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 31. 1507 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 22. 1508 Id. at 22-23. 1509 Id. at 22-23. 1510 Rampton FD-302, at 42-43; Venkus FD-302, at 20. 1511 FD-302 Interview of Bruce E. Koenig, October 28, 1993, at 1-2. 1512 Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 7-8. 1513 Lindquist does not recall participating in this experiment. Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 23. BATF Agent Byerly did not participate in the acoustical test but was aware that it occurred and believes that he was informed of the results. It was his understanding that the purpose of the test was to corroborate what the marshals heard on the mountain and to determine the impact of echoes. Byerly Sworn Statement, at 24. 1514 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 9. 1515 Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 8. 1516 Howen Interview, Tape 9, at 11. 1517 Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 8. 1518 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 9; Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 8. 1519 Venkus FD-302, at 29. 1520 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 24. 1521 Rampton FD-302, at 42-43. 1522 Howen Interview, Tape 9, at 6-8. 1523 U.S. Attorney Ellsworth could not recall this experiment being conducted. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 32-33. 1524 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 23. 1525 Howen Interview, Tape 9, at 10. 1526 Baldwin was a sheriff from Idaho County who was prosecuted for illegal wiretapping. The jury acquitted Baldwin of these charges. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 5, at 2-3. 1527 Dillon FD-302, at 6; Venkus FD-302, at 27. 1528 Dillon FD-302, at 6-7. 1529 Glenn Sworn Statement, at 41. 1530 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 18. 1531 Lindquist Interview, Tape 7, at 24. 1532 Id. at 27. 1533 FD-302 Interview of Wayne F. Manis, October 5, 1993, at 2 and attached chronology. 1534 [GARRITY] 1535 Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 24-26. 1536 Lindquist Interview, Tape 6, at 31. 1537 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 6, at 4. 1538 Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 13-14; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 13-14. Memorandum from Maurice Ellsworth to Kim Lindquist and Ron Howen, October 26, 1992. 1539 See Section IV (J) for a discussion of the problems caused by the FBI Laboratory. 1540 By Fall 1992, the relationship had deteriorated to such a point that Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Haws drafted a memorandum of understanding ("MOU") between the USAO and the FBI. Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 8-9. According to Howen, the relationship had become so poor that Ellsworth was ready to state that the USAO would stop trying cases referred by the FBI if they did not stop trying to control the prosecutions. Howen Interview, Tape 11, at 10-11. The MOU set forth terms of cooperation to be followed by the USAO and the FBI when working together in preparing major criminal cases for trial. The last version of this document was transmitted to Glenn and Dillon for signature; Glenn never executed the document. Howen Interview, Tape 11, at 10-11; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 13-16. Letter from Marc Haws to Maurice Ellsworth, G Wayne Smith, T. Michael Dillon and Gene F. Glenn, October 28, 1992. 1541 (...continued) [G.J.] 1542 Rampton FD-302, at 27. 1543 Dillon FD-302, at 12; Rampton FD-302, at 21. 1544 Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 16. 1545 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 41-43. 1546 Id. at 43; Lindquist Interview, Tape 2, at 16-17. 1547 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 22. 1548 Venkus FD-302, at 21. 1549 Venkus FD-302, at 25; Memorandum by Gregory Rampton, February 9, 1993. 1550 Id. 1551 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 4. 1552 Howen Interview, Tape 11, at 2. 1553 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 3. 1554 Id. 1555 Id. at 6. 1556 Byerly Sworn Statement, at 27. 1557 Id. at 21, 24. 1558 Id. at 21. 1559 Howen Interview, Tape 11, at 4. 1560 Id. at 4-5. As the various problems surfaced prior to and during the trial, Masaitis credited Howen and Lindquist with attempting to deal with the problems without displaying any overt hostility to the FBI. Masaitis Sworn Statement, at 12. 1561 see Section IV(I( of this report for a discussion of the controversy surrounding the failure of the FBI to use the triangulation process when collecting the evidence at the crime scene. 1562 Howen Interview, Tape 11, at 2-4. The marshals critique and the resistance of the FBI to produce it in discovery is discussed in Section IV(M). 1563 Lindquist Interview, Tape 7, at 25. 1564 Id. at 28-29. 1565 Id., Tape 2, at 8-11. 1566 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 26. 1567 Id. at 29-30. Lindquist recalled that they were scheduled to meet with Larry Potts and John Uda, the author of the document that has become known as the "marshals critique" as well as some other officials. Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 9-10. 1568 Howen Interview, Tape 8, at 30. 1569 Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 10-11. 1570 Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 19. 1571 Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 11. 1572 Id. at 9-11. 1573 Memorandum from Dana Biehl to James Reynolds, March 17, 1993 at 5. 1574 Memorandum from James Reynolds to Mark Richard, March 18, 1993, at 7. 1575 FD-302 Interview of James Reynolds, August 11, 1993, at 6. 1576 FD-302 Interview of Mary Incontro, August 10, 1993 at 3. 1577 Reynolds FD-302, August 11, 1993, at 6. Sometime during the pretrial preparation of the Weaver case, Jeffrey Howard, who at the time was Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General of the Department of Justice, recalled a meeting with two Assistant U.S. Attorneys for Idaho and other DOJ officials. Howard recalled that the Assistants were complaining about their access to people at FBI Headquarters. It was his recollection that someone from the meeting called the FBI and made arrangements for the Assistants to meet with those individuals with whom they had been trying to meet. FD-302 Interview of Jeffrey Howard, January 3, 1994, at 3. 1578 Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 20. 1579 [Garrity] 1580 [Garrity] 1581 [Garrity] 1532 [Garrity] 1583 Although Howen and Lindquist may not have issued a specific directive not to document the interviews, the evidence demonstrates without question that they did not want to create a paper trail of their activities for the defense to discover and that the reason that they did not have the FBI conduct the interviews was because their agents were required to prepare written reports of the interviews that they conducted. When questioned about the failure of the deputy marshals to document the interviews conducted while serving subpoenas, former Marshals Service Director Hudson stated that he would not permit an Assistant U.S. Attorney to direct a deputy marshal not to write a report in order to avoid discovery requirements. Hudson FD-302, at 9. 1584 For example, on the subpoena sheet for Chris Colegrove, Stafford deleted the typed words "not needed" and wrote "needed." Stafford wrote on the subpoena sheet for Steve Tanner, "This guy must be interviewed. Ron & Kim, Talk to me about this guy. JWS." 1585 U.S. Attorney Ellsworth was unaware that these interviews had not been documented and had always assumed that the marshals had agreed to use the FD-302 interview form when conducting interviews. He stated that he would have been concerned if he had learned that the interviews were not being documented since a record needed to be made of the information collected to ensure that the USAO was complying with its discovery obligations. In addition, Ellsworth thought that the conducting of undocumented interviews seemed inconsistent with the open discovery policy of the USAO. Ellsworth saw no problem in documenting all interviews but stated that there might be some situation when it would not be necessary. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 26-28. 1586 James Reynolds believed that an interview should be documented if it generates significant information even if the amount of information involved is small. Reynolds FD-302, October 3, 1993, at 6. 1587 In the discovery stipulation executed by the parties, they agreed "to reciprocal disclosure and inspection of all material stated" in Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a)(1) and 16(b)(1). See stipulation and Reciprocal Request for Discovery and Inspection, Notice of Alibi and Notice of Mental Condition, dated October 16, 1992, a 1. Rule 16(a)(1)(D) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure provides in pertinent part that, Upon request of a defendant the government shall permit the defendant to inspect and copy or photograph any results or reports ... of scientific tests or experiments ... which are within the possession, custody or control of the government, the existence of which is known, or by the exercise of due diligence may become known, to the attorney for the government, and which are material to the preparation of the defense or are intended for use by the government as evidence in chief at the trial. 1588 See generally 3 Moore's Federal Practice ? 16.05?? (1993) 1589 Howen Interview, Tape 9, at 10. 1590 See, e.g. DOJ Memorandum of Interview of Marc Haws, December 17, 1993, at 4. 1591 Stafford Sworn Statement, at 9(?). 1592 See discussion of this issue in Section ???(J). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. SPECIFIC ISSUES INVESTIGATED O. Alleged Failure of USAO to Notify the Defense of Brady Material and Other Important Information 1. Introduction When the Weaver trial began, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boise ("USAO"), assisted by governmental investigative agencies, had compiled and produced a large volume of materials in discovery including thousands of pages of documents, transcripts, numerous audio and video tapes, photographs and a multitude of investigative reports. In addition, the USAO had permitted defense counsel to inspect the evidence developed during the case investigation. Despite its efforts to comply with its discovery obligations and the Brady rule, a number of incidents occurred during the trial which cast doubt on whether the Government had been totally forthcoming in its responses to the defense. These incidents included: its resistance to produce FBI and Marshals Service manual provisions and personnel files subpoenaed by the defense; the failure to disclose all facets of the compensation arrangement between the BATF and a confidential informant; the untimely discovery of critical FBI notes relating to the interview of Deputy Marshal cooper; the failure by Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen to notify the defense of potentially exculpatory information learned during an interview of Idaho State Police Captain Neal; the untimely production of crime scene photographs and disclosure of the circumstances surrounding how the photographs were taken; and the untimely production of materials associated with the FBI's shooting incident report. 2. Statement of Facts a. Defense Subpoenas for FBI and Marshals Service Manuals and Personnel Files On November 3, 1992, defense counsel Charles Peterson wrote a letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen identifying five classes of documents that he considered encompassed by the discovery stipulation executed by the parties. Two of these classes were "[a]ny manuals, memorandums or directives outlining the procedures and standards for developing operational rules of engagement in the field' and '[a]ny FBI arrest protocols or instructions." Peterson requested Howen to advise him if he did not intend to produce any of these materials. [FN1591] Howen responded in a letter dated November 9, 1992 and informed Peterson that he intended to provide him "with these materials that are discoverable under rule 16 and our stipulation regarding pre-trial exchange of Jancks Act, Grand Jury and Rule 26.2 materials." According to Howen, the "first prerequisite" to production was that he have possession of the documents and that Peterson have a right to the documents under Rule 16 or the discovery stipulation. Howen then wrote, "I am unaware of any case law, statute or rule that compels me to affirmatively create and/or find documents that may be in the possession of another law enforcement agency" [FN1592] Peterson did not respond to the November 9, 1992 letter from Howen nor did he file a motion to compel production of the materials identified in his November 3, 1992 letter. On April 13, 1993, which was the first day of the Weaver trial, the defense filed its Third Ex Parte Application for Issuance of Subpoenas and Payment of Costs and Fees. In that document, they requested the court to issue subpoenas for numerous individuals and documents including: 4. Federal Bureau of Investigation, (1) for the production of any and all FBI manuals which describe procedures or establish standards and rules for the apprehension of fugitives, arrest of subjects or the use of force. By this request the defendants intend to reach the publications used by members of the FBI which describe what the government's witnesses have testified to as the 'standard rules of engagement' for that agency, and any other policy or procedures used by the agency and its Hostage Rescue Team for the apprehension of fugitives, arrest of subjects or the use of force; and (2) the personnel files in its control for Special Agent Lon Horiuchi, or Deputy United States marshals William Degan, Arthur Roderick, and Larry Cooper. The defense also requested similar manuals from the U.S. Marshals Service as well as any personnel files of Horiuchi, Degan, Roderick and Cooper that were in their control. [FN1593] On April 14, Judge Lodge issued the subpoenas requested in the ex parte order. However, he modified the order drafted by the defense by adding the following sentence, "[p]ersonnel records to be viewed only by defense counsel and not turned over to third parties or the media." [FN1594] By oral motion on April 15, defense counsel Peterson sought to compel the production of the personnel files and the manual provisions that the court had ordered the previous day. In particular, Peterson was seeking the personnel file of Deputy Marshal Cooper and the marshals Service manual provisions to assist in his cross examination of Cooper. [FN1595] Peterson characterized the issue as a government failure to comply with discovery and argued that production of these materials was required by the recently issued subpoenas. Howen responded that he could not be expected to respond to the subpoena when he had not been served with it nor had the documents in hi possession. In addition, Howen told the court that he would expect counsel at the FBI and the Marshals Service to handle the responses to the subpoenas. However, he argued that he was aware of no court that would allow defense counsel to have direct access to personnel files of witnesses. [FN1596] Assistant U.s. Attorney Lindquist informed the court that the FBI case agent had told him that they received the subpoena and that FBI Headquarters had been contacted. With respect to the Marshals Service subpoena, Lindquist stated that he had now knowledge but would take steps to ensure that the Marshals Service responded to it. [FN1597] The court acknowledged that the subpoena for the personnel files raised privacy issues and that further restrictions might be necessary but encouraged the government to facilitate the response to the subpoenas even if the documents were not within their control. [FN1598] Thereafter, defense counsel Spense agreed to inform the government of the specific requests. [FN1599] The Marshals Service provided the applicable Marshals Service manual provisions to the USAO on April 16. In its letter identifying the applicable provisions, the Marshals Service requested that the manuals be placed under seal and that access be restricted to the prosecution and the defense. [FN1600 On April 23, the defense moved to hold the government in contempt or to compel it to produce the requested manuals and personnel files. As of that date, the government had filed nothing in response to the subpoena. [FN1601 In court, defense counsel Nevin stated that he had been advised that the subpoenas had been served and that Howen had told him that he had the Marshals Service materials but did not want to produce them. fn 1602 Howen responded that he viewed this issue as a discovery dispute [FN1603 and that he was in the process of drafting a motion for a protective order. He disputed that the subpoenas seeking the personnel files had been served although he acknowledged that he learned that day that the subpoenas for the manuals had been served. Howen then referenced the November 1992 communications with defense counsel Peterson regarding the manuals and argued that Peterson should have sought to compel compliance earlier. [FN1604 Nevin responded that the motion to compel was directed to the recently issued subpoenas not prior discovery requests. [FN1605 Thereafter, Lindquist announced that he had the requested Marshals Service personnel files but could not relinquish them without Marshals Service approval. 1606 Judge Lodge responded that he wanted to assure himself that the subpoenas had been served and then wanted the government to respond either by complying or by filing a response. Judge Lodge stated that it did not matter to him if the response was filed by counsel for the Marshals Service or the FBI, but he expected the Assistant U.S. Attorneys, as officers of the court, to assist "in moving those matters along." If the response to the subpoena was not immediate, Judge Lodge said "this trial will come to a halt." Moreover, if the government had authority that the defense has no right to the personnel files, he wanted it to inform the court of the authority. The court also rejected the government's argument that this was a discovery issue and expressed frustration over the ambiguity of the USAO as to whether it represented the FBI and Marshals Service on this issue. 1607 Judge Lodge then ordered the manuals produced "forthwith", but reserved judgment on the personnel files and requested assistance from counsel on the issue "because the Court was concerned with it at the time the Court issued it." 1608 Later that day, Lindquist informed the court that the FBI had still not received a subpoena for the Horiuchi personnel file but that it was working on its response and that the USAO was drafting a response concerning whether the personnel files could be produced. With regard to the Marshals Service manual, it was agreed the defense would have access to it, but that the government would identify sensitive portions and then the court would rule as to whether they could be used at trial. 1609 Howen then told the court that he would be representing the government on this issue and apologized if he had misled the court on this issue. 1610 On April 23, the USAO moved for a protective order objecting to the subpoenas seeking the personnel files and the manuals. In that motion, the USAO repeated many of the previous arguments it had raised. In addition, it argued that it was outside the supervisory power of the court to order the production of the personnel files, that the appropriate procedure was to have a law enforcement officer familiar with the issues to conduct at "Henthorn" review. 1611 and that the government had ordered those reviews to be done. It also advised the court that the subpoenas had not been served on either agency and that the USAO had the Marshals Service personnel files, but not the FBI file. In addition, the government had requested the FBI and the Marshals Service to review the manuals for sensitive information and, if located, the government would request in camera review. 1612 On April 26, Special Agent John S. Bradford, the Principal Legal Adviser of the Salt Lake City Field Office, called Supervisory Special Agent Lucy Ann Hoover of the Civil Litigation Unit = ("CLU") of the Legal Counsel Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and requested her to conduct a Henthorn review of the personnel file of Horiuchi. Bradford informed Hoover that Assistant U.S. Attorney Warren Derbridge from the USAO had informed him that an ex parte order had been issued for the subpoena but that the USAO had not yet received the subpoena. 1613 According to Brian Callihan, the U.S. Marshals Service sent that subpoena to the FBI on April 26. 1614 Also that day, U.S. Attorney Ellsworth telephoned Joseph Davis, Assistant Director of the Legal Counsel Division at FBI Headquarters to discuss the FBI response to the defense subpoena for the FBI manual provisions and the Horiuchi personnel file. He told Davis that the court wanted the manual produced as soon as possible. On April 27, Davis wrote to Beau McFarland that he did not know the details of this matter, but assured Ellsworth that he would investigate and provide whatever assistance was needed. Davis then requested McFarland to consult with appropriate CLU personnel to insure that the FBI was not in contempt and that appropriate arguments and objections were made to any damaging releases. 1615 On April 28, someone, presumably Beau McFarland, forwarded the April 27 memo from Davis to Clawson in CLU I and wrote, "Please find out the status of this matter and advise me this morning. I believe Lucy Hoover is assigned to it now." Later that day, Clawson responded to the routing slip by expressing surprise at Ellsworth's comments since the "SU PLA processed the responsive manual provisions and provided them to the AUSA on Monday, 4/26." With regard to the request for the personnel file, Clawson stated that the FBI had still not been served but after consulting with the Assistant U.S. Attorney had decided to treat it as a Henthorn request. Clawson indicated that they would file a motion to quash if the subpoena for the personnel file was ever served. 1616 Sometime in late April 1993, the FBI gave the USAO a copy of the requested manual provisions. 1617 The next day, Howen wrote a letter to defense counsel Peterson and enclosed FBI manual provisions that were responsive to the subpoena.1618 On April 29, Hoover sent the completed Henthorn review of the Horiuchi personnel file to Howen. 1619 Hoover had found no exculpatory or impeachment information in the file. The defense objected to the government's motion for a protective order on April 30, 1993. At that time, the defense stated that it had received the Marshals Service training manuals and that the USAO had the Marshals Service manuals and the Marshals Service personnel files. With regard to the FBI materials, the defense said that the FBI had produced the training manuals but not the personnel manual to the USAO. The defense argued that pursuant to the terms of the discovery stipulation, the government was obligated to produce exculpatory material and thus, they should have reviewed and produced any such information contained in the personnel files without the need for an additional request. The defense admitted that their request for the complete personnel files may have been too broad, but believed that the court's modifications to its order adequately addressed the privacy concerns. 1620 On May 10, the government filed its Thirteenth Addendum to its Response to the Discovery Stipulation in which it included the Henthorn certifications for Horiuchi, Roderick, Cooper and Degan. 1621 Defense counsel Peterson raised the personnel file issue again in court that day and repeated his argument that the defendants were entitled access to the personnel files. Lindquist indicated that neither the FBI nor the Marshals Service had received a subpoena for the personnel files 1622 and that he and Howen had made it clear to defense counsel that the personnel files and manuals could only be obtained by subpoena. 1623 The court opined that the procedure set forth in the Henthorn case was controlling and the complete personnel file did not need to be produced unless such production was necessary to satisfy the Government's disclosure obligations. 1624 Later that day, defense counsel Spence and Nevin sent Howen a letter requesting to review the personnel files of Roderick, Hunt, Thomas, Norris, Cooper, Degan and Horiuchi and detailed a list of "matters and issues" for which they were looking in these files. Spence also requested such information from the personnel files of all federal agents that the government intended to call as witnesses. 1625 Howen answered that letter on May 12, and refused to provide the information because the request was untimely and exceeded the scope of information that was required to be produced under applicable federal law. 1626 On May 17, the court ruled on the personnel file issue. It noted at the outset that even though the personnel files were not specifically addressed in the discovery stipulation, the federal prosecutor, under Ninth Circuit law, has the obligation by virtue of his oath of office to produce Brady material without a court order. Furthermore, the court held the "[c]ounsel for the government should have undertaken this search in advance of trial, on their own initiative." It approved the procedure proposed by the government which was to have the law enforcement agent knowledgeable about the issues in the case to review the files for Brady material. If Brady material did not exist, the defense was to be informed; if Brady material was located, it was to be presented to the defense; and if the material was questionable, the court was to conduct an in camera review and make a determination as to whether it should be produced. The court ordered that this review should be done no later than two days before the witness is to testify and with regard to those witnesses who have already testified, the review should be conducted "post haste." 1627 Later that day, defense counsel Spence stated that the only personnel file that they needed was the file of Lon Horiuchi. 1628 With regard to the manual provisions, Howen recalls that the Marshals Service made the requested materials available almost immediately but that the FBI did not make its provisions available until later. However, Howen did not find the content or the speed of the FBI response to be unreasonable. Indeed, one of his main recollections about the subpoena for the manual was that the response that the FBI gave was too broad and mistakenly included sensitive portions of the manual. 1629 He also agreed with their resistance to the subpoena for the personnel files and concurred that there was no authority that would support giving the defense access to those files. 1630 His only dispute with the FBI on this issue was that they did not provide him some assistance in fashioning a response to the subpoena. 1631 Lindquist did not recall having any significant involvement in obtaining the subpoenaed manuals and personnel files and recalled the matter being handled by Howen. 1632 Although Lindquist recalled that the Marshalls Service quickly produced the requested materials, he had little recollection of what actions that the FBI took in this regard. 1633 b. Financial Compensation of Informant Fadeley It was the gun sale between Weaver and a government informant that provided the basis for the initial criminal charges brought against him. The Government also planned to introduce statements that Weaver had made to the informant during four taped conversations as evidentiary support for its conspiracy theory. After informal attempts to learn the identity of the informant had failed, 1634 Weaver's attorneys requested this information in a pretrial motion as well as any evidence that would affect the bias or credibility of the informant including "any promises of consideration given to the informant." 1635 On March 28, 1993, the government responded to this motion and refused to provide the requested information citing the untimeliness of the motion and the risks that disclosure posed on the informant. 1636 Thereafter, on April 12th, the court ordered the government to provide the requested information. On April 13, the first day of trial, the Government identified the informant as Kenneth Fadeley. With respect to any compensation paid to Fadeley, the government stated, "Mr. Fadeley [sic] has received reimbursement for expenses in the approximate amount of $500.00, but no salary." 1637 Before filing this addendum, Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen conferred with BATF Agent Herbert Byerly, who informed him that Fadeley had just been paid expenses. 1638 Kenneth Fadeley began testifying on April 19 and continued into April 20 at which time defense counsel began cross examining him. Toward the end of the cross examination, defense counsel inquired about the compensation that Fadeley had received for his work on the Weaver matter. Fadeley testified that when he works for BATF, he is paid for expenses which would include such items as gas and food. He could not recall how much money BATF paid him for expenses in 1986, but agreed that it was greater than $1.00, but less than $10,000.1639 From 1987-1989, BATF paid Fadeley for "just" expenses, but he was unable to recall the amount paid. 1640 Later, after Fadeley agreed that he had not assisted the government in this case for money and that BATF had never paid him any type of salary other than the payment of expenses, the following exchange occurred: Q ......When you first started working for ATF, were you told that you would be paid on a case-by-case basis? A I was told I'd be paid expenses for my work. Q Expenses. Were you told that you'd get paid after a case was made against a person? A After we concluded a case, there may be a monetary settlement, possibly. Q Okay. "After we concluded a case, there may be a monetary settlement"? Oh, let's talk about this case then. First of all, in order to conclude a case, you would have to get a guy to trial in the case, is that right? A I would assume so. Q And you would assume that not only would you have to get him convicted, right? A If he was guilty. Q Well, if you don't get a conviction, you don't get any money; isn't that right? A I would assume so. Q And that's not just your assumption, sir, that's your understanding about this case too, isn't it? If Randy Weaver gets acquitted of this gun case, you don't get paid, right? A I guess so. 1641 Following this exchange, Fadeley testified that he did not know how much money he would be paid if Weaver were convicted and insisted that the amount of any future award had no impact on his testimony. 1642 On April 20, defense counsel Spence moved in open court to strike the testimony of Fadeley and to dismiss all counts of the indictment based upon the Fadeley testimony. Spence argued that Fadeley was a contingent fee witness and that it was unlawful to permit such testimony to be used at trial. 1643 Howen denied that Fadeley was a contingent fee witness and argued that Fadeley's testimony regarding any future compensation that he might receive was partially based on his confusion regarding money Fadeley might receive in the future under the witness protection program to compensate for "any differential or loss to him in either his job, his home, or other items."1644 Howen then represented that BATF Agent Byerly, who communicated with Fadeley regarding financial compensation, would testify that Fadeley was paid for expenses and then was told that he "could be held for an award at a later time."1645 Howen maintained that such an arrangement did not constitute a contingent fee agreement. Thereafter, the court took the matter under advisement but declined to declare a mistrial. 1646 The government recalled Byerly to address the Fadeley compensation issue. Byerly testified that Fadeley was neither an agent nor a salaried employee of BATF. He explained that he had made an agreement with Fadeley whereby Fadeley would be reimbursed for his necessary investigative expenses associated with attending the Aryan Nations summer conferences in 1986, 1987 and 1989 and that for the entire period that Fadeley was assisting BATF, he was paid expenses of $445. In addition, Byerly testified that he had informed Fadeley that he could receive an award after a case was completed. Byerly stated, "I explained to Mr. Fadeley that at the end of the case, whatever it might be, at the end of the judicial proceedings that I would submit his name to my supervisors for an award." 1647 According to Byerly, his recommendation would be reviewed by several layers of supervisors who could approve, increase or reduce the award. Byerly insisted that the award was not influenced by the outcome of a case and that he had never informed Fadeley otherwise. 1648 Indeed, Byerly testified there were instances where informants received awards for work on cases that were never prosecuted. 1649 In another case in which Fadeley assisted but which was not prosecuted, Byerly recommended an award of $2,500. 1650 He said that he anticipated that he was going to recommend that Fadeley receive an award of $3,500 for his work on the Weaver case. Byerly insisted that Fadeley was mistaken if he believed that the award was contingent upon there being a conviction in the case. 1651 On April 21, defense counsel filed a motion to strike the Fadeley testimony arguing that it was improper because Fadeley had been promised a contingent fee if Weaver were convicted. In addition, they complained that the prosecutors had an obligation to disclose this arrangement to the defense prior to trial but had failed to do so. Moreover, they argued that the government's denial that Fadeley had been paid any fee constituted misconduct. 1652 In its response, the government denied that a contingent fee arrangement existed between BATF and Fadeley and then repeated its argument that Fadeley's responses were affected by his confusion over financial benefits he might receive under the witness protection program. Howen also denied having prior knowledge of the possible monetary award from BATF. 1653 Judge Lodge ruled on the motion to strike on May 17 and found that although "Fadeley believed that he was involved in a contingency fee arrangement," the testimony of agent Byerly indicated that the government did not intend for a contingency fee arrangement to exist. 1654 Consequently, the circumstances did not exist to warrant the striking of the Fadeley testimony. However, Judge Lodge ruled that a cautionary instruction regarding how to evaluate the credibility of Fadeley would be appropriate. 1655 On May 19th, the Government informed the defense of the amounts that Fadeley had received for expenses, and awards and the amount of the proposed cash award. 1656 Howen told investigators that he was terribly surprised and embarrassed by the Fadeley disclosure. 1657 He insisted that the first he learned of the possible award was when defense counsel elicited it on cross examination. Prior to that time, Howen understood from Byerly that Fadeley received no salary and had only received reimbursement for expenses. Nothing seemed unusual about that arrangement to Howen for several reasons: Fadeley wanted to assist law enforcement because his close friend on the Spokane Police force had been killed while on duty; Fadeley viewed his cooperation as a civic duty; and Fadeley simply enjoyed undercover work. Howen could not recall whether he ever questioned Fadeley about the compensation issue but stated that if Fadeley had disclosed the possibility of a future award, he would have disclosed it to the defense. Although this was the first time that Howen had heard of such future awards, he admitted that he probably should have asked Byerly more probing questions concerning Fadeley's understanding regarding the possibility of future compensation. 1658 Howen questioned Byerly again after Fadeley had testified. Based on this conversation, Howen understood that the future award was not contingent upon convicting Weaver, but rather, upon the recommendation given by Byerly. This recommendation was influenced by the assistance that Fadeley had provided on all the cases, including Weaver, in which he was involved. Byerly could not explain why he had failed to disclose the possible award earlier. Howen said Byerly was very apologetic for not disclosing the understanding to Howen. 1659 Byerly said that Howen had met with Fadeley on at least two occasions when Byerly was not present and, as a result, "was under the false assumption that AUSA Howen had discussed with [Fadeley] any financial arrangements that he...had discussed with ATF." 1660 Byerly insisted that he did not intentionally withhold information about the award from Howen and that if Howen had asked whether any compensation would be paid at the end of the case, that he would have told him about his intention to recommend an award for Fadeley. However, from Howen's questions, Byerly thought that Howen was seeking information about monies already paid to Fadeley rather than monies that might be paid in the future. 1661 When Department of Treasury investigators questioned Fadeley about his trial testimony, he told them that he had misspoken regarding his understanding of whether he would receive a monetary payment in the Weaver matter. Fadeley stated that Byerly had told him that "there would be some unspecified payment at the end of a case" but that the payment was never linked to whether a case went to trial or a conviction being obtained. It was Fadeley's understanding that the payment would be based upon the work that he performed and the information that he obtained in the case. Fadeley attributed his misstatement to being "tired" and having lost his "focus and attention."1662 Fadeley stated that he met with Howen on many occasions before testifying at trial. At none of these sessions did Howen question him about the compensation he was receiving. Thus, Fadeley was surprised when he was questioned about this topic by the defense and was disappointed that Howen had not questioned him on redirect to clarify his understanding regarding any future payment he might receive. 1663 c. Late Production of the Halley Notes After Deputy Marshals Cooper and Roderick were escorted from Ruby Ridge, they and Deputy Marshals Norris, Hunt and Thomas were taken to a condominium on Schweitzer Mountain to rest. On the afternoon of August 22, FBI Special Agents Joseph Venus and George Halley interviewed Cooper at the courthouse at Bonners Ferry, Idaho. According to Calley, Venkus asked the questions while Calley was responsible for taking notes. Calley told investigators that what started as a question and answer style interview, evolved into Cooper giving a narrative statement of events. Calley complained that he had difficulty keeping up with Cooper and, as a result, he left blanks in his interview notes with the intent of returning later to fill in the missing words. 1664 Shortly after the interview, Calley prepared a one or two page handwritten summary of the sequence of events recounted by Cooper. Then, using his handwritten notes of the interview, Calley prepared a rough draft of the FD-302 of the interview. 1665 As one of the three marshals involved in the August 21 shootings at Ruby Ridge, the testimony of Cooper was critical to both the prosecution and the defense. The FD-302 of Cooper and the handwritten notes of that interview became very controversial documents in the Weaver case because certain entries in those documents were in error and conflicted with the subsequent testimony of Cooper. 1666 Cooper first discovered these errors when he reviewed a draft of the document. 1667 For example, Cooper insisted that he had not shot Sammy Weaver. He consistently maintained that, after Harris had fired the shots that hit Degan, he fired a three-round burst at Harris, who fell to the ground "like a sack of potatoes." Cooper then directed his weapon on Sammy, but did not shoot him because he could not see if Sammy was carrying a gun and because Sammy had not fired at Degan. Later, Cooper fired a second three-round burst at no particular target, but in the direction from which he had last received fire. After he took these shots, Cooper saw Sammy running out of view and up the trail leading to the cabin. 1668 Calley insisted to investigators that he never recalled Cooper ever stating or suggesting that he shot Sammy Weaver. 1669 However, in his handwritten notes of the interview, Calley wrote that Cooper said that after he had fired his second round burst of three shots, he saw Harris proceed on the trail. Halley told investigators that this was an error on his part and that Cooper had said that it was Sammy Weaver, not Harris, that he saw going up the trail. 1670 Indeed, Venus confirmed that Cooper was convinced that he had shot Harris. 1671 Calley told investigators that Cooper did not waiver when recounting the events of August 21, 1992 and to the extent that mistakes existed in the FD-302s, these mistakes were his fault. He attributed these errors to either fast note taking or plain error in writing his notes. 1672 Calley prepared two final FD-302s of the Cooper interview; the first was dated August 29, 1992; and the second was dated August 30, 1992. He placed his interview notes and the rough drafts 1673 in a 1-A envelope 1674 and sent them to files. According to Venkus, Calley began taking notes of the Cooper interview on a yellow note pad. When Calley ran out of paper, Venkus gave him a white note pad on which to continue his notes. Thereafter, Calley drafted that 302 of Cooper on a white note pad. Calley placed all of the Cooper interview notes that were written on yellow paper in the "1-A" envelope belonging to the Cooper 302 file. However, he placed that portion of the interview notes that were written on white paper together with the handwritten draft of the Cooper 302 in another file folder. Venkus speculated that Calley forgot that he had used two different kinds of paper in the Cooper interview and, thus, assumed by placing all of the yellow sheets in the 1-A file that it constituted a full set of interview notes. 1675 On September 3, 1992, the USAO requested the FBI to produce "[a]ll 302's involving the interviews of Deputy Marshals Hunt, Norris, Thomas, Cooper and Roderick, together with draft 302's, altered 302's and notes of interviewing agents." 1676 Before the trial began, the USAO produced the two final Cooper FD-302 interview statements 1677 and the 12-page set of rough notes of the August 22 interview of Cooper. 1678 In late May 1993, 5 weeks after the trial had started, Calley discovered the missing portions of his interview notes and the draft 302 of Cooper in his desk. 1679 Calley immediately informed Venkus who contacted Howen. Thereafter, Calley was told that Howen would call him within 30 minutes to discuss the notes. It was one to two days later that Deputy Marshal Masaitis requested Calley to come to the federal building to explain the notes and why they were discovered late. Calley stated that although Howen was present, he appeared preoccupied with other matters and left most of the interview to Masaitis. 1680 Howen believed that Dillon or one of the case agents informed him of the discovery of the notes. Dillon told Howen that Calley had found the notes in his desk and had forgotten to place them in the 1-A envelope belonging to the Cooper FD-302. Howen recalled that Dillon indicated that if you examined the notes and compared them with what had already been produced, it was obvious that the notes were the missing parts of what had previously been produced. Howan stated that his initial reaction to the disclosure was that he could not believe it. Because of the demands of the trial, Howen produced the notes to the defense without reviewing them closely. 1681 Neither Howen nor Dillon thought that Calley intentionally concealed these notes. 1682 Howen recalled Calley being extremely apologetic. Howen believed that it was just an "honest mistake." 1683 On May 21, Howen produced the newly found Calley notes to the defense. 1684 This production occurred several days after the Fadeley compensation controversy had erupted and the same day in which Howen's interview with Captain David Neal was disclosed. 1685 Defense counsel Spence argued that some of these notes were written by Cooper, not Calley, because the handwriting was different and because it was not written in the third person. 1686 The court then stated: The Court is going to say that the Court is very disturbed by what has happened here or what appears to have happened here, because in this instance, the Court does not think counsel should make representations to the Court that they do not know. If these are, in fact, partly the notes of Mr. Cooper, that is the way they should be referred to. If they are the notes of someone else, they are the notes of someone else. They should have been disclosed as soon as they were found, and when they are found in the desk drawer, that seems to me like maybe it is one of the most logical places to be looking, whether they be Mr. Cooper's notes or somebody that has been interviewed by Mr. Cooper. The blame probably trickles down beyond the U.S. Attorney's office. 1687 The court then expressed extreme concern over the untimely disclosure of Howen's interview with Captain Neal and ruled that he was continuing the trial until Monday, May 24 to permit the defense time to interview Captain Neal. 1688 When the trial resumed on May 24, defense counsel Spence argued that Cooper should be returned to the stand in light of the recent production of the Calley notes which Spence argued were partially authored by Cooper. Howen objected to this request and represented that all of the notes were written by Calley, not Cooper, thus nothing could be accomplished by recalling Cooper. The court took the matter under advisement. 1689 d. Neal Notes A pivotal issue in the Weaver trial was who fired the first shot at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992. The government argued that it was Kevin Harris while the defense maintained that it was Deputy Marshal Roderick when he shot the Weaver dog Striker. Because of the importance of this issue to the defense case, any information that the government had regarding this issue, including pertinent statements made by Roderick, was obviously important to the defense and required to be produced under the Brady and Jencks doctrines. On April 23, 1993, the court recessed the trial until May 3rd. During this recess, Howen attended to matters that he had been unable to reach earlier, including the interviews of some of the officers on the Critical Response Team ("CRT") of the Idaho State Police. 1690 The next day, Howen interviewed Captain David Neal, commander of the CRT, and other members of the CRT who rescued the three marshals on the night of August 21, 1993. 1691 No other investigative team member accompanied Howen on these interviews. 1692 Neal stated that during the interview, Howen was interested in whether it was the normal practice of the CRT to wear camouflage clothing when responding to an incident. Later, Neal told Howen that the first thing that Roderick said to him was that, "I shot the dog." Based on his discussion with Roderick on the night of August 21, Neal told Howen that it was his impression that the shot fired by Roderick, which killed the dog, was the first shot fired at the Y. According to Neal, Howen took notes and remarked that this information would have to be given to the defense. 1693 When investigators from this inquiry questioned Howen about the Neal interview, he recalled that Neal had told him that when he had questioned Roderick about what had occurred, Roderick had responded that he shot the dog. Howen did not interpret the Neal statements as indicating that Roderick had communicated that he had shot the dog first before any other shots were fired. 1694 However, Howen acknowledged that there was the "potential" for one to argue that perhaps Roderick was indicating that he had shot the dog first. To clarify this issue, Howen planned to elicit testimony from a few CRT officers which would shot that the Roderick comment did not indicate the sequence of the shots fired, but rather, was simply an admission by Roderick that he had shot the dog. Howen believed that such an approach satisfied his obligations under the Brady doctrine. 1695 He recalled informing Lindquist of the substance of the substance of the Neal interview and of the possibility that the defense would attempt to undermine the Roderick testimony regarding the sequence of the shooting. 1696 Late in the afternoon of May 20, almost four weeks after the Neal interview, Howan informed defense counsel of the substance of the interview and provided them with a copy of his interview notes. At that time, Roderick had begun to testify. On the next day, defense counsel Nevin argued to the court that this disclosure was "pivotal" to the defense case 1697 and was in distinct conflict with the government's argument that Kevin Harris fired the first shot. 1698 Thereafter, defense counsel requested the court to recess the proceedings and to permit them the opportunity to interview Neal to determine the full extent of his testimony. 1699 Howen responded that he had disclosed the names of the CRT members long before the trial started and that he had not had an opportunity to interview them until the recess in April. 1700 Howen then stated: As counsel states when I talked to. . . Captain Neal, he made certain statements to me about Mr. Roderick coming forward. He was not able to put them in a sequence, his best recollection was because they were standing right next to the dog. Mr. Roderick made a comment that he had shot the dog, and then there was an inquiry about how Mr. Degan had died, and Mr. Degan had died over here. 1701 Howen then explained to the court that he was making the disclosure now because he had realized that he might not be calling Neal as a witness and "felt compelled to reveal this matter to defense counsel so they could examine him, which is what I did yesterday." 1702 Lindquist represented to the court that Neal had not indicated to Howen any chronology as to when he shot the dog and that the first time that Howen had heard this information was during the interview. Although Lindquist conceded that the information disclosed in the Neal interview constituted Brady material, he disputed that it was "pivotal." 1703 After expressing its concern over learning about the newly discovered notes of Special Agent Calley, the court stated, The thing that is even more disturbing to the Court is whether or not this chronology of events with Mr. Neal was known about three weeks ago, because obviously we are talking about Brady material rather than Jencks [sic] material. It is exculpatory if it is even questionable about what was said by Mr. Roderick shortly after the event. It is critical to a fair hearing to have this ferreted out and known about before there is any further direct or cross-examination by Mr. Roderick. We have asked these jurors to come in here and we are taking two months out of their lives. Sometimes we pass off as cavalier the time of judges, the judges being the jurors, and it is totally inexcusable when we have to do what the Court is going to have to do today, and that is delay this trial over until Monday. The Court has felt during this trial that there has been a lot of pressure on counsel. That there have been all kinds of things coming onto the Court's desk from both sides almost every day, from activities that you do through the night, and it is apparent that some things can be overlooked, some things may be not seen as important as they are, but this to the Court is a very embarrassing situation. The Court wants both sides to take stock of what has happened here and make doubly sure that this does not happen the rest of this trial. [FN1704] On May 21, defense counsel Peterson and an unidentified individual interviewed Captain Neal. Neal described his rescue of Roderick and the statement that Roderick made that he had shot the dog. Neal stated that he was careful to explain that it was his impression that Roderick shot the dog first, but that Roderick never said, nor admitted that he shot the dog first. Thereafter, defense counsel told Neal that they would be calling him as a witness. [FN1705] According to Howen, he made the disclosure to the court and the defense on May 20, because he realized that, due to pressure from the court to complete the trial, he was not going to have time to call all of the witnesses that he had originally planned. He decided not to call Neal as a witness but recognized that the defense might want the opportunity to question Neal. When asked if he considered the Neal interview to constitute Brady information, Howen responded, "[c]lose to it. Yeah." [FN1706} He explained that he had not disclosed the information sooner because he had planned to question Neal on direct and to make it clear that the Roderick statement did not relate to the sequence of the shooting. He believed that bringing such information out on direct examination complied with Brady, especially when he had already informed the defense that Neal was a potential witness and the defense could have interviewed him. [FN1707] Lindquist recalled Howen calling him shortly after completing the Neal interview, relaying the substance of what Neal had said and then expressing the view that perhaps the information could constitute Brady material. Lindquist, who could not recall exactly what Neal was reported to have said about the Roderick statements, opined to Howen that they should treat the statements as Brady and produce them to the defense. He recalled Howen stating, "well, I agree and I just. . .wanted to hear you say it. . . ." Although he could not recall the reason why this information was not disclosed until three weeks after the interview, [FN1708] Lindquist stated that he was not concerned about the delay because he thought that the information was marginally Brady and that the delay was not intentional. He attributed the delay to a simple oversight caused by the intense demands imposed by the trial. [FN1709] Lindquist did not specifically recall Howen attributing the delay to his initial plan to elicit the testimony from Neal on direct, but opined that it was consistent with what he recalls of their discussions during this period. Lindquist did not think that such a theory violated either the Jencks Act or the Brady rule. With regard to the Brady rule, Lindquist first opined that such information should be produced "with diligence" but then stated that revealing the information on direct would satisfy Brady, especially if there was no prejudice to the defendant. [FN1710] e. The L-1 Bullet and L Bullet Photographs On August 31, 1992, FBI Special Agent Larry Wages participated in the collection of evidence at the "Y" at Rudy Ridge. Also participating in the search were Special Agents Cadigan, Taister, and Grover from the FBI lab. [FN1711] As evidence was located, it was marked with a flag, given a letter designation, marked on the evidence diagram and then was photographed. [FN1712] During the search, Wages later became known as the "L-1" bullet to the FBI and the "pristine" or the "Magic" bullet to the defense. Wages recalled that, pursuant to his request, Cadigan photographed the bullet. However, later, Wages realized that he needed to obtain a letter designation from the photographer and then to have a new picture taken with the letter designation. Despite his efforts, Wages was unable to find a photographer. [FN1713] In the middle of the morning, Supervisory Special Resident Agent Dillon informed Special Agent Gregory Rampton that they believed that Weaver would surrender shortly and, in anticipation of the surrender, he wanted to hold a briefing to discuss the expected search of the Weaver cabin. Thereafter, Rampton sent a messenger to the Y to instruct Wages to end the search and return to the command post for a briefing. [FN1714] Because Kelly Kramer, the photographer, was still unavailable to assign letter designations to the bullets and then photograph them, Wages placed flags where the bullets were located, placed each bullet in a plastic bag and took them with him to the briefing. [FN1715] When Wages arrived at the command post, he showed Rampton the bullet, which subsequently became known as the "L-1" bullet.[FN1716] After the search of the cabin was completed, Wages returned to the Y, replaced the bullets at the locations of the flags and then had Kramer photograph the bullets in place.[FN1717] To account for the fact that he had removed evidence, Wages indicated in his log that the search terminated after the search at the cabin. [FN1718] On January 8, 1993, defense attorneys Spence and Matthews had an opportunity to examine the physical evidence collected by the government. The L-1 bullet was among the evidence reviewed. When Special Agent Rampton told them that the "L" bullet may have been fired from Sara Weaver's mini 14 rifle, [FN1719] Spence reportedly accused the FBI of having "staged" the evidence since the bullet had very few markings on it and the photograph of it showed it simply laying on the ground. Rampton responded that the evidence could not have been staged since the bullet was found before the seizure of Sara Weaver's gun. To support his argument, Rampton checked the search log completed by Wages. However, when Rampton read the log, he noticed that it indicated that the "L" bullet was discovered on August 31, during a search that began at approximately 9:40 a.m. and ended at approximately 6:00 p.m., which was after Weaver had surrendered and the mini 14 rifle had been seized. Rampton told Spence that he would review the investigative notes of Wages to resolve the issue. Thereafter, Rampton examined the investigative notes of Wages, which indicated that the search at the Y concluded at 11:00 rather than 6:00. To resolve the discrepancy, Rampton called Wages and explained the issue. Wages then explained to Rampton the complete circumstances surrounding the photographing of the L bullet. [FN1720] Rampton told investigators that after his conversation with Wages, he called defense counsel Peterson and "explained the situation concerning the 'L' bullet." In addition, he called Howen and Lindquist and explained the entire matter to them, including how the L bullet was photographed and the allegations made by defense counsel Spence that the evidence had been staged. According to Rampton, Howen and Lindquist "noted the incident without apparent concern." [FN1721] Howen, however, did not recall Rampton explaining how the L photographs were taken or informing him that he had any discussions with defense counsel Peterson about how the photographs had been taken. [FN1722] Lindquist also did not recall discussing this issue with Rampton during this time period, although he did recall the issue coming up later. [FN1723]Rampton prepared no reports of interview indicating that he had provided this information to anyone in the USAO or to defense counsel. Howen did admit that Wages informed him about the circumstances surrounding the photographing of the L bullets during an April 1993 pretrial interview. Howen made a note of this disclosure in his notes; Wages requested and received a copy of these notes from Howen immediately after their discussion. [FN1724] At the time, the disclosure did not strike Howen as "significant" and he forgot about this information until talking to Wages in May 1993 before Wages was to testify at trial. At that time, Wages reminded Howen of the L-1 bullet and that it had been removed prior to being photographed. When Wages reminded him about this information, Howen decided that he could not use the photographs to represent to the jury that this was how the evidence was found. Howen recalled that it was at that time that he informed the defense and that after he made this disclosure, Wages reminded him that he told Howen about the pictures in April. Howen then reviewed his early April 1993 notes and confirmed that Wages was correct. [FN1725] Wages and Rampton provided a slightly different version of events. They insisted that when Wages reminded Howen in May 1993 of the circumstances surrounding the photographing of the L-1 bullet, Howen immediately questioned if he had been informed earlier. Wages and Rampton then produced Wages' copy of Howan's earlier notes as proof. According to Rampton, when Howen was presented with his notes, he just stared at them. [FN1726] This conversation occurred before Howan disclosed the information to the court. In addition, Wages stated that although he had told Howen in April that all of the photographs of the L bullets had been taken in the same manner, he forgot to remind Howen of this in May at the time he was preparing Wages to testify. Thus, when Howen informed the court that the L-1 bullet had been removed before being photographed, Wages had to tell Howen that the other L bullets also fell into that category, thus requiring Howen to go back to the court and provide the defense with this information.[FN1727] In addition, during this time period, the case agents discovered two packages of photographs in a case storage area that had been overlooked. It appeared that some of these pictures were of the L series bullets and had been taken before Wages had removed them. The record provides support for the version of events detailed by Wages and Rampton. On May 25, Howen told the court that the agents had notified him that they had discovered a packet of search photographs, including pictures of the L series bullets, that had been stored at another location. Howen stated that they would produce these photographs to the defense later that day. [FN1728] After the luncheon recess on May 25, defense counsel Spence complained about the late production of the photographs and argued that they should have been produced earlier in discovery. [FN1729] Howen argued that discovery was a continuing obligation and that he was producing materials as soon as he learned of them. He then stated, "I came to find out a couple of days ago, maybe a week or so ago, the photograph identified with the L-1 bullet was not as it was found. As a result of that, I was not going to use that particular photograph."[FN1730] In response to defense questions, Howen briefly explained that the bullets had been removed and then replaced later before the photographs were taken. From their subsequent remarks, this was obviously the first time that defense counsel Nevin and Spence had learned about the circumstances surrounding the photographing of the L bullets. [FN1731] Howen told the court that due to how the L series photographs had been taken, he did not believe that it would be appropriate to offer them into evidence. In addition, he seemed to indicate that some of the photographs produced that morning had been taken by either Michael Taister or Cyrus Glover before the bullets were removed but that Larry Wages, the testifying agent, had not been present during the taking of these photographs and thus was unaware of them. [FN1732] Howen then explained that Wages had removed the bullet when a photographer was unavailable and later had returned with a photographer to take the picture.[FN1733] Following an afternoon recess, Spence complained that Howen had just informed him that the entire "L" series of photographs--not just the L-1-- had been photographed after the bullet or bullet fragment had been removed and then replaced. Spence then recounted the recent untimely disclosures that the prosecution had made, including the Neal interview and the Cooper interview notes. With regard to the L series photographs, Spence maintained that they constituted Brady material that should have been disclosed "long ago" and requested the court to impose sanctions against the government and to inform the jury of what had occurred. [FN1734] Defense counsel Nevin echoed the concerns articulated by Spence. [FN1735] Howen accepted responsibility for the late production of the photographs and told the court that it was not until the lunch recess that he was advised that the entire L series, not just the L-1 photograph, had been taken after having been removed and then replaced. Howen argued that he had produced the materials as soon as he became aware of them and that he did not believe that the defense request for sanctions was appropriate. [FN1736] The court accepted Howen's representations that the information and the photographs had been disclosed as soon as they had been discovered and refused to impose sanctions or to inform the jury as requested by the defense. [FN1737] Two days later, Larry Wages testified and described the August 31 search at the Y and explained that the items seized were given the designation of "L". He then testified that in the early afternoon, he was informed that Mike Dillon wanted him to go to another area. Because the bullets had not been photographed with a letter and number designation, Wages decided to take the evidence with him. Thereafter, he picked up the L-1, L-2 and L-3 bullets, marked the location where the bullet had been with a wire flag or a piece of wire, placed the bullets in a plastic bag, labeled them and then took them with him. At about 6:00, he returned to the Y, replaced the bullets, and had Kelly Kramer, the photographer, take a picture of the bullets with the letter and number designation. [FN1738] Towards the end of the direct examination, Howen asked Wages a series of questions about how Howen learned the circumstances surrounding how the L series photographs were taken. Wages testified that he had first discussed this subject with Howen about one week before the trial started, that Howen had taken notes of this discussion and that Wages had reminded Howen of this conversation during the weekend preceding Wages' scheduled testimony. [FN1739] Based on comments that defense counsel made later that day, it appears that Howen had not notified defense counsel about his prior knowledge until the previous night when he had agreed to inform the court of this knowledge. [FN1740] On cross-examination, Wages admitted that he had not marked the direction in which the bullet was pointing and, thus, he may not have replaced it in exactly the same position. In addition, Wages testified that Rampton had called him sometime in early January 1993 and inquired why the search times on the 302 that he had prepared on the search and the search times on pertinent documents did not agree concerning the time that the search ended. At that time, Wages explained to Rampton the circumstances surrounding the taking of the photographs.[FN1741] f. The Late Production of the Shooting Incident Report and Supporting Materials and the October 26, 1993 Court Order The circumstances surrounding the late production of the subpoenaed version of the shooting incident report and supporting materials were discussed earlier in Section IV (M) of this report. One of the newly produced documents included a diagram of the Weaver cabin prepared by HRT sniper Horiuchi which detailed the second shot that Horiuchi took on August 22, 1992. As a result of this late disclosure, the court ordered Horiuchi to return for additional cross examination and imposed sanctions on the Government by requiring it to pay the court costs and attorneys fees caused by the delay. The adverse impact of this disclosure was intensified by the fact that it followed the embarrassing series of late disclosures by the government which have been detailed in this section. Almost four months after the jury returned its verdict, Judge Lodge issued an order imposing a $1920 fine against the FBI. This fine represented the attorneys fees paid to defense counsel when Horiuchi returned for cross examination. In this order, Judge Lodge criticized the FBI efforts to produce the discoverable materials, including Jencks and Brady documents and stated that one of the primary reasons that a continuance of the February 2, 1993 trial date was necessary was because of the failure of the government to produce certain critical items of evidence such as the ballistics evidence and the weapons seized. He then stated: In hindsight, it is clear that even prior to this meeting, the Assistant United States Attorneys Howen and Lindquist were receiving less than full cooperation from the FBI and that items of evidence were not being produced timely. It later became clear that a pattern of delay and lack of cooperation was manifesting itself despite the efforts of the local Assistant United States Attorneys. Once the items and information were received in the local office of the United States Attorney, Howen and Lindquist continually assured the court that they were producing the materials for the defense as quickly as arrangements could be made. [FN1742] Judge Lodge recounted the incidents when the Government had been late in producing discoverable material during the Weaver trial. First, he noted that seven of the addenda to the government's discovery response, which were filed on the eve of trial and during the trial, contained FBI materials. [FN1743] Next, the court discussed the late disclosure of the Calley notes, the Neal interview, the package of photographs taken by the FBI and the circumstances surrounding the taking of the L series photographs. The final offending incident was the late production of the shooting incident materials in response to the defense subpoena. [FN1744] After discussing the importance of discovery to the rights of the defendant and the obligation of the government to produce such materials, including Brady materials, as quickly as possible, the court stated: Here, the FBI failed to produce materials in a timely fashion. They failed to provide Jencks and Brady materials. They failed to obey orders and admonitions of this court. Their failures necessitated the initial continuance of the trial of this matter. Once the matter had begun, their continued failures necessitated continuous discussion between court and counsel and continuous prodding of the FBI by the court. The culmination of this was the late receipt of the Horiuchi materials..... The failure to provide the Horiuchi materials was the latest transgression in a series of transgressions. This failure occurred on day 33 of a trial at which the government presented evidence at total of 37 days. At the time of the Horiuchi material incident, it was unclear how much longer the government would be presenting its case. The court was concerned with the length of trial for a host of reasons, not the least of which was the fact the court was the only active judge in the district, responsible for matters in Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, and Pocatello, Idaho, and all administrative matters in the district. In this light, the FBI's recalcitrance was especially frustrating. The court had an obligation to the defendants to ensure they had all the materials to which they were entitled and an obligation to the federal litigants in the District of Idaho to keep the calendar moving. The actions of the FBI impeded the court in both of these areas. With no idea as to how much information was yet to be divulged by the FBI, and no idea how much longer the government's case in chief would take, the failure to produce the Horiuchi materials forced the court's action. Previous orders and admonitions had proved to be of no value. Accordingly, the court had no option but to impose a sanction both as punishment for ignoring previous orders and to secure compliance and cooperation during the remainder of the trial. [FN1745] Thereafter, the court concluded that the FBI had failed to comply with its discovery obligations under Rule 16 and found the FBI to be in contempt of court in violation of 18 U.S.C. 401. In support of its ruling, the court held: The FBI was a principal participant in the Weaver/Harris criminal proceeding. Its behavior served to obstruct the administration of justice in that proceeding. Its behavior brought about the delays and countless arguments outside the presence of the jury. These delays and arguments, which obstructed the progress of the trial, would not have been necessary had the FBI acted as it had been directed to act. The failure to act occurred in the courtroom where the government, through its agent, was directed to act. All performance by these government agents revolved around this court and this trial. All work performed by the [sic] these agents directly impacted these defendants. The actions of the government, acting through the FBI, evidence a callous disregard for the rights of the defendants and the interests of justice and demonstrate a complete lack of respect for the order and directions of this court. [FN1746] 3. Discussion a. Response of the Government to the Defense Subpoena for FBI and Marshals Service Manuals and Personnel Files Issues were raised during our investigation as to whether the government responded appropriately to the defense subpoenas seeking the production of the FBI and Marshals Service manuals and certain personnel files. With regard to the response of the government to the production of the manuals, we find their efforts to be acceptable. The Marshals Service produced these materials immediately to the USAO when the issue first arose. Although the FBI did not produce their manual provisions until later, their response time does not seem unreasonable to us considering the contemporaneous efforts of Howen to resist production by the filing of a protective order. We are somewhat troubled, however, by the response of Howen in November 1992 to the request of defense counsel Peterson for the FBI manual. Although not worded exactly the same as the request in the subpoena, Peterson was clearly asking for the same FBI manual provisions in November. At that time, Howen declined to produce these items for one or two reasons--either the provisions were not in his possession or they were not discoverable. We think that the manual provisions were clearly discoverable. The actions of the FBI sniper on August 22, 1992 were pertinent to the charges lodged against Weaver and Harris. With regard to the explanation that Howen did not have possession of the materials and, thus, could not be expected to produce them in discovery, we find such an excuse to be unpersuasive and without legal merit. Pursuant to Fed. R. Crim P. 16 (a) (1) (C), the government is obligated to produce upon request discoverable materials that "are within the possession, custody or control of the government." This obligation is not limited to the materials within the possession of the prosecutor but rather, extends to all materials over which the prosecutor has knowledge and access. See United States v. Bryan, 868 F. 2d 1032, 1036 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 858 (1989). A prosecutor is "deemed to have knowledge of and access to anything in the possession, custody or control of any federal agency participating in the same investigation of the defendant." Id. To conclude otherwise would "unfairly allow the prosecution access to documents without making them available to the defense." United States v. Robertson, 634 F. Supp. 1020, 1025 (E.D. Cal. 1986), aff'd, 815 F. 2d 714 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 912 (1987). Howen, as the prosecutor in the case, was responsible for coordinating the government's response to its discovery obligations. The fact that Howen did not have physical possession of an item did not erase his responsibility to produce clearly discoverable material. Hiding behind such an excuse is contrary to the legal obligation of the Government, does a disservice to the court and the defense and reflects adversely on the Government. [FN1747] Turning to the response of the government to the defense subpoena for the personnel files, we note at the outset that the court expressed concern over the manner in which the FBI responded to the subpoena for the Horiuchi personnel file but made no mention of the response of the Marshals Service to a similar subpoena for the personnel files of the marshals at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992. As framed, the subpoenas requested the complete personnel files of the named individuals. We find that the protective order sought by the government was solidly based in the law. Indeed, the court ultimately concluded that a Henthorn review rather than production of the entire personnel file was an adequate response to the request. With regard to the speed with which the FBI responded to the request, we cannot fault their actions. There was a legitimate basis to support their refusal to produce the complete personnel file. Once they were instructed to complete a Henthorn review, they did so expeditiously in several days. We do not understand, however, why it took the USAO eleven days to produce these certifications to the defense. Thus, to the extent that this production can be considered to have been untimely, the USAO must accept partial responsibility. One final matter deserves comment. In its order, the court criticized the government for not disclosing the defense that the personnel files did not contain exculpatory information. The court seemed to suggest that the government had the obligation to conduct the Henthorn review without a prior defense request. While we appreciate the rationale of the court's ruling and accept its conclusion, we think that the law is not sufficiently clear on this point to justify criticizing the government. Although we concur that the defense is entitled to receive Brady material without a specific request, we are not comfortable in concluding that the government, without a specific request for the personnel files, must provide a Henthorn certification to demonstrate that the examination has been done. b. Failure to Disclose Financial Compensation Arrangement with Informant Fadeley There can be no doubt that the defense was entitled to have been informed that Fadeley might receive an award for his work on the Weaver case. Although we find the government responsible for this failure to provide critical information to the defense, we do not believe that the omission was improperly motivated. Notwithstanding this conclusion, we are seriously concerned that BATF Agent Byerly failed to inform Howen of this potential award and, to a lesser extent, that Howen failed to be more aggressive in attempting to ascertain if other compensation arrangements existed. With regard to the role of Howen in this incident,it is our sense that he did not probe as deeply as he should have into the financial promises or representations that Byerly made to Fadeley. Once he learned that Fadeley had been paid expenses but no salary, Howen rested his inquiry. Although Howen had no prior knowledge of BATF having such an awards policy, we think that a prudent prosecutor would have pursued the subject further. Indeed, as a prosecutor who had a healthy discomfort with using informants and an appreciation for the attacks that the defense can wage against questionable compensation arrangements, we would have expected Howen to have been more thorough in his efforts to ferret out this information. However, in fairness to Howen, this request for information came on the eve of trial, at a time when he was frantically preparing for opening statements as well as attending to other critical trial preparation tasks. It is for this reason and others that we assess the primary responsibility for this incident on Byerly. We have difficulty understanding the reasons why Byerly was not more forthcoming with this information. All indications that we have received was that Byerly had always been an extremely cooperative and helpful member of the prosecution team. As an experienced agent who had used informants on prior occasions, we are confident that he appreciated the common pitfalls attendant to the use of informants with one of the most notable being the compensation arrangement. That Fadeley had received an award in the past and that he had been told that he might receive an award in the future for the assistance that he provided in the Weaver case was significant information that Byerly should have conveyed to Howen. However, Byerly failed to do so. We find it to have been unreasonable for Byerly to have withheld this information when Howen failed to pose an exact question to elicit it. Rather, we would have expected Byerly, as a member of the team, to have volunteered it. Similarly, we have not persuaded by Byerly's argument that he assumed that Howen had learned of the award during his meetings with Fadeley. For Byerly to have relied on such an assumption was neither reasonable not prudent. Indeed, in our view, Byerly should have raised this important subject with Howen to ensure that his assumption of knowledge was correct. The late disclosure of the Fadeley compensation arrangement was extremely embarrassing to the government and provided one of the early suggestions that the government was not being totally forthcoming with the information that it was providing to the defendants. Apart from the problems associated with the late disclosure of the Fadeley information, we are troubled by the award system which appers to be in place at BATF. We are concerned, as were the members of the USAO,[FN1748] that such an award of future compensation comes dangerously close to being a contingent fee arrangement. It would seem difficult to honestly believe that an informant who knew that he might be eligible for such an award would not think that the government would be anxious and pleased to receive information that would lead to the successful prosecution of a defendant. Even if knowledge of such an award would not cause an informant to tell a blatant untruth, it might affect his testimony in a manner adverse to a defendant. In addition to the impact that such an award might have on the truthfulness of an informant is the concern that such an arrangement between the government and an informant has the appearance of a contingent fee arrangement and casts the government in a negative light. It is for these reasons that we urge the BATF to reconsider continuing its practice of giving future awards to informants whom it has used. c. Late Production of the Calley Notes Five weeks into the trial and after the testimony of Deputy Marshal Cooper, Special Agent Calley found notes in his desk that he had taken during his interview of Cooper as well as part of his draft FD-302 of the interview. The USAO had specifically requested the FBI on September 3, 1993 to produce these notes, yet they did not do so. Responsibility for this incident must rest with the FBI. We do not think that Calley intentionally withheld or concealed the notes. From all accounts, Calley was surprised, embarrassed and apologetic about the incident. Rather, we find that the incident was attributable to carelessness on his part and perhaps to a failure of the case agents to carefully inspect the materials that were being produced to the USAO in discovery. all documents associated with the interviews of the marshals present at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992 were critical to both the prosecution and the defense. Indeed, such documents were among those that both sides were most anxious to review. Thus, we would have expected the FBI to have been more thorough in its examination of these materials before it produced them. Indeed, had the FBI reviewed the documents more closely, it would have noticed that the set of notes produced for Calley was incomplete. [FN1749] Similarly, we are somewhat perplexed why this file was not discovered during the initial search for responsible documents. One would think that the desk of the agent responsible for conducting the interview of Cooper would have been one of the first locations that would have been searched. d. Late Disclosure of the Neal Interview Under the rule articulated by the Supreme Court in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), the prosecution has an affirmative duty to disclose to the defense evidence that is both favorable to the accused and material to either guilt or punishment. Failure to make disclosure of such evidence violates the due process rights of the defendant "irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution." Id. at 87. The prosecution has the constitutional obligation to disclose such information even in the absence of a specified request from the defense. See United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97 (1976). The prosecutor is only required to disclose materially favorable evidence. Evidence favorable to the accused is evidence which, if disclosed and used effectively, may make the difference between conviction and acquittal. United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 676 (1985), citing, Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 87 (1963) and Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 269 (1959). Evidence is material only if there is a "reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different." United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. at 682. A reasonable probability" is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. Id. See also Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, 480 U.S. 39 (1987). For example, evidence which supports an affirmative defense or corroborates the defendant's testimony is materially favorable evidence which must be disclosed. United States v. Hibler, 463 F. 2d 455, 459-60 (9th Cir. 1972). The prosecutor is not obligated to disclose all information in his case file which might be helpful to the defense, United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. at 109-11, nor is he required to disclose "every bit of information that might affect the jury's decision." United States v. Little, 753 F. 2d 1420, 1441 (9th Cir. 1984). The prosecutor has no duty to disclose evidence which is neutral or inculpatory. United States v. Bryan, 868 f. 2d 1032, 1037 (9th Cir. 1989). However, if a prosecutor fails to disclose evidence that results in depriving a defendant of his right to a fair trial, that prosecutor has breached his "constitutional duty to disclose." United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. at 108. It is for this reason that a "prudent prosecutor will resolve doubtful questions in favor of disclosure." Id. See Also United States v. Miller, 529 F. 2d 1125, 1128 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 924 (1976). Applying these standards to the information that Howen learned at the Neal interview, we must conclude that the information was subject to disclosure as Brady material as well as being a statement of Roderick that should have been produced as Jencks material. One of the critical issues in the case was who fired the first shot at Ruby Ridge. To the extent that Howen had any knowledge or information about this issue, he was constitutionally obligated to produce it to the defense. We deem the substance of his April 24 interview with Captain Neal to constitute such information. Although Neal did not state that Roderick said that he had shot the dog first, Neal did state that it was his impression that Roderick had shot the dog first. Regardless of whether Neal could articulate his reasons for forming this impression, that he had this impression was important information that needed to be disclosed to the defense to permit them the opportunity to pursue the matter with Neal. We believe that Howen recognized his obligation to disclose this information from the moment that he first heard it. Indeed, he remarked to Neal at the interview that this information would have to be given to the defense. In addition, Lindquist recalled Howan consulting with him about the matter shortly after the interview. At that time, Lindquist opined to Howen that the information should be treated as Brady material and produced to the defense. Lindquist recalled Howen agreeing and that he just wanted to receive confirmation from Lindquist. Howen stated that he deferred disclosing this information to the defense because he intended to call Neal as a witness and to explore the issue with him on direct examination. Howen believed that through the direct questioning of Neal, he would convincingly demonstrate that Roderick gave Neal no information nor made any statements to him that would be evidence that Roderick admitted to shooting the dog first. We find this justification unacceptable. Although the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the timing of when exculpatory evidence must be produced, most courts require that Brady material must be disclosed in time for effective use at trial. As the Ninth Circuit held in United States v. Gordon, 844 F. 2d 1397, 1403 (1988), "Brady does not necessarily require that the prosecution turn over exculpatory material before trial. . . . [but] disclosure must be made at a time when disclosure would be of value to the accused." When exculpatory information is disclosed at trial, a Brady violation only occurs if the defendant was prejudiced by the delay in disclosure. See United States v. Aichele, 941 F. 2d 761, 764 (9th Cir. 1991). It was not until the midst of Roderick's testimony--the witness to whom this information was pertinent--that Howen made disclosure to the defense. When the court became aware of the issue, it recessed the trial to permit the defense the opportunity to question Neal. In our view, this eleventh hour disclosure by Howen comes perilously close to being a violation of the Brady rule. Although the defense had the opportunity to examine Neal, this opportunity came in the midst of trial during a hastily called recess. This is not an instance when the government had just acquired the information, indeed, Howen had learned the information one month earlier. Nor is it a defense for Howen to argue that the defense could have interviewed Neal since it knew that Neal was on the witness list of the government. Such an opportunity did not diminish the obligation of Howen to make the disclosure of information which is "known to the prosecution but unknown to the defense." United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. at 103. However, from a strictly analytical perspective, the defendants were probably not prejudiced from the action and, thus, a Brady violation did not occur. When this problem surfaced, the court called a recess to give defense counsel an opportunity to interview Neal. Thereafter, they were able to explore the issue with Neal and to use this information when conducting their cross-examination of Roderick. Furthermore, based on the jury verdict returned on the assault on a federal officer charges, it is difficult to conclude that the defendants suffered prejudice from the late disclosure of this information. Even if the defendants did not suffer any actual prejudice by the delay in revealing the Neal interview, we find the conduct of Howen raises serious ethical concerns. Although there are no internal Department of Justice guidelines governing the appropriate time for disclosure of Brady materials, we believe that the prompt disclosure of exculpatory information is the better practice. The American Bar Association had adopted such a rule. Standard 3-3.11 (a) of the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice: The Prosecution Function (3d ed. 1992) provides that, A prosecutor should not intentionally fail to make timely disclosure to the defense, at the earliest feasible opportunity, of the existence of all evidence or information which tends to negate the guilt of the accused or mitigate the offense charged or which would tend to reduce the punishment of the accused. We think that the preferable course of action would have been for Howen to have disclosed the Neal material--as he appears to have originally intended--immediately after he first learned of it. The late disclosure cast the government in a bad light and wasted the court's time while the parties argued about whether the rights of the defendants had been violated. This conclusion leads us to our next area of inquiry, which is whether the delayed disclosure of this information was an effort by Howen to harm the ability of the defendants to prepare their defense. We found no evidence in our investigation that Howan's decision was improperly motivated. Although we may not agree with his articulated strategy of clarifying the Neal statements through direct testimony, we do not consider this explanation as an after-the-fact fabrication. We believe that such reasoning was a major factor in the late disclosure. However, we also believe that the stress of the trial, coupled with long work hours with little sleep, impacted adversely on the deteriorating psychological health of Howen and contributed to his failure to disclose the Neal information as well as the circumstances behind the taking of the L bullet photographs. Indeed, from the early stages of the trial, those working closely with Howen noticed that he was under incredible pressure and was exhibiting signs of stress.[FN1750] According to Lindquist, Howen was an excellent, methodical and thorough prosecutor who was "burning the candle at both ends" during the Weaver prosecution. [FN1751] As the trial progressed, Howen was eating poorly and was getting little or no sleep each night as he worked on the numerous trial preparation tasks. In addition, the time away from his family caused "some significant family problems" which increased the emotional pressure on Howen.[FN1752] Although Lindquist tried to relieve some of the pressure on Howen by assuming more responsibility, this strategy did not cause Howen to slow down.[FN1753] Ellsworth spent considerable time, especially during the latter stages of the trial, trying to provide emotional support for Howen. Ellsworth noted that others in the USAO as well as the agents on the case noticed the change in Howen and were concerned about his condition. [FN1754] For example, Rampton noted that on a couple of occasions, Howen woul stare in silence for extended periods of time. He also observed that some of Howen's legal arguments were not as coherent as they had been previously.[FN1755] Towards the end of the trial, the pressure on Howen became so intense that he could not proceed and had to absent himself from the remaining days of the trial. Thereafter, Lindquist performed the remaining prosecutorial tasks. One additional issue warrants mention and that concerns the timing of the interview. We are perplexed by the failure of Howen to interview Neal and other CRT members sooner. These CRT members rescued the stranded marshals following the traumatic events of August 21, 1992. They were the first individuals to have contact with the marshals. Howen knew about the involvement of the CRT members in the rescue and should have appreciated the importance of any information or statements that the marshals may have disclosed to them. Nevertheless, no one from the USAO interviewed the CRT members during the 7-1/2 month period before the beginning of the trial. We find this preparation lapse to be troubling. Although we appreciate that numerous demands were being placed on the prosecution during the pretrial period, we have difficulty understanding why hours were spent interviewing prospective witnesses in Iowa who might have information to support the conspiracy count, yet no time was spent interviewing the CRT members who might possess information critical to the government's theory of the case. e. The L Bullet Photographs Several days after the controversial disclosure of the Calley notes and the Neal interview, Howen was tasked with informing the court of yet another serious omission by the government. As with the Neal interview, the responsibility for failing to inform the court and defense counsel earlier about the circumstances surrounding the taking of the L series photographs [FN1756] must be assigned to Howen. Indeed, he admitted that he had acquired this information during his pretrial interview with Wages in early April, but simply forgot the information. Howen stated that when Wages first communicated this information to him, he did not recognize it as "significant." Because this disclosure was clearly significant, we believe that when Wages informed Howen in April 1993 of this information, that Howen failed to focus on the implications of the information and quickly forgot the problem once the trial was underway. We do not believe that Howen intentionally concealed his knowledge. As with his failure to disclose the Neal interview, we believe that the extreme stress he was under, coupled with his efforts to handle numerous trial preparation activities contributed to his memory lapse.[FN1757] We do not believe that Howen intentionally withheld this information from the court and defense counsel. Nevertheless, we are not entirely comfortable with the manner in which he informed them that he had known of this information earlier. The record indicates that Howen informed the court and defense counsel on May 25, 1993 about the circumstances surrounding the taking of the L series photographs but that it was not until two days later that Howen confessed to having had such knowledge approximately six weeks earlier. Based on his recollection in his interview, Howen indicated that it was not until after he disclosed the information that Wages reminded Howen that he had provided this information to him in April 1993. However, Wages and Rampton recall this incident differently. They recall informing Howen of how the photographs were taken as well as reminding him that they had informed him earlier on the same occasion. We find their account more credible. Indeed, we find it somewhat difficult to believe that after informing Howen of the manner in which the photographs were taken and his realization that he had a serious problem that he would not have questioned why this information was not revealed at an earlier time. We think that Howen was reminded of his prior knowledge during his conversation with Wages and Rampton. We are troubled by the failure of Howen to be totally forthcoming with the court until later but attribute it to his impaired psychological state at the time. Although Rampton insists that he informed Howen and Lindquist in January 1993 of the circumstances surrounding the taking of the photographs, we are not convinced that this communication, if made, was articulated as clearly as Rampton recalls. Neither Howen nor Lindquist recall Rampton informing them of this information at that time. Based on the unconcerned reaction of Howen and Lindquist that Rampton describes, we suspect that the conversation may have been focused on the accusations of Spence that the bullet was planted by the FBI and to the extent that any information was relayed regarding the method by which the photographs were taken, it was secondary to the primary subject of the conversation. In addition, there are two other reasons why we discount this part of Rampton's recollection. First, he stated that he provided defense counsel Peterson with the same information regarding the L series photographs. However, there is no indication that Peterson knew of this information. Indeed, if Peterson had been aware of such facts, we would have expected him to have disclosed the information to fellow defense counsel and for all of them to have protested the action.[FN1758] None of this ever happened. Second, Rampton created no record of his conversations with Howen, Lindquist and Peterson on this subject. As it is the practice of the FBI agents to faithfully document their significant contacts in an investigation, we find it unusual that the practice was not followed here. [FN1759] Our final comments on this issue are directed at the late disclosure of the set of photographs that contained pictures of the L bullet before Wages had removed it. Howen and Lindquist thought that the late discovery of these photographs was attributable to the relocation of evidence that occurred during the pretrial phase of the case and that these photographs were misplaced.[FN1760] The evidence supports this explanation for the untimely production of these photographs. There was no evidence found indicating that anyone from the government intentionally concealed these pictures. It is unclear to whom responsibility for this oversight should be assigned. One would have hoped and expected that the USAO would have carefully maintained a record of materials submitted by the FBI to the USAO. However, this did not appear to have occurred. An October 28, 1992 letter from Dillon to Ellsworth indicates that the FBI forwarded these photographs to the USAO at that time.[FN1761] However, a review of the addenda to the government's response to the discovery stipulation indicates that these photographs were never produced. Despite the existence of this transmittal letter, Howen was unwilling to admit that the photographs were never produced. Despite the existence of this transmittal letter, Howen was unwilling to admit that the photographs had been sent to his office since he had experienced a problem in the past with the FBI stating in a letter that they had sent an item, but then discovering the item was missing. However, when questioned why his office did not verify that the enclosed items had been provided, Howen admitted that at the time, he did not have a procedure whereby he or an assistant would review a package and then notify the FBI of any missing items. [FN1762] We think that the USAO must accept responsibility for this oversight. Lindquist believed that the prosecution was harmed by the manner in which the FBI agents had picked up evidence and then later returned, replaced and photographed it. He viewed such conduct as very troubling and contrary to established procedures for processing evidence. Lindquist believed that the testimony that revealed the circumstances surrounding the taking of these photographs was harmful because it caused the jurors to question the basic credibility of the FBI since the agents had proceeded in such a fashion.[FN1763] Such doubts tainted the integrity of the government prosecution.[FN1764] We agree with Lindquist that this incident had a significant negative impact. 4. Conclusion The late disclosures by the government of important information during the Weaver trial were unnecessary, were embarrassing and damaged the integrity of the government.[FN1765] As was previously discussed in section IV (M) of our report, the late production of materials related to the shooting incident report were particularly devastating to the prosecution. The FBI is responsible for that incident. We hope that corrective procedures are instituted to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. The FBI is also responsible for the late production of the Calley notes. Although we do not view that incident as having been intentional, we think that if more care and attention had been directed to the original search and production of the materials, it would have been avoided. The FBI was not singularly responsible for the late disclosure of information--the USAO also neglected to reveal information in a timely fashion. Although the predominant blame for the late disclosure of the information pertinent to the Fadeley compensation arrangement rests with BATF Agent Byerly, we find that Howen should have been more aggressive in discovering this crucial information. The failure to reveal the Neal interview and the circumstances surrounding the taking of the L series photographs were also extremely damaging to the credibility of the government. Both incidents were avoidable; both incidents were the fault of Howen. Although we do not find evidence of improper motivation, we remain concerned by the lack of timeliness of disclosures, and faulty judgment in assessing the importance of these issues. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES (SECTION IV, PART O) 1591 Letter from Charles Peterson to Ronald Howen, November 3, 1992. 1592 Letter from Ronald Howen to Charles Peterson, November 9, 1992. 1593 See Third Ex Parte Application for Issuance of Subpoenas and payment of Costs and Fees, filed April 13, 1993 with signed Order, dated April 14, 1993. The defense also requested a subpoena duces tec?? he issued for all records used by the shooting incident review team. A discussion of this subpoena and the controversial response to it is contained in Section IV(M). 1594 Id. 1595 Trial Transcript, April 15, 1993, at 142. 1596 Id. at 144-48. Howen stated that in prior cases in which he had been involved if an agency desired to quash a subpoena, an agency lawyer would usually assist in drafting a motion or in researching the issue. Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 35-36. 1597 Trial Transcript, April 15, 1993, at 148-49. 1598 Id. at 152-54. 1599 Id. at 154-55. 1600 Letter from Larry Lee Gregg to Ronald Howen, April 16, 1991. 1601 Memorandum in Support of Motion for Finding of Contempt, or in the Alternative for an Order to Show Cause and to Compel, filed April 23, 1993 1602 Trial Transcript, April 22, 1993, at 153-54. 1603 Howen did not think that the November 1992 letter from Peterson requested discoverable materials nor did he understand how the request related to the issues of the case. Thus, after receiving the letter he made no attempts to secure the requested material from the FBI. Howen Interview, Tape 19, at 32-34. 1604 Trial Transcript, April 23, 1993, at 157-59, 160-62. 1605 Id. at 166. 1606 Id. at 169-70. 1607 Id. at 172-74. Howen said that at the time he was overwhelmed by trial preparation tasks and was hoping for some assistance from FBI lawyers that would have aided him in arguing the FBI position. Howen interview, Tape 10, at 17-18. 1608 Trial Transcript, April 23, 1993, at 173-174. 1609 Id. at 234-35, 240-41. 1610 Id. at 244-45. 1611 This review has its origins in the case of United States v. Henthorn, 931 F. 2d 29 (9th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 112 S. Ct. 1588 (1992). In that case, the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed its holding in United States v. Cadet, 727 F. 2d 1453, 1467 (1984) that once the defendant has made a discovery request for the personnel files of law enforcement witnesses, the government has the "duty" to review these personnel files to determine if they contain material information that is favorable to the defendant. If the prosecutor is uncertain whether any information is material, he can submit the matter to the court for in camera review. The personnel files do not need to be produced "to the defendant or the court unless they contain information that is or may be material to the defendant's case." United States v. Henthorn, 931 F. 2d at 31; accord, United States v. Dominguez-Villa, 954 F. 2d 562, 565 (9th Cir. 1992); United States v. Cadet, 727 F. 2d at 1463. The review of the personnel files need not be done by the federal prosecutor responsible for the case. It is sufficient if an appropriate agency attorney or a member of his staff conduct the review and then notify the prosecutor of the results of the review. The prosecutor is then responsible for determining if the information is potentially Brady material and if so, whether it should be produced or submitted to the court for in camera review. See United States v. Jennings, 960 F. 2d 1488, 1492, n. 3 (9th Cir. 1992). 1612 Government motion for Protective Order, for in Camera Inspection and Motion to Seal, filed April 23, 1992, at 3-4. 1613 FD-302 Interview of Lucy Ann Hoover, August 12, 1993, at 1. 1614 FD-302 Interview of Brian Callihan, August 6, 1993, at 4. 1615 Memorandum from Joseph Davis to Beau McFarland, April 27, 1993. 1616 Note on FBI Internal Routing/Action Slip from Clawson to Unknown Party, April 28, 1993. 1617 The CLU I had instructed the Salt Lake Division to process the subpoena at the field office level and to coordinate their response with the USAO. Thereafter, the Salt Lake City Division collected and produced the manual provisions to the defense without first submitting the manual provisions for review by the field office documents examiner who was responsible for reviewing the materials to insure that the disclosure was within the bounds of the request and that no applicable privileges were compromised. According to Clawson, the disclosure included sensitive materials that were not within the scope of the request which upset Gale Evans, the Unit Chief of the Violent Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigation Division. See FD-302 Interview of Thomas Clawson, dated August 12, 1993, at 4-5. See also, FD-302 Interview of Gale R. Evans, dated October 13, 1993, at 7-8. 1618 Letter from Ronald Howen to Charles Peterson, dated April 28, 1993. 1619 Hoover FD-302, at 1; Memorandum from Assistant Director Legal Counsel (FBI), to Ronald Howen, April 29, 1993. 1620 Defendants' Response to Motion for Protective Order, For in camera Inspection and Motion to Seal, filed April 30, 1993. 1621 The Marshals Service provided the Henthorn certifications for Roderick, Cooper and Degan on May 4, 1993. See Letters from Kevin F. O'Hare to Warren Derbidge, May 4, 1993. 1622 Trial Transcript, May 10, 1993, at 8. 1623 Id. at 10. 1624 Id. at 152. 1625 Letters from Gerry L. Spence and David Nevin to Ronald Howan, May 10, 1993. 1626 Letter from Ronald Howen to Gerry L. Spence and David Z. Nevin, May 12, 1993. 1627 Order, filed May 17, 1993, at 1-4 1628 On May 21, 1993, the government produced the Henthorn certifications for Deputy Marshals Hunt, Norris and Thomas. Government Fourteenth Addendum to Response to Discovery Stipulation, filed May 21, 1993. 1629 Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 38-39. 1630 Id. at 39-41. 1631 Id. at 41-42. 1632 Lindquist Interview, Tape 6, at 5-6. 1633 Id. at 6-7. 1634 See Affidavit of Charles F. Peterson in United States v. Weaver, No. CR 92-080-EJL, dated March 17, 1993. 1635 See Weaver Motion to Compel Identity of Informant, Criminal Record, and Matters Affecting Bias or Credibility, in United States v. Weaver, filed March 17, 1993. 1636 Government Response to Motion to Compel Identity of Informant, Criminal Record, and Matters Affecting Bias or Credibility, in United States v. Weaver, filed March 26, 1993. 1637 Addendum to Response to Motion to Compel Identity of Informant, Criminal Record, and Matters Affecting Bias or Credibility and Order to Seal (sealed), in United States v. Weaver, April 13, 1993, at 2. 1638 Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 14. 1639 Trial Testimony of Kenneth Fadeley, April 20, 1993, at 152-54. 1640 Id. at 154-55. 1641 Id. at 160-61. 1642 Id. at 161-63, 179. 1643 Trial Transcript, April 20, 1993, at 6-10. 1644 Id. at 11-13. Howen reiterated this view to investigators. See Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 15-22. 1645 Trial Transcript, April 20, 1993, at 12-13. 1646 Id. at 14-15. 1647 Trial Testimony of Herbert Byerly, April 20, 1993, at 68-70. 1648 Id. at 70-72. 1649 Id. at 75. 1650 Interestingly, this award was given to Fadeley for his assistance in the investigation of Frank Kumnick, who was associated withy members of the Aryan Nations and who was associated with members of the Aryan Nations and who was an associate of Weaver. See discussion in Section IV (A). Sometime in 1987 or 1988, Kumnick sold an illegal weapon to Fadeley in his undercover role. At that time, BATF knew that Kumnick and his associates had discussed forming a third group of white separatists. In addition, Fadeley learned that Kumnick had discussed kidnapping and holding for ransom children attending a private school in Northern Idaho. BATF requested Howen to informally decline prosecuting Kumnick for the gun charge because they believed that such a prosecution would expose Fadeley and that it would be more beneficial to the BATF investigation if Fadeley remained in his undercover capacity. Howen agreed and informally declined to prosecute Kumnick. See Letter from Ronald Howen to Barbara Berman, January 31, 1994, at 1-2. 1651 Byerly Trial Testimony, April 20, 1993, at 76-79. 1652 See Weaver Motion to Strike Testimony of Kenneth Fadeley [sic] and Memorandum in support thereof, in United States v. Weaver, filed April 21, 1993. 1653 See Government Response to Motion to Strike Testimony of Kenneth Fadeley. 1654 Order in United States v. Weaver, dated My 17, 1993, at 7-8. 1655 Id. at 8. 1656 Government Second Addendum to Response to Motion to Compel Identity of Informant, Criminal Record, and Matters Affecting Bias or Credibility, and Order to Seal, filed May 19, 1993. 1657 When the compensation issue was disclosed at trial, Ellsworth recalls Howen being very upset. It was Ellsworth's impression that Howen believed that he had been misled as to the compensation arrangement between BATF and Fadeley. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 1, at 17-19. 1658 Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 15-27, 33. 1659 Id. at 15-21. 1660 Byerly Sworn Statement, at 26. 1661 Interview of Herbert Byerly by Unidentified Special Agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, September 7, 1993; Report by Donald Deane, Investigator, BIG, Department of Treasury (Interview of Herbert Byerly), December 17, 1993. 1662 Sworn Statement of Kenneth H. Fadeley, December 7, 1993, at 4-5. 1663 Id. at 5. 1664 See FD-302 Interview of George J. Calley, Jr., October 19, 1993, at 4-5. 1665 Id. at 10. 1666 The numerous errors in the FD-302 of Cooper created major problems for the prosecutor in presenting his case at trial. Similar problems were created by inaccuracies in the FD-302 of Ruth Rau. These inaccuracies, which in turn, created conflicts between the alleged statement made in the interview and the testimony elicited at trial, provided support for the defense attack on the credibility of the witness. The current FBI practice is to have the interviewing agent prepare an interview report based on his notes and recollection. We think that such a procedure can never be totally accurate and, indeed, in some situations, major errors can be made. Howen suggested, and we agree, that a more satisfactory way to conduct these interviews would be to record them on tape and to have the tape be the interview record. 1667 Calley FD-302, at 12. 1668 Sworn Statement of Larry Cooper, March 7, 1994, at 9-10; Trial Testimony of Larry Cooper, April 15, 1993, at 122-139. 1669 Id. at 13-14; accord, FD-302 Interview of Joseph V. Venkus, October 18-19, 1993, at 4. 1670 Calley FD-302, at 12. 1671 Venkus FD-302, at 5. 1672 Calley FD-302, at 13. 1673 Id. at 16. 1674 A "1-A" file accompanies all FBI reports of interviews and consists of the interviewers notes of the interview and any exhibits that pertain to the interview. 1675 Venkus FD-302, at 4. 1676 Letter from Maurice Ellsworth to Eugene Glenn, September 3, 1992, at 2. 1677 See Government Response to Discovery Stipulation, filed October 23, 1992. 1678 See Government Sixth Addendum to Response to Discovery Stipulation, filed February 26, 1992. 1679 FD-302 Interview of T. Michael Dillon, October 25, 1993, at 10-11; FD-302 Interview of Gregory Rampton, October 18-19, 1993, at 29. 1680 Calley FD-302, at 11. 1681 Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 52-53. 1682 Dillon FD-302, at 11. 1683 Howen interview, Tape 10, at 53. 1684 See Government Fourteenth Addendum to Response to Discovery Stipulation, filed May 21, 1993; Trial Transcript, May 21, 1993, at 10-11. 1685 See discussion in subsection (d), infra. 1686 Trial Transcript, May 21, 1993, at 10-11, 26. 1687 Id. at 27-28. 1688 Id. at 28-29. 1689 Trial Transcript, May 24, 1992, at 2-7. 1690 Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 43. 1691 Major Edwin Strickfaden commented that some CRT members wondered why they had not been interviewed earlier considering the pending trial. FD-302 Interview of Edwin D. Strickfaden, October 7, 1993, at 8. Howen stated that he did not interview the CRT members until the court recess because he had not had the time before then and prior to that time, he had been focusing on those individuals having firsthand knowledge of the April 21 events. He did not believe that they "had anything crucial to say at the time." Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 49-51. 1692 Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 44. 1693 FD-302 Interview of David L. Neal, August 28, 1993, at 4. 1694 Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 44-45. 1695 Howen explained, "I was going to lay it out myself someone else's testimony, ah, and I'm doing that, I consider that compliance with Brady. That's not withholding anything. Ah, particularly if I named the individual." Id. at 48. 1696 Id. at 46-47. 1697 Trial Transcript, May 21, 1993, at 2, 33; Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 47. 1698 Trial Transcript, May 21, 1993, at 3-4. 1699 Id. at 5-9. 1700 Id. at 12-13. 1701 Id. at 13-14. 1702 Id. at 14. 1703 Id. at 16-18. 1704 Id. at 27-29. 1705 Neal FD-302, at 4-5. 1706 Howen Interview, Tape 10, at 46. 1707 Id. 1708 Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 41-43; Tape 6, at 1-2. 1709 Id., Tape 6, at 2-3. 1710 Id. at 4-5. 1711 FD-302 Interview of Larry B. Wages, October 13 & 15, 1993, at 5. 1712 Id. at 4-5. 1713 Id. at 5-7. Special Agent George Sinclair recalled Wages approaching him and Special Agent Calley while the search at the Y was in progress and asking if either of them had a camera. Wages informed Sinclair that he had discovered a "pristine" bullet and wanted to photograph it so that it was preserved as evidence. Neither Sinclair nor Calley had a camera, but Wages showed them the bullet. FD-302 Interview of George T. Sinclair, Jr., October 7, 1993, at 3. 1714 Rampton FD-302, at 6-7. 1715 Wages FD-302, at 6. 1716 Rampton FD-302, at 7, 10. 1717 See Wages FD-302, at 6; Rampton FD-302, at 10. Kramer could not recall whether the bullet was present on the ground when he took the pictures, nor did he have any knowledge of the bullet having been removed earlier and replaced for the taking of the photographs. FD-302 of Kelly J. Kramer, October 12, 1993, at 2. 1718 Wages FD-302, at 6. 1719 The FBI Laboratory subsequently concluded that the bullet had been shot from Sara Weaver's gun. 1720 Rampton FD-302, at 9-10; Wages FD-302, at 6-7. 1721 Rampton FD-302, at 10. 1722 Howen Interview, Tape 6, at 30-33. 1723 Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 28. 1724 Howen Interview, Tape 6, at 29-30; Wages FD-302, at 7. 1725 Howen Interview, Tape 6, at 29-30, 33. 1726 Rampton FD-302, at 43-44; Wages FD-302, at 7. 1727 Wages FD-302, at 7. 1728 Trial Transcript, May 25, 1993, at 3. 1729 Id. at 65-67. 1730 Id. at 69-70. 1731 Id. at 72-73. 1732 Trial Transcript, May 25, 1993, at 73-76. Two days later, Howen stipulated that two of the photographs were taken by Cyrus Grover and depicted the L-1 bullet before it was picked up. Trial Testimony, May 27, 1993, at 126-27. Contrary to Howen's statement to the court, it appears that Wages knew that photographs of the bullets had been taken before he had removed them, although he believed that Cadigan had taken the pictures. Wages Fd-302, at 5-6. 1733 Trial Transcript, May 25, 1993, at 77. 1734 Id. at 125-30. 1735 Id. at 130-32. 1736 Id. at 132-35. This representation conflicts with Wages recollection that he informed Howen during their April 1993 meeting that the entire L series photographs had been taken after the evidence had been removed and then replaced. Wages FD-302, at 7. 1737 Trial Transcript, May 25, 1993, at 135-37. 1738 Trial Testimony of Larry Wages, May 25, 1993, at 14-21. 1739 Id. at 37-39. 1740 Trial Transcript, May 27, 1993, at 102-03. 1741 Wages Trial Testimony, May 25, 1993, at 130-31. 1742 Order in United States v. Weaver, No. CR 92-080-N-EJL, first filed October 26, 1993, at 2. 1743 At our request, Howen reviewed these addenda to determine which agency was responsible for the various items produced. This review indicated that many of these items--approximately 75 percent--were produced by the Marshals Service and the BATF or were created by the trial team for use at trial. See Letter from Ronald Howen to Barbara Berman, January 31, 1994, at 3-14. 1744 Order, October 26, 1993, at 3-8. 1745 Id. at 9-10. 1746 Id. at 13. 1747 It was not until our interview of former U.S. Attorney Ellsworth that he became aware of the position of Howen on this issue. Ellsworth agreed that the attorney representing the government has the obligation to obtain discoverable documents that he knows exist and that are in the possession of another government agency. Ellsworth Interview, Tape 5, at 47-48. 1748 Ellsworth said that he has always found payments confidential to informants to be a troubling area. He had particular difficulty with an award made after the informant had finished working on a matter because he could understand how the informant might feel that the size of the award was affected by the outcome in the case, even if it were not the basis upon which the BATF made the award. Ellsworth interview, Tape 1, at 28-29. Howen opined that the future award program at BATF creates a real problem for prosecutors. Although Howen believed that paying an informant a salary also presents issues as to the credibility of an informant, such a procedure, when disclosed at the outset, can be dealt with more easily than the future award program. Howen Interview, Tape 2, at 27-31, 34-35. 1749 Although we do not assess responsibility for this incident on the USAO, we cannot help but wonder if this omission in the Calley notes may have been something that they should have detected. Cooper was a critical witness and the first witness for the government. We would have thought that as part of the preparation process, someone in the USAO would have reviewed the Calley materials, would have noticed that pages were missing and that this would have prompted a further inquiry. 1750 Lindquist Interview, Tape 8, at 13-15; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 4, at 46-47; Tape 5, at 1-4. 1751 Lindquist Interview, Tape 8, at 13. 1752 Id. at 13-14; Ellsworth Interview, Tape 5, at 1-4. 1753 Ellsworth Interview, Tape 5, at 2. 1754 Id., Tape 4, at 46-47. 1755 Rampton FD-302, at 46. 1756 An evaluation of the conduct of the FBI in removing, replacing and photographing evidence as described by Wages is discussed in Section IV (I) of the report. 1757 Lindquist said that he was troubled by the failure of Howen to remember to disclose this information to the court and the defense. However, he did not attribute this action to any improper motive on the part of Howen. Indeed, Lindquist noted that such an omission was "uncharacteristic of Ron", whom he regarded as being "extremely diligent" in discovery matters. Lindquist attributed the lapse to "the fact that [Howen] was burning the candle at both ends and was very weighted down by horrendous discovery demands and it simply slipped his mind." Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 32. 1758 Lindquist said that if he had known that the defense had been informed in January 1993 of the circumstances surrounding the taking of the L when defense counsel complained about the problem in May, 1993. Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 28-29. 1759 Lindquist would have expected the FBI agents involved to have documented their conversations with defense counsel on this issue and the fact that they did not do so was troubling to him. Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 33. 1760 Howen Interview, Tape 6, at 34-37. Lindquist thought that the photographs may have been misplaced when some boxes were taken from the main storage area at the FBI and transferred to be inventoried at a condominium used by the marshals. Lindquist Interview, Tape 5, at 39-40. 1761 See Letter from T. Michael Dillon to Maurice Ellsworth, October 28, 1992. In this letter, Dillon forwarded a package of materials, including a package of 107 photographs and a package of 22 photographs, both of which were taken by Cyrus Grover. The photographs produced by Howen on May 25, 1993 were similarly described. 1762 Howen Interview, Tape 6, at 34-37. 1763 Lindquist Interview, Tape 3, at 26-27. 1764 Id. at 34. 1765 Judge Lodge told this investigation that the late production of arguably exculpatory materials adversely impacted upon the government's presentation of the case to the jury. See Memorandum from James R. Silverwood to Barbara B. Berman (Interview of the Honorable Edward Lodge), January 5, 1994. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. RECOMMENDATIONS Law enforcement officials confronted fundamental and recurring problems of crisis management at Ruby Ridge. Recently, the Department of Justice completed an exhaustive review of the government's response to the crisis at Waco, Texas. The review included recommendations for managing barricade/hostage situations, coordinating law enforcement efforts, and dealing with persons whose motives and beliefs are unconventional. Our recommendations expand on some of the ideas expressed in the Waco report, and, because each crisis presents its own particular difficulties, we offer recommendations emanating from the Ruby Ridge situation. 1. The Policy for the Use of Deadly Force and the Authorization Structure for Rules of Engagement Must be Standardized for All Federal Law Enforcement Agencies. We believe that all federal law enforcement officers should be governed by a standard deadly force policy. Thus, we recommend that the Department of Justice establish a universal policy on the use of deadly force to govern the law enforcement components within the Department and to serve as a model for other agencies. We have concluded that the special Rules of Engagement in force at Ruby Ridge violated the Constitution of the United States. We also found that the poorly drafted and ambiguous rules created confusion among those who were obliged to make instantaneous, life and death decisions while attempting to obey the requirements of the rules. In hostage/barricade situations, law enforcement officers need a clear definition of the conditions under which deadly force may be employed. It is critical that law enforcement personnel have a common and clear understanding of the rules governing their conduct. Moreover, when special rules of engagement are necessary, established review and authorization procedures must be in place. Recently, the Department of Justice established the Office of Investigative Agency Policy, headed initially by the Director of the FBI. We suggest that Office may be best equipped to develop a standardized policy on the use of deadly force and to formulate procedures for formulating and authorizing special rules as needed. 2. Crisis Response Teams Need to be Created As the authors of the Waco Report observed, it is imperative that specially trained crisis managers, familiar with relevant tactical, behavioral, and scientific disciplines, be available to respond to crises. FBI special agents in charge of particular geographical areas are not necessarily the best qualified individuals to supervise the government's response to crisis situations. We recommend that specially trained crisis managers should be deployed for that purpose. Expertise, not geography, should control. The recent consolidation of the FBI negotiations and tactical operations, as recommended in the Waco Report, will have an impact on the role both disciplines play in resolving crises. We enthusiastically endorse the recent proposal by the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section of the Department of Justice that the FBI Crisis Response Team include specially trained prosecutors to provide legal support to tactical teams. Substantial difficulties confront prosecutors preparing a criminal case after a violent standoff between suspects and law enforcement. Law enforcement agents in such situations need to be mindful that a successful prosecution is one of the objectives of a favorable resolution of the crisis. The presence of prosecutors at crisis sites can contribute significantly to the ultimate success of the law enforcement effort within the criminal justice system. Frequently, as at Ruby Ridge, the local FBI and local SWAT teams arrive at the scene before the HRT. Therefore, we propose periodic joint training exercises by enhanced Crisis Response Teams, HRT, FBI SWAT teams and other federal and local law enforcement agencies. Such cross-training, as discussed in detail in the Waco Report, would have a number of benefits, including greater knowledge and appreciation of the contributions of each element of the response team. 3. A Multi-Agency Review with DOJ Representation Should be Established to Review Shooting Incident Reports We found that the FBI review of the shooting incident at Ruby Ridge was not sufficiently thorough or accurate. We recommend that all internal reviews of shooting incidents by federal agencies be scrutinized by a board of representatives of law enforcement agencies prior to the close of the internal review process. The board should include at least one DOJ attorney with special expertise in this area. The board could adopt the agency's findings and recommendations, return the report for additional inquiry, or refer the report to the appropriate component of the Department of Justice. The board would also be responsible for weighing recommendations made by the agency review team. Such a process would encourage a higher quality of internal review throughout federal law enforcement agencies as well as increase public confidence in the review process. 4. Coordination Must Be Improved Between the FBI and Prosecutors in Regard to Discovery Significant problems in the Ruby Ridge prosecution arose in the discovery process. The FBI delayed giving prosecutors the documents they needed for trial preparation and to provide to the defense in discovery. The delayed production of these documents to the defense occurred, in part, because of disputes between the FBI and the prosecutors about the material that was required to be produced. The delay in the production of the FBI Shooting Incident Report exemplifies this problem. We recommend that the Department of Justice mandate that the FBI release to prosecutors Shooting Incident Reports and supporting documentation when a confrontation has resulted in death or serious injury. Moreover, the FBI should denominate a unit within the Bureau to coordinate and monitor discovery in a timely and thorough manner. Finally, the Department of Justice should establish guidelines governing the production of FBI material. 5. Coordination Among the FBI Crime Scene Investigation Team, the FBI Laboratory, and the Prosecutors Must Be Improved Our report is critical of the crime scene investigation at Ruby Ridge. Because an experienced evidence response team was not used to recover and preserve evidence, the quality of the search and the resulting evidentiary analyses were compromised. To increase the chances of a successful prosecution, FBI Headquarters should mandate that its evidence response team be used in situations like Ruby Ridge to conduct systematic and thorough crime scene investigations. The FBI Laboratory has for years been under conflicting pressures to perform analyses quickly for many different cases. Nonetheless, we believe that the problems that our inquiry has disclosed could have been avoided. The FBI Laboratory should not key its analyses to the trial date. Prosecutors need laboratory analyses to develop a theory of their case, and analyses often suggest that additional examinations should be performed. We also recommend that the FBI assign an agent familiar with the theory of the case, the evidence, anticipated defenses, and FBI forensic capabilities to coordinate the prosecution's interaction with the Laboratory. In complex cases, this role may be exclusive of other responsibilities. We also recommend that the FBI reevaluate its policy on memorializing witness interviews. We found inaccuracies in FD-302 interview reports of critical trail witnesses, which undermined their credibility at trial. The FBI needs to give consideration to other methods available that would more accurately memorialize witness interviews. 6. U.S. Attorneys' Offices Should Establish A Formal Indictment Review Process The indictment drafted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen was reviewed and approved solely by U.S. Attorney Ellsworth. A number of defects in the indictment went undetected. We believe that significant indictments should be more carefully scrutinized. We recommend that significant indictments be formally reviewed by a committee of Assistant U.S. Attorneys within a particular office, who have been thoroughly briefed on the theory of the case, the evidence, and anticipated defenses or problems. We do not suggest that such a process would resolve every factual or legal difficulty. However, it would encourage a more rigorous analysis of the relevant conduct and would probably ensure more appropriate charges. 7. Other Recommendations We recommend that our analysis of the conduct of Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Howen be referred to the Executive Office for United States Attorneys for whatever action it deems appropriate. Finally, we recommend that our findings concerning the events surrounding the shooting of Vicki Weaver by the FBI sniper/observer on August 22, 1992 and the Rules of Engagement under which he operated be referred to the appropriate component of the Department of Justice for an assessment of its prosecutive merit. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS January - May 1985 U.S. Secret Service ("USSS") investigates allegations from neighbors of Randy Weaver that Weaver threatened to kill President Reagan, Idaho Governor John Evans and other unspecified law enforcement officials. USSS learns through interviews that Weaver associates with members of the Aryan Nations.USSS interviews Weaver who denies affiliation with Aryan Nations and denies making threats against President Reagan and Governor Evans. No charges are filed against Weaver as result of alleges threats.On February 28, 1985, Weaver and his wife, Vicki Weaver, file affidavit with Boundary County Idaho clerk claiming that false allegations made to USSS were part of a plot designed to provoke federal authorities into storming their home. Weaver writes he "may have to defend myself and my family from physical attack on my life."In May 1985, Weaver sends letter to President Reagan apologizing for false allegations made by his neighbors against him. July, 1986 - July 1989 BATF informant Kenneth Fadeley introduced to Weaver at World Aryan Congress, Hayden lake, Idaho. Fadeley meets Weaver again in January 1987 and at July 1987 and July 1989 Aryan World Congresses. At July 1989 Congress, Weaver invites Fadeley to his house to discuss forming group to fight against "Zionist Organized Government" (ZOG). October 11, 1989 BATF informant Fadeley meets with Weaver at restaurant in Sandpoint, Idaho at which time Weaver says he could supply sawed-off shotguns. October 24, 1989 Weaver sells two sawed-off shotguns to BATF informant Fadeley in a park in sandpoint, Idaho. Fadeley breaks contact with Weaver following November 30, 1989 meeting, when Weaver accuses Fadeley of being a "cop". May 21, 1990 BATF Agent Herbert Byerly submits case report to U.S. Attorney's Office, Boise, Idaho, recommending that Weaver be prosecuted for the sale of sawed-off shotguns.June 12, 1990 BATF agents Byerly and Steve Gunderson approach Weaver in Sandpoint, Idaho, and attempt to enlist him as an informant regarding illegal activities of Aryan Nations members. Weaver says he won't be a "snitch."December 13, 1990 A federal grand jury in the District of Idaho indicts Weaver for manufacturing and possessing unregistered firearms in violation of 26 USC § 5861(d), (f).January 17, 1991 BATF agents, posing as stranded motorists, arrest Weaver on weapons charge. Weaver tells the arresting agents, "nice trick; you'll never do that again."January 18, 1991 Weaver arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen M. Ayers in Couer d'Alene, Idaho. Judge Ayers appoints Everett Hofmeister as counsel for Weaver, releases Weaver on a $10,000 Personal Recognizance Bond and directs Weaver to appear at U.S. District Court for trial on February 19, 1991. January 22, 1991 Weaver calls Karl Richins pursuant to the terms of his condition of release. February 5, 1991 U.S. District Court Clerk in Boise, Idaho, sends a notice to the parties that the trial date has been changed to February 20, 1991. February 7, 1991 The U.S. Attorney's office in Boise, Idaho receives two letters from Vicki Weaver dated January 22, 1991 and February 3, 1991 and addressed to "the Queen of Babylon." Because the letters appeared to contain veiled threats they are provided to the Boise office of the (cut off....) February 7, 1991 U.S. Probation Officer Karl Richins sends Randy Weaver a letter requesting Weaver to contact him and then erroneously refers to the trial date as March 20, 1991 rather than the correct date of February 20, 1991. February 20, 1991 Weaver does not appear for trial on either February 19 or February 20 and Chief U.S. District Court Judge Harold Ryan issues a bench warrant for Weaver.March 5, 1991 Deputy U.S. Marshals Hunt and Mays initiate contacts with Bill and Judy Grider, who are friends of the Weavers. The Griders give the marshals a letter signed by the Weaver family saying "we will not obey your lawless government."March 14, 1991 A federal grand jury in the District of Idaho indicts Weaver for failure to appear.March 18, 1991 Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Ron Evans, District of Idaho, provides Marshals Service Headquarters with analysis of Weaver situation and requests assistance from the Marshals Service's Special Operations Group ("SOG"). March 28, 1991 Evans briefs SOG personnel at SOG Tactical Center in Camp Beauregard, Louisiana on developments in the Weaver case. The decision is made to send SOG team to Idaho to gather information to develop plan to arrest Weaver. June 17-24, 1991 SOG reconnaissance team travels to Northeastern Idaho and conducts assessment of the Weaver case. The team develops a plan for the safe arrest of Weaver on his property and away from his wife and children. Plan describes Weaver as "extremely dangerous and suicidal." July 9, 1991 Deputy Marshal Cluff and Weaver's appointed counsel, Everett Hofmeister, meet with Rodney Willey and ask Willey to try and convince Weaver to surrender. Willey reports the following day that Weaver said he won't surrender because his "rights will be violated."September 28, 1991 SOG team dispatched to Northern Idaho to assist in the planned arrest of Weaver. However, plan to arrest Weaver is canceled because team finds that information on which plan was based was not accurate.October 9, 1991 Senior Deputy Marshal Hunt and Chief Deputy Marshal Evans ask Alan Jeppeson, a friend of the Weavers, to convey an offer of negotiations to Weaver. The marshals formulate formal surrender terms.October 12, 1991 Hunt and Evans propose offering formal surrender terms to Weaver and request authorization from the U.S. Attorney's Office.October 17, 1991 Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Howen sends letter to Hunt and Evans directing that all contact with Weaver must be through Weavers' appointed counsel, Everett Hoffmeister. In addition, Howen does not authorize further negotiations with Weaver as proposed by the Marshals Service.March 4, 1992 Deputy Marshal Cluff and Chief Deputy Marshal Evans drive up to Weaver property in an unmarked vehicle. They are met by Randy Weaver, who is armed with a rifle. Weaver tells Cluff and Evans that they are trespassing and the marshals leave without incident. March 27, 1992 Acting Marshals Service Director Henry Hudson was briefed on developments in the Weaver case. Hudson asks U.S. Attorney Maurice Ellsworth to consider dismissing warrant and reissuing it under seal. Ellsworth rejects the proposal. Hudson directs that any plan to arrest Weaver must eliminate possibility of harm to Vicki Weaver and the Weaver children.Marshals Service Enforcement Division Branch Chief Arthur Roderick is given primary responsibility for devising a suitable plan to arrest Weaver. Three phase operation plan is developed.April 2-12, 1992 During Phase I of their operation plan, the marshals conduct surveillance of the Weaver property and determine technical requirements for additional surveillance. April 13, 1992 Acting Director Hudson approves operation plan for Phase II, during which surveillance cameras would be utilized to gather information about Weavers' daily actions so that options could be developed for Phase III, the actual arrest of Weaver. April 17 through 1st week of May, 1992 Marshals install surveillance cameras on ridges overlooking Weaver property and make three fact-finding trips onto the Weaver property. April 18, 1992 Marshals Service are informed that the television crew from Geraldo Rivera's program "Now It Can Be Told" may have been shot at while flying over the Weaver property in a helicopter.May 5, 1992 Marshals Service surveillance camera stolen from the north ridge overlooking the Weaver property. May 27, 1992 Undercover plan developed by Marshals Service after Acting Director Hudson rejects plans to forcibly arrest Weaver using either "lethal" or "non-lethal" weapons. Undercover operation contemplates Marshal Service surreptitiously buying a plot of land north of the Weaver property and that two deputy marshals, posing as husband and wife, would visit and develop the property, and that eventually an opportunity would arise to arrest Weaver out of the presence of other family members. Plan put on hold pending Hudson's confirmation as Director by U.S. Senate. Early August, 1992 Hudson gives verbal approval to the undercover plan after being confirmed as Marshals Service Director. August 17, 1992 Deputy Marshals Degan, Cooper, Roderick Norris, Thomas and Hunt arrive in Northern Idaho to update intelligence for undercover plan. August 20, 1992 Deputy Marshals Roderick, Cooper, Degan, and Hunt, along with local marshal and deputy sheriffs use firing range west of Spokane, Washington to test their weapons as required by internal Marshals Service practice. Friday, August 21, 1992. At 2:30 a.m., Marshals Service team of Roderick, Cooper, Degan, Hunt, Norris and Thomas leave condominium at Schweitzer Mountain to begin surveillance of Weaver residence. At 4:30 a.m., Marshals Service team arrives at residence of Wayne and Ruth Rau, park their vehicle and move to surveillance positions on Ruby Ridge. The team splits into two three-man teams at the "Y." The observation post ("OP") team (Hunt, Norris and Thomas) goes to site above the Weaver compound while the reconnaissance ("Recon") team (Roderick, Cooper and Degan) proceeds up the trail from "Y" toward the Weaver compound. Friday, August 21, 1992 At 9:00 a.m. the Recon team joins the OP team at the observation post above the Weaver compound to discuss their observations. The Recon team proceeds to area 200-250 yards from the Weaver cabin were Roderick tosses rocks in the direction of the Weaver compound. The Recon team moves to garden/spring house area below the Weaver cabin. At 10:00 a.m., while Recon team gets ready to leave garden/spring house area, Norris, at the observation post, radios that a vehicle is approaching and that the Weavers are responding. Recon team retreats through the woods toward the fern field while pursued by Kevin Harris and the Weaver dog, Striker. As the Recon team passes the fern field proceeding towards the "Y", Sammy Weaver is seen with Harris and the dog in pursuit. At 10:30 a.m., a gun battle occurs at the "Y", in which Deputy Marshal Degan and Sammy Weaver are killed. Upon hearing the shots the OP team runs through the woods to assist the Recon team and are fired upon when running from the fern field to the "Y." None of the marshals are aware that Sammy Weaver has been shot and killed. At 10:45 a.m., Hunt and Thomas leave the "Y" to go to the Rau house to call for assistance. Roderick, Cooper and Norris stay with Degan's body. At 11:20 a.m., Hunt makes a 911 emergency call to the Boundary County Sheriff's office. Bonners Ferry, Idaho. At 11:40 a.m., the Marshals Service Crisis Center is activated under the director of Duke Smith, Associate Director for Operations. The Marshals Service Special Operations Group ("SOG") is alerted to deploy. Hunt reports to the Crisis Center that the surveillance team came under fire from occupants of the Weaver compound and are still pinned down in defensive positions. At 1:30 p.m., in Washington, D.C., Marshals Service Director Hudson and other Marshals Service officials meet with FBI Associate Deputy Director Douglas Gow and FBI Assistant Director Larry Potts to discuss the response to the shooting and the marshals predicament on Ruby Ridge. In the late afternoon, Assistant Director Potts orders the FBI Hostage Rescue Team ("HRT") deployed. At 6:30 p.m., HRT Commander Richard Rogers and the advance team of HRT personnel depart for Idaho accompanied by Marshals Service Director of Operations Duke Smith. While en route, Rogers has a series of conversations with Assistant Director Potts and Deputy Assistant Director Coulson about proposed Rules of Engagement. At 1:00 p.m., the Idaho State Police Critical Response Team ("CRI") is informed of the incident and proceed to form a command post near the Rau house. At 8:30 p.m., Idaho State Police CRT leaves the command post to rescue Deputy Marshals Roderick, Cooper, and Norris and the body of Marshal Degan. At 9:30 p.m., FBI Special Agent in Charge Gene Glenn arrives at the command post at Ruby Ridge. Glenn assumes overall responsibility for the FBI operations at Ruby Ridge.In the afternoon, U.S. Marshal Michael Johnson notifies U.S. Attorney Ellsworth of the shooting at Ruby Ridge. Ellsworth sends Ron Howen to Ruby Ridge to act as the U.S. Attorney's representative. Howen arrives at Ruby Ridge late in the evening. Saturday, August 22, 1992 At 1:00 a.m., Idaho State Police CRT arrives back at the command post and brings with it the three deputy marshals and the body of Deputy Marshal Degan. Thereafter, the marshals are taken to the Boundary County Hospital for examination and then are taken back to their condominium at Schweitzer Mountain, arriving at approximately 3:00 a.m. Sometime in the afternoon, FBI agents interview the marshals involved in the August 21 incident. A criminal complaint is filed charging Weaver and Harris with murder of Deputy Marshal Degan in violation of 1: U.S.C. §§ 111, 1111 and 1114.At 4:45 a.m., the HRT advance team arrives at (cut off...) At 9:00, a.m., HRT Commander Rogers briefs HRT members at the National Guard Armory, Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The Rules of Engagement are still being drafted. At 10:30 a.m., the HRT and SOG are assembling the operations plan.At 2:40 p.m., the operations plan, including Rules of Engagement, are sent to FBI Headquarters and the Marshals Service for review. Between 2:30-3:30 p.m., the HRT sniper/observers briefed on approved Rules of Engagement and depart on foot to their observation posts on the mountain. From 5:07 p.m. to 5:22 p.m., the HRT sniper/observer teams arrive at their positions on the ridge overlooking the Weaver cabin. At approximately 5:58 p.m., HRT sniper/observer Lon Horiuchi fires round which wounds Randy Weaver. Seconds later, Horiuchi fires a round which kills Vicki Weaver and wounds Kevin Harris. At 6:30 p.m., an Armored Personnel Carrier ("APC") arrives at the cabin area. FBI hostage negotiator delivers message over loud speaker that there are arrest warrants for Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris and asks Weaver to accept negotiations telephone. At 8:00 p.m., HRT sniper/observer teams and SOG personnel are withdrawn from their mountain observation posts because of the cold weather. During the evening, FBI SWAT teams are deployed around the command post and control access to the road leading to the Weaver cabin. Sunday, August 23, 1992 At 6:00 a.m., the HRT teams are sent back to their positions on the mountain and arrive there at about 7:30 a.m. HRT Commander Rogers takes two teams of HRT personnel to the Weaver cabin area, and makes repeate announcements over bull-horn for those inside to enter into negotiations. No response is heard. At 8:01 p.m., APCs are used to remove outbuildings near the Weaver cabin. During the clearing of the birthing shed the body of Sammy Weaver is found in the shed. Monday, August 24, 1992 Negotiators try to make contact with Randy Weaver using a loud speaker. They address Vicki Weaver for the first time. No response is heard from the cabin. Assessment sent to crisis site includes proposal to use third parties in negotiations. August 24, 27-31 and September 1 1992 FBI conducts searches of the "Y" area. Tuesday, August 25, 1992 Negotiators continue efforts for Weaver/ Harris group to surrender. These efforts include statements directed specifically at Vicki Weaver. No response is heard from the cabin. Wednesday, August 26, 1992 At 10:53 a.m., The Rules of Engagement that were in effect since the arrival of the HRT on August 22 are revoked. At the direction of Glenn, the FBI's Standard Deadly Force Policy replaces the Rules of Engagement to guide law enforcement personnel deployed on cabin perimeter concerning the use of deadly force. . . At approximately 3:00 p.m. the first contact is made with Randy Weaver. Weaver says he wants to talk to his sister, Marnis Joy. Thursday, August 27, 1992 Marnis Joy attempts to speak with Randy Weaver, but is unsuccessful. Friday, August 28, 1992 Further attempts by Marnis Joy to speak with Weaver are unsuccessful. At 5:15 p.m., Weaver states he will talk to Bo Gritz. At 6:58 p.m., Bo Gritz enters the Weaver compound in APC. Gritz speaks with Weaver at the cabin. Weaver advises him that Vicki Weaver was killed and that the and Kevin Harris have been wounded. Saturday, August 29, 1992 Gritz and Weaver family friend, Jackie Brown, speak with Weaver, his daughter and Kevin Harris at the cabin. At 5:07 p.m., Jackie Brown enters Weaver cabin. At 9:10 p.m., she advises of status of Weaver and Kevin Harris. Sunday, August 30, 1992 In mid-morning, Harris decides to surrender after talking with Gritz and Jack McLamb, a retired police officer assisting Gritz in the negotiations. At 6:27 p.m., Jackie Brown and Bo Gritz carry Vicki Weaver's body from the cabin. After delivering the body, Jacie Brown returns to the cabin to clean the blood from the floor. Monday, August 31, 1992 At 9:40 a.m., Gritz and McLamb return to the cabin to begin negotiations. Later, Randy Weaver and his children surrender. In the late morning, FBI Special Agent Larry Wages discovers bullet intact at center of the "Y." Because a photographer was unavailable to label and photograph the bullet, Wages removed it before participating in a search of the Weaver cabin. Later that day he returned the bullet and had it photographed at the spot where it was originally retrieved. This bullet later receives the designation L-1 and is referred to as the "pristine bullet" by the defense. August 31, September 1 and September 10, 1992 Searches of the Weaver cabin, grounds and outbuildings are conducted under the supervision of the FBI. September 3 and September 8, 1992 U.S. Attorney Ellsworth requests FBI Special Agent in Charge Glenn to present and produce a broad range of documents for use in discovery and at trail. September 10, 1992 A combined preliminary examination and detention hearing for Weaver begins before U.S. Magistrate Judge Williams. September 11, 1992 U.S. Attorney Ellsworth argues motion to continue preliminary hearing of Harris from September 14 to September 15. He enters into stipulation with defense counsel Nevin and represents that Harris will have a preliminary hearing on September 15. September 15, 1992 Preliminary Hearing of Harris begins before U.S. Magistrate Judge Boyle. [G.J.] September 16, 1992 Grand Jury indicts Harris and Weaver for the assault and murder of Deputy Marshal Degan. Defense Counsel Nevin makes an oral motion to quash the indictment against Harris. Magistrate Judge Boyle took the matter under advisement and began the detention phase of the hearing. After hearing argument from the parties Judge Wiliams, who was presiding over the Weaver preliminary hearing decided to terminate that hearing and to proceed to the detention hearing phase. September 17, 1992 Judge Boyle denies Harris' motion to quash the indictment and begins the detention phase of the proceeding. Weaver pleads not guilty to aiding and abetting Deputy Marshal Degan's murder. September 18, 1992 Harris pleads innocent to murdering Deputy Marshal Degan. September 23, 1992 Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindquist and Special Agent Rampton travel to Quantico, Virginia to meet with HRT Commander Rogers. Rogers resists providing the operations plan and signed statements of HRT members to Lindquist. September 30, 1992 The investigative team from the FBI Inspection Division issues a Shooting Incident Report - which contained its findings from its administrative inquiry into the shootings by the HRT at Ruby Ridge. October 1, 1992 The grand jury returns a superseding 10 count indictment against Weaver and Harris which added a conspiracy count, among others, to earlier charges. October 16, 1992 The Government and the defendants enter into a discovery stipulation to provide the reciprocal disclosure of materials. Late October, 1992 Deputy Marshals Robert Masaitis and John Stafford and BATF Agents Herbert Byerly and Jane Hefner are assigned to assist the USAO in preparing the case for trial. October 30, 1992 Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen, Deputy Marshals Stafford, Mesaitis and Hunt and Sheriff Whittaker participate in an experiment at Ruby Ridge to determine if they could distinguish the types of weapons heard and whether echoes were heard. First team meeting is held in Post Falls, Idaho, with members from the USAO, FBI, USMS, and BATF in attendance. November 9, 1992 The FBI Shooting Incident Review Group issues a 4-page report concluding that no administrative action necessary regarding the shootings by the HRT at Ruby Ridge. November 16, 1992 Weaver and Harris file formal motions to dismiss the indictments against them alleging that their preliminary hearings had been improperly terminated. November 19, 1992 The grand jury returns a Second Superseding Indictment against Weaver and Harris. The indictment charges violations of 18 U.S.C. 2, 3, 111, 115, 371, 922 (g) (2), 924 (c) (1), 1071, 1111, 1114, 3146 (a) (1) and 3147 and 26 U.S.C. 5861 (d) and (f). The case proceeds to trial on this indictment. December 22, 1992 The diagram of the "Y" generated by the FBI Visual Information Specialists is discovered to be inaccurate. January 6, 1993 Magistrate Judge Williams issues a Report Recommendation and Order denying Weaver's motion to dismiss because of the alleged improper termination of the Weaver preliminary hearing. January 6, 1993 Magistrate Judge Boyle issues Report, Order and Recommendation denying Harris' motion to dismiss because of alleged improper termination of the Weaver preliminary hearing. January 7, 1993 Meeting between officials from Department of Justice and the FBI Headquarters to discuss the discovery dispute in the Weaver matter. January 8, 1993 A conference is held in the chambers of U.S. District Judge Lodge. The defense requests a trail continuance from February 2 1993 due to the volume of evidence and because the FBI Laboratory examinations were not completed and provided. Judge Lodge admonishes the prosecutors to have the FBI Laboratory complete the exams and provide the results to the defense quickly. Weaver and Harris file a joint Motion to Disqualify the U.S. Attorney's Office, To Dismiss the Indictments, To Strike Prejudicial Allegations, To Order an Evidentiary Hearing and for a Continuance Pending an Investigation by the U.S. Attorney General and Pending Interlocutory Appeals by the Parties. FBI Headquarters sends Shooting Incident Report to the Boise Resident Agency with instructions that the USAO could review but not copy the report. January 12, 1993 FBI Headquarter sends remaining documents involved in the discovery dispute with USAO to Boise Resident Agency with the instructions that the USAO may review, but not copy the documents. January 20, 1993 Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindquist reviews at the Boise Resident Agency the documents at issue in the discovery dispute between the USAO and the FBI. February 17, 1993 District Judge Lodge issues order adopting ruling of the magistrate judges to reject Weaver and Harris' motion to dismiss the indictments based on the alleged improper termination of the preliminary hearing. March 22-23, 1993 Additional searches of the "Y" and the Weaver cabin and grounds are conducted. March 23, 1993 Department of Justice officials hold second meeting with FBI officials in an attempt to resolve the discovery dispute between the USAO and the FBI. April 7, 1993 Prosecution produces the Shooting Incident Report to the defense. Early April 1993 Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen meets with Special Agent Wages to discuss his trial testimony. Wages informs Howen that the "Y" scenes photographs were taken after the bullets had been removed and replaced. Howen takes notes of this disclosure. April 10, 1993 Prosecution produces the Situation Reports and the Operations Plan to defense. April 12, 1993 Prosecution produces the Shooting Incident Review Group memo and the Marshal's Critique to the defense. April 13, 1993 The Harris/Weaver trial begins in federal court in Boise, Idaho before the Honorable Edward Lodge. April 13, 1993 The defense files an ex parte application for subpoenas duces tecum. Included among the requested subpoenas is one to FBI Inspector Miller to bring any and all records used by the Shooting Incident Review Team; other subpoenas requested the FBI and the Marshals Service to produce copies of certain manual provisions and personnel files. April 14, 1993 Judge Lodge approved the defense ex parte application for subpoenas duces tecum. April 14 or 15, 1993 At FBI Headquarters, Brian Callihan of the Civil Litigation Unit is informed of the defense subpoena seeking the Shooting Incident Report and supporting materials. April 20, 1993 Government informant Fadeley reveals on the cross examination that he was expecting a monetary award following his work in the Weaver case. April 21, 1993 Defense moves to strike the testimony of Fadeley arguing that he was a contingent fee witness. April 23, 1993 Defense files a motion to hold the government in contempt or to compel it to produce the personnel files and manual provisions subpoenaed on April 14. Later that day, the USAO files a motion for a protective order. April 23-May 3, 1993 The court recessed the trial. On April 24, Howen interviews Captain David Neal and other members of the Idaho State Police CRT, who rescued the marshals late on August 21, 1992. April 30, 1993 Callihan requests the Civil Discovery Review Unit of the FBI Legal Counsel Division to "locate and process for release" documents responsive to the defense subpoena for the Shooting Incident Report. This request is assigned to Monique Wilson. May 11, 1993 Monique Wilson forwards to Brian Callihan the documents responsive to the defense subpoena for the shooting incident report. May 12, 1993 USAO files Henthorn certificates for the personnel files of Horiuchi, Roderick, Cooper and Degan. May 17, 1993 Judge Lodge denies the motion to strike the Fadeley testimony. May 20, 1993 Special Agent Calley finds additional notes of the Cooper interview and the draft FD-302 in his desk. May 21, 1993 Howen advises the court and defense counsel that, three weeks earlier, he had interviewed David Neal, the Idaho Police Captain who rescued the marshals on August 21st, and that during this interview Neal indicated that it was his impression from a statement made by Deputy Marshal Roderick that Roderick fired the first shot. The court calls a recess to give the defense the opportunity to interview Neal. Howen informs the court and the defense of the notes FBI Special Agent Calley found in his desk drawer. These notes related to the August 1992 interviews of Deputy Marshal Cooper and appeared to contradict Cooper's trial testimony about critical events. Howen produces the notes to the defense. Brian Callihan prepares package containing documents responsive to the defense subpoena for the Shooting Incident Report and transmits it to the FBI mail room. May 23-24, 1993 Sometime during this period, Special Agent Wages during his trial preparation reminded Howen about the circumstances surrounding the taking of the L series photographs. May 25, 1993 Howen discloses to the court the circumstances surrounding the taking of the L series photographs and produces additional search photographs, some of which appear to be pictures of the L bullets before being removed. June 4, 1993 HRT sniper Lon Horiuchi completes his testimony. Documents responsive to the April 13, 1993 defense subpoenas to the FBI and that were mailed by the FBI on May 21, 1993, are received at the U.S. Attorney's Office. Judge Lodge calls action "totally inexcusable." June 9, 1993 Judge Lodge fines the government $3240 for failing to comply with the courts discovery order to produce materials in a timely manner and orders that Lon Horiuchi be returned for further questioning. June 11, 1993 Judge Lodge dismisses two counts of the ten count indictment (Count Six charged violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 111, and Count Eight charged a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g) (2)) in the indictment for lack of evidence. June 16, 1993 Jury deliberation begin on the 42nd day of the trial. July 8, 1993 The jury acquits Weaver and Harris for the murder of Deputy Marshal Degan. Harris is also acquitted of all other charges against him. Weaver is convicted on Count Three (Failure to Appear, 18 U.S.C. § 3146 (A) (1)) and Count Nine (Committing an Offense While on Release. 18 U.S..C § 3147 (1)) and found not guilty on all other counts. Weaver is incarcerated pending sentencing. August 19-20, 1993 The Boundary County Sheriff's Office conducts a search of the vicinity around the Weaver cabin, including the "Y". October 18, 1993 Weaver is sentenced to 18 months incarceration, three years probation and receives $10,000 fine upon conviction for failure to appear and committing an offense while on release. October 26, 1993 Judge Lodge issues an order imposing a $1920 fine against the FBI. This fine represented the attorney fees paid to defense counsel when Horiuchi had to be called back to testify because of the untimely production of certain Shooting Incident Report materials. Judge Lodge was critical of the FBI's actions in producing discoverable materials. December 18, 1993 Weaver is released from incarceration. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. IDENTIFICATION OF PARTICIPANTS AYERS, Stephen M. U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Idaho. Judge Ayers handled the arraignment of Weaver on illegal weapons charges on January 18, 1991 and at that time scheduled Weaver's trial for February 19, 1991. BAMFORD, Warren Sniper/observer, FBI, Hostage Rescue Team ("HRT"), Quantico, Virginia. Member of Sierra 2 team at Ruby Ridge. BARKER, Jerome Anders Sniper/observer, FBI, HRT, Quantico, Virginia. Member of Sierra 3 team at Ruby Ridge. BIEHL, Dana Deputy Chief, Terrorism and Violent Crime Section, Criminal Division, Department of Justice. Biehl was involved in resolving the discovery disputes between the USAO and the FBI. BINNEY, David G. Deputy Director, FBI and former Assistant Director, Inspection Division, FBI Headquarters, Washington D.C. The Inspection Division conducted an investigation into the August 22, 1992 shooting at Ruby Ridge. BOTTING, James M. Special Agent, FBI, Los Angeles, member of FBI hostage negotiation team at Ruby Ridge. BOYLE, Laurence U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Idaho. Judge Boyle conducted the preliminary hearing of Randy Weaver. BROWN, Jackie Friend of the Weaver family. Assisted Bo Gritz in negotiations with Weaver at Ruby Ridge. BURKE, E. MacArthur Special Agent, FBI, Seattle, Washington. Member of FBI hostage negotiation team at Ruby Ridge. BUTLER, Richard A leader in the Aryan Nation. BYERLY, Herbert G. Special Agent, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ("BATF"). Agent Byerly investigated and submitted a case report to the U.S. Attorney's office recommending the prosecution of Weaver for selling illegal guns. In addition he assisted in the trial preparation of the Weaver case. CADIGAN, James J. Supervisory Special Agent, Firearms and Toolmarks Unit, Laboratory Division, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Principal examiner at the FBI Laboratory in the Weaver case. CALLEY, George Special Agent, FBI, Boise, Idaho. Calley participated in the crime scene research at Ruby Ridge and the interviews of the marshals involved in the shooting incident on August 21, 1992. CALLIHAN, Brian Supervisory Special Agent, Legal Counsel Division, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Callihan supervised the FBI response to the defense subpoena seeking the shooting incident report and supporting material. CLUFF, J. Bradley "Jack" Senior Deputy, U.S. Marshals Service and Resident Officer, Moscow, idaho. Conducted background investigation on Weaver for threat assessment. COOPER, Larry T. Deputy U.S. Marshal, U.S. Marshals Service, Jefferson City, Missouri. Member of the six-man team at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992 who was involved in shooting incident at the "Y." COSTANZA, Frank Special Agent, FBI, HRT, Quantico, Virginia. HRT helicopter pilot who flew reconnaissance missions at Ruby Ridge on August 22, 1992. COULSON, Danny O. FBI Special Agent in Charge, Baltimore, Maryland. Formerly FBI Deputy Assistant Director, Criminal Investigative Division, FBI Headquarters. CURRAN, Christopher Sniper/observer, FBI, HRT, Quantico, Virginia. Member of Sierra 3 team at Ruby Ridge. DAVIS, James Special Agent, FBI, Spokane, Washington. Had investigated Aryan Nations cases prior to 1992 and assisted in Weaver/Harris investigation. DEGAN, William F. Deputy U.S. Marshal, U.S. Marshals Service, Boston, Massachusetts. Killed in shootout at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992. DILLON, T. Michael Supervisory Senior Resident Agent, FBI, Boise, Idaho. DOLAN, John T. Special Agent, San Diego, California. Member of the FBI hostage negotiation team at Ruby Ridge. EKSTROM, Lonnie Former Chief Deputy Sheriff, Boundary County Sheriff's Office, Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Participated in local law enforcement investigation at Ruby Ridge. ELLSWORTH, Maurice O. U.S. Attorney for District of Idaho during investigation and prosecution of Weaver and Harris. EVANS, Gale Richard Unit Chief, Violent Crime Unit, Criminal Investigative Division, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. EVANS, Ronald D. Former Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal(retired), Boise, Idaho. FACKLER, Dr. Martin Contracted with government as forensic specialist in wound ballistics at trial of Weaver and Harris. FADELEY, Kenneth Former BATF informant who bought two sawed-off shotguns from Randy Weaver in 1989. GLENN, Eugene F. Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Salt Lake City, Utah. Senior FBI agent at Ruby Ridge following August 21 shooting. GORE, William D. Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Seattle, Washington. Provided management assistance to Special Agent in Charge Glenn at Ruby Ridge. GOW, W. Douglas FBI Associate Deputy Director, Investigations, FBI Headquarters. Participated in FBI Headquarters decisions regarding operational plan after shooting incident at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992. GRAHAM, Richard K. Former Special Agent, FBI. Contracted by prosecution as metal detection expert for search of crime scene. GRIDER, William & Judy Husband and wife who were friends and neighbors of Randy and Vicki Weaver. Bill Grider relayed messages to and from Marshals Service and the Weavers during the Spring 1991 regarding surrender negotiations. GRITZ, James Gordon "Bo" Retired Green Beret and presidential candidate. Nongovernment negotiator brought in to negotiate the surrender of Weaver and Harris at Ruby Ridge. GROVER, Cyrus Visual Information Specialists, FBI Laboratory, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Member of Shooting Incident Review Team who measured distances at crime scene. HAAG, Lucian C. Criminologist, Carefree, Arizona. retained by prosecution at trial as forensic specialist in shooting reconstruction. HALL, John C. Supervisory Special Agent, Legal Instruction Unit, Quantico, Virginia. HARRIS, Kevin Harris was a member of the Weaver household and was involved in the shootout with Deputy U.S. Marshals on August 21, 1992. On August 22, 1992, Harris was wounded by shots fired by a member of FBI HRT. In July, 1993, a jury acquitted Harris of all charges in connection with the killing of Deputy Marshal Degan. HAYNES, John U.S. Marshals Service Special Operations Group ("SOG") Commander, SOG Tactical Center Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. First notified of Weaver situation in late March, 1991. Deployed SOG personnel to Ruby Ridge after shooting incident on August 21, 1991. HAZEN, Lester B. Special Agent, FBI HRT, (sniper/ observant coordinator), Quantico, Virginia. HOFFMEISTER, Everett Attorney appointed by Magistrate Judge Ayers in January 1991 to represent Weaver on illegal weapons charges. HORIUCHI, Lon T. Sniper/observer, FBI, HRT, Quantico, Virginia. Member of Sierra 4 team at Ruby Ridge. He fired two shots on evening of August 22, 1992, that killed Vicki Weaver and wounded Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris. HOWEN, Ronald D. Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Idaho. He was the lead attorney in the prosecution of Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris. In addition, he represented the U.S. Attorney's Office during the investigation at Ruby Ridge after the shooting on August 21, 1992. HUDSON, Henry Acting Director of the U.S. Marshals Service during the time that the U.S. Marshals Service was formulating plans to effect the arrest of Weaver on failure to appear charges after Weaver's failure to appear in February 1991. Hudson was confirmed as Director, in August, 1991 and approved the operational plan to proceed with "Operation Northern Exposure" prior to the shooting incident on August 21, 1992 at Ruby Ridge. HUFNAGEL, William U.S. Marshals Service, Enforcement Division. Part of the U.S. Marshals Service surveillance team at Ruby Ridge, prior to August, 1992. HUMMEL, Terrance A. Chief U.S. Probation Officer who notified court and U.S. Attorney's Office of letter from U.S. Parole Officer Richins to Randy Weaver which had included incorrect trial date. HUNT, David Senior Deputy U.S. Marshal, Boise, Idaho. Assisted with Weaver threat assessment profile and was a member of U.S. Marshal's Service team conducting surveillance of Weavers in the Spring of 1992. He was a member of Observation Post Team at Ruby Ridge when shooting incident occurred on August 21, 1992. He reported the incident to U.S. Marshals Service Headquarters and local law enforcement. IMBROGNO, Cynthia U.S. Magistrate Judge, Spokane, Washington. Judge Imbrogno conducted the initial appearance of Kevin Harris at a hospital in Spokane on September 2, 1992. INCONTRO, Mary Deputy Chief, Terrorism and Violent Crime Section, Criminal Division, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. Incontro participated in efforts to resolve the discovery problems between the USAO and the FBI. JEPPESON, Alan Friend of Randy Weaver who conveyed offer of negotiations from U.S. Marshals Service to Weaver. JOHNSON, Michael U.S. Marshal for the District of Idaho. JOY, Marnis Sister of Randy Weaver who was brought to Ruby Ridge in an attempt to begin negotiations with Weaver during standoff. JURGENSEN, Mark Deputy U.S. Marshal, Seattle. He was to have been undercover marshal acting as land owner near Weaver property in "ruse" to effect arrest of Weaver in later phase of "Operation Northern Exposure". He arrived at Ruby Ridge after the shooting incident on August 21, 1992 and assisted marshals who had been involved in the shooting incident. KAHL, Gordon Head of a militant anti-tax group, the Posse Comitatus who was killed in shootout with U.S. Marshals in 1983. KAHOE, E. Michael Section Chief, Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Section, Criminal Investigative Division, FBI Headquarters. KEENEY, John C. Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice. Keeney reviewed the request of the U.S. Attorney's office, Boise, to seek application of the death penalty against Weaver and Harris. KELLER, Ken Reporter for Kootenai Valley Times, Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Contacted U.S. probation office about February 7, 1991, letter to Weaver advising of erroneous trial date. KELLY, Mike Special Agent, BATF. produced information to U.S. Marshals Service about Weaver after Weaver failed to appear for trial in February, 1991. KOENIG, Bruce Supervisory Special Agent, Engineering Section, Operational Support Unit, Engineering Research Facility, FBI, Quantico, Virginia. Consulted with prosecutors on acoustical testing at Ruby Ridge. KUMNICK, Francis "Frank" Frequently visited Randy Weaver and associated with members of the Aryan Nations. Suspected by BATF of dealing in illegal firearms. LANCELEY, Frederick W. Former Supervisory Special Agent, FBI, Quantico, Virginia. Lead hostage negotiator at Ruby Ridge. LIBBY, Ron Deputy U.S. Marshal. Tactical Medic, Headquarters Witness Security Unit. Participated in surveillance at Ruby Ridge from April 2-12, 1992. LIMA, Wilson FBI Hostage Negotiator, Salt Lake City Division. Member of FBI hostage negotiation team at Ruby Ridge. LINDHOLM, Dr. Charles R. Physician, Spokane, Washington. Performed autopsies on William Degan, Sammy Weaver and Vicki Weaver. LINDQUIST, Kim Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Idaho. Lindquist participated with Assistant U.S. Attorney Howen in the prosecution of Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris. LODGE, Edward J. Judge, U.S. District Court, Boise, Idaho, who presided over the trial of Weaver and Harris. LOVE, Roger Sniper/observer, FBI, HRT, Quantico, Virginia. Member of Sierra 1 team at Ruby Ridge. MARGOLIS, David Associate Deputy Attorney General, formerly Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division. Margolis reviewed the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Boise, to seek application of the death penalty against Weaver and Harris. MASAITIS, Robert Deputy U.S. Marshal, U.S. Marshals Service, Denver, Colorado. Masaitis was selected by the U.S. Marshals Service to participate as case agent in assisting prosecution in the preparation of the Weaver case for trial. MATHEWS, Robert Founder of a white supremacist group called "The Order" who was killed during a 35-hour standoff at a house on Whidbey Island, Washington, in December 1984. He was quoted in a letter from Vicki Weaver to U.S. Attorney's Office, Boise, Idaho, in February 1991. MAYS, Warren Deputy U.S. Marshal, Boise, Idaho. Mays prepared a threat assessment of Vicki Weaver as the result of two letters she sent to the U.S. Attorney's Office in February, 1991. McGAVIN, Stephen P. Supervisory Special Agent, Deputy Commander, FBI HRT, Quantico, Virginia. McLAMB, Gerald Jackson, Jack" Former Phoenix, Arizona police officer, non-government negotiator who helped resolve crisis at Ruby Ridge. MILLER, Thomas W. Assistant Special Agent in Charge FBI, Louisville who headed Inspection Team from the Inspection Division which investigated the August 22 shooting by the HRT at Ruby Ridge and prepared a report of the shooting incident. MONROE, Dale R. Sniper/observer, FBI, HRT, Quantico, Virginia. Member of Sierra 4 team at Ruby Ridge. MONTGOMERY, Robin L. Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Portland, Oregon. Gave management assistance to Special Agent in Charge Glenn during standoff at Ruby Ridge. MORIARITY, Michael Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal, Spokane, Washington. MUELLER, Robert Former Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice. NEAL, David L. Commander of the Idaho State Police Critical Response Team, ("CRT") who led CRT group to rescue marshals from Ruby Ridge after shooting incident on August 21, 1992. NEVIN, David Z. Attorney, Boise, Idaho. Nevin was defense counsel for Kevin Harris. NORRIS, Frank Deputy U.S. Marshal, Tactical Medic, Headquarters. He was selected by the U.S. Marshals Service team leader Roderick to go to Ruby Ridge in mid-August, 1992 for future reconnaissance of Weaver property. Member of Observation Post team at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992 when shooting incident occurred. PEREZ, Jose Antonio "Tony" Chief of Enforcement Operations, U.S. Marshals Service, Headquarters. involved in developing and planning operations to effect arrest of Randy Weaver. PETERSON, Charles F. Attorney, Boise, Idaho. Peterson was defense counsel for Randy Weaver. POTTS, Larry A. Assistant Director, Criminal Investigation Division, FBI Headquarters. Chief FBI representative involved in formulating response to shooting incident at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992 who made decision to deploy HRT. RAMPTON, Gregory Special Agent, FBI, Boise, Idaho. Rampton and Joseph Venkus were assigned as the FBI case agents assigned to the investigation and prosecution of the Weaver/Harris case. RAU, Wayne and Ruth Neighbors of the Weavers who complained of theft and threats of violence by the Weavers and Harris. Their property was used as base of operations by U.S. Marshals Service and other law enforcement personnel during crisis at Ruby Ridge on August 21-31, 1992. REYNOLDS, James Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division and former Chief, Terrorism and Violent Crimes Section, Criminal Division, Department of Justice. Reynolds and others in his Section consulted with the FBI and Boise USAO on discovery, indictment and death penalty issues. RICHARD, Mark Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, department of Justice. Richard consulted with the FBI concerning the scope of the indictment and the discoverability of certain documents. RICHINS, Karl L. U.S. Probation Officer who sent a letter to Weaver on February 7, 1991 that erroneously noted that the trial date was March 20, 1991 rather than February 20, 1991. ROACH, Jim Deputy Director for Operations, U.S. Marshals Service. Gave approval in late March, 1992 for undercover plan to effect arrest of Weaver. RODERICK, Arthur Branch Chief, Enforcement Division U.S. Marshals Service, Headquarters. Headed team of marshals responsible for conducting surveillance of Weaver property and developed plan to effect arrest of Randy Weaver. Member of reconnaissance team who was involved in shooting incident on August 21, 1992. ROGERS, Richard Commander of the FBI HRT. Primary architect of the Rules of Engagement adopted at Ruby Ridge crisis. RYAN, Harold Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho. Judge Ryan issued a bench warrant charging Randy Weaver with failure to appear on February 20, 1991. SAULS, John G. Supervisory Special Agent, Legal Instruction Unit, Quantico, Virginia. Consulted by FBI Headquarters on Rules of Engagement used at Ruby Ridge. SEXTON, Gregory Special Agent, FBI, Denver, Colorado. Denver SWAT team leader. SIGLER, Lloyd FBI HRT intelligence officer at HRT command post at Ruby Ridge. SINCLAIR, George Special Agent, FBI. team leader for exterior search of the grounds and outbuildings near the Weaver cabin. SMITH, G. Wayne "Duke" U.S. Marshals Service, Associate Director for Operations. Travelled with FBI HRT from Quantico, Virginia to Ruby Ridge in August 1992 and consulted with the FBI on formulating Rules of Engagement. Represented U.S. Marshals Service Headquarters at Ruby Ridge throughout efforts to effect arrest of Weaver and Harris. SPENSE, Gerald R. (Gerry) Attorney, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Spense was defense counsel for Randy Weaver. SPRUNGL, Greg Deputy Sheriff, Boundary County, Idaho. Assisted in crime scene searches at Ruby Ridge. STAFFORD, John W. Deputy U.S. Marshal, U.S. Marshals Service, San Francisco, California. Stafford was selected by the U.S. Marshals Service to participate as case agent in assisting the prosecution in preparing the Weaver case for trial. STAGG, Louis E. U.S. Marshals Service, Deputy Commander SOG. Led SOG reconnaissance teams at Ruby Ridge in mid-June 1991 and then was involved in the deployment and command of SOG at Ruby Ridge after the shooting incident on August 21, 1992. STRICKFADEN, Edwin D. Major, Idaho State Police. Commander of ISP officers at Ruby Ridge. TAISTER, Michael Visual Information Specialist, FBI Laboratory, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Member of Shooting Incident Review Team, who measured distances at crime scene. TERWILLIGER, George Former Deputy U.S. Attorney General. Terwilliger was briefed by U.S. Marshals Service on operational plan, and along with Acting Director USMS Hudson, rejected "lethal" and "non-lethal" plans. THOMAS, Joe Member of the Observation Post unit of the six-man U.S. Marshals Service team at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992. THUNDERCLOUD, Mark Special Agent, FBI, Spokane, Washington. Assisted Special Agent Venkus in handling search at the "Y" and prepared crime scene sketch. TILTON, Mark Sniper/observer, FBI, HRT, Quantico, Virginia. Member of Sierra 1 team at Ruby Ridge. TORRENCE, Ed and Beverly Husband and wife who owned property near the Weavers and told U.S. Marshals Service of encounters and discussions with Weavers. TWOMEY, John Deputy Director, U.S. Marshals Service, Arlington, Virginia. VENKUS, Joseph V. Special Agent, FBI, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Venkus, along with Gregory Rampton were responsible for assisting the USAO in the investigation and preparation of the Weaver case. In addition, he was responsible for developing search procedures and instructions for the searches at Ruby Ridge. WAGES, Larry B. Special Agent, FBI, El Paso, Texas. Wages was on of the first FBI agents at Ruby Ridge after the shooting incident on August 21, 1992. Wages was assigned search responsibilities during the initial search of the "Y" and directed later searches of the "Y". WEAVER, Elisheba 10-month-old daughter of Randy and Vicki Weaver in August 1992. WEAVER, Rachel Daughter of Randy and Vicki Weaver WEAVER, Randy Moved his family from Iowa to Boundary County, Idaho in 1983. His failure to appear for trial on illegal weapons charges in February 1991 led to efforts by the U.S. Marshals Service to effect his arrest. On August 21, 1992 he was involved in the shootout with a team of Deputy U.S. Marshals wherein his son, Sammy and Deputy Marshal Degan were killed. On August 22, 1992 he was shot and wounded by shots fired by FBI HRT member Horiuchi. Weaver surrendered to the FBI on August 31, 1992. A jury acquitted Weaver of conspiracy, murder, and other charges, but found him guilty of failure to appear and one other count. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was released from incarceration on December 18, 1993. WEAVER, Samuel 13-year-old son of Randy and Vicki Weaver. Died in shootout with Deputy U.S. Marshals at Ruby Ridge on August 21, 1992. WEAVER, Sara 16-year-old daughter of Randy and Vicki Weaver. WEAVER, Vicki Wife of Randy Weaver who died as the result of shots fired by FBI HRT member Horiuchi on August 22, 1992. WENGER, Edward C., Jr. Sniper/observer, FBI, HRT, Quantico, Virginia. Member of Sierra 2 team at Ruby Ridge. WHITTAKER, Bruce Boundary County Sheriff. His office investigated complaints that Weaver had stolen property and threatened neighbors with violence. He coordinated local law enforcement efforts after the shooting incident on August 21, 1992. WILLEY, Rodney Associate of Randy Weaver who conveyed messages between Weaver and the marshals in the Spring/Summer of 1991. WILLIAMS, Mikel H. U.S. Magistrate Judge, Boise, Idaho. Judge Williams conducted the preliminary hearing for Kevin Harris in September 1992. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [end]