“I Am Very Biased”: Juror Swap Precedes Acquittal

The jury spent five weeks hearing a case about a 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by anti-government protesters. Then, according to one juror who passed a note to the judge, Juror No. 11 started deliberations by saying, “I am very biased.” U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown on Wednesday dismissed the juror – a former employee of the Bureau of Land Management – and introduced an alternate to reduce the potential for mistrial. The next day the jury acquitted the leaders of the standoff, finding that brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy were not guilty of having a firearm in a federal facility and conspiring to impede federal workers from performing their jobs.