Federal judge: Bundy brothers should be housed in same jail

[struggle4progress]

By Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on July 11, 2016 at 2:42 PM, updated July 11, 2016 at 6:26 PM

A federal judge Monday ordered the Multnomah County sheriff's office to return Ammon Bundy to the downtown Portland jail, so he can be housed near his brother Ryan Bundy as they prepare a joint defense in the pending Oregon standoff case.

Calling the federal conspiracy case against the Bundys and their co-defendants an "exceptional case'' and the Bundys' ties an "exceptional relationship,'' U.S. District Robert E. Jones issued the order after a morning hearing.

While county jail officials prefer not to house co-defendants together, the judge said he had the authority to make an "exception'' to the jail's rules. Ammon Bundy had been moved last week from the downtown jail to Inverness Jail in Northeast Portland.

The judge also said he would make sure any sheriff's deputies who are standing guard by the Bundys as they make calls from jail to their lawyers do not share what they may have inadvertently overheard with anybody else. Ammon Bundy had complained that deputies standing by him were listening to his calls ...

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/07/federal_judge_bundy_brothers_s.html

[pipoman]

1. A joint defense requires a lot of communication....

Sounds like a typical routine motions hearing moving toward a trial.