Prosecutors announced on Monday that they will not retry an Arizona rancher whose trial in the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property ended last week with a deadlocked jury.
The jurors in the trial of George Alan Kelly were unable to reach a unanimous decision on a verdict after more than two days of deliberation. Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink declared a mistrial on April 22.
Following the mistrial, the Santa Cruz County Attorney's Office had the choice to retry Kelly or drop the case.
"Due to the unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case, the Santa Cruz County Attorney's Office has opted not to pursue a retrial," Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley informed Fink on Monday.
Fink agreed to dismiss the case and mentioned that a hearing would be arranged later to decide if it would be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it couldn't be brought back to court.
Kelly's defense attorney Brenna Larkin informed the judge that she would file a request for the case to be dismissed with prejudice.
"We're hoping we get the dismissal with prejudice, we'll see how we go," Larkin said Monday, according to CBS affiliate KOLD-TV. "I'm glad it's over. We got the right result. I would have preferred a not guilty verdict and then this would be gone forever and then they would never have to worry about this."
When a reporter from the Tucson TV station KGUN asked for Kelly's reaction outside the courthouse, he said he felt "relief."
"The nightmare's over," Kelly added, saying that the victim's family "has my sincere sympathy."
Kelly was trailed by protesters demonstrating on behalf of 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, who was fatally shot on Jan. 30, 2023.
"Gabriel was a human being," said one sign carried by protesters.
"Someone walking 100 yards away is not a threat," read another, which called for a retrial.
"It's not an issue for me about punishing Mr. Kelly. It's about looking at the victim as a human being because at the trial really what happened was the man who was killed was put on trial," said protestor Trayce Peterson, according to KOLD.
The 75-year-old Kelly had been on trial for nearly a month in Nogales, a city on the border with Mexico. The rancher had been charged with second-degree murder in the killing outside Nogales, Arizona.
Jose Cuen-Buitimea had been residing just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico. He was part of a group of men that Kelly encountered on his cattle ranch that day. Kelly claimed to have fired warning shots from an AK-47 rifle towards the group, with Cuen-Buitimea being about 100 yards away. However, Kelly argued that he did not aim directly at anyone.
Prosecutors accused Kelly of recklessly firing nine shots towards the men, leading to the death of Cuen-Buitimea. The trial took place during a presidential election year, bringing attention to border security issues. Jurors were taken to Kelly's ranch and a section of the U.S.-Mexico border as part of the proceedings.
Prior to the trial, Kelly had turned down a plea deal offered by prosecutors, which would have reduced the charges to one count of negligent homicide in exchange for a guilty plea. In addition to the charges related to Cuen-Buitimea's death, Kelly was also accused of aggravated assault against another individual in the group.
