Katie Aguilera

Lawyers for FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita have filed a motion to exclude the expert reports and testimony of several witnesses for the prosecution in Astarita’s case.  Astarita is accused of firing two shots at Robert ‘LaVoy’ Finicum on January 26, 2016 and subsequently lying about it.   The two shots did not hit Finicum, but one struck the roof of Finicum’s truck.

The shooting occurred at a road block set up to stop and arrest leaders of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as they traveled along Highway 395 to John Day, Oregon.  Finicum was shot and killed by Oregon State Police (OSP) officers at the road block after exiting his vehicle and appearing to reach for his pocket.  An investigation of the shooting concluded there were two shots fired during the stop that were unaccounted for.

The prosecution’s case against Astarita relies in large part on the 3D reconstructions and diagrams created by several expert witnesses that concluded only Astarita was in position to fire the two shots that are unaccounted for.

In the defense motion, filed April 4, 2018, it is argued, “because the government has no photographic, video, ballistic, or eyewitness proof that Special Agent Astarita fired his weapon, this assumption [of his firing the two shots] rests entirely on the proposed testimony of the so-called experts.”

The reason no such video exists is because the FBI Hostage Rescue Team requested the OSP officers not wear body cameras during the road block.  OSP officers normally wear body cameras when deployed.  Additionally, the shell casings from the two shots, as well as casings from some of the shots fired by OSP officers, were missing from the scene.

The defense goes on to question the accuracy of the experts’ conclusions, the expertise of the witnesses, and the methods used in their investigations.  It states, “the Court cannot allow experts to present conclusions on such important issues in a criminal trial without ample assurances of reliability.  The government and its purported experts have failed to provide such assurances here…”

Astarita has pleaded not guilty to three counts of making a false statement and two counts of obstruction of justice.  A hearing to determine what experts’ testimony will be allowed in the trial is scheduled for May 21, 2018.