David Codrea: Appeals court deals latest blow to Reese family by overturning new trial

The Reese family will not get the new trial a District Court judge ordered over a year ago, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. That ruling had been issued because the prosecution withheld evidence from the defense and from jurors that a witness against the embattled former gun dealers, Deputy Allen Batts of the Luna County Sheriff’s Department, was himself the subject of an FBI investigation, a fact that wasn’t brought to light until four months after the 2012 trial had ended.

“The district court concluded that the government had indeed withheld favorable, material evidence from Defendants and accordingly granted their motion,” the court acknowledged before issuing its reversal. “There is not a reasonable probability that the trial’s outcome would have been different had the government disclosed the investigation. We therefore reverse the district court’s order and remand this case for further proceedings.”

This latest ruling is another in a series of heavy blows against a family which has endured an ordeal approaching three years. Arrested in 2011 for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members while operating a New Mexico gun store, all Reese family members were found not guilty on the most serious charges of conspiracy. Additionally and significantly, money laundering charges against them were dismissed. Husband Rick, wife Terri and son Ryin were convicted on a handful of lesser charges of making false statements on forms, basically under the presumption that they should have known federal agents were lying, and son Remington was cleared of all charges.

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