Arizona

Prosecutors won’t retry Arizona rancher, 75, charged with murder of Mexican national on property after hung jury

Published

9 months ago

April 30, 2024

Prosecutors won’t retry Arizona rancher, 75, charged with murder of Mexican national on property after hung jury

Prosecutors have decided against retrying an Arizona rancher accused of fatally shooting a Mexican national who crossed onto his property near the southern border after his murder trial ended with a hung jury last week.

The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office decided to drop the highly politicized case against 75-year-old George Alan Kelly after jurors were unable to come to a consensus on a verdict following more than 48 hours of deliberation.

Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink declared a mistrial last Monday, which left the decision of whether to retry Kelly for the death of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48, up to the prosecutors.

“Because of the unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case, the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office has decided not to seek a retrial,” Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley told Fink Monday.

The judge agreed to dismiss the case and will set a hearing date to see if the dismissal will be without prejudice — which would make it so that the charges wouldn’t be able to be brought back to court.

Kelly’s lawyer Brenna Larkin plans to file a request for the case to be dismissed without prejudice.

In the meantime, the rancher said he felt “relief” when interviewed by a local reporter from KGUN as he left the courthouse.

“The nightmare’s over,” Kelly said.

He offered his “sincere sympathy” to Cuen-Buitimea’s family outside the courthouse where protesters had gathered to demand a retrial so that the victim could get justice.

“Gabriel was a human being,” one of the protesters had written across a sign.

Kelly, whose trial lasted nearly a month, had been charged with second-degree murder for the Jan. 30, 2023 shooting outside Nogales, Arizona.

His victim, Cuen-Buitimea, lived just south of the US-Mexican border in Nogales, Mexico. He was crossing Kelly’s Arizona cattle ranch with a group of other men when the elderly rancher fired nine shots from an AK-47 rifle toward them from about 100 yards away, according to prosecutors.

Kelly claimed the shots were only meant to be a warning and that he didn’t aim directly at anyone, but one of the bullets struck Cuen-Buitimea, killing him.

The case ignited debate across the country with the influx of migrants from the south coming into the US as Republicans have slammed President Biden for his handling of the border crisis as he is up for reelection.

GoFundMe campaigns created to support Kelly — who was initially held on $1 million bond — were forcibly shut down for violating the site’s policies on raising funds to benefit people accused of violent crimes.

With Post wires

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Arizona

Preview: Arizona at Texas Tech

Published

7 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Arizona carries a seven-game win streak and 5-0 start in Big 12 conference play into Lubbock to take on Texas Tech.

The Wildcats continued their winning ways on Tuesday with an 81-70 win over Baylor in what was a dominant performance by Arizona until late in the second half.

Texas Tech is off to an 12-4 start to the season and 3-2 start in conference play. The Red Raiders are coming off a 61-57 win at Kansas State last Tuesday.

Here is a preview for Saturday’s contest between Arizona and Texas Tech.

GAME INFO

Who: Arizona (11-5, 5-0) at Texas Tech (12-4, 3-2) (last game won 61-57 at Kansas State)

When: Noon (MST)

Where: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, Texas

TV: ESPN2

Odds: Texas Tech (-4) | O/U: 151

All-time series: Texas Tech leads 28-24

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Arizona

Arizona men’s basketball at Texas Tech: Game time, odds, streaming info and more

Published

15 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Arizona men’s basketball at Texas Tech: Game time, odds, streaming info and more

It’s Game Day!

The Arizona Wildcats are back on the road, where they’ve already won twice in Big 12 play, to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. This is their first meeting since 2013 and 53rd overall, with Tech holding a 28-24 advantage though the UA has won the last seven matchups.

Here’s all the info you need to watch, listen to or follow the game online:

Arizona-Texas Tech game time, details:

Date: Saturday, Jan. 18, 2024
Time: 12 p.m. MT
Location: United Supermakets Arena; Lubbock, Texas
Line: According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Arizona is a 5.5-point underdog and the over/under is 150.5. KenPom.com gives the UA a 36 percent chance of winning.

How can I watch Arizona-Texas Tech?

Arizona-Texas Tech will be shown on ESPN2. Dave Pasch (play-by-play) and Sean Farnham (analyst) will be calling the game.

How can I stream Arizona-Texas Tech online?

The stream of Arizona-Texas Tech can be streamed at ESPN.com.

How can I listen to Arizona-Texas Tech on the radio?

You can listen to Arizona-Texas Tech on Wildcats Sports Radio 1290 AM.

How can I follow Arizona-Texas Tech?

By following us on Twitter (X) at @AZDesertSwarm and our editor Brian Pedersen (@realBJP).

Arizona-Texas Tech pregame coverage:

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Arizona

SB Nation Reacts: Arizona fans weigh in on CFP title game

Published

23 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

SB Nation Reacts: Arizona fans weigh in on CFP title game

Arizona entered the 2024 season as one of many teams in college football believing it had a shot to make the expanded 12-team playoff despite an offseason of turmoil. Those hopes went away pretty quickly, with the Wildcats going 4-8 under first-year coach Brent Brennan.

To make matters worse, archrival ASU ended up being the Big 12 Conference’s playoff representative, though that did give UA fans a chance to laugh and post some jealousy laden memes after the Sun Devils fell to Texas in overtime in the quarterfinals.

All that’s left in the season is the College Football Playoff title game, set for Monday night in Atlanta between Notre Dame (14-1) and Ohio State (13-2). The Fighting Irish are seeking their first national championship since 1988 while the Buckeyes are going for their first since 2014.

Who do Arizona fans think will win? We asked, and a supermajority picked OSU.

SB Nation

The current line on the game is Ohio State -8.5, per FanDuel Sportsbook, and 40 percent of our voters think the Buckeyes will cover. Nearly that many think Notre Dame will win outright, which pays +290 on the moneyline.

A poll of all SB Nation readers has the most likely outcome being Ohio State wins but doesn’t cover. And as we all know, good teams win but great teams cover … which is another way to say Arizona was far from great in 2024 as in addition to going 4-8 overall it was 2-10 against the spread which was the worst record in FBS.