Above: Scott Warren speaks outside federal court in Tucson, Arizona after a mistrial was declared in the federal case against him. By Astrid Galvan for AP.
Note: Prosecutors have decided to retry Scott Warren after a hung jury refused to convict for giving water to migrants crossing the border. He will be retried for his humanitarian actions on two counts of harboring an undocumented immigrant. Warren could face up to 20 years in federal prison. US. District Judge Raner Collins set the start of the second trial for Nov. 12.
Here is Warren’s statement given outside the courthouse after he learned of the decision:
Scott’s words brought tears to the eyes of many in the crowd. We love you too Scott. https://t.co/QyL5FdQLOr
— No More Deaths (@NoMoreDeaths) July 2, 2019
No More Deaths, the group Warren was working with, tweeted support for him and his actions.
BREAKING: RETRIAL announced in #ScottWarren case on harboring counts. Conspiracy charges dismissed. Trial to begin Nov 12. Government continues unconscionable prosecution of aid worker in midst of a humanitarian crisis at our border. pic.twitter.com/r1DtqTTTZl
— No More Deaths (@NoMoreDeaths) July 2, 2019
Popular Resistance applauds the actions of Scott Warren and others who work with No More Deaths. Immigrants w should be welcomed to the United States not persecuted, incarcerated or deported. The right to travel is a human right. Under Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a person has “the right to leave any country, including his or her own, and to return to his or her country at any time.” We support open borders, where movement between nations is free, as it is within the European Union. KZ
Federal prosecutors to retry case of border-aid worker Scott Warren
Federal prosecutors announced they will retry a border-aid worker accused of smuggling migrants three weeks after jurors couldn’t agree whether Scott Warren committed any crimes.
The jurors deadlocked 8-4 on three felony charges, including one charge of conspiring to smuggle two Central American men and two charges for harboring them.
In a Tuesday morning court hearing, prosecutors announced they would retry him on the two counts of harboring, but will dismiss the charge of conspiracy to smuggle. Warren’s retrial date is set for Nov. 12.
“We will continue to defend (him) for as long as necessary,” defense lawyer Amy Knight said.
Prosecutors offered Warren time served if he plead guilty to a misdemeanor for aiding and abetting entry without inspection.
He declined to comment on their offer after the hearing, but told a crowd outside the courthouse that he and his defense team are prepared for this second trial.
His case has been “deeply exhausting and troublesome” to his friends and family, he said.
When he finished reading a prepared statement a chorus of his supporters chanted “drop the charges” for a few moments.
Warren’s case was the only one to go before a jury out of all felony, human-smuggling cases brought to Tucson’s federal court in 2018, according to an investigation by the Arizona Daily Star. The jurors in Warren’s case favored acquittal, with eight voting “not guilty” and four voting “guilty.” Each juror voted the same on each charge.
This was the first high-profile case that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona decided to retry under U.S. Attorney Michael Bailey, whom President Donald Trump nominated and the Senate recently confirmed.
Warren only loosely fit the profile of a typical defendant in human-smuggling cases prosecuted by Arizona’s U.S. Attorney’s office in 2018, according to the Star’s investigation.
Most defendants were U.S. citizens, like Warren. And, like him, many were arrested with two undocumented immigrants. Yet the number of filings in his case was only surpassed by a case of 27 defendants, involving money laundering and a smuggling ring.