Just days ago, I reported on the federal trial of the "Malheur 7" (Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Shawna Cox, Jeff Banta, David Fry, Neil Wampler and Ken Medenbach,) in Portland, Oregon.  I was privileged to have a front-row seat at the trial as a volunteer paralegal and legal researcher for Ryan Bundy, who represented himself throughout the proceedings.

Almost everyone who followed the "Oregon Bundy case" predicted convictions all around.  A dozen co-defendants pled guilty before the trial began.  Virtually every attorney I spoke with expressed the sentiment that defending the accused was a lost cause.  Coverage of the case in Oregon's largest circulating newspapers presented the case wholly from a prosecution perspective.  My inbox contains more than one email urging me to abandon my efforts to help the defense.