Judge Thomas Fink set a jury trial to begin Sept. 6 and, if necessary, 11 days through Sept. 22 for arraignment on Monday, March 6 in Santa Cruz County Superior Court. bottom.

George Alan Kelly, 74, is charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a lethal weapon in the January 30 shooting death of Mexican national Gabriel Kuen Buitimea, 48. .

He filed a plea of ​​not guilty against the charges.

Kelly is arrested after sheriff’s deputies discover Kuen’s body on a rancher’s property near the U.S.-Mexico border. Kelly was released on February 22. He was released on a $1 million cash bond.

Santa Cruz County Magistrate Emilio G. Velázquez found at a hearing held in Nogales on February 24 that the state had established a presumed cause or sufficient evidence to indict Kelly. Both the state and the defense called witnesses at the hearing.

On Monday, Fink denied a request from defense attorney Brenna Larkin to allow 60 days to continue for an extensive investigation and review of the forensic evidence in the case rather than bring the case to trial. I gave the defense time.

The state executed an additional search warrant on Kelly’s property on Monday, Larkin said, asking that the trial not begin until the defense has had time to consider the results of that search warrant. has previously executed at least two search warrants on its property.

Additionally, Larkin filed a motion on March 3 to have the magistrate reconsider the decision to bring the case to trial, but the magistrate has not yet conducted a hearing.

Fink said he did not expect his decision on the motion to be far-reaching and would leave the trial date set for now.

The prosecution’s position in the case is that Kelly fled for his life without warning and shot an unarmed man in the back in an unarmed attack. Prosecutors said the man was with a group of about eight illegal immigrants who crossed the border.

The defense said Kelly was approached by armed drug smugglers on his property, but Kelly only shot warning shots in their heads, and the more likely conclusion is that Kuhn was killed by someone else. It is said that he was shot.

The defense claimed Kelly was eating lunch with his wife when he heard gunshots and saw numerous armed men with rifles and large backpacks. I went to the porch with my rifle to deter him from approaching.

When one of the men pointed his rifle at Kelly, Kelly responded by firing several warning shots over their heads, the motion said.

Prosecutors previously downgraded Kelly’s charges from first-degree murder to second-degree murder.

Mexican official Vanessa Calva Ruiz, director of consular protection, said last week that Mexican officials told U.S. prosecutors that a first-degree indictment would be more appropriate given the circumstances of Kuhn’s death. He said he thought he would. According to the Arizona Republic.

“Defendant George Kelly opened fire on the group Mr. Kuhn was in. None of them were armed. said in