I am now a FELON because I attempted to protect my mother, a victim of Alzheimer's, from a herd of wild cattle (including bulls) on our own private FENCED property near Snowflake, AZ.

The rancher refused to remove them, so I tried to scare the 30-40 cattle back through our gate with the noise from a .22 rifle and in the process one was killed. It must have been a ricochet since I know that I did not try to hit one.

Only later did I discover that the cattle had gotten to our gate because someone had cut our neighbor's fence (and removed 40' of 4 strand barbed wire). Our property is completely surrounded by fenced private property so, no cattle could possibly get to our open gate unless they were delivered through a cut fence! Some ranchers believe their cattle have a right to any grass or water (fenced or not). The laws in Arizona are so one sided, in favor of ranchers, that a rancher can legally shoot your dog justifying the act later by simply stating that the dog was bothering his cattle (for other ranching abuses go to cowcrap.org).

I have spent over $40,000 in legal fees and when we attempted to settle, the only response from the prosecution was ........ "we don't want to settle, we want to make an example of you." Early on in the proceedings, the judge stated ?this is a simple case and it will remain a simple case? as if he had already tried and convicted me! The judge was enraged at me once when I stated that I was the victim; in AZ, ranchers are always the victim!

The rancher (Dee Johnson), has 60 FELONIES against him for CATTLE RUSTLING. He is a cousin to both Jake Flake and Jeff Flake, in the AZ Legislature and US Congress respectively. Is it possible that politics has something to do with this?

The first trial, in Dec., was declared a mistrial (the judge attempted to pick the jury without any input from the lawyers ....... BTW, this delay cost me another $8,000 in legal fees). Another trial took place Aug. 23-24 and it couldn't have been more rigged if it was a trial by Diebold! The judge denied all our defenses and my lawyers were powerless to prevent this. It was stated that AZ is an open range state, but that no details about open range law would be allowed into the trial. All the prosecution lies were accepted, no matter how blatant, and very little was done to refute even the obvious ones.

The day that I buried mother, the court was trying to issue her a Subpoena!

I need your help ..... please express your opinion about this case. Send letters to the court and to me (as a backup). Sentencing has been rescheduled for Oct 27th at 10:00 am in Holbrook, AZ. The probation dept. recommended that I spend a month in jail in addition to other penalties and fines too complicated to mention here and the judge (Robert Van Wyck) could sentence me to 1 1/2 years in PRISON.

This is no joke ............. please send to everyone you know. To be of any value, letters should arrive no later than 10/26.Samples of useful letters will be posted on the website, cowcrap.org. I'm told that FAX's are particularly effective!! Also, we are organizing transportation so that anyone who wants to support me in court on the 27th, will be able to do so!! Thanks for your help and keep watching cowcrap.org for the latest developments.

I intend to write a book on this nightmare and expect to use some of your comments. If the court knows that they are being watched, they might be less inclined to abuse (we can only hope). More gory details can be found at cowcrap.org. A trial transcript will be posted soon!

Some people think that a "law" is permanent and unchangeable. If this was the case, such high profile issues as slavery, women's voting rights and even public smoking would still be with us. The evidence is clear, laws can be changed!

In this country and around the world our legal system is held up as a paragon of perfection. In reality, it is the exact opposite! In Navajo County, AZ (and elsewhere) some citizens are being victimized by unjust laws that are a throwback to the 1800's! Law enforcement is out of control when citizens can be arrested, jailed and charged with felonies as a result of defending themselves against wild cattle trespassing on their private property. These abusive, special interest laws are called "open-range" laws. Did you know that you can lose your voting rights after a felony conviction!

Points to ponder -- (1) Land used for grazing cattle is taxed at $25/640 acres vs $1,000 for ungrazed land. (2) Ranchers are paid for cattle killed on the highway (three times their value). When the motorist is killed, the estate pays! (3) The law allows a rancher to kill any dog that he thinks will threaten his cattle in the future. Some ranchers have been known to pay a bounty for dog ears! (4) Cattle are an inefficient use of our resources. It takes 3,500 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef ("Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts," 1997 edition)!

There are approx. 900 cattlemen in AZ, while the total population is about 6 million - that is over 6,000 to 1. Why then are cattlemen allowed to benefit from laws that adversely affect innocent citizens?

We are presently in the 21st century with AZ laws that are pre Civil War! Most states have repealed these laws and it is time for AZ to join the mainstream of America. This will only happen if Arizonans speak out on this issue. Remember, there are 6,000 of us to every one (1) of them. How could "open-range" laws withstand the tide of public opinion if even one in 100 of concerned citizens would speak out in opposition!

The law of the land in these United States is the Constitution -- all just laws derive from this source. Open-range laws intended to benefit a special interest group (ranchers) to the detriment of others are Unconstitutional -- equal justice under the law!

Kent Knudson
Phoenix, AZ
cowcrap@cox.net
602-246-4299

Freedom and property rights are inseparable. You cannot have one without the other. - George Washington

When mom and I returned home from three days in the hospital, we found our property overrun with a herd of over 30 wild cattle. When the rancher was informed that his cattle were trespassing on our fenced property and causing a serious threat, I was told that he could not remove them until the next day. Since my mom, who had Alzheimers Disease, often wandered outside, I knew that I must remove the cattle myself. While dealing with this threat, a cow was unintentionally killed. I informed the rancher and he said he would come and talk with me about it, but instead, the next day officials from the Navajo County Sheriff and AZ Dept. of Agriculture showed up and immediately arrested and handcuffed me (in front of my ailing mom) solely on the word of the rancher, without even looking for a dead cow or determining the cause.

Does not apply to cattle...

I was jailed for a day and later charged with a felony and forced to spend thousands of dollars on legal fees for something that should not be a crime and certainly not a felony. So far I have spent nearly $30,000 on lawyers. More than one of my lawyers has tried to settle this case and told me that the authorities would not settle, but wanted to make an example of me! They have never even given me the opportunity to pay for the cow!!

People have told me "if you were a mormon, none of this would be happening to you". If justice is dispensed based on religious persuasion, then that is another of my rights that is being trampled. Since this began, over 3 years ago, I have written about the injustices of western cattle ranching. If I am being prosecuted for my writings, then my freedom of speech is also being denied!

Knudson Address Post

Our family has lived on 40 acres near Snowflake, AZ for over 25 years. Some ranchers think their cattle have more rights to our private property than we do. So called open range laws are nothing more than special interest laws that place one group (ranchers) above another group (property owners) and are therefore Unconstitutional!

Property rights, civil rights, religious freedom and freedom of speech -- all have been violated in my case! This case is still being prosecuted against me and I am told that I could go to prison for 2.5 years and be fined $150,000 and lose my voting rights!

A trial took place on 12/21/05. We received a mistrial due to judicial errors in attempting to pick a jury. A new trial date of April 12, 2006 has been set. This trial will take place in Holbrook, AZ.

Is this justice or ranching out of control? Where is the common sense? For additional information (and there is plenty), contact me -- thanks!


Kent Knudson
Phoenix, AZ
602-246-4299
cowcrap@cox.net
{Cage cattle, NOT people!!}