Murder trial for Nogales rancher delayed

The trial date for an Arizona rancher accused in the killing of an undocumented migrant on his property near Nogales has been pushed back until further notice, court records show.

George Alan Kelly, 74, was supposed to go to trial on Sept. 6 in the Santa Cruz County Superior Court after he was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Gabriel Cuen Buitimea, 48. According to the county’s website, the trial has been vacated until further notice.

The decision to vacate the trial came after the Arizona Court of Appeals granted the prosecutor’s request for stay on Tuesday. A request for a stay stops legal proceedings temporarily.

The new trial date won’t be scheduled until the court of appeals makes its final ruling.

Earlier this month, Kimberly Hunley, the prosecutor on the case, filed a motion asking Superior Court judge Thomas Fink to either grant sanctions against the defense or to delay the trial due to the late disclosure of an expert witness by the defense.

The court should not allow the state to be prejudiced by the defense’s “flagrant disclosure violations,” Hunley states in the motion.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“Allowing the experts in any fashion at this point while proceeding to trial on September 6, 2023, will prejudice the State because it will force the State to write five Daubert motions two weeks before the trial, instead of preparing for the trial,” the motion said.

Fink denied the prosecution’s motion because the defense said they would not be calling any of their experts as witnesses at trial, instead using them only as consulting experts.

Kelly was arrested after deputies found Buitimea’s body on Jan. 30 on his property.

Prosecutors say Kelly shot the unarmed man in an unprovoked attack. Attorneys for Kelly say he fired a warning shot after he was approached by a group of armed men, the Arizona Daily Star previously reported.