BISBEE - A civil jury on Wednesday ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing local rancher and businessman Roger Barnett of threatening a hunting party with an assault rifle in 2004.
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Speaking after the verdict, Morales said he felt justice had been served.
"We came to court and spoke the truth, and the jury heard that truth," he said. "Hopefully this sends a message that you can't point a gun at little kids - or anybody for that matter - and then threaten to shoot them."
Morales sued Barnett after the rancher confronted Morales' hunting party on Oct. 30, 2004, and accused the group of trespassing on his property outside Douglas.
During the incident, Barnett took out an AR-15 assault rifle from his pickup and pointed it toward the group, which included Morales' father, Arturo Morales; his daughters, Angelique and Venese Morales; and the girls' friend, Emma English.
The hunters, all of whom are Americans of Mexican decent, said Barnett insulted them with racial slurs and threatened to shoot them - charges Barnett denied. Ronald Morales said he tried to get the county attorney to press criminal charges against Barnett, but was told no jury would convict him.
Morales' attorney, Jesus Romo Vejar, said he hoped the local prosecutor would now reconsider filing criminal charges against Barnett, and he hoped others who had had problems with the rancher also would be encouraged to file civil claims.
"Everybody thought that it was impossible to win in Cochise County, and we proved to them that it's not true," he said.
Romo Vejar called the case "historic" in the county's legal history, and said it was significant a jury of seven whites and one Hispanic ruled against Barnett.
The Morales suit was sponsored by two civil rights groups, the Border Action Network and the Southern Poverty Law Center, who have accused Barnett of abusing the illegal immigrants he detains on his ranch.
"We're really relieved to see that finally Roger Barnett has been held responsible for the actions he has taken and the violence he has inflicted - and not just against the members of the Douglas community," said Jennifer Allen, director of the Border Action Network. "This also makes a statement to migrants who have been abused that these sorts of actions are, in fact, illegal."
Barnett estimates he has detained and turned over to the Border Patrol between 10,000 and 12,000 illegal immigrants during the past decade.
Barnett declined to comment on the verdict, saying his attorney had advised him not to speak on the matter.
But his brother, Donald Barnett, who was initially named in the suit but dropped prior to the trial, said he was "very disappointed."
"In the Morales family, the father taught the son to trespass, and now the father's teaching the daughters how to trespass in blatant disregard for the law," he said. "I guess in this country, private property and a person's rights don't mean much any more."
Asked if he thought a verdict might encourage more lawsuits against him and his brother, Donald Barnett said, "I wouldn't doubt it. I wouldn't doubt it at all."
Donald Barnett noted he had been a party to the suit for almost two years, and he has accused Romo Vejar of filing groundless charges against him. He has asked Judge James Conlogue to award him attorney's fees, and he hoped the judge would not be swayed by the verdict.
Roger Barnett had filed a countersuit in the Morales case, accusing the party of trespassing and accusing Ronald Morales of assault. He said he only took out his rifle during the incident because Morales was carrying a hunting rifle and acting in a threatening manner.
The jury ruled in Barnett's favor on the trespassing charge, but awarded no damages. It ruled in favor of Morales on the assault charge.
The five members of Morales party sued Barnett for assault, false imprisonment, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The jury found in favor of all five of the plaintiffs on the claims, but split responsibility between Roger Barnett, Ronald Morales and Arturo Morales.
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