Begay

BACKGROUND

Appellants were among thirty-two individuals charged with various criminal offenses arising from events leading up to and including the civil disturbance of July 20th, 1989, at the Navajo Nation Administration and Finance Building in Window Rock, Arizona. On that day, supporters of Appellant Peter MacDonald, Sr., the former Chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council of Delegates, engaged in a violent confrontation with tribal police. During the confrontation, several tribal police officers were assaulted and injured, their police vehicles were vandalized, the Navajo Nation Administration and Finance Building was entered and ransacked, and documents were removed from that building. Two demonstrators were killed.

On July 30, 1991, Appellants were indicted on numerous offenses arising from the July 20th incident. The charges included conspiracy and various counts of assault, robbery, kidnapping, and burglary. The trial, which lasted nearly four months, began on July 9, 1992. At trial, the Appellants contended that the events at issue were the result of a tribal political dispute, and that none of the actions taken by MacDonald or any of the other Appellants were illegal…