Judge: No further deposition for Arizona rancher’s wife

(NewsNation) — Prosecutors cannot further depose the wife of a 74-year-old Arizona rancher accused of killing a Mexican national on his land, a judge ruled Friday.

State prosecutors had filed a motion that would have allowed them to ask additional questions of Wanda Kelly during a deposition. She’s the wife of George Alan Kelly, who is accused of killing Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea back in January.

Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink denied that motion, pointing to marital privilege as one of the reasons why.

“(Spouses) have to be able to talk about the case and they have to be able to do so freely and openly without having to worry about whether George Alan Kelly what they talk about is subject to examination in court,” Judge Fink said Friday.

Judge Fink said Wanda Kelly had previously given a statement to law enforcement officers about the case and answered their questions over a span of two and a half hours.

“I think her obligations, under the rule required to be deposed, have been fulfilled,” he said.

George Kelly has maintained his innocence and said he fired above, not at, a group of five men in camouflage running through his property.

Prosecutors, however, argue Kelly had animosity toward undocumented people, which they say was his motivation for killing Cuen-Buitimea.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

The judge will rule on outstanding motions, and hear from additional witnesses, at a hearing on August 16.

The trial is scheduled to begin in Santa Cruz County on September 8.