PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Chief U.S. District Judge of Oregon has moved to ban attorney Marcus Mumford from practicing law in any federal courts in the state.
The Oregonian/Oregon Live reported Wednesday Mumford has until the first week in May to argue in writing why the sanction should not be imposed.
The judge's sanction stems from Mumford's alleged failure to observe court rulings and his inappropriate behavior in court while representing Ammon Bundy.
The court order cites specific cases where Mumford raised his voice and inappropriately commented on a witness in the jury's presence.
"My initial reaction is, 'The Empire strikes back,'" Mumford said in an email Wednesday. "I know of no court order that I violated, and no reason to impose some kind of lifetime ban to practice law in Oregon."
The judge also alleged Mumford failed to timely disclose to the trial judge that Rick Koerber, who served as part of Bundy's defense team, was also a client of Mumford's in an unrelated, criminal proceeding.
In October, U.S. marshals tackled Mumford and zapped him with a stun gun as he argued with a judge about releasing Bundy, who had been acquitted of federal conspiracy in Oregon.
Mumford had charges against him dismissed last month for the stun gun incident. The charges were failing to comply with official signs prohibiting the disruption of federal officers' work and failing to comply with a federal officer's direction to stop resisting.
Mumford's lawyer had argued repeatedly that the deputy U.S. marshals engaged in "outrageous" misconduct.
His lawyer also requested any emails or text messages between marshals about Mumford as part of discovery in preparation for trial.
In mid-March, a specially-assigned federal judge from Washington dismissed all criminal charges against Mumford at the prosecution's request.
Bundy is currently in a Nevada jail awaiting trial on federal charges stemming from the 2014 ranch standoff.
