This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Kanab resident Shawna Cox asked Tuesday that she be allowed to represent herself on two felony charges for her involvement in an armed standoff with federal authorities at an eastern Oregon wildlife refuge.
Cox, 60, was arrested Jan. 26 after Arizona Strip rancher Robert LaVoy Finicum drove his truck into deep snow to avoid a roadblock on a rural highway.
Oregon state police shot Finicum three times, killing him, and Cox's cellphone video of the incident was key evidence in authorities' finding that the state police officers' shots were justified.
Cox is charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers and possession of a firearm in a federal facility.
Her court-appointed attorney, Tiffany A. Harris, wrote in support of the motion that Cox "[h]as weighed the potential dangers and benefits of self-representation," and that Cox asks the court to appoint Harris as standby counsel.
Earlier Tuesday, Cox filed a motion for the removal of her ankle monitor because it's "physically painful."
Cox "has spent a lifetime doing physical labor on ranches, as a cook, on her rural rental properties and in other capacities," Harris wrote.
"In the five months since her release, Ms. Cox has adjusted her gait to compensate for the added weight and bulk of the ankle monitor. This has exacerbated a preexisting injury (a broken heel from falling off a ladder, for which she was immobilized for six months) and has inflamed her sciatic nerve. The ankle monitor interferes with Ms. Cox's sleep, causes sharp pain up her leg at night, and heaviness and numbness in her foot at the end of the day."
Prosecutors opposed the motion, as they did when Cox asked to attend Finicum's Kanab funeral and for the elimination of a home detention order in March. Both of those requests were granted by the court.
Manti's Wesley Kjar, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to impede federal authorities late last month, was allowed to remove his ankle monitor in May.
Trial for Cox and others associated with the refuge takeover — including Provo's Dylan Wade Anderson — is set for September.
In February, Cox filed a civil suit against state and government employees seeking $666 billion for "works of the devil."
Cox did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Harris declined comment.
Twitter: @matthew_piper