With a straw in his teeth and sunglasses pushed back on his head, Gold Hill miner Clifford R. Tracy served as his own attorney in the first day of a lively federal trial in which he is charged with illegal mining.
With a straw in his teeth and sunglasses pushed back on his head, Gold Hill miner Clifford R. Tracy served as his own attorney Thursday afternoon in the first day of a lively federal trial in which he is charged with illegal mining.
Cocky one moment then subdued the next in the jury trial expected to conclude today, Tracy repeatedly cited the 1872 mining law as his overriding defense while castigating U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials for what he believes is an attempt to prohibit legal mining through over-regulation.
