Jack of Harts

The Ruby Ridge troubles hit a legal level when Randy Weaver made sawed-off shotguns for an ATF informant. The informant solicited him to do so, and Weaver cut the shotguns to the legal limit before giving them to the informant. The informant demanded they be shortened further, which Weaver did. The ATF arrested him for making those weapons in January 1991. The ATF told Weaver the court date was on February 19 and sent him home on bail. The court changed the date to February 20, but did not tell Weaver. The court appointed lawyer told Weaver the court date was changed to March 20, and that Weaver would lose his land if he lost the case, leaving his family homeless. The judge signed a bench warrant on Weaver when he did not show up for trial on the February 20. That was escalated to a grand jury indictment for not showing up in court on March 14, 6 days before his lawyer told Weaver he was supposed to go to trial. And so started the next stage of the troubles at Ruby Ridge.