U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown on Thursday threatened to hold Ammon Bundy's lawyer in contempt of court each time he defies her order and tries to delve into the circumstances surrounding the officer-involved fatal shooting of refuge occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum during trial.

The judge told attorney Marcus Mumford that she'd fine him $1,000 each time he raises the issue in front of jurors in the federal conspiracy trial of Bundy and six others stemming from the 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

"I have ruled on this issue and it appears to me you disregard it,'' Brown told Mumford after excusing the jury for a morning restroom break.

"Do you understand what I'm saying ... yes or no?'' the judge asked Mumford as he was about to explain. She cut him off, requesting a simple answer, just as he's done to witnesses on the stand.

"I don't understand. Your honor says I'm asking improper questions?'' Mumford said.

The judge pointed to Mumford's questioning of rancher Andy Dunbar, whose property is adjacent to the eastern Oregon refuge, about what he learned on Jan. 26 about the fatal shooting of Finicum.

"You are not to do that,'' Brown said.

"You're telling me I'm allowed to inquire about the shooting, but not the circumstances of the shooting?'' Mumford asked.

Brown reminded him: Anything about Finicum's shooting death, beyond that it occurred and the date, isn't allowed to be discussed in front of jurors.

"I can understand the words,'' Mumford told her.

"I hope you can comply,'' the judge said.

The admonition followed days of directions by the judge to Mumford about restricting his questions during cross-examination to the testimony elicited during prosecutors' direct examination of witnesses. She has frequently sustained prosecutors' objections to Mumford's lines of questioning because they were either irrelevant or "beyond the scope'' of the direct testimony during the past two weeks of trial.

The judge instructed Mumford and all other attorneys to take any concerns up with her outside the presence of the jury if they want to ask questions that go beyond her order.

Earlier Thursday, rancher Dunbar described his observation of six vehicles headed to the refuge on Jan. 2 as he was having lunch with his wife at The Narrows campground restaurant.

"They're my closest neighbor,'' Dunbar said of the refuge.

He also testified that he heard shooting by the refuge boat launch on six different days. The launch is a little over a mile from his Dunbar Ranch, he said.

"You could definitely hear the shots being fired,'' he said.

Asked if there were a few gunshots, Dunbar said no, that there were "lots, lots and lots.''

During cross-examination, Mumford suggested to Dunbar that if someone wanted to do target practice, wouldn't it be good to find a spot "out in the middle of nowhere?''

Mumford likely didn't expect the answer he got.

"As a rancher and permittee holder, no place on the refuge is a good place for target practice,'' Dunbar responded. He added that if he were to bring a gun onto the refuge, he'd likely have it taken away from him.

Mumford then had Dunbar review a pamphlet from the refuge about hunting. Dunbar acknowledged that limited bird hunting is allowed on the refuge property.

During re-direct, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel asked Dunbar if the shooting that he had heard sounded like bird hunting.

"No, not at all,'' he said.

Prosecutors next week plan to introduce a Facebook video from cooperating government witness Jason Blomgren, which captures about eight or nine men lined up and firing assault rifles at the boat launch, where approximately 1600 spent casings were later recovered by federal officers.

The video was posted to Blomgren's Facebook page on Jan. 25, according to court testimony. Blomgren already has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge.

Mumford had argued that the video is "prejudicial'' and the only man identified in the group was co-defendant Ryan Payne, who also has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight successfully argued for the video to be admitted as evidence. "It's not simply the presence of the firearms. It's the use of firearms on the refuge, during the conspiracy. It could not be more relevant,'' Knight said.

The judge said she would allow the video to be played. She said she found it prejudicial, "but not unfairly prejudicial.''

In the first few days of the refuge occupation, Dunbar said he was on his 42 acres, caring for his heifers when he and his son looked through binoculars to see who was in the refuge watchtower. He testified that each time, he saw a man pointing a rifle.

"The guy pointed a gun towards us,'' Dunbar said.

There appeared to be a "sniper team'' in the refuge watchtower, he said, and other men patrolling the perimeter of the refuge.

Further testimony revealed that Dunbar and his 26-year-old son, Tucker Dunbar, each were paid $2,000 by the FBI for access to their properties. The son lives across the street from his father.

Mumford introduced the FBI receipt into evidence, showing that the senior Dunbar got $2,000 "for services rendered'' from Jan. 2 to Feb. 22. Andy Dunbar had previously testified that he didn't talk to the FBI until they called him on Jan. 21.

Asked if that amount is a large amount of money for him, Dunbar said it was a "significant'' amount. "I told them I didn't want it,'' Dunbar said.

"Did you give it back?'' Mumford asked.

"No,'' Dunbar said.

Dunbar also helped talk to several of the holdouts at the refuge on Feb. 5 about the need of ranchers in the area to access the refuge property for irrigation purposes.

The trial wrapped up for the day after prosecutors played taped phone calls between FBI negotiators and defendants David Fry and Jeff Banta, who were among the final four holdouts at the refuge before their surrender on Feb. 11.

FBI agents testified how a team of negotiators from both Portland and out of state covered morning and evening shifts, making phone calls to the holdouts from an office in Burns. They started with a morning "welfare check'' call. For example, FBI agent Jennifer Lohmeier said she flew to Oregon to help from Feb. 7 through Feb. 11.

Banta was chatty with the FBI negotiators on the phone, talking about how he came to the refuge to support Harney County father-and-son ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, hoping Ammon Bundy might help connect him to them or their family so he could work on their ranch. The Hammonds returned to federal prison Jan. 4 to serve out five-year sentences for arson on federal lands.

"There's only one way out, and that's to free the Hammonds,'' Banta said.

On Feb. 9, an FBI plane followed Banta, who rode out to a remote part of the refuge on an ATV, removed an FBI camera and tripod there and took it back to the western encampment, where he and three others remained.

Lohmeier asked him to put the camera back on one of the calls. Banta refused. "It seems like you want me to do a lot of things for you. You don't want to do nothing for me,'' he told her. "The only thing I've done is stand up to a corrupt government.''

Banta talked about how he did hand-to-hand combat training on the refuge and called it "cool.'' He talked of doing guard duty for hours and spoke of the men he'd met at the refuge. "These guys are like cartoon characters,'' he told the agent.

Banta described Fry as a "joker with a weapon,'' who dressed like he was from Berkeley, California. He said he didn't think the Bundy brothers were fans of the militia but just needed them to "stand up to the government.'' He called militia members "disorganized'' and "almost a joke.''

"Half of them have their screws loose, I'm telling ya,'' Banta told the agent.

Of the people he met at the refuge, Banta said on one call, "a lot of people I wouldn't put a lot of stock in.''

Talks with Fry were more serious. On Feb. 8, Fry told an FBI agent that the four holdouts had a pot with pork, beef and sausage that he expected would last a "very long time.'' He described the chaos on Jan. 26, when people still at the refuge heard about the shooting of Finicum. He cited a live feed from "The Pete Santilli Show" that indicated the "FBI were coming to the compound.''

People dropped guns, left their iPads and iPhones, and "literally just ran away,'' Fry told the federal agent. Fry said he'd been "unchambering'' the weapons left behind but promised he knew how to defend himself.

"I know how to use the one I got,'' Fry told the agent.

On Feb. 10, a day before Fry surrendered, Agent Lohmeier said she called Fry at 4:35 p.m. because she was told he had a gun to his head, yelling to armored police vehicles.

"David, it's time,'' she told him.

"No, it's not,'' he said.

"David, just put down the weapon,'' she said.

"We want you to choose peace. We want your message to be heard,'' Lohmeier told him. He hung up on her. She called back again, and he hung up a second time.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian