LAS VEGAS (AP) — A U.S. appeals court refused to resurrect the criminal case against states' rights figure Cliven Bundy and family members stemming from a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents in Nevada.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday denied prosecutors' efforts to overturn a judge's decision to stop a months-long trial in January 2018, declare prosecutorial misconduct and dismiss the case so it couldn't be re-filed.

The 74-year-old Bundy still grazes his cows on the range and says the federal government has no authority over state lands. He tells The Associated Press the case was about constitutional rights and freedom.