Hunter facing charges after death of beloved elk named Bullwinkle

[teanawayslayer]

If I were to hire friends to find me a bull to kill I think I would do a background check on them a bit more before I hired my friends to help me.

[grundy53]

I think a jury trial could likely go either way.  If a jury hears that wdfw employees gave the okay, then they are likely to side with the defendant.  He's got a lot of money invested in tags this year and probably not many years of hunting left in him, so that is probably why he doesn't take a deal. 

He just had to drag it out until after September, but now that the judge is saying no more hunting I wonder what he will do?  I would think he can still hunt his out-of-state hunts until after it goes to court though, so maybe he will still drag it out until he can hunt the out-of-state tags he has. 

 I heard that it was reported this morning that WDFW denies having given him permission to kill that bull.

 Hmmmm!

I also saw this on the news this morning.

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[JJB11B]

Time to move after 52 pages 

[jackelope]

Time to move after 52 pages 

3rd time it's been moved. Where have you been?

[JJB11B]

Time to move after 52 pages 

3rd time it's been moved. Where have you been?

fishing

[full choke]

Time to move after 52 pages 

3rd time it's been moved. Where have you been?

Are you talking about the bull, or this thread?...

[2MANY]

So were the vehicles used, weapons, elk body and horns all confiscated???

[jackelope]

Time to move after 52 pages 

3rd time it's been moved. Where have you been?

fishing

Jealous.

[jackelope]

Time to move after 52 pages 

3rd time it's been moved. Where have you been?

Are you talking about the bull, or this thread?...

ZING!!! Badabing!!

[OutHouse]

As an attorney who does defense work, I can say based on the facts we know that he doesn't have a strong case. The whole "my buddy called the game department" excuse is quite lame as every hunter is supposed to know the rules. Ignorance of the law is not a defense. At his age, ignorance or mistake of law looks even more absurd. I watched a link that someone posted and his defense attorney did not look confident when he said this was just a mistake and nothing illegal occurred. On the other hand he could go to trial in front of a jury and hope he gets one sympathetic juror. Of course, the prosecutor can simply re-try him until a definitive verdict is reached. This makes all hunters look bad. He killed a tame bull in a farmer's field--that one sentence says it all. As others have commented, every time I call WDFW the recorded message before connection states that the calls are recorded. Looks like his buddies are lying for him?

[Alchase]

Sounds like he's screwed.


He broke the law, killed a bull in an area he wasn't allowed to.

His defense that someone told him it was ok isn't flying.....and the defenders on this site have gone quiet.   

Who you going to believe, a bunch of new members who magically appear and basically only post in the defense of someone who has already been convicted of lying?

LOL

[bigtex]

Sounds like he's screwed.


He broke the law, killed a bull in an area he wasn't allowed to.

His defense that someone told him it was ok isn't flying.....and the defenders on this site have gone quiet.   

Who you going to believe, a bunch of new members who magically appear and basically only post in the defense of someone who has already been convicted of lying?

LOL

But come on this is Hunt-WA where every statement made on here is the truth!!! 

[popeshawnpaul]

Lots of good questions to answer here with this new info.

He now has a condition of release to not hunt.  This is not just in WA, but would be a condition anywhere in the world as part of his release in this case.  If he did hunt, he would violate conditions of release and the judge could set bail or take him in custody while the case is pending.  That puts out the fact that he likely will not hunt until this matter is resolved.

He did not turn down the Stay of Proceedings.  He continued the pre-trial scheduling conference.  He can likely still accept the Stay at a later date or try and negotiate the conditions.  One of the conditions is that he not hunt.  This would likely be anywhere unless he negotiated something different with the prosecutor.  That means he likely will not be hunting up until he enters a deal and likely won't hunt if he takes the deal on the table.  Anywhere!

Unless the Stay is negotiated differently, the only way he is going to use his 2016 tag is if he goes to trial and is acquitted before the season is up.  I think the deal is a good one, and he should think about entering it in July.  First, the Stay prevents him from having a conviction on his record.  There will be no further hunting consequences after the year is up.  The one year provision starts when he enters the Stay/deal so July or August.  He would not be able to use his tag this year but could hunt in time for the 2017 season.  If he drags this out past this hunting season and ends up getting convicted or accepts the Stay in January, he would miss the 2016 and 2017 season.  There is benefit to entering this deal sooner rather than later.  The 12k is nothing for him. 

With the scrutiny of a trial, I don't think anyone would want that.  The benefit of a trial is he could try and walk on the case.  He has a guaranteed dismissal through the Stay but the no hunting condition might be important to him.  If he went to trial and was convicted, the loss of hunting rights would extend likely to the states that give reciprocal suspensions.  It's a good legal question whether he could hunt in another country like Canada under the conviction scenario...  He would likely be able to buy a license but would he violate the sentence by hunting in Canada?  I don't know the answer to that question but will look into it.

If he then wants to sue the WDFW or individuals based on the advise they gave him for the 12k and attorney fees plus loss of reputation, so be it. 

[Dan-o]

I say he skates......   an several Hunt Wa members go into a deep and protracted funk.

[Alchase]

Sounds like he's screwed.


He broke the law, killed a bull in an area he wasn't allowed to.

His defense that someone told him it was ok isn't flying.....and the defenders on this site have gone quiet.   

Who you going to believe, a bunch of new members who magically appear and basically only post in the defense of someone who has already been convicted of lying?

LOL

But come on this is Hunt-WA where every statement made on here is the truth!!! 

Touché

LOL