I am telling you I would find him not guilty unless there was more evidence than we have seen here. Evidence that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he was attempting to catch or kill an animal. As in the words our legislators chose to use in our game laws over and over, law after law: take, capture, or kill, or attempt to take, capture, or kill.

In the famous words of the late Johnny Cochran, "if the glove don't fit, you must aquit".

Okay, fair enough. I guess If you and were on the same jury we would be deadlocked right about now. Hung jury it is!!!

Come on guys, you cannot tell me that you don't think there is reasonable doubt that he was not hunting.

I am jury, I look at his record. He is law abiding citizen his whole life. If he gets on the stand and tells me he was not hunting. WELL REASONABLE DOUBT.

You got to understand, his background to me is as good as the LEO's. This man fought for his country for over 20 years. He defended all of our rights.

And yall are going to sit here on this forum and say he is guilty when you don't know enough to say that.

I hope he wins his case. I really can't see how they can charge him with hunting unless he made a move to kill an animal. OK what if he was walking down the paved road trying to get back to his car. WAS HE HUNTING

Exactly right.

I suppose an adult male dog with a back leg hiked up against a fire plug isn't about to take a big piss...going by some 'boner for Game Warden' members. Troy says horseshit...I'll add that a lot of old bullshit has also been spread by some.

If the intent of the law is to never be in or near any of these areas with a rifle. You can not walk in or within a boundry of the following; public roads, any forestry service road, timber operations, railroads or within 50 yards of any WMA boundry. I was parked on Brandau road by the bridge. How do you ever get in the woods or out. The argument that this is for safety is bogus. Where is the law that prohibits hunting near school zones or shopping mall. I have heard it stated that LEO's target hunters on WMA's because it is so easy to find someone to cite. With the state's budget suffering they are encouraging citations. It is a fact that that while there are not ticket quota's officers are expected to make a certain number of public contacts. Out of those contacts a certain number are expexted to be citations or their evaluations suffer.

Most of our LEO's do a good job, others not so much. They are not perfect. There is a group of state LEO's and officials in Mobile, AL right now being prosecuted for using their gas cards for personal use.

I can prove in court the officer lied when he wrote the citation. Also, he exagerated in district court to get a prosectution. LEOS fall under the laws of this state the same as I do. I spent over 20 years of my life defending what I thought was right with a much greater risk than a misdemeanor. I am sure as hell not afraid to stand in any court and defend myself.

LEO's are human and entitled to mistakes, most do a great job. But if I ever find the state encouraged borderline citations due to budget problems, I will file complaints against the state and the LEO and push them as far as they will go.

So run what you brung, I'll be there,

AW1/AW Charles B. Buchanan, USN(RET)

Charles, I have no up to date info as I retired five years ago, BUT five years ago there was NO number put out by Montgomery office on the number of tickets we should write or suffer lower evals. I had a District Capt tell us we "should" make ten contacts a MONTH, no high or low limit on number of tickets.

I could sit in my yard and make ten contacts a MONTH.

State Troopers were, then, required to make ten contacts a shift. Accident work, warnings, tickets, stranded motorist all qualified as a contact. I know of no min on number of tickets for troopers then.

troy

Good for you ... glad to see someone pursuing their claims through the legal system and fighting for it, instead of just bitching nonstop on a website.

Good luck to you.

Thanks everyone who has participated in this topic. It has provided good arguments on both sides. I still affirm I was doing nothing more than transiting back to my truck after looking for a place to hunt..

On April 4, 2011 the District Attorney of Baldwin County null processed the case.

congrats.

troy

Sorry you had to go thru this Bucky.

Good hunting,
Eddie

Good for you Bucky, maybe my case will come out the same.

Wonder why the DA did that, because he knew it was bullshit ticket to begin with.

As a presiding Judge once told me, "The Court has many things to consider in a case, other than guilt or innocence".

Good for you Bucky. Wonder how many tax payer dollars were wasted in this process? Would be interesting to know.

Bucky
I am very happy for you!
Where is that former Navy fellow, that was giving you a hard
time when all of this started?

Good job standing your ground and congratulations on forcing justice to prevail.

Latest Update,

The judge denied the the DA's motion to nolle prosuquied. Even though the State had already entered into an agreement to nolle proc. So we are headed back to trial on May 9, 2011. The assistant DA said this was the first time she had ever seen this happen.

Only if he sues for false arrest, which would be beyond difficult to win.




Wow. Interesting turn of events. I "suspect" that there have been numerous DCNR's browsing this and the other thread regarding ticketed offenses. Wouldn't surprise me at all if some phone calls were made from Montgomery to discuss your situation. That's the problem with the internet - sure, you can tell your story, but undesirable audiences can see/hear it too. Like this guy, and others...

So you had a loaded gun in your truck?

I am not a Lawyer, but I was told last week by the Chief of the DCNR that the DA or the Judge could throw the case out. Well that does not look like that is the case.