Posted on 11/03/2008 12:09:53 PM PST by george76
The man accused of arranging for the killing of 32 bison on a neighbor's property struck a deal this morning in which he'll face minimal or no jail time but will have to open his wallet wide.
Jeffrey Scott Hawn, CEO of Seattle-based software firm Attachmate, pleaded guilty to a class 3 felony of criminal mischief and to a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals in Park County Court.
At his Jan. 28 sentencing he could get up to two years of probation and up to 10 days in Park County Jail.
Four generations of the Downare family, in cowboy hats and ranching clothes, were also in the courtroom, including head of the family, Monte, and infant Jared.
Prosecutor Katherine O'Brien said the Downares were "very reluctant to accept a plea, not because they are vindictive or have hatred or ill will."
Rather, they didn't want to accept a deal because killing livestock is such a serious crime in a ranching community
(Excerpt) Read more at rockymountainnews.com ...
.
What a scumbucket.
Git a rope.
Shooting herbivores who wander on your property is not the way to deal with them. If the bison had been breaking down his fences and trampling his property, then all he needed was a camera and a few pics of the animals and the and a quick damage trip to the sheriff’s office.
.
Nine days before, Hawn had filed a lawsuit against his neighbor, Monte Downare, charging that Downare allowed the bison to trample his property and destroy his fences.
Not sure I'd want bison on my property either. Bison are the second most dangerous North American animal.
apparently letting your dangerous animals loose on your neighbor's property is OK - just protecting your property gets you in trouble
Where open-range laws are in effect, ranchers don’t have to fence in their livestock. If the neighbors want to keep cows off their land, they have to fence the beasts out.
The principle dates back to the 1800s.
Thirteen Western states still have some kind of open-range law.
POS
Good luck fencing bison out of ANYWHERE they really want to go. It’s no wonder bison were not considered compatible with civilization in the ‘old days’ Sounds like another case of rich west coast meets Colorado rancher.
In an arrest warrant, investigators say the bulk of the bison — 14 of them — were killed on land owned by Catherine Pimm.
Eight were killed on Bureau of Land Management property,
four on U.S. Forest Service property,
three on property of Robert Lemm
three on Hawn’s ranch.
In a Feb. 25 letter addressed to Antonino Salcedo, Hawn gave permission to Salcedo and his “Atzlan Native Community” colleagues
Yep...he needs to be beat with it first.
Next : The ‘aztlan turtle tribe’
Domesticating wild animals by legislation is a fairly recent event . Reminds me of when the Utah legislature debated a legal limit for the elevation of the Great Salt Lake .
Not what I read earlier. They were on Hawn’s property according to another story I read. Bison are dangerous - only wild animal that kills and injures more people is grizzly/brown bear. Bison march through fences that hold in cattle without even slowing down. Regardless of open range laws from the 1800’s, turning bison loose on the countryside and then blaming the victim for defending himself against the critters is wrong. Those open range laws were written for cattle; at the time no one in their right mind wanted to raise bison.
The property Mr. Hawn owns isn’t used as a ranch; it’s just a vacation area. In the first place, a rancher doesn’t hate animals and KILL them!
There isn’t any one that knows that the buffalo did any damage to anything; they’re just guessing.
It could have been a herd of elk that stays in that area; or even Hawn’s horses rubbing on his solar panels and TV dishes could have been the problem.
Vaughn Downare
http://www.theflume.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=5474&TM=74279.37
Investigators allege that in a letter dated Feb. 25, Hawn authorized the slaughter by members of the Aztlan Native Community of Gardner.
He told the group he wanted them “to get started as quickly as possible.
In the arrest warrant, investigators say the bulk of the bison — 14 — were killed on the property of Catherine Primm.
Eight were killed on Bureau of Land Management property;
four on U.S. Forest Service property;
three on the property of Robert Lemm;
and three on Hawn’s ranch.
http://m.denverpost.com/topic/777-Top%20Stories/articles/147192084
It’s a shame the prosecution went for the plea. Hawn is an educated man and feels he is above the law, if he’d have handled the situation intelligently it would be different but he didn’t. People that complain of open range laws obviously know nothing about them, whether appropriate for an area or not their validity should be be questioned in a legal manner.
Jeff Hawn writes some small checks...for him.
If this is true, then the hunters who nailed the ones off Hawn's property would seem to be responsible for those, and only those that were killed on Hawn's property should be attributed to him. But you're ignoring the problem that the animals were bison, not cattle. People might raise them, but they're not anywhere close to being domestic animals like cattle. People raise bears, lions and wolves too. Should they be allowed to roam freely too? As far as posting that self serving bit from Downare, not a particularly objective viewpoint there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.