Monday, May 09, 2011

Ranchers ask North Dakota Supreme Court to allow juries to hear deer killing justifications

Two North Dakota ranchers want the Supreme Court to allow them to tell juries that they shot numerous deer without licenses to protect their properties. Harlan Kleppe and Bill Dethloff entered conditional guilty pleas in separate cases to various misdemeanor charges related to shooting deer without licenses, which means they reserved their rights to appeal portions of the cases. Kleppe pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful taking of big game in Kidder County, and Dethloff pleaded guilty to eight counts of unlawful taking of big game and nine counts of unlawful possession of big game animals in Burleigh County. Both men entered the conditional guilty pleas after South Central District Judge Bruce Romanick, in Kleppe's case, and South Central District Judge Bruce Haskell, in Dethloff's case, ruled that the crimes were "strict liability" offenses, meaning all prosecutors needed to prove their cases was that the men shot the deer. The men were not allowed to enter evidence that they believe justified their actions. Kleppe's and Dethloff's attorneys, Daniel Oster and Robert Bolinske Jr., argued at the Supreme Court on Friday that they should have been allowed to present evidence to juries that Kleppe and Dethloff had suffered thousands of dollars in feed losses due to deer eating, urinating on and defecating on hay and other feed and had no other alternatives than to shoot deer...more

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