Hmmm...
For some reason there seems to be some confusion about breaking the law and the intent to break the law. Intent is not a legal defense. If you drive a car and your speedometer is broken and you're speeding, while it may not be your intent to be speeding, it doesn't change the fact that you were in fact going too fast. If you get into a bar fight and the guy you punched in the jaw ends up dead, it probably wasn't your intent to kill him either. It may not be murder (which does have a very strong element of intent, btw) but it could certainly be manslaughter and yes, you could be charged. To put this into perspective from the officer's viewpoint. As a CO, how many times do they come across people poaching (ie: not recording catches on licenses) and I'll bet if people are caught, the very first thing they might say is that I lost my pen or my pen isn't working or some other excuse that tries to justify the lack of compliance with the law. In fact, I know people who get speeding tickets and then challenge it in court knowing that the officer involved won't show up in most cases and then the case (and ticket) is thrown out. No penalty to the speeder and us taxpayers end up footing the bill for the justice system. Going back to the broken speedometer scenario for the moment, it is the responsibility of the owner (yes, the dreaded "R" word) to ensure that their vehicle is operating properly. If it wasn't, I wouldn't want to be driving on the highways with all those big trucks with faulty brakes. As an angler, it is your responsibility to know and follow the rules. And yes rules change. Sometimes often but pleading ignorance is no excuse nor a legal defense. It's also a truism that often people who follow the rules are the only ones who get punished.
One last thing I will say however. I strongly suspect that the CO probably has discretion as to whether or not to issue a ticket for the offense. In this case it appears that he/she chose to exercise that discretion rather than issue a warning. But by the same token this may be the 8th or 15th time he/she had heard that particular reason being given for not recording a catch on a license. In which case, see the bottom line of the paragraph above.
Intent is a huge legal defense
In the above post you say it is not, yet you say in the bar fight it is(wtf). It in fact is, instead of a murder charge or a criminal negligence charge it is a manslaughter charge based solely on
intent. That is his legal defense, hello!!!.
You just contradicted your self.... Ever hear of willful blindness??? That is another defense based solely on intent. The defended was unknowingly breaking the law by no fault of his own. That is why we have judges and a court of law. Officers of the law know a little about the law. There not lawyers for a reason. That's why we have crown lawyers.
Driving down the road and no paying attention to road signs is ignorance, no excuse. Now if the speedometer was off by no fault of someone then for all he knows he was following the law and there is nothing he could have done unless it was a large difference in which one should have known.
I'd love to see a case where the judge upheld the charge.
Now, as far as the filling out the licenses, the re-printable ones make a great loop-hole that any poacher should and does use. Anyone who doesn't is most likely not intending to break the law.
Like I said, the bad guys know what they are doing (that's why they don't get caught!) and the honest people who make simple mistakes that have little effect (in this case) get nailed. Well guess what.... I know he will probably have resentment towards the "man" and probably never call RAPP as he now dislikes them.
In the end there is now one less guy who is going to be supportive of the officers and what good does that do???
Remember, it's not about enforcing rules.... It's about have a positive effect in a whole using the rules in certain cases.But oh well, lets just let the officers chase good guys thinking they are making a difference why the bad guys continue un-touched. And trust me, the poachers rarely get caught as the officers are stupidly chasing the wrong people, and the poachers know how the law works and use it to their advantage..... With the help of paper licenses
Amazing how everyone is so pro enforcement except when it comes to themselves getting busted.
Go ahead, fight the ticket. But when the only question that matters is asked "did you record the fish on your licence immediatley". Your answer will be no. GUILTY.
And what was accomplished???
Nothing poachers are still poaching. I see them all the time and I'm even surprised that I'm seeing them allot more. Oh well, for the most part they are nice people and always give me room so I'm not inconvenienced and have no problem with them.
Author
Topic: Warning, cash grab by conservation dept. (Read 51161 times)