Further complications ensue in Snowball case
0 Comments Published by Pioneer Staff on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 11:15 AM.
By Abby Sewell
Molalla Pioneer
State attorneys representing the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife filed an appeal yesterday protesting Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Eve L. Miller's order to return the deer confiscated from Jim Filipetti and Francesca Mantei on Sept. 12.
ODFW spokesperson Rick Hargrave said the agency does not plan to return the doe, Snowball, until the appeal process is finished or the Oregon Department of Justice tells it to do so.
"By filing the notice of appeal that effectively also puts a stay on the judge's order," Oregon DOJ spokesperson Stephanie Soden said.
Geordie Duckler, the attorney representing Filipetti and Mantei, believes otherwise and filed a motion today charging that the ODFW is in contempt of court for refusing to return Snowball by 5 p.m. today, as Judge Miller ordered. Duckler says the fact that an appeal has been filed does not automatically give the ODFW the right to keep the deer in their custody.
The ODFW should have filed a motion with the Court of Appeals asking for a stay on the Clackamas County court's order to return Snowball, Duckler said.
"I'm pretty sure (the ODFW) can not just magically give themselves a stay," Duckler said.
The ODFW must appear in Judge Miller's courtroom for a contempt of court hearing on Nov. 14. The court hearing comes one day after a Nov. 13 hearing scheduled before the Oregon House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources, where the ODFW will be required to present an accounting of the state money that has been spent so far on the battle over Snowball.
"It's hilarious that the very next day they'll walk into the courtroom (for a contempt of court hearing) to possibly be sanctioned and spend even more money," Duckler said.
Judge Miller told the ODFW last Wednesday that it cannot hold the deer as evidence of a crime -- keeping wildlife without a permit -- that was never prosecuted. The ODFW argued that all wildlife is the property of the State of Oregon, and the deer is illegal for Filipetti to keep, regardless of whether or not he is charged with a crime.
In the meantime, Hargrave said, Snowball remains in the same ODFW wildlife facility where she has been housed since September.
"Our position is we're kind of in a holding pattern until the legal issues get resolved," he said. "Right now we're working on the myriad of other wildlife management issues we have to deal with, outside of this deer in Molalla."
Molalla Pioneer
State attorneys representing the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife filed an appeal yesterday protesting Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Eve L. Miller's order to return the deer confiscated from Jim Filipetti and Francesca Mantei on Sept. 12.
ODFW spokesperson Rick Hargrave said the agency does not plan to return the doe, Snowball, until the appeal process is finished or the Oregon Department of Justice tells it to do so.
"By filing the notice of appeal that effectively also puts a stay on the judge's order," Oregon DOJ spokesperson Stephanie Soden said.
Geordie Duckler, the attorney representing Filipetti and Mantei, believes otherwise and filed a motion today charging that the ODFW is in contempt of court for refusing to return Snowball by 5 p.m. today, as Judge Miller ordered. Duckler says the fact that an appeal has been filed does not automatically give the ODFW the right to keep the deer in their custody.
The ODFW should have filed a motion with the Court of Appeals asking for a stay on the Clackamas County court's order to return Snowball, Duckler said.
"I'm pretty sure (the ODFW) can not just magically give themselves a stay," Duckler said.
The ODFW must appear in Judge Miller's courtroom for a contempt of court hearing on Nov. 14. The court hearing comes one day after a Nov. 13 hearing scheduled before the Oregon House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources, where the ODFW will be required to present an accounting of the state money that has been spent so far on the battle over Snowball.
"It's hilarious that the very next day they'll walk into the courtroom (for a contempt of court hearing) to possibly be sanctioned and spend even more money," Duckler said.
Judge Miller told the ODFW last Wednesday that it cannot hold the deer as evidence of a crime -- keeping wildlife without a permit -- that was never prosecuted. The ODFW argued that all wildlife is the property of the State of Oregon, and the deer is illegal for Filipetti to keep, regardless of whether or not he is charged with a crime.
In the meantime, Hargrave said, Snowball remains in the same ODFW wildlife facility where she has been housed since September.
"Our position is we're kind of in a holding pattern until the legal issues get resolved," he said. "Right now we're working on the myriad of other wildlife management issues we have to deal with, outside of this deer in Molalla."
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