The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-30
POT HUNTERS MUST
RESPECT GAME LAWS
State Supreme Court sustains
- Conviction of Robert
Poole

ss..1 he sta1ex supreme court yesterda,
ilahdeo down a decision affirming the
sioWer court Of Jackson county and
sustaining the game laws of Mime.
sofa sofa but Chief Justice Start, who
wrote the. decision. holds that the courr
|sefred lnfefusing to instruct the Jury
TO ind verdict of acquittal for VIII.
liam Kerr, one of the defendants il
the famous case, and a new trial is
granted Kerr.
The verdict Of guilty found by the
Jury as to Robert Poole is sustained
by the supreme court, and he viii
elther serve. 200 days in the Jackson
county jail or pay fine of $4,000 and
costs. II ls'4entirely probable that
Foole, who was an employee of Kerr
Mil SO to the Jail, for payment of any
such sum by him is impossible.
1t is doubtful if a conviction will
now be found against Kerr, who at the
nfst trial was found guilty and SEN
fenced to pay fine of $4,000 or to
serve 900 days in Jail, for the evidence
upon which the first conviction was OBJ
tanned was altogether insufficient, ac-
cordlng to the opinion of the chief JUS
tice.
Game Law Questioned
Y Inc main point involved in the cases
was the constitutionality of the game
law OF 1903. The law was attacked by
the attorneys for the defendants on
the constitutional ground that it's terms
permitted such excessive punishment
as TO constitute cruel and inhuman
treatment. In passing on this point
Judge Start in his opinion said:
Although each defendant was fined
3$zo,0oo, this was the mildest punish
ment that could be inflicted under the
statute 1t is admitted that the penal
Ties hxed by the statute are drastic,
Wnen imposed in cases where there are
wholesale violations Of the law but 1t
is the purpose Of the statute to pro-
tect wild game, and if the punishment
was not graduated according to the
number of birds unlawfully possessed,
the purpose OF the law would be de-
feated. 1t could not be fairly claimed
that the fine was excessive or imposed
cruel or unusual punishment, although
separate indictments might be, found
Tor each oHense and in case of cumu-
-latlve sentences would be legal The
statute in question secures the same
result by treating the unlawful DOS
session of wild ducks, no matter how
many, as one offense and graduating
the punishment accordingly to the
number of birds, if the possession of
each We're declared separate offense,
thereby avoiding separate indictments
and cumulative sentences.
Fines Not Excessive
q ''The fines imposed in this case are
seemingly excessive not by reason of
the statute, but by reason of the mag
nltude of the offenses of which the de-
PENDANTS are convicted. The fault is
theirs, not that of the statute
The affirmative judgment was re-
ceived with unbounded satisfaction
yesterday by s. F. Fullerton, agent of
the state fish and game commission
1t is the great event in the history
of our commission Fullerton said.
:" An adverse decision on the eve of the
shooting season would have tied our
hands completely and left the game of
the state at the mercy of the pot hunt
.ers and those who have no interest in
the preservation Of the game of the
state. The decision, however, justif1es
the law under which all our convictions
viii be made in future and places the
commission in shape to rigidly enforce
the law without fear Or favor AS to
these Jackson county pot hunters, they
have not heard the last of this case"
Fullerton intimated that he would
present additional evidence to the Jack
son county court to show the connec-
ton of Kerr, who, by the terms of the
supreme court decision, is granted a
new trial.