05-22-2007, 10:10 PM
A Kittson County District Court judge has found a man guilty of illegally operating an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) in a state wildlife management area (WMA).
Deploying cameras in areas where illegal cross-county ATV travel was occurring in three WMAs in Kittson and Marshall counties, DNR officials filmed Richard M. Bailey, 66, Mound, Minn., on two separate occasions illegally operating an ATV in the Beaches Lake Wildlife Management Area near Karlstad in northwestern Minnesota.
"Last summer, DNR used a number of cameras in various wildlife management areas to detect illegal ATV activity," said State Conservation Officer Pat Znajda of Karlstad. "The deployed cameras were checked on a regular basis, pictures downloaded and digital evidence was gathered."
One of the individuals participating in the illegal ATV travel showed up a couple of times on the photos. After Znajda went through a lengthy process to identify the individual, Bailey was charged last November with one count of illegal ATV use in a WMA that occurred in June and one count that occurred in August.
Bailey pled not guilty, citing entrapment, invasion of privacy and use of the camera unconstitutional. On April 20, Kittson County District Court Judge Donna Dixon ruled otherwise, finding:
- the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Bailey violated the ATV WMA law on June 27, 2006 and Aug. 7, 2006 and was found guilty of both counts
- that the defendant had no expectation of privacy under the laws of the state of Minnesota and the United States Constitution on land owned by the government
- that the argument of entrapment also failed because the state did not induce or coerce the defendant to operate the ATV on the WMA
- that the argument regarding the unconstitutional use of the cameras also failed and was not relevant.
Bailey was ordered to pay $364 in fines, fees, and surcharges within 30 days.
"While the court decision does not make case law it will definitely allow us to use one more tool to detect illegal activity in a wildlife management area," Znajda said.
Deploying cameras in areas where illegal cross-county ATV travel was occurring in three WMAs in Kittson and Marshall counties, DNR officials filmed Richard M. Bailey, 66, Mound, Minn., on two separate occasions illegally operating an ATV in the Beaches Lake Wildlife Management Area near Karlstad in northwestern Minnesota.
"Last summer, DNR used a number of cameras in various wildlife management areas to detect illegal ATV activity," said State Conservation Officer Pat Znajda of Karlstad. "The deployed cameras were checked on a regular basis, pictures downloaded and digital evidence was gathered."
One of the individuals participating in the illegal ATV travel showed up a couple of times on the photos. After Znajda went through a lengthy process to identify the individual, Bailey was charged last November with one count of illegal ATV use in a WMA that occurred in June and one count that occurred in August.
Bailey pled not guilty, citing entrapment, invasion of privacy and use of the camera unconstitutional. On April 20, Kittson County District Court Judge Donna Dixon ruled otherwise, finding:
- the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Bailey violated the ATV WMA law on June 27, 2006 and Aug. 7, 2006 and was found guilty of both counts
- that the defendant had no expectation of privacy under the laws of the state of Minnesota and the United States Constitution on land owned by the government
- that the argument of entrapment also failed because the state did not induce or coerce the defendant to operate the ATV on the WMA
- that the argument regarding the unconstitutional use of the cameras also failed and was not relevant.
Bailey was ordered to pay $364 in fines, fees, and surcharges within 30 days.
"While the court decision does not make case law it will definitely allow us to use one more tool to detect illegal activity in a wildlife management area," Znajda said.