Where is the justice in trooper poaching?
Why hasn’t Idaho State Police Trooper Jeff Jayne been charged with poaching that moose that he has admitted to killing out of season?
The normal way the law would handle this, you would be arrested, have to hire a lawyer and go to court. For him, however, the special prosecutor has turned over the paperwork to his attorney to examine before they decide whether to charge him with a felony or a misdemeanor.
Jayne has already admitted to a felony by admitting that he did kill the moose. It is my understanding that the prosecutor has offered him a misdemeanor charge, but that he refused it.
He thinks he should not be held responsible for his crime.
Jayne’s response to this was that he made a simple mistake on his dates. Think about that! He takes pride and brags about all the DUIs and tickets that he writes out. He knows his dates very well — he writes tickets all day.
The moose was a kill of opportunity and he took it. Besides, he would say that ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking the law. What if it were you?
Jayne should “man-up” and take the felony poaching charge, be arrested, post bond, bail out of jail and go through a jury trial like everyone of us would have to do. We would not get the special treatment that he is being given.
He took an oath to uphold the law and he should be setting an example for people. Instead, he is running from it. He is showing us that it is not OK for us to break the law and he thinks that he is above the law so he can.
I promise you that if you did the exact same thing that he did and he caught you, he would take you to jail, immediately charge you with a felony and plead with the court to impose a maximum sentence with no mercy.
You might be interested to know that he has not been suspended from duty. He is still out writing tickets and getting paid by us, while he slaps us in the face.
If Jayne gets off on any less than a felony, then the court should go back and do the same for everyone who has been convicted of poaching.
By the way, I have never been given a ticket or arrested by Jayne.
MIKE JOHNSON
Laclede