Further detail emerges in poaching case

SANDPOINT — An audio recording of Idaho State Police Trooper Jeff Jayne’s sentencing hearing provides further insight on the factors that influenced how his moose poaching case was handled.

The Daily Bee obtained the recording of hearing through a public records request. Jayne was prosecuted in the 2nd Judicial District because his patrol beat covers the 1st District. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Feb. 23 in Moscow.

Jayne, 42, was charged with a misdemeanor for harvesting a bull moose out of season on Sept. 11, 2010. Jayne killed the moose in Bonner County with a bow four days before the season opened on his controlled hunt.

Latah County Deputy Prosecutor Mike Cavanagh acknowledged early on in the sentencing hearing that every moose poaching case he’s handled in the last four years has been charged at the felony level.

But each of those cases involved defendants who willfully took a moose knowing they did not have one of the few, coveted tags that allowed them to do so. Cavanagh said the circumstances of those cases contrast sharply with the circumstances in Jayne’s case.

Jayne had the proper tag and immediately reported the harvest to the Idaho Department of Fish & Game, unaware he had killed the moose prematurely. Jayne then made arrangements to get time off so he could get the trophy to a taxidermist and have nearly 400 pounds of meat processed.

“This is someone who truly thought everything he was doing was lawful,” Cavanagh.

But Cavanagh told Judge John Charles Judge that Jayne was not entirely free of culpability. Jayne had the responsibility of knowing the season dates.

“His error was not drawing the bow and shooting the arrow. His error was the day before, or 10 minutes before, or two weeks before. He didn’t open up the rule book and make sure of the date,” Cavanagh said.

While Jayne’s error was simple, Cavanagh reminded the court that it was also quite serious. The state noted that moose are widely revered ungulates and one of the most protected big game animals in the state.

As a result, Cavanagh urged the court to suspend Jayne’s hunting privileges for two years. The recommendation drew strong objections from the defense.

Jayne’s attorney, Jim Siebe, called the recommendation “absolutely excessive” in light of Jayne’s acceptance of responsibility and a lack of aggravating elements to the offense, such as hunting without a tag, spotlighting or shooting across a road.

Siebe called it one of the most peculiar and frustrating cases he’s ever defended.

“Were it not for the risk and issues relative to a felony that would have been charged in this matter if we hadn’t gone along with the deal, I probably would have suggested to go for a trial and see if there wasn’t even a (jury) nullification issue here,” Siebe said.

For his part, Jayne said he “blew it” and that there was no excuse for failing to pay attention to detail.

“It’s been a hard toll on me personally, professionally, on my immediate family and my family back East. It’s pretty shameful,” said.

Judge expressed some skepticism as to how such a fastidious person could make such an error, but ultimately did not doubt that Jayne was simply mistaken.

Judge adopted the terms of the plea agreement, which called for six months of probation and a $500 penalty. Judge also imposed a one-year license revocation.

“Maybe not hunting for a year will help reinforce down the line the high level of responsibility that a hunter has to make sure that the dates are correct, to make sure that he or she is in the right place, firing at the right animal,” Judge said.