TLDR Version - Four Missouri hunters are being legally harassed by the Carbon County DA for corner crossing which is not illegal in Wyoming. They have been acquitted on one charge in a recent jury trial. Meateater had a podcast interviewing them this week. They need your help regarding legal fees.
Meateater Podcast Ep 342: Getting Busted for Touching Air
Missouri Hunters Corner Crossing Case GoFundMe Link
Wyoming AG Corner Crossing Opinion
Wyoming's Criminal Trespass Lawsuit
Wyofile Article with body cam video where both the Conservation Officer and Sherriff's Deputy State that they will not cite because the attorney won't prosecute.
I am sure that some of you have been following the case of the four Missouri hunters and their corner crossing case in Wyoming. Meateater had a podcast with two of them today.
They were acquitted last month of charges stemming from a 2021 misdemeanor trespassing citation. Charges were filed against them three days before the commencement of that trial from an incident in 2020 where they weren't given citations. In both cases, Carbon county Sherriff's Deputies and Conservation Officers told them they weren't violating the law and they should go hunt. The owner of the Iron Bar Ranch, North Carolinian pharmaceutical millionaire Fred Eshelman, has also sued the four Missouri hunters in civil court for violating Iron Bar Ranch airspace.
In addition to being told by local law enforcement that they were not violating any law, the Wyoming AG issued an opinion in 2004 that corner crossing did not violate the statute encompassing trespass to hunt or fish, though it may still violate the criminal trespass statute.
The Missouri hunters obviously have significant legal fees to cover.
They also gave testimony for hunter harassment charges against Iron Bar Ranch employees that have not been acted upon by the Carbon County Attorney's office.
Because of the checkerboard pattern of land ownership in most western states, there are currently 8.3 million acres of landlocked public land that can only be accessed by corner crossing. The legality of corner crossing varies from state to state, but there is no Wyoming statute that addresses corner crossing.
Meateater Podcast Ep 342: Getting Busted for Touching Air
Missouri Hunters Corner Crossing Case GoFundMe Link
Wyoming AG Corner Crossing Opinion
Wyoming's Criminal Trespass Lawsuit
Wyofile Article with body cam video where both the Conservation Officer and Sherriff's Deputy State that they will not cite because the attorney won't prosecute.
I am sure that some of you have been following the case of the four Missouri hunters and their corner crossing case in Wyoming. Meateater had a podcast with two of them today.
They were acquitted last month of charges stemming from a 2021 misdemeanor trespassing citation. Charges were filed against them three days before the commencement of that trial from an incident in 2020 where they weren't given citations. In both cases, Carbon county Sherriff's Deputies and Conservation Officers told them they weren't violating the law and they should go hunt. The owner of the Iron Bar Ranch, North Carolinian pharmaceutical millionaire Fred Eshelman, has also sued the four Missouri hunters in civil court for violating Iron Bar Ranch airspace.
In addition to being told by local law enforcement that they were not violating any law, the Wyoming AG issued an opinion in 2004 that corner crossing did not violate the statute encompassing trespass to hunt or fish, though it may still violate the criminal trespass statute.
The Missouri hunters obviously have significant legal fees to cover.
They also gave testimony for hunter harassment charges against Iron Bar Ranch employees that have not been acted upon by the Carbon County Attorney's office.
Because of the checkerboard pattern of land ownership in most western states, there are currently 8.3 million acres of landlocked public land that can only be accessed by corner crossing. The legality of corner crossing varies from state to state, but there is no Wyoming statute that addresses corner crossing.
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