Legal Question in Criminal Law in Wisconsin

Well it was deer season and i had to work all day, got off at about 3 oclock in the afternoon. I thought to myself i will go sit on Wes Horstmans land in the feild til dark. I just got to where i was gonna hunt got out of the van and seen a buck standing on the hill maybe 30 yards away, so i loaded my gun and shot the deer of the gravel road. After about 30 mins a four wheeler came done off of the hill that i had permission to hunt, just thought it was Wess' boys. Well it ended up being his neice and her husband that just moved into the house around the corner of the land i just shot the deer on. The husband went on asking me if i had permission to hunt here and i said yes. Then he asked me if i was road huntin, I said know and told him that i had just got here. He continued to tell me how he likes turning in road hunters. Anyway the next day the DNR stop by and wait for me to get home from work. When i get out of my van the game warden and police officer immediatly come over to my van and start going through it. Well turns out i forgot that there was a ONE HITTER BOX used for marijuana in the middle councel. So the game warden takes me to his truck to question me about being up by wess's when the gun shot was heard. i said that i wasnt saying anything without a lawyer present. The warden told me that it might work in court but not with him. He also said i had no rights with him because i was just being detained. So i said whatever then and tried getting out of the truck. He grabbed me by the arm and said to get back in or i would be takin to jail. After about three hours and 4 statements later he said i would be getting a fine for shooting within 50 feet of the center line.And no tresspassing. They also told me i would get it for paraphenial. Well another cop showed up and the cop who had takin the one hitter box jumps in the car with her. After about 2.5 hours of sittin in the wardens truck the cop come over and says well now we are getting you with possesion and dropping the paraphenial charge. i swear that there wasnt anything in it, but there could have been. This happened on 11/24/09. i shot the deer on 11/23/09. well 2 days ago the officer who took the box stopped to go over my options and wanted me to write a statement. Once again i said i would like to use my fifth amendment right to remain silent. He said that was fine. Then he started going over the charges they had for me.--- Possesion, paraphenial,and tresspassing. can they do that even after they said that they would drop the tresspassing fine and paraphenial. I guess i was just wondering if there was any way to fight this and get something off my record. My perspective on marijuana is that it should be legal. i was just introduced to it about a year ago when we found out our son had autism. It releaves the stress and it makes me not think about the man up the road who murdered my aunt about 5 years ago, and only served 4 or 5 years. Some say its bad but i for one do not believe this after just recently trying it. is there anything that can be done or am i lookin at jail time.

could use some advice really bad. and i just wanna say right now im not made of money but i would be willing to make payments if someone thinks they can get the possesion charge dismissed. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\Thank you very much for your time. Jeremy Day

Bagley Wisconsin


Asked on 12/02/09, 8:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

JAY Nixon nixon law offices

You are in dire need of an experienced criminal lawyer as soon as possible, who may be able to move to suppress the evidence found in your vehicle under certain circumstances. Although DNR wardens have enhanced search authority in fish and game matters to look for illegally harvested wildlife in a vehicle, there may be arguments against the validity of a search for drugs on presumably private property without a warrant. If convicted on the THC charge, in addition to up to six months of jail time and large fines, you face a mandatory minimum loss of drivers license for six months with limited ability to get an occupational permit and long term impacts upon your insurance rates. The conviction will also be published in the State of WI circuit court public website which many potential employers review when they are hiring workers, meaning that your employability could be effected. Other than telling you to get a lawyer, my comments here do not constitute legal advice and do not create an attorney/client relationship between us. However, you are more than welcome to contact me via my direct email address posted here or by phone in order to discuss arrangements for me to possibly accept your case. I would also suggest that you not make public statements online or by any other means about your case, since your comments could be used against you in court.

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Answered on 12/09/09, 12:34 pm


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