If we give them the benefit of the doubt and say it's good faith, then they're so incompetent at their job, they need to be relieved of it.
It is absolutely an over reach. A game warden is a law enforcement officer with the same authority as any other LEO. They are also bound by the same rules. They cannot enter onto private property for the purposes of investigating an alleged crime without a warrant. They cannot seize property without a warrant. Maybe they did believe there was a crime committed, great. If there was a preponderance of evidence then they would have been able to secure a warrant easily. They went fishing and illegally seized property. The mistake the hunter made was speaking to them in the first place. He should’ve asked them for a warrant and when that wasn’t produced told them to leave his property. If they refused he should’ve called the county sheriff and had them trespassed from his property. He should also sue the hell out of those two officers and the state of West Virginia.
Sure, they have to question suspects in order to gather evidence. The issue is that interrogate him without arresting him. They couldn’t arrest him and they knew it, because there wasn’t enough evidence to get a warrant. They then seized property without a warrant, also illegal. The antlers and capes are the property of the hunter at that point. If they had enough evidence, they should’ve had no issue getting a warrant which would’ve allowed them to seize the trophies.
A warrant less search may only be conducted under very specific circumstances, a warrant less search or seizure in order to gather enough evidence to charge someone with a crime, is not one of those very specific circumstances.
wvmetronews.com
Once again a warden came to my moms land-home walking around cuz they suspected my brother was doing burglaries Which has nothing to do with game violations.
The excuse the warden made was the color of my brother truck matched the suspect but offered no proof of any damn thing. Nothing came of it. Mom would not file a complaint cuz all law enforec is always right.
Saying the two bucks WERE killed illegally makes LEO incorrect right thereNorth Carolina man faces serious poaching charges in W.Va. - WV MetroNews
West Virginia Natural Resources Police say the suspect from Statesville, N.C. killed two massive bucks illegally in McDowell County last November.
Here's the original news source that was used in the video.
I wonder if it first named the individual and was redacted.
In another article that was almost a copy and paste, individual was unnamed as well.
From your link:
Exactly. I don’t know where the idea came from that a game warden can somehow operate outside the confines of the Constitution. If they search private property without a warrant then the property owner consented to the search, even if they didn’t think they did. In jurisprudence “consent” does not necessarily mean what it does to lay people. That’s why it’s best to not speak to law enforcement without a lawyer. Any law enforcement, even if you know you did absolutely nothing wrong and have nothing to hide. They didn’t come knocking at your door cause they’re just being nice guys and trying to “clear a few things up” to help you out.
The only way they could search private property without a warrant or consent, to gather evidence, would be if there was evidence of a crime in plain view that could be seen without committing trespass. A GW can be trespassed. In fact, regarding the case we are discussing, if it were me speaking to these WV boys I would’ve kindly asked them to leave my property. If they refused I would’ve called the county sheriff deputies and had them trespassed from my property. I’ve seen that play out while stationed in VA. Very similar circumstances to the ones in this thread. My buddy was hunting out of state and shot a buck, also shot two in VA. VADNR guys came by asking questions and I was helping around the yard (my buddy is a disabled vet and a tree fell on one of his fences so I was helping clean up) and they started interrogating me. I walked about 20 feet away and sat on the tailgate of my truck, cracked a Miller Light, smiled and refused to speak with them until there was a lawyer present. My buddy’s wife was the attorney we were waiting on. Once she arrived we conferred with her in private and then addressed the GWs. I made a statement that the two he said were shot in VA were in fact shot in VA because I helped him drag them off his lease and caped both of them myself, we had pictures of both of us with them after he checked them online. That was the last we heard of it. Before that my buddy had called the sheriff and a deputy was on his way to trespass the GWs, who refused to leave. He showed up as were giving our statements and stayed until they left.
Shut the F up 
