Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Game Warden Kills 76 Year Old Man

A lot of hearsay in that. "I heard that a preacher said that a 10 year old said to the state investigators..."

If true though, that warden needs to be put away.

It is true if there is no one to contradict the story or a convenient cell phone pic or the like.

My point is simply this, if a the original crime in and of itself would not justify deadly force to stop its commission, then any shooting arising out of a stop should not be justified either.

If a guy runs a red light and is stopped by the cop and says "Screw you copper, you're not writing me a ticket" the cop should say, "Fine, go on you way". Then the cop writes the guy a citation and it is mailed to him. If the guy then doesn't show up for court, a bench warrant for his arrest will be issued and he can be arrested. By so doing, the majesty of the law is protected and enforced and a possibly tense situation with tragic consequences is avoided. The ONLY THING damaged is the ego of the original arresting officer.

Coss....you know a capias can't be issued for failing to show up in court to answer to a traffic citation other than DWI and reckless driving. Well,I should say at least they can't in Va.

A cop witnessing a misdemeanor committed in his presence should just yield and allow that person to drive away merely to avoid a possible escalated confrontation? You're speaking TIC,right?

So.. according to Cossatotjoe we need to remove the use of deadly force from any situation in which there will only be one surviving witness?

Joe, you going to give up all your firearms and knives so that you can't defend yourself in your house? Because if you kill an intruder, we'd have to take your word on it that he was a threat. Can't have that.. why, that's just giving you a "LICENSE TO KILL"!!!

Doh!

They can here. Are you saying warrants won't be issued at all, or just a warrant whereby they actually go out and get the guy as in a Capius?

A cop witnessing a misdemeanor in his presence should not drive away. He should take what steps necessary to issue a citation either in person or at a later date via mail or other means. He should in no circumstances escalate a situation by demanding compliance with a potentially intractable subject.

Are you saying warrants won't be issued at all
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Not for non DWi or reckless driving cases. Here, they will merely try you in your absence, find you guilty and jack up the fine. If the fine isn't paid within 15-18 days, you get a notice from the DMV stating your license to drive is suspended.

That generally gets the matter the attention it originally deserved.

But no, they want issue a warrant/capias here for non-serious traffic offenses for a failure to appear.

Well, they will here. But what is the difference? In either case the guy who drove off from the cop after running the red light in our hypothetical scenario did not escape the long arm of the law. He will either be arrested at some point, or he will have his license suspended and lose the privilege to drive.

It is good to see that the good people in the mountains of NC still have some backbone and know how to take care of business.

The outcome as it was seems worst than the infraction and the taking of someones life is the ultimate punishment but it didn't start that way.
Many people get excited and when confronted with a possible citation over react and make irrational statements, most of these statements are not intended but are indicators of a person's state of mind which police are trained to deal with. If a cop backs off every time an individual makes some threatening statement no one would obey the laws. I am quite certain that the statements made by the individual where not taken 100% serious since if he did he would have retreated and came back with additional manpower, the rule of thumb for police is a handgun is self defense weapon not an offensive weapon, not to mention he was out gunned facing a shotgun at close range. There is not much one can do when someone threatens you, has the ability to do great harm and makes an overt act to do this great harm, the rule of the jungle takes over,...KILL or be KILLED, anyone of us having to chose would have to make the same decision. In many of the wars this country has had young children both boys and girls and women have been aggressors, would you let them kill or injure you or your family because They don't seem the type of person that can do great harm....think about that

It is an unfortunate situation that will happen again just make certain it's not you, in our society the police have the right away, court is the avenue you need to take to correct a wrong if one has occurred not the street

Over the years this has allowed officers to abuse the 4th amendment.

Here the local cops team up with the warden and use that to shake people at the river partying.Lots of drug bust made on people just down at the river burning a joint.
Warden comes in starts looking for fishing poles and finds a bag of weed,then the locals take over....The Game Warden can do that.The locals must ask before they look and all you say is NO YOU CAN"T and they have no right,but the Game Warden can.
I think that this should be changed,if it is not a game&fish matter.He should have no right in it at all(execpt a life be in danger)Not using him for a pot bust.Opps I gusee you how know why I dislike the game warden here so much....

Actually the any law enforcement officer not only has the right to seize anything illegal when they come across it he is obligated to and turn it over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution. If something is done by him illegally it will be deemed "fruit of the poison tree and will be thrown out like getting a confession before giving them their constitutional rights which is the dumbest thing ever made into law IMHO

Many drug haulers are stopped on minor traffic violations and something said done or not said or done triggers probable cause that a crime has or is being done which following proper protocol leads to the eventual seizure and arrest.

It is the game of criminals, roll the dice pay the price.

If you haven't done anything than you have nothing to fear but fear itself

"If a guy runs a red light and is stopped by the cop and says "Screw you copper, you're not writing me a ticket" the cop should say, "Fine, go on you way". Then the cop writes the guy a citation and it is mailed to him. If the guy then doesn't show up for court, a bench warrant for his arrest will be issued and he can be arrested. By so doing, the majesty of the law is protected and enforced and a possibly tense situation with tragic consequences is avoided. The ONLY THING damaged is the ego of the original arresting officer."

That would be some incredibly shoddy police work. Andy Taylor himself would agree. It's not uncommon for a really bad scumbag to play it cool and it takes someone to investigate to weed them out.

Actually this is being done already in many cities with traffic cam, one day you get a traffic violation in the mail for running a red light with a picture of you license plate, now what if you loaned your car to a friend and he was driving whose license is going to get the points, whose insurance will go up and so . The headache on the innocent party is overwelming, at least when a cop stops you there is no question who is at the wheel plus he will check to see if you are drunk have proper insurance stuff that protects everyone esle and get this he did it to himself by breaking the law seems to me the system works fine for the people who follow the law

2 weeks ago I was in South Carolina--by way of North Carolina and spent a couple of days in Virginia. I used to guide a lot of bearhunters from the area around Wilkes county. Much of my discussions with the local people concerned a couple of game wardens acting like jerks in Southwest VA. I stated my opioion that the 4th amendment wasn't abjorgated by state law and rather than argue with a Conservation Officer--especially over something as mundane as a baiting law--they should just remain silent. If you get a ticket-- argue it in court. These guys all knew that I succesfully argued a ticket in court and won on a bogus charge. It cost me a couple of grand to fight a $103 ticket but I knew I was right and was just being harassed by the game dept.
Before I came on here yesterday I got a call from Southwest Va. The story I got was more similiar to what Heavy Metal told but I didn't want to repeat something unverified.
Heavy Metal also alluded to the clanish nature of many of these people resident in Wilkes co. I have no doubt that officer Minton is in grave danger. I pray that no more violence occurs.

There are many laws that are ridiculous and need to be overturned and there are many cops that shouldn't be cops but cops need to be aggressive so it benefits not to push there aggressive button. If a cop is out of control complaints that accumulate on that cop will get him relieved of duty.

Remember police and firefighters are one of the few if not the only strangers in our world who you can call and count on them helping you handle a problem that you can't handle. Same goes with are military personnel, they make our lives safe so we can live without fear.

Steelhead,

Mucho respect for your comments made on this thread. Sorry for being short with you the other night (I was in alcohol induced arsehole mode)...

More excellent legal advice from Cossatotjoe...

Can a 10 year old child testify in court in cases like this, particularly when he is related to the deceased and is potentially open to "manipulation" by the family??

As for the GW, he is a citizen and has the same fundimental rights as everybody else, one being the right to self defence and another being the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of Law..

I wasn't at the incident and don't what happened nor why...Nor do I know what the intentions of the GW when he approached the old gent.

Hopefully the truth will come out, and justice will be done, which ever direction that takes..

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Don't know can't see the court taking a 10 year olds story in this case are any other and being a family member to boot.

Talk with the pastor again,they are tring to defuse the local rednecks.Last time a warden got on there bad side,they put a glass jar in a local bar and people put money in it and who ever kill the warden got the pot..Wasn't a sign on it or anything like that but everyone know the story.The warden moved to this county and later quit a went back home.You don't fire up Wilkes County rednecks to many to fight off.