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STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF TESTIMONY BY WILLIAM K. BOE BEFORE 

 THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RESOURCES COMMITTEE 



ON MAY 15, 1996 



Before going to law school, I worked as a Correctional Officer 

 at Florida's worst maximuin security prison. As a member of the 

 Florida Bar since 1978, it has been my privilege to serve as a 

 prosecutor for 15 years of that period. From 197 8 to 1984, I served 

 as an Assistant State Attorney in the 3rd and 8th Judicial Circuits 

 of Florida and was one of three prosecutors who tried the case 

 against Ted Bundy which provided him a richly deserved experience 

 in Florida's electric chair. From 1984 through 1988, I served as an 

 Assistant United States Attorney with the Department of Justice and 

 was assigned to an Organized Crime/Drug Enforcement Task Force for 

 the Florida-Caribbean region. In 1988, I received a gubernatorial 

 appointment as State Attorney for the 8th Judicial Circuit of 

 Florida and was re-elected without opposition in 1990. During that 

 tenure, I was the chief prosecutor for a six county area in North 

 Central Florida with a staff of 100, including 38 prosecutors. In 

 1993, I served as the Felony Bureau Chief for the Tampa, Florida 

 State Attorney's Office supervising 7 felony trial divisions. I 

 have served as faculty adviser to the National College of District 

 Attorneys in Houston, Texas. Over the course of my career as a 

 prosecutor, I was fortunate to receive awards from the United 

 States Department of Justice, the Florida Cabinet, the Florida 

 Council on Crime and Delinquency, Parents of Murdered Children, the 

 Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the United States Drug 

 Enforcement Administration, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. I 

 share this background with you to demonstrate that I am no bleeding 

 heart opponent of law enforcement and further, that I have a keen 

 appreciation for the work of those charged with protecting our 

 natural resources . 



While in private practice in Gainesville, Florida, I recently 

 represented several of the individuals charged by Special Agents of 

 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the incident described in Mr. 

 Boe's testimony. During the course of representing those clients, 

 I had an opportunity to review a letter from Noreen K. Clough, 

 Regional Director for the Service in Atlanta, Georgia, addressed to 

 the Honorable Cliff Stearns, of Florida's 6th Congressional 

 District, on or about November 17, 1995. I have several 

 observations in response to points raised in Director Clough 's 

 letter and wished to share them with the Committee. 



Director Clough questioned the knowledge of hunters in the 

 Dixie County charity hunt, concerning the legality of the field, in 

 that some hunters left the area when agents of the Service finally 

 made their presence known and began to issue citations. I think it 

 is safe to say that most hunters very strongly believed the hunt to 

 be completely in compliance with state and federal game laws 

 because of the participation in the hunt by Colonel Larry Martin of 

 the Florida Game & Fresh Water Fish Commission, along with the 

 Sheriffs of Alachua, Nassau, Dixie, and Union Counties. My 

 understanding is that Colonel Martin even addressed the group of 

 hunters prior to the hunt and it is certainly reasonable to assume 

 that four elected sheriffs and one of the state's top game 

 enforcement officers would not be putting their careers on the line 



