120 



The Gainesville Stm, Thursday. Januaij 18. 1996 



Judge acquits first defendant 

 in dove-hunting case 



■ Two local sheriffs face trial on the 

 same charges in February. 



By KAREN VOYLES 



Sun staff writer 



The federal government on Wednesday lost its first 

 dove-hunting case stemming from an October fund- 

 raiser in Dixie County. 



An agriculture student at the University of Florida. 

 Chad Clemons of High Springs, defended himself in 



federal court and was acquitted of hunting over a 

 baited dove field. 



Alachua County Sheriff Steve Oelrich and Dixie 

 County Sheriff Larry Edmonds hope for the same result 

 when they are tried on the same charges in February. 



The sheriffs and 86 others were cited for hunting on 

 land owned by Herman Sanchez in Dixie County — 

 land that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officers claim 

 was illegally baited to attract doves. Under federal and 

 state laws, it is illegal to hunt over a field where feed 

 has been placed to attract migratory birds. 



Clemons, who had been hunting from a field next to 



the Sanchez field, testified that he had inspected about 

 15 feet around the tailgate of the truck he was hunting 

 from and that he saw no bait. Clemons he did not 

 inspect the Sanchez field because he never crossed that 

 field to get to his hunting spot. 



"I wasn't aware of it being my duty to check the 

 entire field, but I knew I was to check my area where I 

 was hunting," Clemons said. 



The Oct. 13 event was a fund-raiser sponsored by 

 state Sen. Charles Williams for Florida Sheriff Youth 

 Ranches Inc. 



U.S. Magistrate Richard Belz. acquitted j:iemons, 



f'^r^it!"' 7°"''' "°' '■Msonably see the small grains on 



tor each dove in their possession 



Before hearing demons' case, Belz called out the 

 names of several hunters in court because his records 

 showed that they had not paid their fines 

 n„, "fuf',°^ eveo'one cited in the hunt still were 

 not available Wednesday because the federal govTr^ 

 ment has not released them. govern 



