Criminal Defense News

Department of Conservation Officers Charge New Jersey Man with Selling Wildlife Parts

Undercover wildlife conservation lawmen bagged an Atlantic County man on charges of peddling more than 200 white-tailed deer antlers including several trophy-class sets, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson announced.

Folsom Borough resident Melvin Kemmerer, 63, who stood to pocket about $1,000 for the antler collection, now faces three to five years in prison and up to $200,000 in fines for the illegal sale, transfer and possession of wildlife parts.

"There should be no doubt that we are serious about stopping crime against New Jersey's wildlife," Commissioner Jackson said. "Our Conservation Officers are out on the beat, and the public is helping us catch those who have no regard for our wildlife resources and the laws that protect them."

Kemmerer's arrest culminated a two-month investigation by Conservation Officers with the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife and agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Acting on a tip that Kemmerer was soliciting buyers for his antlers, a law enforcement officer contacted the suspect by telephone and arranged to purchase the deer parts. Lawmen allege Kemmerer agreed to sell the antlers for $10 a pound.

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	Did You Know?
	Res Ipsa Loquitur - Literally, "a thing that speaks for itself." In tort law, the doctrine which holds a defendant guilty of negligence without an actual showing that he or she was negligent. Its use is limited in theory to cases in which the cause of the plaintiff's injury was entirely under the control of the defendant, and the injury presumably could have been caused only by negligence.