Craig Watkins Reportedly Dropped Trinity Pig Blood Case Over Trespassing Investigator

The inspector should have stayed below the high-tide mark.

That would have been no big deal if he'd had a warrant, but he didn't. The fact that some of the earliest evidence was illegally obtained was apparently enough to persuade District Attorney Craig Watkins' office to drop the 30 felony charges against Columbia and two vice presidents, cousins Joseph and Carl Ondrusek.

Let's not gloss over it.  It wasn't "trespassing."  It was an illegal search.  He should have gotten a warrant.  The exclusionary rule would have applied, and everything that flowed from those pictures -- essentially, the entire investigation from then on -- was fruit from the poisoned tree.  

This is the way it is supposed to work.  Otherwise, the next time the cops want to bust you on something, they'll just happen to "trespass" a little through your front door after they nudged it in with a battering ram.

The Federal EPA could still bring their own charges.

I think you can stay in a year round creek and not trespass.  Just don't come off the bank.

And they should have used a game warden.

Locked gates and private property doesn't apply to them.

Where are the Ninja Park Rangers when you really need to open a can of BATF whoop-ass on domestic terrorists?

@TheRuddSki  

Maybe it was their patriotic duty.

Not one Jihadist has made it past the Trinity.

@jollytex ... so is Nitrogen and Phosphorus ... should industries simply dump those elements / chemicals into any nearby waterway?

@ozonelarryb  ... or the fake "anonymous tip" of a burglary / assault / rape occurring.

The legal term you want is "exigent circumstances".

@markzero  No, because anything that resulted from the illegal search -- essentially the whole investigation -- was tainted by the original misconduct.

@markzero  ... it's a bullshit subversion of justice.

When the courts really want to prosecute someone, the judges always allow the "good faith" exception to ANY police misconduct and include the evidence.

@holmantx  "I think you can stay in a year round creek and not trespass.  Just don't come off the bank."

Close ... you can FLOAT down the stream or creek, passing over the private land, but you can't touch the banks NOR the bottom without trespassing.

@holmantx

True, but that's also because of the gators.

@pak152 ... let the COURT make that determination, otherwise it looks like the DA throwing away the case as a form of favoritism to the corporate criminals.

@DonkeyHotay @markzero  Illegal search is is also a crime.  Not defending these guys but the investigator committed a crime too.

@DonkeyHotay @holmantx 

Depends upon whether or not you have the riparian rights.

@DonkeyHotay @holmantx  

A game Warden has standing since that discharge affects the aquatic plant and animals, as well as the plants and animals in the riparian zone.  In fact, TP&WL has restrictions as to what a landowner can put, or drain into, a creek/river.

@MikeWestEast @DonkeyHotay @pak152  

The PRE-trial motions -- such as whether the Evidence was Unlawfully Obtained -- would not invoke double-jeopardy if the Judge tossed the evidence.

The case could be withdrawn / postponed while the Search and Seizure issue was appealed to higher courts for final determination.

The case could then be tried / refiled depending on the appeals court ruling on the search and seizure.

Pre-trial dismissals are almost always done "without prejudice", allowing the State to refile new charges once they get their shit together.

@pak152 ... TexASS deserves the corrupt corporate kowtowing DAs it elects.

@whateveryousay @DonkeyHotay @markzero  

http://www.china.org.cn/business/2012-04/23/content_25211328.htm

hth.

@DonkeyHotay @whateveryousay @markzero  And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

@whateveryousay @DonkeyHotay @markzero  

... so is Torture, Extra-Judicial Rendition, Assassination, Attacking, Invading and Occupying smaller, weaker and poorer sovereign nations on false pretenses, slaughtering 100,000+ innocent civilians in the process ....

@ThePosterFormerlyKnownasPaul @RTGolden1 @DonkeyHotay @holmantx  

No strained interpretation of "riparian rights" gives the Government Agent a right to Trespass on private property without a Warrant while conducting a Criminal Investigation into Water Pollution.

@RTGolden1 @ThePosterFormerlyKnownasPaul@DonkeyHotay@holmantx 

Not necessarily.  Depending upon how the land was patented and the source of the water, the riparian rights may belong to the surface fee owner. The riparian area is basically the area between the land and the water.  It is can be taken as the area between the high water mark and the low water mark, or in the case of a bluff or cliff, from the top of the cliff to the low water mark.

The case of the BLM looking at the Red River downstream of basically Wichita Falls to the Louisiana border is basically a dispute over the riparian rights.  The Texas - Oklahoma border was defined by an Act of Congress when it was previously the low water mark on the south bank of the river.  The BLM is now saying that the land between the low water line on the south side of the river and the bluff above the river is a riparian area that did not belong to Texas when it entered the Union.  The BLM is saying that this strip is the result of agradation and erosion; and not avulsion.

In addition, the stream bed may indeed belong to the surface fee owner in some instances.

@ThePosterFormerlyKnownasPaul @DonkeyHotay@holmantxFrom what i understand, since all waters (except in endorheic basins, like death valley) flow into the sea, the Clean Waters Act extends Federal jurisdiction to all flowing waters.  State 'ownership' applies to the land beneath navigable waters.  From everything I could glean, riparian rights as applied to a landowner along the banks simply means the landowner has a right to expect water untainted from pollution upstream.  Don't know how that would all apply here.

@DonkeyHotay @ThePosterFormerlyKnownasPaul@holmantx 

Do you even know what riparian rights are?

@ThePosterFormerlyKnownasPaul @DonkeyHotay @holmantx  

In the case at hand, he obviously didn't have riparian right to the banks or bed of the stream.

Ipso facto.

@DonkeyHotay @RTGolden1@holmantxTaste just like chicken.

@holmantx "In 2004, Texas game wardens became federally commissioned. According to TPWD, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to provide training to TPWD game wardens about federal laws and their enforcement. Texas game wardens then had the authority to make arrests and seizures in federal wildlife violations. In return, TPWD offered training to federal agents and provided them with jurisdiction within the state of Texas."

Hell, why stop at Game Wardens? ... just cross-commission ALL Federal and Texas law enforcement, so the FBI / DEA / DHS can enforce all Texas laws, and all Texas cops can enforce all Federal Laws.

Imagine the fun.

@RTGolden1 @holmantx ... are snakes "wild game" in Texas?

@RTGolden1 @holmantx @DonkeyHotay  

People don't realize how much power a game warden has.

Some hunters do.  As in those who were ticketed inside a 2,000-acre ranch where multiple gates are locked.  

at least they had to walk a couple of miles.

@holmantx @DonkeyHotay "... on any land or water where wild game or fish are known to range or stray..."  That's pretty much anywhere.  I've had snakes in my apartment when I lived up off of Midway.  That code pretty much eliminates the Fourth Amendment.

@DonkeyHotay @holmantx  TPWD employs more than 500 law enforcement specialists throughout the state. These figures carry a great deal of authority and responsibility. They enforce all areas of the TPWD code, regulations, Texas Penal Code and several specific regulations that relate to the environment.

In 2004, Texas game wardens became federally commissioned. According to TPWD, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to provide training to TPWD game wardens about federal laws and their enforcement. Texas game wardens then had the authority to make arrests and seizures in federal wildlife violations. In return, TPWD offered training to federal agents and provided them with jurisdiction within the state of Texas.

Game wardens can perform seizures and inspections in a person’s home, temporary residence (such as tents, hotel rooms, and campers), on roadways, and public property.

Property owners should be aware that in most cases, a game warden can enter private property. In Chapter 12 section 103, the code states, “An authorized employee of the department may enter on any land or water where wild game or fish are known to range or stray. No action may be sustained against an employee of the department to prevent his entering on land or water when acting in his official capacity.”

@holmantx  ... the Game Warden -- or any other Government Agent -- could document the discharge up to the property line of the suspect without a warrant ... then obtain a warrant for further investigation onto the subject private property.

Same as when cops smell marijuana or meth chemicals emanating from a property, then need to obtain a warrant before they can trespass and search that property.