By Courtney Bourgoin
An Ohio hunter wanted to tell state officials that they can’t have their cake and eat it too.
Or more specifically, they can’t have their venison and eat it too.
But in a recent 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Arlie Risner owes the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Ohio in restitution even though the agency already seized antlers and remains from the 20-point whitetailed buck he’d killed illegally.
In November 2011, Risner, of Bellevue, was found guilty of killing a deer without permission on private property, a railroad track in Huron County. State wildlife officers found a tree stand, deer organs and blood, which led to an investigation of Risner, according to the decision.
The buck exceeded legal limits and was considered a trophy animal, according to the DNR. It had 228 6/8 -inch antlers–a size the state Division of Wildlife called “an extraordinarily large and unusual deer in Ohio,” according to the court.
Investigators seized the antlers from a taxidermist and the meat from a local butcher.
Risner was convicted of killing a deer that exceeded the 125-inch antler limit and killing it on private property. He unsuccessfully claimed he shot the arrow while on legal hunting property and that the arrow reached private property only after its release.
The DNR seized the deer meat and antlers, and Risner was ordered to pay $200 for a fine, court costs and an initial $90 in restitution. The DNR also suspended his hunting license for one year.
A month later, the state agency demanded another $27,853 in civil restitution because of the deer’s high value as a trophy animal, according to the court. That value was based on a 2008 law that assesses higher restitution value on trophy animals to protect them.
The DNR revoked Risner’s hunting license until the restitution was paid in full.
The high restitution and tough punishment “provide a significant deterrent to those individuals who seek to harm the state’s aesthetic, economic and recreational interests,” according to testimony by Dave Graham, former chief of the Wildlife Division.
In court papers, the DNR said that “trophy-size antlers could ‘easily net’ $20,000 on the black market.”
Risner sued the department, disputing whether it could seize the deer parts, which have monetary value, while also demanding full restitution.
A Huron County judge sided with Risner, ruling that the state can’t recover both restitution and the deer remains based on the “plain language” of the law.
However, the Court of Appeals overturned that decision, siding with DNR.
In the latest ruling, the Supreme Court said Risner is responsible for the full restitution.
“It is illogical to require DNR to choose between possession of the unlawfully taken parts or restitution for the unlawfully taken deer,” the court said in a majority opinion written by Justice Sharon Kennedy.
Kennedy said the legislature passed the law to “preserve Ohio’s wildlife for legitimate hunters and naturalists and to provide a significant deterrent to those individuals who seek to harm the state’s aesthetic, economic, and recreational interests.
Requiring DNR to choose between possession of the deer’s remains and restitution when a white-tailed deer of this caliber is poached removes all deterrent effect and allows the ‘cost of doing business’ mindset to prevail.”
But on a dissent, Justice Terrence O’Donnell wrote, “DNR has already recovered the animal itself. It cannot recover more in restitution than its economic loss. “The state is not permitted a double recovery.”
Now the case returns to the trial court to determine whether the language in the law is constitutional.
Matt Eiselstein, the DNR deputy chief of communications, said the department can’t comment on the new decision because the litigation is continuing but “we’re optimistic that the constitutional question will be decided in the state’s favor as well.”
Risner’s lawyer did not return requests for comment.