Charles v. State
Charles v. State
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Marvin L. Charles Sr. was convicted of violating several state hunting regulations related to the taking of does on Prince of Wales Island. Charles argues that he was entitled to an evidentiary hearing in district court to show that the hunting regulations were invalid because they conflicted with federal law requiring a priority for subsistence hunting. We uphold the district court’s decision to deny the hearing because Charles did not raise any factual dispute about the validity of the regulations.
Facts and proceedings
Charles was convicted of five counts of unlawful possession or transportation of
Before trial, Charles moved for dismissal of the charges, arguing that the state regulations conflicted with the subsistence priority mandated by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA).
Charles also asked for an evidentiary hearing to establish that he was entitled to defend against the charges at trial by showing that (1) the deer were taken for subsistence purposes and (2) the state regulations were unreasonable because they failed to provide him an opportunity to satisfy his subsistence needs.
Superior Court Judge Trevor N. Stephens, sitting in the district court, denied the motion to dismiss. Relying on Totemoff v. State,
Charles filed a motion to reconsider, again requesting an evidentiary hearing. In his motion to reconsider, Charles conceded that the pertinent federal regulations governing
In denying the motion to reconsider, Judge Stephens acknowledged that Charles had the right to challenge the validity of the regulations he was charged with violating. But he noted that Charles appeared to concede that the Federal Subsistence Board had considered the concerns he was raising and had decided not to further restrict deer hunting on Prince of Wales Island. He concluded that Charles was attempting to raise what was “in essence an appeal of an administrative decision.”
At trial, Charles raised the affirmative defense of necessity with respect to all the charges except the charge of hunting without a harvest ticket, arguing that the deer were taken “due to dire emergency.”
Discussion
Charles has not explained how two of the regulations he was convicted of violating — the regulations requiring hunters to have deer harvest tickets and to leave the deer’s sex identification attached — interfered with his subsistence rights. Charles has therefore waived his challenge to those regulations by inadequate briefing.
This leaves the five counts of unlawfully possessing or transporting game. The jury was instructed that those five counts could be proved in two ways: the State could prove that Charles possessed or transported deer that were taken without a deer harvest ticket, or the State could prove that Charles possessed or transported does that were taken in violation of the harvest limit that allowed only the taking of antlered bucks. The jury did not specify which theory it relied on to convict Charles. Therefore, we are required to reverse Charles’s convictions on those five counts if he establishes that the harvest limit is invalid.
Charles particularly challenges the district court’s decision to deny his motion without an evidentiary hearing. The entitlement to a hearing is generally governed by Alaska Criminal Rule 42. A moving party must include a “detailed statement of material facts” and all “documentary evidence” that supports a motion.
Was Charles entitled to a hearing to establish a subsistence defense?
Charles’s first claim is that he was entitled to raise a subsistence defense to the charges against him, and that Judge Stephens should have granted him an evidentia-ry hearing to present evidence in support of that defense. In support of this claim,
Alexander involved defendants convicted in federal court for the interstate transport of herring roe taken or sold in violation of Alaska law.
Alexander is not binding on this court.
If anything, Alexander suggests that Charles was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing. The defendants in Alexander also challenged the state regulation establishing harvest limits for herring roe, arguing that the Board of Fisheries had neglected to allow for sales made in customary trade when it established the harvest limits.
Charles may be arguing more broadly that ANILCA entitled him to defend against the criminal charges at trial by showing that'(l) the deer were shot for non-wasteful subsistence purposes and (2) the harvest limit was unreasonable because it did not provide him an opportunity to satisfy his subsistence needs. But such a defense is precluded by State v. Eluska
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Eluska had no right to hunt for subsistence in the absence of a regulation authorizing such hunting.
Was Charles entitled to a hearing to challenge the validity of the state regulations?
The remaining question is whether Charles was entitled to an evidentiary hearing to show that the state regulation was inconsistent with the subsistence priority mandated by ANILCA. In Totemojf, the supreme court held that Congress in enacting ANILCA only preempted enforcement of state hunting laws when there was “actual conflict” between state and federal law.
In Totemojf, the defendant was charged with violating a state regulation that prohibited hunting with the aid of a spotlight.
There is likewise no actual conflict with ANILCA in this case because Charles’s conduct was illegal under both state and federal hunting regulations. Alaska’s regulation authorized deer hunting on Prince of Wales Island for residents and nonresidents from August 1 to December 31 and set a harvest limit of four bucks.
Charles nevertheless claims that the state regulation conflicts with ANILCA because nonresidents have depleted the buck population, leaving too few bucks to meet his subsistence hunting needs. He asserts that “pressure put on game by non-subsistence users has, in fact[,] been recognized by the Federal Subsistence Board, but that it has not been adequately addressed to preserve Mr. Charles’s subsistence needs.” He argues that these assertions created disputed issues of material fact with respect to the validity of the state and federal regulations and that he was entitled to a hearing to resolve this dispute.
In Totemojf, the supreme court clarified that Eluska did not prevent a subsistence hunter from arguing that the regulation he was charged with violating was invalid.
Our conclusion is consistent with other decisions holding that individuals are not free to break laws simply because they believe them conduct should be legal. For instance, a person cannot defend against a charge of driving without a license by asserting that the government wrongly denied the license; the defendant must challenge the denial of the license in appropriate civil or administrative proceedings.
Managing game for subsistence and other competing uses is a complex task that requires considerable expertise. The district court correctly recognized that it had no authority to substitute its judgment for that of the agencies involved with respect to the wisdom or efficacy of these regulations.
Conclusion
We therefore AFFIRM the district court judgment.
. 5 Alaska Administrative Code (AAC) 92.140(a) provides:
No person may possess, transport, give, receive, or barter game or parts of game that the person knows or should know were taken in violation of AS 16 or a regulation adopted under AS 16.
. 5 AAC 92.150(b) provides:
If the taking of a big game animal, except sheep, is restricted to one sex, a person may not possess or transport the carcass of an animal unless sufficient portions of the external sex organs remain attached to indicate conclusively the sex of the animal, except that antlers are considered proof of sex for a deer if the antlers are naturally attached to an entire carcass, with or without the viscera; however, this section does not apply to the carcass of a big game animal that has been cut and placed in storage or otherwise prepared for consumption upon arrival at the location where it is to be consumed.
. 5 AAC 92.010(f) provides in pertinent part:
[A] person may not hunt deer, except in a permit hunt, unless the person has in possession a deer harvest ticket[.]
. 5 AAC 85.030(a)(2) provides that, between August 1 and December 31, the bag limit for Prince of Wales Island (Southeast Region Game Management Unit 2) is four bucks. See 5 AAC 92.450(2) (describing Game Management Unit 2). Federal regulations provide that only bucks may be taken in Unit 2 between July 24 and October 15. 36 C.F.R. § 242.26(n)(2); 50 C.F.R. § 100.26(n)(2).
. See AS 16.05.920(a) (a person may not take any game unless permitted by statute or regulation).
. Congress intended "to provide the opportunity for rural residents engaged in a subsistence way of life to do so.” 16 U.S.C. § 3112(1). Subsistence harvest of fish and wildlife on public lands must be accorded priority over the taking of fish and wildlife for other purposes. 16 U.S.C. § 3114. The Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture are required to promulgate regulations necessary to implement this priority. 16 U.S.C. § 3124.
. 905 P.2d 954 (Alaska 1995).
.See AS 16.05.930(b) ("This chapter does not prohibit a person from taking fish or game during the closed season, in case of dire emergency, as defined by regulation adopted by the appropriate board.”); 5 AAC 92.990(a)(13) (defining "dire emergency” to mean a situation in which the person is (A) in a remote area; (B) involuntarily experiencing an absence of food required to sustain life; (C) facing a high risk of death or serious and permanent health problems if wild game food is not immediately taken; and (D) cannot expect to obtain other food sources in time).
. See Petersen v. Mutual Life Ins. Co., 803 P.2d 406, 410 (Alaska 1990).
. See Vigue v. Stale, 987 P.2d 204, 210 (Alaska App. 1999).
. Alaska R.Crim. P. 42(b)(1) & (2).
. Alaska R.Crim. P. 42(e)(3).
. 938 F.2d 942 (9th Cir. 1991).
. Id. at 945.
. Id. at 945-46.
. Id. at 945.
. Id. at 946.
. Id. at 948.
. Totemoff, 905 P.2d at 963 (noting that Alaska courts are not bound by decisions of federal courts other than the United States Supreme Court on questions of federal law) (citing In re F.P., 843 P.2d 1214, 1215 n. 1 (Alaska 1992)).
. See Alexander, 938 F.2d at 948.
. Id. at 946-47.
. Id.
. 724 P.2d 514 (Alaska 1986).
. Id. at 514.
. Id.
. Id. at 516.
. Id.
. State, Dep’t of Commerce v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co., 165 P.3d 624, 632 (Alaska 2007).
. 905 P.2d at 957 (citing 5 AAC 92.080(7)).
. Id. at 960 (citing 36 C.F.R. § 242.23(b)(l)(vii) (1990)).
. AS 16.05.920(a) (prohibiting the taking of game absent a regulation authorizing the taking); 5 AAC 85.030(a)(1) (setting bag limit in Game Unit 2).
. 36 C.F.R. § 242.26(n)(2); 50 C.F.R. § 100.26(n)(2); see Subsistence Taking of Fish and Wildlife Regulations, 71 Fed.Reg. 37642-01, 37662 (June 30, 2006).
. Totemojf, 905 P.2d at 969.
. State v. Morry, 836 P.2d 358, 362-64 & 362 n. 3 (Alaska 1992); see also Alexander, 938 F.2d at 947 (rejecting the claim that a state regulation establishing catch limits for herring roe interfered with ANILCA because the defendants had presented no evidence of "what was or was not considered by the Board of Fisheries” when it adopted the catch limits, and had provided no record of the Board’s proceedings).
. See Marshall v. State, 198 P.3d 567, 572-73 (Alaska App. 2008) (explaining that an evidentiary hearing is not required unless the moving party files affidavits or other evidence showing that he may be entitled to relief).
. See State v. First Nat’l Bank of Anchorage, 660 P.2d 406, 425 (Alaska 1982) ("AS 44.62.100(a) establishes a rebuttable presumption that the procedural requirements for the promulgation of administrative regulations have been satisfied.”).
. See Tenison v. State, 38 P.3d 535, 538 (Alaska App. 2001).
. See Jacko v. State, 981 P.2d 1075, 1077 (Alaska App. 1999).
. See Eagle v. State, Dep’t of Revenue, 153 P.3d 976, 978 (Alaska 2007); Meier v. State, Bd. of Fisheries, 739 P.2d 172, 174 (Alaska 1987).
Concurring Opinion
concurring.
I write separately to emphasize a key aspect of our analysis of this case: our interpretation of the Alaska Supreme Court’s decision in Totemoff v. State, 905 P.2d 954 (Alaska 1995).
In the final portion of its opinion in Totemoff, 905 P.2d at 969-973, the supreme court addressed the question of whether a defendant who is charged with violating a hunting regulation can defend against the charge by attacking the validity of the regulation. The supreme court concluded that a defendant can properly assert that the regulation is procedurally invalid — i.e., that the proceedings leading up to the enactment of the regulation were irregular in one or more respects. 905 P.2d at 969, 972-73. But at the same time, the supreme court reaffirmed its earlier decision in State v. Eluska, 724 P.2d 514, 516 (Alaska 1986), that a defendant is not entitled to defend against a charge of illegal hunting by asserting that the unlawful act of hunting was done for subsistence purposes. 905 P.2d at 969-971.
See also AS 16.05.259, which states: “In a prosecution for the taking of fish or game in violation of a statute or regulation, it is not a defense that the taking was done for subsistence uses.” In Totemoff, the supreme court interpreted this statute as codifying the court’s decision in Eluska “that unauthorized hunting does not become lawful because it is subsistence hunting”. 905 P.2d at 970.
In Totemoff, the defendant argued that the regulation he was charged with violating (a
Returning to the facts of Charles’s case, Charles offered no evidence that the Alaska Board of Game or the Federal Subsistence Board failed to consider subsistence uses when they set the limits on deer hunting on Prince of Wales Island. Rather, as Judge Bolger’s lead opinion points out, Charles apparently concedes the opposite. In his district court pleadings, Charles declared that “[even though] the pressure put on game by non-subsistence [hunters] has ... been recognized by the Federal Subsistence Board, [the Board] has not ... adequately ... preserve[d] Mr. Charles’ subsistence hunting needs”.
In other words, Charles did not assert that the. Board of Game’s adoption of the deer-hunting regulation was procedurally invalid, or that the regulation lacked any reasonable relation to the Board’s areas of regulatory authority defined in AS 16.05.255-270. Instead, Charles argued that the Board reached the wrong conclusion when it weighed the needs of subsistence hunters against the need to husband the deer population. Charles wanted the district court to hold a hearing, not for the purpose of showing that there was any legal irregularity in the Board’s enactment of the regulation, but rather for the purpose of second-guessing the Board’s decision on issues of game management. Totemoff and Eluska hold that this proposed “defense” is not allowed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Marvin L. CHARLES Sr., Appellant, v. STATE of Alaska, Appellee
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published