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Makah whalers face federal trial March 18

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, November 28, 2007

By Jim Casey, Peninsula Daily News

TACOMA – The five Makah men accused of breaking the Marine Mammal Protection Act when they killed a whale in the Strait of Juan de Fuca will go to trial on March 18.

Because none of the defendants’ court-appointed attorneys waived the right to a trial by jury, it is expected to be a jury trial.

Three days were scheduled for the proceedings in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.

Each of the men – Frankie Gonzales, Wayne Johnson, Andrew Noel, Parker and William Secor Sr., all of Neah Bay – faces three federal misdemeanor charges:

  • Conspiracy to hunt a whale.

  • Whaling in violation of the federal Whaling Convention Act.

  • Harassing and killing the whale on Sept. 8.

    Each count carries a maximum fine of $100,000, a one-year prison term and a year of parole.

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