PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Juelie Dalzell said she won’t put a timeframe on her decision of what charges to file in a case involving Port Gamble S’Klallam tribal police detaining three elk hunters near Brinnon on Oct. 3.
“There is no date for a decision,” Dalzell said Friday.
“But I can say that this office is definitely going to be handling the case [if charges are filed].”
Dalzell originally said she intended to make a decision on Friday. That changed when she took a look at the report filed from state and county investigators.
“The issues are way more complex than I had anticipated,” she said.
“We are dealing with the laws of two separate nations here, and I need to read up on tribal law.
“We want to make sure we are very, very careful with this.”
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said, after investigation, that the tribal police acted beyond their authority when they detained the hunters, who were on private land and had a hunting license, after one shot an elk.
The tribe is conducting its own internal investigation, and is waiting until the state and county investigations are released to the public to complete it, tribal spokeswoman Ginger Vaughan has said.
The tribe said in a statement released Oct. 16 that the officers were within their jurisdiction and operating on the tribe’s “usual and accustomed hunting grounds” when they detained the men.
Dalzell said “any number of potential outcomes” could result from her review of the extensive reports.
The prosecuting attorney must determine whether there is probable cause to file charges, she said, adding the charges could range from gross misdemeanors to felonies.
Mike Cenci, state Department of Fish and Wildlife deputy chief, said the investigation showed that no hunting violations occurred, no trespass took place and no crimes were committed by the hunters.
“Based on my understanding of the law, in this case, these officers lacked any legal authority to arrest or detain nontribal members off the [tribe’s] reservation,” Cenci said.
Cenci said he agreed with the tribe’s assertion that it has the authority to regulate its membership on its usual and accustomed hunting grounds. He also said he agreed that the tribe has the right to ask about the identity of individuals to establish if there is a tribal connection.
But he felt the method of approach taken by the officers was beyond their authority.
Jefferson County Sheriff Tony Hernandez agreed with Cenci’s overview of the findings.
The investigation was prompted by a complaint filed by Adam Boling of Brinnon, one of the three hunters, with the sheriff’s office on Oct. 5.
Boling said in his complaint that he, his 2-year-old son and Boling’s two friends, Shelton residents Don Phipps and Danny Phipps, were detained illegally by law enforcement agents of the Port Gamble S’Klallam tribe’s natural resources department.
The tribal officers did not cite the hunters.
Boling questioned the jurisdictional right of the tribal officers to detain them and the length of the detention.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.