TACOMA — A federal magistrate has denied a defense attorney’s motions to dismiss charges against two Makah whale hunters whose trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
The attorney, Jack Fiander of Yakima, represents Andy Noel, who along with Wayne Johnson turned down a plea bargain that their three co-defendants accepted late last month.
Pending a final pretrial hearing scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday, the trial will start at 9 a.m. Tuesday with selection of 12 jurors and two alternates from a pool of 44 to 60 people.
Fiander had moved for dismissal of the misdemeanor charges for lack of federal jurisdiction, and for infringing on the defendants’ freedom of religion and violating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
He argued that the hunt of a gray whale last Sept. 8 — in violation of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act — had started in Makah tribal waters outside federal jurisdiction.
The whale was harpooned at least four times and shot at least 16 times off Seal Rock in the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Neah Bay.
It died in the Strait more than nine hours after it was wounded.
All five men also face charges in Makah Tribal Court that together could give them one-year jail sentences and $5,000 fines.
