State v. Guffey

262 S.W.2d 152 (1953)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The facts show that State Conservation agents procured a hide of a 2 1/2-year-old doe which had been killed by an automobile. They had taken it to a taxidermist, who soaked it to soften it, stuffed it with excelsior and boards, inserted rods in the legs so it would stand upright and used the doe's skull in the head part of the hide so it would hold its former shape. They used two small circular pieces of scotch light reflector tape of a 'white to amber color' over the eyeless sockets. They took the now reconstituted hide to 'Spring Creek Area' and placed in a field about fifty yards from the north side of an old road so it could be seen by anyone coming along the road. The now eight Conservation agents, fully armed, then concealed themselves in the brush on the south side of the road opposite the dummy and awaited the arrival of some citizen who might be tempted to hunt out of season. A car came along that had two spotlights, one on each side, sweeping the countryside and piercing the darkness with their beams. One of the beams fell on the stuffed deer, and someone in the car was heard to exclaim, 'Wait, there stands one.' The car stopped, backed up ten to fifteen feet, the spotlight on the left side was extinguished, and the one on the right side of the car was trained upon the dummy deer. Immediately after the car stopped, there was a blast of a shotgun, which was fired by a man on the right side of the front seat, who was later identified as Hoss (D). The agents converged upon the Chevrolet, and its occupants, seized the spotlights, a flashlight, the shotgun, an empty shell, and a loaded shell, the latter containing what was referred to as a 'rifled slug.' Ds were charged with violation of 252.040. Ds were convicted and appealed.