Someday, somewhere, a state official
will understand the intent of the presentment made by the
Elko County Grand Jury, Woodbury said.
But, until that day, the D.A. added, comments
like those from Brown will continue to show the
unwillingness of officials to even try to understand the
dilemma facing rural Nevada.
Brown announced at the March 22 Wildlife
Commission meeting in Las Vegas that, "When this
first happened I got real mad. I was jumping up and down.
This is running amok and I don't see it getting any
better.... the wildlife commissioners are victims of
silly behavior, I think.
"I don't think people should be going
around... improperly and maybe illegally indicting
people. It's outlandish behavior. This behavior is done
by a very few number of people who don't understand the
criminal justice process and the grand jury process and
how sacred that is and how responsible you should be with
that kind of process.
"To knowingly make an offer or a
presentment or return something on a statute that has
already had the statute of limitations run out on it, to
me, that steps across the line. The line of those things
that are legally permissible and it crosses
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the line of those
things that are protected by the First Amendment to the
Constitution."
Woodbury said he had not known the commission
was going to discuss the grand jury findings and was not
invited to attend the meeting.
"The matter at issue is really two
questions," Woodbury said of the Feb. 13 grand jury
presentment.
"One, if the state was entitled to $1.5
million in mitigation fees from Independence Mining Co.,
why did the Nevada Division of Wildlife, specifically Mr.
(Willie) Molini, settle for $500,000?
And two, if the state and NDOW were not
entitled to $1.5 million, then why were they originally
demanding that much money?
"I am confident, at some point, some
state official will see that those are the ultimate
questions and make a determination when something was
done right and when something was done wrong,"
Woodbury said.
He said he has tried to spread the word on the
presentment, bringing to light the grand jury's
recommendation for tighter legislative control on NDOW,
but all anyone is
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