Case library · The Poacher's Docket
Nothing in the Bag
People v. Maikhio (2011)
Charge: Closed-season take / failure to display catchCourt: California Supreme CourtState: CaliforniaDocket: The Poacher's Docket
Can a wildlife officer stop a vehicle to demand license and catch without reasonable suspicion that a law was broken?
The facts
Near eleven at night a wildlife officer watched a man fish from a public pier with a handline, a method that cannot lawfully take lobster. Lobster season was closed. Through a telescope two hundred yards away the officer saw him land something and drop it into a black bag. The man got into a car and drove off. The officer pulled the car over three blocks on and asked whether he had any fish or lobster.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: People v. Maikhio, 51 Cal. 4th 1074 (2011)
Read more at courtlistener.com. The source reveals the outcome.