Posted by Russ/Wyo on Friday, July 30, 2004 at 6:54PM :
John called me a few minutes ago with the results of his trial. The bottom line is that HE WON! Congratulations John!
Prosecution presented their case first, using 2 witnesses. One witness was the lady who wrote the ticket on John, and the other witness was a Forest Ranger who did a damage assesment of the 'damage' in July, well after the incident. Two of John's four attorneys felt strongly that the U.S.A. failed to provide sufficient proof and then asked the judge to dismiss the case on those grounds (Article 29). The judge ruled in favor of defense under Article 29. The judge also stated for the record that it was apparent that John Eickhof had legally taken a detour around a washed out county road. The judge also stated for the record that John Eickhof had been reasonable and prudent in how he used the detour to minimize damage to the land, and that by using reasonable and prudent care in his travels that he did not violate the statute cited in the violation. The road to Snowslide Gulch is now essentially open to vehicular travel.
Hopefully, John will jump in on this thread when he gets back to Idaho to fill in the other details.
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