Appeal court won’t hear case of eagle hunter

The B.C. Court of Appeal has rejected the appeal of a man convicted of 16 counts of hunting and trafficking in eagles and other birds in a case that dates back more than 10 years.

The case involving Jerome Richard Seymour, a First Nations man who was sentenced to 48 days in jail and fined $1,310 for the offences, began in the spring of 2005 when 50 bald eagle carcasses were discovered in North Vancouver.

Conservation officers launched an undercover operation to identify people involved in the trafficking of eagle parts and to collect evidence.

The operation eventually led to Seymour, a member of the Chemainus First Nation.

In January 2006, Seymour sold a whole frozen bald eagle for $80 to an undercover conservation officer.

Over the next several months, he sold more eagles and other birds to the officer and was seen selling bird parts to others.

After he was charged with offences under wildlife legislation, Seymour’s lawyers raised a number of legal issues, including several applications for mistrials.

He also claimed that he’d been entrapped and that he had an aboriginal right to do what he’d done, but he was convicted and sentenced in provincial court.

He appealed to the B.C. Supreme Court, raising a number of issues, including what he considered to be fresh evidence, but the appeal was dismissed.

Then he sought leave to appeal to the B.C. Court of Appeal, B.C.’s highest court, but had his application denied.

His sole argument was that the B.C. Supreme Court judge had erred in consideration of the fresh evidence, an argument rejected by Court of Appeal Justice Sunni StrombergStein.

“While the defence ground of appeal raises a question of law alone, the proposed ground of appeal has no merit and no reasonable possibility of success,” said StrombergStein.

“Therefore, it is in the interests of justice to bring an end to this long, protracted, drawn out matter.”