Poaching hearing Monday

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The parties involved in the Kurt Darner poaching case trial will be in court Monday, April 23.

A grand jury in Cibola County indicted Darner and his wife, Paula, in 2006 on multiple felony and misdemeanor counts.

"We are primarily getting together in court for what is called a status conference, where the parties show where they are as far as evidence gathering in the case is concerned so it can be determined when to proceed to trial," Deputy DA Randall Collins said.

When Darner does go to trail and if he is convicted of all nine felony charges lodged against him, he could face maximum penalties of up to 33 years in prison.

His wife, if convicted, could face up to 24 years in prison on the six felony counts.

At the time of the indictment, Cibola County District Attorney Lemuel Martinez said his office took the case seriously.

"There are serious crimes that we intend to vigorously prosecute. We need to send a strong message that we won't tolerate it when people try to illegally transport, drug and profit from wildlife that is owned by the citizens of New Mexico."

Darner is from Crawford, Colo., and is a well-known trophy mule deer hunter, hunting guide and author of numerous trophy-hunting books. Darner has also been interviewed in a variety of outdoor and hunting magazines.

In February 2006, he was accused by a Cibola County Grand Jury of illegally drugging and moving up to four wild elk, three of them state owned, from a 40-acre Lobo Canyon ranch to the Pancho Peaks Ranch and Game Park owned by Steve W. Lewis of Artesia in 2004.

Some of the charges lodged against Darner include two counts each of transporting stolen livestock, receiving stolen property, conspiracy to transport stolen livestock and tampering with evidence.

The Darner trial is expected to have a huge turnout because of its importance to the future of game hunting in the state of New Mexico and interest in Darner because of his hunting-world celebrity status paired with the air of controversy surrounding him in the world of big game hunting.