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Response to criminal complaint

On July 29, 2013, I received a certified letterfrom the Washington Department of cology!cology"claiming that my property #as identified as havinglivestoc$ related conditions that impact #ater%uality !e&hi'it 1a"( )his letter #as a laundrylist of conditions that cause pollution( Of courseI #anted to $no# #hich of the conditions had 'eenhad identified as 'eing related to my property(specially since cology said it #as *against statela# to pollute state #aters+(

I #as upset 'ecause it #as impossi'le to tellfrom the ne'ulous allegations made 'y the letterust #hat conditions some unidentifiedindividual!s" claimed e&isted on my property #hichmight impact #ater %uality( I didn-t ignore thisletter 'ut treated it as a criminal complaint

!complaint"( .s an attorney #ith over /0 yearse&perience, I am #ell a#are that #hen a person isnotified that heshe has 'een accused of criminalactivity, that person should ta$e immediate actionto gather evidence and to understand and defendagainst the charge(

In all my years of practicing la# I have neverread such a ne'ulous or confusing criminalcomplaint( It #as impossi'le to figure out if I#as charged, or if I #as charged, ust #hat I have'een accused of doing #hich violated the la#( Itseemed to me that this #as primarily a fishinge&pedition( .n e&pedition #hich re%uired me toe&amine my property to see if any of theseconditions e&isted(

I did e&amine my property and found that noneof these conditions #ere present( In fact I madephotographs of my entire property so that I #ouldhave a permanent record of the condition at thetime the complaint #as delivered( .s a furtherprecaution I o'tained a photograph of my propertyfrom oogle arth( )his photograph #as dated July2/ 2013( )he oogle arth photograph !&hi'it 2a"#as my insurance that it #as made 'y an independentparty(

ot only did I have evidence that none of theconditions set forth in the complaint e&isted on my

property, 'ut I $ne# that my animals #ere notcausing any pro'lems( )he reason is 'ecause there#ere no animals on my property #hen the complaint#as served on me(

On or 'efore ay 1, 2013, all of my livestoc$had 'een moved to summer pasture in Idaho()herefore, my livestoc$ couldn-t impact #ater%uality from my .sotin cree$ property(

4ince my e&amination of the property did not

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reveal the e&istence of any of the conditions setforth in the complaint, I started to investigatethe reason #hy I had 'een served #ith thecomplaint( It #as only after my investigation thatI discovered that cology #as claiming that myanimals had unrestricted access to .sotin cree$ inthe past and therefore they must have polluted the

cree$( 4o I immediately started gatheringinformation to prove that my animals have never'een in .sotin cree$(

When I reali5ed the 'asis of the complaint, Idecided that I needed to find out ust #hy cologyfiled the criminal complaint against me( )o findout #hy cology filed the complaint I su'mitted%uestions to r( .t$in-s attorney( .t first I #astold that discovery #as not allo#ed in.dministrative la# proceedings( 6o#ever, myresearch revealed that I could as$ %uestions( WhichI did(

)he ans#ers to these %uestions allo#ed me tore%uest the photographs and o'servations #hich #ill'e introduced 'elo#( )he ans#ers to my %uestionsalso narro#ed my search for information 'ecauseafter I received the ans#ers I $ne# that ecology#as claiming that my animals had unrestrictedaccess to .sotin 7ree$ rather than some conditionon my property( )his also relieved my an&iety forI $ne# that my animals didn-t have unrestrictedaccess to .sotin 7ree$ for my entire property isfenced to control animals and to $eep them from'othering the neigh'ors and the government(

. photograph ta$en from the records of .sotin7ounty !e&hi'it 2'" sho#s that my property lies'et#een the property o#ned 'y )odd 7lovis and 7arl

8lynn( )he photograph also sho#s the 'ridge across.sotin cree$ #hich is part of the access road tothe county road from my property(

*********BOUNDARY FENCES***********

)he fence 'et#een r( 7lovis and my property isa smooth #ire fence( In the past some of the#ires 'ro$e so I attached insulators and #ire tothe posts on my side of fence( .t the present timethe fence is a com'ination of smooth #ire andelectric fence(

)he upstream side of my property from the'ridge #hich faces the cree$ is fenced #ith t#o'ar':#ire fences( One of the fences is on thecree$ 'an$, the other fence forms a triangle #iththe first fence and encloses a'out half an acre()he purpose of this fence is to separate my cropground from the trees I planted after the 9/:9flood( )hese trees #ere planted to protect my'ridge and anchor the soil on the cree$ 'an$ in aneffort to $eep the soil from #ashing a#ay if and#hen the cree$ floods again( It also serves to

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provide a safe resting place every summer for the#hite tail deer to raise their fa#ns(

)he fence 'et#een my property and that o#ned 'yr( 8lynn is a com'ination of 'ar'ed:#ire and guardrail fence( Originally the entire fence #as ust

'ar'ed:#ire( It #as replaced 'y guard rail on ties#here the the 'ar':#ire fence enclosed part of myco# yard( r( 8lynn and I shared the cost of theguard rail fence( It #as necessary to replace the'ar':#ire fence #ith a more su'stantial fence to$eep his 'ulls from my co#s(

)he do#n stream portion of my property from the'ridge to r( 8lynn-s property #hich 'orders thecree$ is fenced #ith an electric fence measured at/0 feet and is also the distance 'et#een my gateand r( 8lynn-s gate( ;ictures of this fence areattached !e&hi'it a:i"( ;arallel the fence is theaccess road r( 8lynn uses to haul feed to hisanimals on a daily 'asis during the feeding season(

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ar$

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vehicles( It is my 'elief that the reason cologyhas to fa'ricate evidence is 'ecause they can-t'elieve that my animals are controlled 'y electricfences and only go #here I allo# them(

During the feeding season I fence my horses

ne&t to my co#s( It is convenient to have theanimals close for feeding purposes( y horses areconditioned to respect electric fences( )hey arepastured in osco# Idaho on my acreage during thesummer( I partition my property so that the horsesonly get the grass I #ant them to eat( y horsesare so adusted to the fences that #hen I changepastures even 'efore I get the fence charged thehorses #ill not 'other it(

4ometimes it loo$s as though my horses are freeto get to the cree$( 6o#ever, the electric fencesal#ays $eep the horses from the cree$( .gain, Ithin$ r( .t$ins 'elieves 'ecause he cannot see theelectric fences from the road that the animals have

free access to the cree$( )o illustrate this point, I placed feed for myhorses in the same place they #ere #hen ecologytoo$ their pictures from their vehicle on the sideof the county road( )hen photographs #ere ta$enfrom my side of the cree$( 7omparing these photosillustrates ho# easily it can appear that theanimals are right on the cree$ 'an$ #hen in factthey are actually at least 0 feet from the cree$'an$ !e&hi'it ?a:?c"(

When this litigation 'egan, I made an in%uiryas to #hether anyone from ecology had ever 'een onmy side of the cree$( )he purpose of this %uestion

#as to figure out ho# any one could possi'ly thin$that my animals had free access to the cree$( Ifinally got an ans#er #hen r( .t$ins ans#ered my%uestions(

In spite of the fact that no'ody has ever seen myanimals in .sotin cree$ and that my animals arefenced a#ay from the cree$, r( .t$ins still thin$she can prove that my animals have contri'uted tothe pollution of .sotin 7ree$( )his claim re%uiresme to e&amine the 'asis for r( .t$ins 'elief(

ECO!O%Y CANNOT $ROVE THE C!AIS IN THECO$!AINT E&CE$T BY FABRICATIN% SECONDARYEVIDENCE#

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Without eye #itnesses cology #ill have toprove its claims 'y secondary evidence or evidencethat #ould prove that my animals have 'een in thecree$( )o prove claims 'y secondary evidence, thesecondary evidence must 'e true( )he only secondaryevidence availa'le to cology is found in theo'servations and photographs ta$en on arch

12012 and .pril /2013 !e&hi'it @a:@n"()he complaint filed against me sets forth nineconditions that cause pollution( )he o'servationsof .pril /2013 read= *a'sence of #oody riparianvegetation,

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8a'ricated evidence is not truthful evidence(

8a'ricated evidence #ill not support secondaryevidence and does not support the claim of cologythat my animals have 'een in .sotin 7ree$(

cology has tried to use secondary evidence toprove that my animals had 'een in .sotin cree$ #henit had scientific evidence sho#ing the #aterflo#ing past my property did not increase thecoliform count( )his is another fact #hich sho#sthat the conditions set forth in the o'servation of.pril 3rdor /th2013 #ere fa'ricated(

T'e (ater )lo(in past m+ propert+ (as sample,an, teste, scienti)icall+# T'ese tests s'o(t'at t'e coli)orm co-nt (as act-all+ re,-ce,as it )lo(e, past m+ propert+#

When as$ed for scientific evidence to sho# that#ater flo#ing past my property #as impacted 'yactivity from my property r( .t$ins #ouldn-tans#er( ay'e r( .t$ins had another reasons #hyhe #ould not ans#er the %uestion( Is it 'ecause theanomalousresults found in the 'acteria tests #eremore suita'le to his personal agendaH

ither #ay, this is ust another e&ample of hisrefusal to cooperate and ustify his o#npreconceived conclusion( 6o#ever, this isn-t myfirst e&perience #ith this $ind of a #itness( )he#ay to deal #ith such a #itness is to have thefacts to sho# that the testimony is unrelia'le(

)here can 'e no 'etter e&ample than to sho# thetrue facts= )he .scienti)ic st-,+/, done 'y theDepartment of cology #hich is entitled= *.sotin7ree$ Water %uality, 8ecal coliform e %eoreCree