BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — The confiscation of two sets of deer antlers in a McDowell County poaching case from 2020 has resulted in a federal lawsuit over the actions of two members of the West Virginia Natural Resources Police.
David Craft of Mercer County, lived in North Carolina at the time the case was investigated. He killed two trophy deer in fall 2020. According to Craft one deer was killed in McDowell County and the second in North Carolina. However, he was eventually charged with killing both deer in McDowell County, where there is a limit of one deer annually. West Virginia Natural Resources Police traveled to North Carolina and confiscated both sets of antlers from a North Carolina taxidermist.
The case was eventually dismissed more than a year later. The antlers were eventually returned to Craft who is represented by Monroe County attorney John H. Bryan.
The suit was filed this week in U.S. District Court in Bluefield, W.Va. Natural Resources Police Officers John Gills and Andy Damewood are named as defendants in the case. Bryan claimed in the suit the two officers violated Craft’s Fourth Amendment rights in two ways.
The first count claimed malicious prosecution.
“Defendants knew, and were aware, that the prosecution of David Craft was frivolous and malicious, as evidenced by the fact that they requested dismissal of the charges prior to the jury trial commencing for no obvious reason, other than a lack of evidence. Despite being aware from the very beginning that no probable cause existed to charge and prosecute the Plaintiff, much less convict him, defendants chose to force Plaintiff to undergo over a year of criminal prosecution, with multiple court hearings, before finally dropping the charges,”
The suit further claimed the case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence
“Defendants knew that was the case from the very beginning. Instead, defendants opted to force Mr. Craft to undergo the humiliating process of being prosecuted for over a year, multiple court hearings, as well as public humiliation in the news media with false allegations and statements about the Plaintiff.”
The lawsuit included the original story on the investigation by MetroNews which never identified Craft since officers refused to release his name. Craft was first identified to the media by Bryan after the dismissal of charges.
The second claim in the lawsuit alleged Craft’s Fourth Amendment Rights were violated when officers seized the two sets of antlers without a court ordered warrant.
“Plaintiff’s deer antlers were seized in North Carolina by the two defendant police officers on February 8, 2021, without a warrant or other court order, being issued from either West Virginia or North Carolina. Accordingly, the initial seizure of Plaintiff’s deer antlers were performed in violation of the Fourth Amendment. No applicable exception to the warrant requirement applies to justify the initial seizure of the antlers by defendants..”
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages along with attorney fees for Craft. The filing also requested a jury trial.
MetroNews Contacted the West Virginia DNR Law Enforcement who had no comment since it was pending litigation.