THANK YOU BARBARA!



Is It Worth It?
By Barbara Hart

As an avid diver and someone who loves the Northern California Coast and beaches, I feel that it is my duty to inform all of you about an abalone case. This case just took place in Sonoma County quietly, behind closed doors when the accused poacher plea-bargained out of the charges. This case involved four witnesses, twenty abalone, eight trial postponements, a change in DA's and two years of our lives. The following is the statement I wrote for the DA:

"On Monday, September 6, 1999 at approximately 9:30 AM, my husband, two friends, and I arrived at Timber Cove. My husband, Kirk, and his friend, Perry, were going to dive. Cherie and I were going to stay on the beach, while they dove.
At approximately 10:00 AM, Perry and Kirk took the boat out into the cove. It was very foggy that day and there was not that much activity on the beach. Cherie and I laid out a towel on the sand to sit on and watch the ocean. Our boat trailer and extra equipment was by the rocks on the north end of the beach about 100 yards from where we sat. I noticed that there was another group of equipment not far, about ten feet, from our trailer that did not belong to us.
At approximately 11:00AM, I saw "John Woo" (name changed) approach the equipment on the beach that was previously mentioned and put on the tank. He picked up the goody bag and entered the water. He wore a black wetsuit with a yellow tank and red hoses to the BC. His goody bag was blue mesh, exactly like the one I own. He had a blue snorkel.
At approximately 12:00 PM, he exited the water. I was in the ocean, up to my waist and Cherie was standing on the beach about 50 feet from me. John Woo tanked passed me heading toward the beach. I was arms-distance away from him at this time. I wondered why he did not stand up and walk up the beach, since the water was shallow enough to stand. I thought he might be in trouble so I asked him if he needed help. He did not answer, but continued towards his buddy who was now on the beach standing between Cherie and me. He pulled his goody bag out from under him and handed the goody bag to his buddy. His goody bag was full of abalone. It took both of them to carry the goody bag up the hill.
About five minutes later, Kirk and Perry came in and we told them what we had seen. They gave us their dive card and told us to call the number on the back of the card, CALTIP. We walked up the hill and called.
Two hours later when the rangers arrived, they told us that they could not cite John Woo because they had not seen the actual poaching. They told me that I would have to citizen's arrest him, which is what I did. The rangers searched the vehicle finding the dive gear mentioned previously and 20 abalones. The rangers took pictures and wrote a citation. I was present when the ranger explained and issued the citation. During this process, the only question that John Woo asked the ranger, in unbroken English, was, "Can I sue her for false arrest?" demonstrating his knowledge of both English and the legal system."
This was just the beginning. At the arraignment in October of 1999, the accused decided he wanted a jury trial, which was set up for March. In March, the trail was postponed because his lawyer needed time to review new evidence. The next trial was postponed because the accused now needed an interpreter. The trial was then cancelled and/or postponed five more times for no judge available, for no courtroom available, for no interpreter available, etc. Meanwhile, I am a teacher and due to shortages in substitutes, absences had to be scheduled in advance and could not be cancelled. I lost eight sick days in two years, which was 40% of my annual accrued sick leave. Later, I found out that if you don't touch your sick leave, you could also get two bonus days a year, which I also forfeited due to this trial. For me, economically, my investment was $100 per day out, totaling $1200. There were three more witnesses, all out wages for each day off. The accused plea-bargained for a fine of $750 (court costs) and 1 year's probation with fish and game.

Economics was not the only down side to this case. My students had been following this case for two years and the message they got was not a good one. It involved one very pertinent question: Is it worth it? My students asked me if it was worth getting involved and I could not answer the question. In fact, I still can't answer that question. And I don't know if I would ever turn a poacher in again. I would be more prone to accost the poacher, making them put the abalone back, taking the law into my own hands. I feel the legal system let us all down.