Ratliff v. Big Sandy Co‪.‬

This case presents the question of whether a wildlife law enforcement officer may make a suspicionless stop of a hunter leaving a wildlife habitat during hunting season and detain him briefly to ascertain whether he has a valid hunting license, to ask whether he has game in his possession, and, if so, to request to inspect the game. After being subjected to such a stop, the defendants freely and voluntarily acknowledged their possession of game and allowed a wildlife officer to inspect a dressed and quartered buck deer in their ice chest. Because the divided deer portions were not tagged as required by law, La. R.S. 56:125, the officer charged the defendants with statutory violations. The defendants moved the trial court to suppress the evidence and statements obtained during the stop. The trial court denied their motion, but the court of appeal granted a writ, reversed, and ordered the evidence and statements suppressed. State v. McHugh, 598 So.2d 1171 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1992). We granted certiorari. 605 So.2d 1105 (La. 1992). We reverse the court of appeal judgment and remand the case to the trial court for a trial or other proceedings. Because the defendants were exiting a wildlife area during hunting season under circumstances clearly indicating that they had been hunting and possibly had game in their possession, it was not an unreasonable search, seizure or invasion of privacy under either the state or federal constitution for the game agents to stop the defendants briefly for the limited purpose of demanding that they exhibit their hunting licenses, ask if they had any game, and request to inspect the game in their possession. I.