thedailytimes.com : Your 24/7 news source

No charges will be brought against two Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) officers and two other men accused of hunting bear over a baited area last September.

According to investigators and the district attorney's office, it was obvious that someone violated the law by placing bait in a hunting area, but there was no evidence to prove who did it.

A group of Blount County hunters reported that Mitch Clure and Curt Henderson, both TWRA officers, along with Clure's father, Phillip Clure, and uncle, Trev Clure, were running dogs and hunting near a 20-gallon drum covered with sticks on property off Montvale Road on Chilhowee Mountain.

TWRA officials were called to Chilhowee Mountain when a group of 20 to 25 hunters claimed to have found the four men hunting bear near a plastic barrel containing donuts.

On Wednesday, Charles "Chuck" Murphy, an assistant district attorney in Jefferson County in the 4th Judicial District, told The Daily Times that no charges would be brought against the four men.

"There's simply not enough evidence to take to a grand jury," Murphy said.

"This case will be closed. I haven't even written my brief yet -- but I can tell you there will be no charges."

Willard Perryman, a supervisor for the TWRA, led the investigation but then turned his findings over to Blount County District Attorney General Mike Flynn in early October because two of the four accused men work for Perryman.

To avoid any appearance of conflict of interest, Flynn then turned the findings over to District Attorney General for the 4th Judicial District James "Jimmy" Dunn's office in Sevierville in December. Murphy handled the case for the district attorney's office.

According to Perryman, about 20 people are charged with bear baiting each year in Tennessee, and approximately 30 are charged with deer baiting.

"I'm not aware of any other instance when a wildlife officer was accused of hunting over bait," Perryman said shortly after the incident.

"There's no proof to show who put the bait there," Murphy said. "If we don't have evidence of who placed the bait, we would need to show that the hunters were knowingly hunting in the baited area -- and we couldn't.

"The law was violated and someone set up a baited area -- but we don't know who it was and we don't have enough proof to go against anyone."

According to additional information released by Murphy in a statement Wednesday afternoon, "upon the investigation, the Clure/Henderson hunting group could be placed no closer than 1,690 feet to the baited area. There is no evidence to show that any member of this hunting group knew the area they were near was baited. Furthermore, the investigation established that between eight to 10 unrelated hunters were within 200 feet of the baited area. However, there is no evidence that these other individuals set up the baited area or knew of its existence while hunting.

"There is simply no evidence that would establish probable cause to charge any member of the Clure/Henderson hunting group," the release stated. "Also, there is no probable cause at this point to charge any of the other hunters possibly involved. This matter is considered closed and no charges are warranted."

Lennie Mason, one of the hunters who saw a truck enter the baited area, told The Daily Times the day of the incident, "After we saw the truck go in, we started hearing dogs up there.

"We've seen game warden trucks going in there before. We called TWRA and everyone we could think of, but it took hours to get anyone out here who would do anything about it.

"The two game wardens and the other two guys who were hunting in the baited area with them took off and left around 10 a.m.

"Hunting over bait is hunting over bait -- it doesn't matter if you're a hunter or a game warden."

Mason, who was charged with hunting bear over bait on Chilhowee Mountain last year said at the time, "My dogs ran into a baited area and I went after them. They charged me with it just because my dogs ran up the hill.

"I'm starting to think they took my guns so they could sneak over here and hunt over bait with them."

One hunter who reported the baiting incident, 70-year-old Thomas Franklin Lewis, was arrested at the scene by Blount County Sheriff's deputies and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and interfering with police officers. He was freed the same day on his own recognizance.

Witnesses said Lewis was getting ready to leave when deputies pulled him from his truck and handcuffed him.

The two TWRA officers -- Clure and Henderson -- continued to work with pay throughout the investigation.