A judge has ordered the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) to return 13 birds it had seized from falconer Holly Lamar. The agency seized the birds and confiscated some of his equipment, days after filing a complaint against one of its agents for not responding to his requests for information for months and giving him conflicting information when the agent responded. Three months later, the agency charged her with 30 misdemeanors, primarily for failing to report the purchase or sale of a bird or failing to report the purchase or sale in a timely manner. “I have the feeling that the defendant’s constitutional rights have been violated in (a) flagrant manner,” the judge said. “For the state to step in…after a complaint has been filed against an employee and a search warrant is sought, that is an excess on the part of the government. To come in and take someone’s property who is not not warranted, then keep it for two months and bring criminal charges later is an abuse of the law.The state is further concerned about the potential for malicious prosecution.After the judge’s decision, the district attorney dropped all the charges against Lamar.
