Bigfork man charged with killing grizzlies denied trial

A Bigfork man charged with allegedly killing three grizzly bears in Ferndale last May has been denied a trial by jury.

Dan Calvert Wallen, who faces three counts of unlawful taking of a threatened species, filed a request with the U.S. District Court in Missoula for a trial by jury Feb. 23. His request was denied on Tuesday.

The request argued that because the multiple charges against Wallen, if convicted, add up to an amount higher than what is considered petty, it warrants a trial by jury.

If convicted, Wallen faces a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a $25,000 fine on each of the three counts of killing a threatened species.

“Mr. Wallen believes the fines/restitutions penalties are so severe that he deserves a jury trial,” the court document states.

On Tuesday the United States filed its response denying Wallen’s request.

“Wallen asserts he is entitled to a jury trial because the total potential punishment of all the charges, including the potential fines and restitution, constitutes a serious offense,” the document said. “The Supreme Court has determined that multiple offenses which each carry a potential term of imprisonment six months are still petty offenses that do not require a jury trial, even when the total penalty for the charges may exceed six months.” 

“Defendant cannot bootstrap the charges together to create a right to a jury trial where none otherwise exists,” the response stated. “Regardless of the fact that the defendant was charged with three counts, each count constitutes a petty offense, and the counts may not be aggregated to transform the charges into a serious offense that requires a jury trial.”

Wallen’s bench trial is scheduled for March 10.

Wallen appeared in U.S. District court at the end of January and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Court documents state that Wallen shot three grizzly bears within minutes of each other on May 27, but only one grizzly was confirmed dead that day. The other two bears were found May 28 and June 4 near Wallen’s home.

According to court documents, Wallen told Fish, Wildlife and Parks game warden Chuck Bartos that the bears had been killing his chickens. 

The grizzlies arrived at Wallen’s house while Wallen’s friends and family were playing outside. Three grizzlies entered the yard and headed toward Wallen’s chickens. Wallen chased the grizzlies away several times before he fired his .22 rifle to scare the bears. He took several shots and aimed in the direction of the grizzlies, but did not know if he hit the bears, court documents say.

Wallen soon received a call from his neighbor who told him a bear was wounded nearby, and he needed to come finish him. 

The second dead bear was found about 50 yards from the first bear on May 28 by Tim Manley, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear biologist, as he was setting traps to catch the other two bears.

The third bear was found June 4 by a different neighbor who smelled something dead near her home.