JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION (Atlanta, Georgia) 06 April 08 Opinions: Jury found no evidence against collector (Michael Hendrickson lives in Sugar Hill and served as jury foreman during Steve Santhuff's trial.)
I am writing to fill in some of the missing pieces from the March 24 "whatever happened" article regarding the state of Georgia against Mr. Steve Santhuff ("What ever happened to ... the Lawrenceville collector of rare turtles: Hoping for return of turtles; Amateur herpetologist Steve Santhuff wants to get them back now that he's been acquitted," AJC Gwinnett News).
I have been a citizen of Gwinnett County since 1976 and, perhaps more importantly, I was the foreman of the jury in Mr. Santhuff's case. This was my first experience with jury duty, and I feel strongly enough about this case to write in and share my two cents.
"This case is about permits" were the words of Allison Cauthen in her opening and closing arguments to the jury. She was 100 percent wrong. This case was about a bad law, and even worse, the pathetic administration of that law.
The origins of this case can be found in an undercover sting operation called "Operation Snapper," a collaboration of several Southern states via the Department of Natural Resources and local government agencies with the purpose of stopping the commercialization of turtles. Operation Snapper lasted almost three years and according to testimony from state officials, Steve Santhuff was a person of interest.
I take offense to Mrs. Cauthen's statement that our verdict was "an act of jury nullification." I, along with the members of the jury, took offense that the state could not see that Steve Santhuff is an asset to the state of Georgia. The jury was shocked that after almost three years of investigation, there was NO EVIDENCE that Mr. Santhuff participated in the commercialization of turtles IN ANY WAY. There was NO EVIDENCE that Mr. Santhuff had motive to be involved in the commercialization of turtles IN ANY WAY. There was NO EVIDENCE that Mr. Santhuff displayed criminal intent IN ANY WAY.
To the contrary, Mr. Santhuff spent his own money to save, protect and promote the conservation of turtles across the southern United States. He is directly responsible for changing laws in Louisiana to limit the catch of the alligator snapping turtle. He helped the state of Georgia identify species of turtles that the state did not know existed within its borders. He has worked on numerous studies mapping the distribution of species throughout the Southeast. Steve Santhuff is a champion of turtles.
The laws that pertain to permits relevant to this case are inadequate to be accurately and correctly applied to Steve Santhuff's private collection of turtles. Steve Santhuff actually applied for Georgia's permit and when the state of Georgia sent him back a letter detailing the specificity with which the permit applies, he did not fit into the state's narrow parameters, identified as: 1) scientific research 2) purpose of displaying 3) breeding and re-release into the wild.
Steve Santhuff began collecting turtles as a boy as far back as his mother could remember. He never stopped collecting turtles. The turtles he was charged with illegally possessing were both legally obtained and obtained before the laws were established. He did not participate in the commercialization of turtles ever. He just happened to live in Georgia, where the creation and administration of bad laws immediately made him a criminal according to Rosanna Szabo, Allison Cauthen and the rest of the blind members of our state's judicial body
Opinions: Jury found no evidence against collector

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