Disabled veteran rejects plea offer on hunting citation

COEUR d'ALENE — A 74-year-old military veteran cited for hunting whitetail bucks over bait turned down a plea deal offered by prosecutors that would have called for him to pay a $250 fine.

James L. Brummett, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard in the 1970s and has a 100 percent service disability from depression and a bad heart, requested a jury trial in the misdemeanor case. He appeared before Magistrate Judge Doug Payne on Tuesday in a Kootenai County courtroom.

Brummett told The Press last week he would spend time in jail rather than pay a fine. After the hearing Tuesday, Brummett fanned out a stack of $100 bills in front of a reporter, saying money wasn't the issue.

"I could die any minute," he said after the hearing.

He plans to fight the criminal case as far as possible to get the state to relax deer-baiting rules for disabled veteran hunters. He is seeking publicity to bring attention to the rules.

Brummett said his weak heart prevents him from doing the hill-climbing and gear-hauling necessary to hunt whitetail bucks without baiting. He said a cardiologist has determined his heart condition is "more likely than not" attributable to exposure to Agent Orange.

According to court documents he filed, he was exposed to Agent Orange in the 1970s. It was stored in "leaking, rusting barrels" at Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The agent was stored there after the Vietnam War, according to his filings.

The Coast Guard operated a Long Range Aid to Navigation transmitting station on Johnston Atoll.