Stormy Michelle Duff
An attorney argued Thursday that a Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency (TWRA) officer should not have taken four pet turtles from an East Ridge woman.
Chris Jones said afterward, "I'm tired of people being told they can't have pet turtles."
He said he plans to appeal the decision of General Sessions Court Judge Gary Starnes, who found Stormy Michelle Duff, 19, guilty of four counts of possessing native wildlife.
The judge declined to fine her, but gave her a suspended six-month sentence on each count.
Prosecutor Ben Boyer said under state law that Ms. Duff was possessing the turtles illegally.
TWRA Officer Joe McSpadden said East Ridge Police summoned him to a house on Lazard Street last Thursday where seven turtles were found in aquariums and Tupperware containers.
The officer took four of the turtles after Ms. Duff said she bought the other three from Petco.
Officer McSpadden said he took the four turtles to South Chickamauga Creek and let them go. They were a box turtle, a red-eared turtle, a soft-shell turtle and a map turtle.
Attorney Jones said Ms. Duff had gotten the other turtles from friends and had owned them for years. "She loved those turtles."
He said turtle farms in Louisiana raise millions of turtles. He said the turtle farms have helped several species of turtles avoid extinction.
Officer McSpadden said Ms. Duff had no "documentation" for any of the turtles, including the ones she said she bought at Petco.
"How many people keep a receipt when you buy a turtle?" attorney Jones asked.
Judge Starnes called it "an unusual case. It's my first turtle case."
Attorney Jones said the state health department last year put down a rule that sanctions people owning turtles as long as they are four inches long.
He also cited a 1952 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving Tennessee individuals that he said was "on point."
But Judge Starnes said the case "was about dogs - and coon dogs at that."
Ms. Duff was in handcuffs during the hearing, but not over the misdemeanor turtle charges. She was arrested Monday on meth and firearm charges.
Ms. Duff was arrested last June at the Lazard Street house and a SWAT Team had to be called out over the domestic dispute. Police said Seth Duff ran into the house after being confronted by officers and he threatened to shoot them.
The grandmother of Ms. Duff and an infant were inside the house. SWAT negotiators were able to get the release of the grandmother and the baby before Seth Duff gave himself up.