Utah Supreme Court rules in Ute hunting case

Wednesday, April 25, 2007  

The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated state charges against a terminated Ute man and his minor son.

The court said the land where Rickie L. Reber and his son shot a deer is not under the jurisdiction of the Northern Ute Tribe. Therefore, the state has the authority to prosecute the crime, the court said.

The justices also said Reber is not a member of a federally recognized tribe. Reber belongs to the Uintah Band, whose mixed-blood members were terminated by an act of Congress in the 1950s.

The decision reverses a court of appeals opinion that said the Ute Tribe was the victim in the case because the crime occurred within the boundaries of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation. The Utah Supreme Court agreed the deer killing occurred in Indian Country but not on trust land.

Get the Story:
Justices overturn hunter's exoneration in shooting of buck (The Salt Lake Tribune 4/25)
ourt Restores Hunting Enforcement On Indian Land (AP 4/24)

Supreme Court Decision:
Utah v. Reber (April 24, 2007)

Court of Appeals Decision:
State v. Reber (November 10, 2005)

Related Stories:
Utah's top court hears Indian Country dispute (03/01)
Court revives mixed-blood Ute termination case (1/22)
Terminated Utes to press case in court, public arena (02/22)
Terminated Utes seek to regain status, identity (11/21)
Utah court blocks state jurisdiction on hunting (11/11)
Utah court tries to figure out who is legally Indian (09/22)
Court to hear terminated Ute hunting rights case (09/08)
Federal courts try to decide who is legally Indian (08/24)
Unrecognized tribe loses aboriginal rights case (1/27)
Termination policy still affects Utah tribes (8/7)
Non-recognized tribe wins round in suit (4/16)
Utah says tribe not real (11/8)