News: Birmingham diver given suspended sentence in artifact theft case

[mike_s]

Some folks here have been following the events of this story....


from http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/...8/APN/512080784&cachetime=3&template=dateline

Birmingham diver given suspended sentence in artifact theft case

The Associated Press
December 08, 2005

A Birmingham diving shop operator has been convicted of theft and given a suspended sentence for taking a Civil War-era rifle that he pulled from the river bottom while diving in the Alabama River at Selma.

A Dallas County jury Wednesday convicted Steve Phillips of misdemeanor third-degree theft but found him not guilty of felony or misdemeanor theft of a cultural resource. It was the first case prosecuted under a 1999 state law designed to protect artifacts.

"I don't feel guilty of anything except helping history," Phillips told Judge Marvin Wiggins during sentencing.

Phillips and Perry Thomas Massie of Los Angeles were arrested in October 2003 and charged with violating a law against taking or possessing cultural artifacts without a permit. They were charged after a conservation officer watched them dive and then found the Civil War-era musket in their pontoon boat.

Massie pleaded guilty earlier this year to trespassing and was fined $500 plus court costs. Massie is president and CEO of Outdoor Channel Holdings, which owns the Outdoor Channel.

Phillips received a six-month suspended jail sentence and six months of unsupervised probation. He is also required to pay $500 in restitution.

The musket, preserved in a container of distilled water, was sent to Texas A&M University.

Erskin Mathis, Phillips' attorney, claims the Underwater Cultural Resource Act was vague and almost impossible to enforce.


While his client was convicted of theft, Mathis felt like he won that point. Mathis said he may appeal the conviction.

"I don't know if it is possible to steal something the state didn't know was there," he said.

District Attorney Michael Jackson said he believed the first test of the state law protecting artifacts was a good one.

"This will let others know not to come to Selma and try and rip off our important cultural items," he said.

 

[octotat]

I'm curious if TN has similar laws. I guess the government and the acedemicians would rather these artifacts be ground up during dredging operations and construction projects.

It's also good to see the prosecutors and courts wasting time and rescources on something like this rather than enforcing real crimes. I had my apartment burlarized and the cops couldn't bother to stop by and investigate.

 

[RocketMan]

Talk about much to do about nothing. A waste of time and money.

I had the same problem as you octotat. Items were stolen from my house (including a .357 mag) and the police didn't even come to the house. They just took down the information over the phone.

 

[octotat]

Most of what I had stolen were guns, shotguns, rifles and some antique guns. They really didn't seem to care.

 

[adder70]

I think everyone here is missing (or just not stating) the most important point. The artifact in the river was claimed as state property, and thus the state could make money not only off of the fine but also off of the artifact itself.

It's just part of a long term trend of law enforcement officials from a uniformed officer all the way to the judge becoming less oriented toward safety and more oriented toward revenue generation. Notice the jail term was suspended, the probation unsupervised, and the fine enforced, thus netting the state $500, a Civil War rifle, and all for just the cost of a court case, which will of course be paid for by the citizens in increased taxes.