United States v. George Hoff

ORDER

The Memorandum disposition filed on February 2, 1994, is redesignated a published Opinion.

On October 14, 1992, Appellant George Hoff (“Hoff”) was convicted and fined $100 for being in a restricted wilderness area without a permit and $200 for intimidating an U.S. Forest Service officer under Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations (“C.F.R.”), Section 261.3(a). The district court affirmed the magistrate judge’s ruling. Hoff appeals the conviction and fine for intimidating a forest ranger.

On July 25, 1992, Ranger Mary Thompson encountered Hoff and two male companions fishing beside Lucille Lake, a restricted area five miles within the Desolation Wilderness in eastern California. When spotted, Hoff strode toward Ranger Thompson who, alone on patrol and equipped only with a shovel, checked Hoff’s identification and issued him a citation for being in the wilderness without a permit. Hoff became agitated and responded by shouting that he was going to “take it to Sacramento and fight the [ticket].” After telling the three men to leave by the following morning, Ranger Thompson walked around the lake to be near other campers who had shown concern for her safety and hiked away…