November 27, 2014
Anti-Gay Nevada Ex-Speaker Cleared in Wildlife Case
Bobby McGuire READ TIME: 1 MIN.
FALLON, Nev. - The Nevada lawmaker who recently gave up the speakership of the next state Assembly in an uproar over his comments about women, gays and minorities has been cleared of charges accusing him of illegal wildlife trapping.
The Reno Gazette Journal reports a justice of the peace in Fallon found Sparks Republican Ira Hansen not guilty Wednesday of all four misdemeanor counts. He was accused of setting steel snares too close to a public road in Churchill County last November.
Hansen maintains the Nevada Department of Wildlife has a vendetta against him. NDOW spokesman Chris Healy says that's not true.
Hansen has been cited several times since 1980 for minor trapping violations. He paid small fines for some and was found innocent of others.
