Oct. 30--Bird enthusiast Steve Patterson, whose rescue of two injured eaglets already landed him in court, will be prosecuted again in February, a judge ruled Wednesday.
"I'd probably be better off not saying anything," Patterson, 63, a retired carpenter from nearby Oglesby, said after the four-minute hearing when LaSalle County Judge Daniel Bute set the trial for Feb. 23.
Attorneys on both sides indicated a settlement may occur before trial in a case that has sparked passions, triggered two petition drives and elicited threats to the LaSalle County state's attorney.
"I think Mr. Patterson has been through a lot already, financially and emotionally," defense attorney Thomas L. McClintock said. "All of the options are still on the table. There will be continuing negotiations between us and the state."
Assistant State's Attorney Zach Milus also said he was open to negotiating an end to the case but declined to elaborate.
An amateur photographer who has been taking pictures of wildlife for 20 years, Patterson began following a male and female bald eagle couple in 2011 near his home about 90 miles southwest of Chicago. Shortly after three eaglets hatched in March 2013, Patterson regularly photographed the birds.
On June 1 that year, he noticed a large part of the nest had fallen from its tree. He found two of the eaglets injured on the ground, took them to his garage then contacted the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and law enforcement agencies, Patterson said.
When he told the IDNR officer that the birds had fallen from their nest, the officer replied that he was aware of the development. He also warned Patterson to keep away from the eaglets, Patterson recalled.
Patterson decided against informing the officer the eaglets already were in his garage and, instead, contacted Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation in Barrington, which sent a team and took the birds. Both eaglets are rehabilitating, and one is expected to be released in December or January, Flint Creek Director Dawn Keller said.
Trouble began for Patterson eight days after he handed over the birds, when conservation officers ticketed him for violating the state's conservation laws regarding a protected species. Attorneys on both sides say the charges probably would have yielded a fine of several hundred dollars had Patterson pleaded guilty.
But Patterson chose to fight the charges, irked by what he perceived as a smear campaign authorities orchestrated against him in the media. Judge Bute declared a mistrial Oct. 9, reportedly after jurors had deadlocked on an 11-1 vote to convict. Patterson estimates he has spent $14,000 on the case.
State's Attorney Brian Towne maintains that Patterson is unqualified to determine whether the birds should have received human help and that, by intervening, Patterson doomed the eagles to a life in captivity.
Patterson and his supporters contend the eaglets were in dire condition and that Patterson did what many well-intentioned wildlife enthusiasts do when he retrieved them.
While the case wended its way through court, supporters mounted petition drives on change.org to encourage authorities to drop the charges and to persuade state lawmakers to enact a wildlife Good Samaritan law. That measure would grant legal immunity to well-intentioned individuals who encounter distressed wildlife and obtain reasonable care for the animal in 24 hours.
As of Wednesday, nearly 60,000 people -- some from as far away as Australia and Russia -- had signed the petition asking prosecutors to drop the charges. A total of 3,598 had signed the measure seeking a wildlife Good Samaritan law.
Defense attorney McClintock told four Patterson supporters that the judge was going to gather 100 prospective jurors for the February trial -- an indication of how challenging it may be to find an impartial jury.
"His story has been told," McClintock said of his client. "All of the misconceptions have been clarified. We've got some time to sit back, reflect and decide what's best for us."
tgregory@tribune.com
Twitter @tgregoryreports
