FORT WALTON BEACH — After it was determined that all black bears in Florida qualify as Florida black bears, Okaloosa County Judge T. Patterson Maney ruled Friday that Ralph Ward indeed had illegally killed two of them.
Swiatek argued that his client should be acquitted because Madden had never verified through testimony what kind of bears had been killed. State law only bans the killing of threatened Florida black bears.
This March 21, 2014, article by Tom McLaughlin at nwfdailynews.com