Immigrant Won’t Take Public Defender Accused Poacher From Ukraine Carries Mistrust From Kgb Era

The alleged poacher knows next to nothing about U.S. courts and can’t afford to hire a lawyer.

Yet his distrust of government is so strong he won’t accept a court-appointed attorney.

He claims federal agents had no right spying on him in the woods or searching his home for parts of the bears he’s accused of killing in snares.

He accuses the prosecutor of lying. He wants the federal judge who released him on bond called as a witness in next month’s trial.

He’s a Ukrainian immigrant, whose fears were born when the KGB booted down doors and trials were a farce.

U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle on Friday spent two hours trying to convince Nikolay Senchenko, who cannot speak English, that he needs an attorney.

“I don’t have money to hire a lawyer like Mr. (O.J.) Simpson,” Senchenko said through an interpreter. “I don’t believe any lawyers who are assigned by the court.

” … I have a constitutional right to represent myself.”

Senchenko, 45, is accused of setting snares to capture and kill bears in Pend Oreille County. Wildlife agents found three of the powerful snares between 1993 and last fall.

If convicted, Senchenko, who became a U.S. citizen last year, will face up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

The evidence against him is overwhelming. Even his background works against the gray-haired father of nine, who was a government-paid hunter in Siberia. “I think he may have used snares (to hunt bears in Washington) because that is how he did it in Russia,” Senchenko’s son, Grigory, wrote in an affidavit.

Nikolay Senchenko, 11319 E. Grace, had parts of two bears in his Isuzu Trooper when he was arrested near one of the snares, wildlife agents said. He had tools and the equipment for making snares in his backpack.

Agents who searched his home found three dried gallbladders, worth $625 on the black market. They also found bear claws and teeth.

Public defender Stephen Hormell suggested Senchenko plead guilty and hope for a light sentence. In response, Senchenko told the court he would no longer work with Hormell.

Van Sickle then appointed a new attorney, Leslie Weatherhead, with whom Senchenko has refused to meet. The judge on Friday ordered Weatherhead to remain in the courtroom during the trial, in case Senchenko asks advice.

“It’s a cruel penance for a lawyer to be a bystander here,” Weatherhead said.

Senchenko said he would meet with the attorney if ordered to do so.

“We can talk about the weather, about international policy,” he said through the interpreter. “We can go and drink coffee at a restaurant.”

Senchenko’s wife stood in the back of the courtroom as he testified. Dressed in black and speaking only Russian, she sometimes fed Senchenko answers before the interpreter told him what the judge asked.

Van Sickle asked whether Senchenko knows how to select a jury, object to evidence or act on his belief that the search of his home - done with a court-issued search warrant - was unconstitutional.

Senchenko knew little about any of those matters.

“I’m concerned about your ability to represent yourself,” said the judge, adding he expects Senchenko to conduct himself as an lawyer would.

“How exactly should I behave?” Senchenko asked.

“There are rules that are explained in books like this one on how to behave,” said Van Sickle, holding up a law volume.

“I will try not to offend anyone,” said Senchenko.

Later, Senchenko claimed the government was violating the Constitution by not translating a three-inch-thick stack of court documents into Russian. It’s enough, Van Sickle said, to provide an interpreter to read the documents.

Senchenko asked that Hormell and Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno be called as witnesses, saying he could prove there was a conspiracy against him. He accused U.S. Attorney Timothy Ohms of lying, but didn’t elaborate.

About 1-1/2 hours into the hearing, Senchenko asked if he could leave to feed coins into his parking meter.

The interpreter apologized to the stern-faced Van Sickle for laughing while relaying the request.

The hearing lasted another 40 minutes.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo