Spence Bay (Dec 20/04) - Three narwhal tusks could be returned to three hunters who were acquitted of hunting without a licence or a tag.

But the Crown attorney who prosecuted the case is asking for the tusks to be destroyed.

The tusks, along with confessions made by Saul Kooktook, Kokiak Peetooloot, and David Tucktoo, were excluded from evidence by Justice Robert Kilpatrick during trial this past summer.

"The narwhal tusks have no tags, and therefore possession is unlawful," said Crown attorney Christine Gagnon outside of court. Kilpatrick should not be able to acknowledge ownership of the tusks if he was not able to admit them as evidence during the trial, Gagnon said.

Defence attorney John Wonnacott wants to see the tusks returned to the hunters.

In court on Dec. 7, he called the Crown's motion to have the tusks destroyed a "ludicrous suggestion." With three tusks and tags in evidence, the tusks can be made legal by putting the tags on them, Wonnacott said. But the Crown says Kilpatrick does not have the power to place the tags on the tusks because the tags were only submitted as tags belonging to the community of Taloyoak and it was not determined whether they were meant for the accused, said Gagnon.

A ruling on whether the tusks will be destroyed could be made as early as January.

Regardless of the decision, the tusks will be held in police custody until at least May, when the Crown's appeal of the acquittal is expected to be heard. A new trial may be ordered if the acquittal is overturned.