I think the only thing to say to this one is "ewwwwww".

Case presents unprecedented challenge
Maria Lockwood
The Daily Telegram

Superior, Wisconsin
Prosecution of a Douglas County case involving alleged sexual contact with a dead deer may hinge on the legal definition of the word �animal.�

Bryan James Hathaway, 20, of Superior faces a misdemeanor charge of sexual gratification with an animal. He is accused of having sex with a dead deer he saw beside Stinson Avenue on Oct. 11.

A motion filed last week by his attorney, Public Defender Fredric Anderson, argued that since the deer was dead, it was not considered an animal and the charge should be dismissed.

�The statute does not prohibit one from having sex with a carcass,� Anderson wrote.

Judge Michael Lucci heard the motion Tuesday.

�I�m a little surprised this issue hasn�t been tackled before in another case,� Lucci said.

The Webster�s dictionary defines �animal� as �any of a kingdom of living beings,� Anderson said.

If you include carcasses in that definition, he said, �you really go down a slippery slope with absurd results.�

Anderson argued: When does a turkey cease to be an animal? When it is dead? When it is wrapped in plastic packaging in the freezer? When it is served, fully cooked?

A judge should decide what the legislature intended animal to mean in the statute, he said. �And the only clear point to draw the line in that definition, I believe, is the point of death.�

Assistant District Attorney James Boughner said the court can use a dictionary to determine the meaning of the word, but it doesn�t have to.

�The common and ordinary meaning of a word can be found in how people actually use the word,� Boughner wrote in his response to the motion.

When a person�s pet dog dies, he told Lucci, the person still refers to the dog as his or her dog, not a carcass.

�It stays a dog for some time,� Boughner said.

He referred to the criminal complaint, in which Hathaway told police he saw the dead deer in the ditch and moved it into the woods. Hathaway called it a dead deer, Boughner said, not a carcass.

�It did not lose its essence as a deer, an animal, when it died,� he said.

Anderson argued that the statute, which falls under the heading �crimes against sexual morality,� was meant to protect animals. That would be unnecessary in the case of a dead animal.

�If you look at the other crimes that are in this subsection they all protect against something other than simply things we don�t like or things we find disgusting,� he said.

Other crimes in that subsection include incest, bigamy, public fornication, and lewd and lascivious behavior.

Boughner said the focus of the statute was on punishing the human behavior, not protecting animals.

�It does not seem to draw a line between the living and the dead,� he said.

Interpreting the statute to exclude dead animals would also exclude freshly killed animals, Boughner said. That, he said, could lead to a different kind of slippery slope that could encourage people interested in committing such an act to kill animals.

Lucci said he would render a decision by Hathaway�s next court appearance on Dec. 1.

The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and a fine of up to $10,000. If convicted, Hathaway could see that prison term of up to two years because of a previous conviction. In April 2005, Hathaway pleaded no contest to one felony charge of mistreatment of an animal for the shooting death of Bambrick, a 26-year-old horse, in order to have sex with the animal.

A few years ago, we had a case involving some of the same issues. Officer spots a man having intimate contact with a deer, also dead. But that was only the beginning.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the suspect's nickname was Chicken Man. Mention that name to law enforcement in our area, and everyone knows what you are talking about.

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Anderson argued: When does a turkey cease to be an animal? When it is dead? When it is wrapped in plastic packaging in the freezer? When it is served, fully cooked?

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They're not debating a legitimate use of an animal as a food source in this case, so I think this argument misses the point. Unless he's seriously suggesting that someone out there might try to do the nasty with a frozen turkey. I, for one, will stick nothing more than a fork or a thermometer in my turkey.

JB,

That certainly makes me look at another John's new forum nickname in a new way!


Gretchen,

If the statute is just a general animal cruelty, then I can sort of see his point. We are allowed to do things to a dead animal we can't do to a live one. I still think there's a line drawn, though!

Then again, maybe the lawyer is just making a preemptive strike for when the cops get a search warrant for his client's freezer...

My point exactly! (and you're probably right about the preemptive strike...anyone who does that to a dead deer's gotta be on something)

Geez, a guy can't win for losing around here. Maybe I'll go with Pedro now . . .

Poor guy... I guess he's just a sucker for those doe-eyed young girls.

(cue banjo music...)

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I am a little surprised this issue has not been tackled before in another case, Lucci said.

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Can we take that to mean they have this sort of thing happen on a regualr basis?

From a scientific point of view it seems most male on deer sexual encounters would naturally occur with deceased, stunned, or drugged aninmals. The deer is fleet of foot and rather reculsive, only the really tarty (is that a word?) deer will stand still for the completion of the unnatural act.

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Originally posted by L.D. Bloomquist:
From a scientific point of view it seems most male on deer sexual encounters would naturally occur with deceased, stunned, or drugged aninmals. The deer is fleet of foot and rather reculsive, only the really tarty (is that a word?) deer will stand still for the completion of the unnatural act.

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the boy's from Wyoming. need I say more? All he's been pontificating about is how could anyone ever consider any animal other than a sheep. If he had even considered taking another species to the prom, he would have been tarred and feathered and run out of the state on a rail. sigh... the things I have to work with and put up with in this office...sigh...

Apparently, Mr. Hathaway doesn't know how to noodle. What happens at Hogwaller Creek stays at Hogwaller Creek, right, A.P.?

But if he paid for a hunting license and lease, does that make this a prostitution case?

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Originally posted by Gretchen:
My point exactly! (and you're probably right about the preemptive strike...anyone who does that to a dead deer's gotta be on _something_)

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Well, G, I think it would even be scarier if he was not on something! Or as my abnormal psych prof in college used to say...crazy w/o drugs.

So who's having turkey this year? Or venison, perhaps?

[This message was edited by Greg Gilleland on 11-20-06 at .]

Depends on your definition of "having" ....

Well, that takes care of my diet!

LD, the deer won't run if you position the headlights just right.

On a completely unrelated topic, I'm going deer hunting for the first time this weekend. Any tips?

Stay quiet. And don't wear cologne. The deer can smell you, and it can make things later on at the deer camp a bit too festive.

I'll be out at the lease this weekend, too. I'll try not to shoot you if you'll do the same.

Squeeze, don't jerk

A.P.,you might want to clarify here. Some of the non-NRA members in the forum might thing you're talking about one of those fancy plastic ketchup bottles.

I was starting to wonder if I should be embarassed...