Wyoming Prosecutor Pushes Back Hard After Cody Roberts Tries to Toss Animal Cruelty Charge

In a showdown that’s drawing attention from all over, Sublette County’s top prosecutor is firing back at Cody Roberts’ bid to throw out his felony animal cruelty case, Rocket Miner reports.

Roberts – the Daniel man accused of chasing down a wolf on a snowmobile, bringing the injured animal into a local bar with its mouth taped shut and then later killing it – asked a judge in mid-December to dismiss the charges against him. His attorney argues the law protects people when they hunt, capture or kill predators “in any manner whatsoever,” pointing to language in Wyoming statute 6-3-1008.

But Sublette County Prosecuting Attorney Clayton Melinkovich calls that interpretation a dead end. In a detailed response filed Dec. 30 in Sublette County District Court, he called Roberts’ legal twist “an absurd result” that would let anyone claim a free pass on animal cruelty laws just because the victim was a predator.

Melinkovich says the way Roberts reportedly treated the wolf – keeping it alive, muzzled and suffering in a bar instead of putting it down humanely or getting it care – goes beyond lawful hunting and into cruel territory that state law still covers. He pointed to multiple parts of Wyoming’s criminal code that make it clear inflicting unnecessary pain or suffering on an animal can be a crime even if the animal started out as wildlife.

Roberts pleaded not guilty after a Sublette County grand jury indicted him in August 2025, and the case is now set for a hearing Jan. 28 to argue the motion to dismiss. If the judge refuses to toss the case, the felony animal cruelty charge – which could bring up to two years in prison and a fine – is headed toward trial on March 9.

In other filings tied to the case, Roberts’ defense has sought to block certain evidence and limit testimony from wildlife experts, but Melinkovich has signaled he’ll respond to each of those requests in court as well.

The legal battle highlights a broader debate over how Wyoming’s laws apply to wildlife and predator animals, especially in a case that has sparked national attention and outrage.