Judge Signals Cody Roberts’ Wolf-Cruelty Case Is Headed for a March Jury

With input from Cowboy State Daily and WyoFile.

A Sweetwater County judge on Wednesday signaled he’s likely to reject a bid to toss the felony animal-cruelty case against Cody Roberts and send it to a jury – scheduling a trial to start March 9 and promising a written order soon.

Roberts, 44, was indicted last year on a single felony count of animal cruelty – a charge that carries up to two years behind bars and a $5,000 fine. The allegations are grim: prosecutors say Roberts ran over a wolf with a snowmobile, hauled the injured, muzzled animal into the Green River Bar in Daniel, taunted it there for hours and later killed it. Videos and photos of the episode sparked national outrage when they surfaced last spring.

On Wednesday the defendant appeared by video, framed in a harsh arc of backlight. Sublette County Judge Richard Lavery – sitting after the local judge recused – stopped short of a formal ruling on Roberts’ motion to dismiss, but made clear he’s skeptical of the defense’s broad legal theory.

“I tend to think the defendant’s broad definition of the predator exception goes too far,” Lavery said, adding that he’d issue a written opinion explaining his reasoning.

Roberts’ lawyer, Robert Piper, argued the entire episode should fall under Wyoming’s predator exception – a carveout in the animal-cruelty law that protects “hunting, capture, killing or destruction” of predatory animals. Piper suggested that treating Roberts’ alleged actions as criminal would sweep in lawful hunting practices like trapping or bowhunting. He also pointed out the Legislature added a specific ban on torturing wildlife after Roberts’ case drew attention, saying that change shows the old law didn’t clearly cover the conduct at issue.

That reasoning didn’t persuade the prosecutor. Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich countered that the statute requires a mental state – willful, malicious infliction of suffering – and that a person lawfully hunting wouldn’t harbor that intent. He argued Roberts’ alleged mistreatment happened while the wolf was in his possession, not merely during a lawful capture, and possession isn’t exempted.

Wednesday’s hearing also took up a fight over an expert witness. Wyoming wolf biologist Ken Mills testified about handling wolves in the field; Piper tried to exclude him, arguing Mills lacked the specific credentials to assess the animal’s suffering in an indoor, highly unusual setting and that there had been no necropsy. Mills said he’d handled hundreds of wolves and that the animal’s behavior in available footage was consistent with severe injury. Lavery didn’t rule on the expert exclusion during the hearing.

Lavery then moved into trial planning – and the judge is treating this one as anything but routine. He said he plans to summon 90 to 100 potential jurors and wants to seat an unusually large panel of 31 (12 jurors to deliberate, one alternate, and extra alternates for both sides) because of the case’s high profile and the anticipated public interest. He also floated holding jury selection in a larger public space, like a library, to accommodate crowds.

If the written order mirrors Lavery’s Wednesday comments, the March 9 five-day trial will go ahead unless his view changes or an appeal interrupts the schedule. Regardless of the outcome in court, the case has already left a mark – prompting new state legislation, public protests, and an intense national debate over wildlife, hunting customs and where the line is between legal sport and criminal cruelty.