One of Wyoming's biggest stories of the month has to do with developments in the Sublette County’s wolf “abuse” case. What comes next will likely unravel over the fall.
In February 2024, Daniel, Wyoming’s Cody Roberts allegedly ran down a wolf with a snowmobile – which is legal in the state – but then brought the live, injured animal into a local bar. That part resulted in a $250 Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) fine for possession of live wildlife. Now, he’s facing felony charges from a rarely used legal tool in Wyoming.
Wyoming Public Radio’s (WPR) Caitlin Tan and WyoFile’s Mike Koshmrl covered this extensively and have the latest updates. They spoke with WPR’s News Director Kamila Kudelska.
Editor's Note: This story has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Kamila Kudelska: So Caitlin, what's the latest update?
Caitlin Tan: In mid August, Sublette County's Cody Roberts was charged with felony animal cruelty, and this comes about a year and a half after the actual incident.
KK: To be clear, the Sublette County attorney opened a case against Roberts in April 2024, and that remained open this entire time.
MK: Correct. When this blew up into the media, the sheriff and the county attorney basically said that they were cut out of the initial [WGFD] response. The sheriff said he didn't even know about the incident, and so they opened their own investigation a month after Game and Fish adjudicated their part of it.
I would just emphasize that there really was disagreement. The WGFD put out press releases stating that animal cruelty statutes were not applicable to predatory animals. Well, that's exactly what Roberts was just indicted for, animal cruelty to a predatory animal. And so it'll be for the courts to decide if the Game and Fish had the incorrect interpretation of that statute.
KK: You fast forwarded it a little to this summer. About a month ago we heard rumblings that the Sublette County's prosecutor was forming a grand jury. Caitlin, what does that mean?
CT: A grand jury is actually this legal tool that's rarely used in the state system. It's essentially a jury that decides whether a prosecutor should move forward with criminal charges at all, but it's definitely meant to happen under this cloak of secrecy.
With this case, we know there were 12 random Sublette County residents that sat on the jury with one alternate, and that they heard from witnesses. It took at least nine of the jurors to make that decision that there's enough evidence to move forward with felony charges for Cody Roberts, but that's truly about all we know. In fact, Mike and I really only knew about the grand jury happening because of information that was leaked.
MK: It was a big discussion at WyoFile, frankly, over whether or not to cover it, because [of] the potential that publicity could create situations where jurors are being intimidated in statute. It is supposed to be confidential. All the legal filings associated with it are all sealed so the public doesn't have access to it. It is meant to protect the identity of witnesses and prevent evidence from being destroyed.
As the prosecution, now in an open court, proceeds against Cody Roberts, that evidence could be essentially plucked from the sealed bucket and then end up coming into public view. So I'll be very interested to see what that was that convinced the grand jury that he was guilty.
One quirk of a grand jury is that it is the prosecutor presenting expert testimony, or eyewitnesses are providing testimony, and it's all kind of orchestrated by the prosecuting attorney. In this case, Sublette County’s elected county attorney Clayton Melinkovich. But Cody Roberts isn't sitting there in the courtroom; he doesn’t have a defense attorney.
Now that he's been indicted, he has hired a defense attorney. I was told it's Elizabeth Trefonis. She's an attorney out of Jackson, but in that grand jury process there is no defense.
CT: Some grand jury experts speculate that a prosecutor chooses the grand jury option to insulate themselves from a controversial decision. So instead of a county attorney making direct charges, they can say that the grand jury made this decision.
Mike, you were able to get an interview with Clayton Melinkovich. He said otherwise, right?
MK: Clayton emphatically said that is not the case, that that was not in his mind. He said, essentially, it came down to the fact that the case was at a gridlock because eyewitnesses were not willing to provide testimony and cooperate in their investigation. We know that there were dozens of people that flowed through the Green River Bar that night, but none of those people were willing to talk. But the grand jury provided Clayton with the ability to subpoena people, and so they legally were required to provide testimony.
KK: Got it. And so Cody Roberts has officially been charged. Mike, how does this move forward now?
MK: My understanding is that there will be an initial appearance where they explain the charge, and then there'll be an arraignment where Cody Roberts will decide whether or not to plead guilty of felony animal cruelty or not guilty and fight the charge.
KK: Have we heard anything directly from Roberts?
MK: Caitlin and myself have both attempted to interview Cody to no avail. I have not seen any public remarks from him since this all happened in February 2024. I reached out to his attorney and did not receive a call back.
CT: Just to be clear, we don't have dates yet and we don’t know for sure it’ll make it to a trial.
MK: I think in a general sense, we should expect to see the proceedings unfold in the fall. There could be a plea bargain that prevents a trial, and there also could be a trial.
KK: Mike, after the charge, you went to Sublette County and heard what residents were thinking. What did you hear?
MK: It is a really controversial issue that has divided the community, and I did encounter kind of the whole diversity of opinions.
Some people thought Cody had been unfairly vilified. One resident I spoke to said on the record that he's not a “psychopath,” and actually called him a “good dad.” That was someone who knew him personally and was really not looking forward to the spotlight being back on Sublette County, which was really intense. It resulted in a lot of trolling, a lot of threats.
One anecdote that I think can help people understand what it was like, is that all the online booking systems, like reservation systems – whether you wanted to get a table at a restaurant or you wanted to get your nails done – all those systems had to be taken down for some amount of time, because people from around the world were essentially trolling these businesses and taking all the slots with no intention of actually going. That's kind of what it was like, and I think folks are not looking forward to that.
On the other side of the coin, I did also interview people who were like, “I'm so glad that this is happening. This has been a black eye. It was a long time coming. Cody Roberts deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
