The man who brought a wolf into a bar in Daniel after allegedly running it down with a snowmobile nearly two years ago made his first public comments this past Monday.
Cody Roberts pleaded not guilty at a virtual arraignment for a felony charge of animal cruelty.
Wyoming Public Radio's Caitlin Tan was in the Sublette County Courthouse and spoke to Managing Editor Nicky Ouellet.
Editor's Note: This story has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Nicky Ouellet: Caitlin, what was the scene like at the courthouse?
Caitlin Tan: There's been a lot of build up to this hearing, but it was honestly pretty anticlimactic. It was held virtually, but there was an in-person viewing. Nicky, I'm sad to say, we don't have any recording from the hearing itself, because the judge didn't permit it. In fact, he started off the hearing saying that if any recordings leaked of the proceeding, there won't be any remote [viewing] options in the future.
NO: And that's not terribly unusual for a judge to say no recordings, right?
CT: Right. But, I did record myself giving it my best shot. I actually walked up the stairs of the Sublette County Courthouse to the district court, where I was met by security guards.
They saw me wearing my blue backpack and said, “We're not gonna allow the backpack. So you need to leave that in your car. And no phone.”
A local photographer clarified, “No camera. No phone. No nothing.”
So I walked into the courtroom with just a pen and paper in hand, but again, this was a virtual arraignment, meaning the judge, Roberts, his lawyer and the prosecutor all met on a video call. I also counted 22 other people who tuned into that video call, but you had to sign up early to do that. Otherwise, there was an in-person viewing of the call on a big TV screen in the courthouse, which is what I did, along with a handful of other journalists. You also could listen in to the audio on a live stream, but I was told that actually never ended up working.
NO: Yeah, I was trying to tune into that audio stream, but it seemed like watchers crashed the system.
CT: Honestly, that checks out. This incident has been intensely watched all over the world. It all started back in February 2024, when Roberts allegedly ran down this wolf with a snowmobile, but it was still alive. Different footage from that night shows Roberts posing with the wolf at a house, and the wolf has red duct tape wrapped around its muzzle. And then later, there's footage that shows the wolf being paraded with a muzzle and leash around a local bar.
Roberts did get a fine at the time from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, $250 for illegal possession of wildlife. But that was it, and that was part of what really ruffled people's feathers across the world. The story made international headlines, and Wyoming was condemned as a state. Things got pretty ugly. There were a lot of threats, even death threats, coming from both sides.
NO: Your coverage throughout last year focused a lot on that tension – the calls from outside, calling for something to happen. Meanwhile, the town kind of rallied around Roberts and his family, and it was heated enough that the Associated Press reported that Roberts initially avoided more serious charges because investigators were struggling to find cooperative witnesses.
CT: It even caught the attention of some state lawmakers, and there was some legislation passed this past winter, basically upping the penalties if this type of behavior ever happened again.
But this case has largely simmered for almost two years, until now. It actually started with a convening of a grand jury in August. It was a handful of local Sublette County people, and they chose to indict Roberts on a felony animal cruelty charge, which means he's facing up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
NO: So at this arraignment, what happened?
CT: It was pretty procedural and mostly just the judge explaining the ground rules for a court arraignment. Roberts said very little, aside from making his not guilty plea. The whole thing lasted about 15 minutes.
The faces we were able to see on screen were Sweetwater County District Court Judge Richard Lavery, Sublette County Prosecutor Clayton Melinkovich, Cody Roberts and his lawyer, Robert Piper out of Coal Creek Law, based in Cheyenne. I should note that's a switch up. Roberts’ original lawyer was Elizabeth Trefonas in Jackson, and she's largely known for her immigration work.
Otherwise, in the room were four journalists and one other person, Peggy Bell. She's a local former middle school librarian to Roberts. Bell told me that she was there to support him, and that she thinks he has a heart of gold and is a good person.
NO: This case is out of Pinedale in Sublette County, but you said the judge is from Sweetwater County?
CT: That was a tricky part that caused some confusion initially. The venue is still Sublette County. If this ultimately goes to trial, from what I can tell, that still means the jury would come out of Sublette County. But the judge is from Sweetwater County. That can happen from time to time, where a local district court judge will bow out and a judge from another district will step in.
I did a little digging into why that happens. Grant Smith, who's the director of the University of Wyoming's College of Law Defender Aid Clinic, told me the reasons are pretty wide open. Judges can bow out for ethical reasons, like having connections to the parties, or just because of scheduling issues.
NO: You said Roberts could face up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. What are the stakes for him outside of that?
CT: It’s important to remember this is a felony charge, which I don't think really sunk in for me until I was sitting there listening to Judge Lavery lay it all out. He spent several minutes just talking about what it means to be convicted of a felony, like not being able to vote or not being able to own a firearm. Judge Lavery even went into detail about what that could look like. For example, it could be pretty complicated to have a job that requires a firearm or even to hunt.
NO: Did the prosecution or Roberts’ defense team give any indication what their arguments will be?
CT: They did not, but the judge did spell out what is in that grand jury indictment. Basically saying that on Feb. 29, 2024 in Sublette County, Roberts knowingly and with the intent to cause undue suffering tortured or tormented a male gray wolf.
The judge said that the prosecutor will have to prove all of that beyond a reasonable doubt for Roberts to be found guilty, and until then, he's presumed innocent.
NO: Caitlin, something just caught my ear. You said a male gray wolf. From what I've been reading, I thought it was a female that had been nicknamed
Hope?
CT: That is a point of confusion. Some of the animal rights groups are sticking with female wolf, some have issued changes, but in the actual indictment it says a male gray wolf.
NO: Where do things go from here?
CT: At the end, there were some housekeeping items.
The county prosecutor, Clayton Melinkovich, said he didn't feel that bond was necessary or any immediate jail time. Basically, he doesn't think that Roberts is a flight risk, and the judge agreed.
There was also just the standard order of no contact with potential witnesses.
But as to your question: What are the arguments the different sides are going to make? That is going to become more clear here in the coming months. There's several deadlines in December for discovery, so we'll learn more about who these witnesses are. Grant Smith with the UW Defender Aid Clinic said, “This is where the lawyers start earning their dinner.”
Also, what will happen over the next few months is negotiations between the two sides. They'll likely try to reach a plea deal and keep this ever from going to trial. I should note that the vast majority of state felony convictions are settled out of court in plea deal negotiations.
But if it does go to trial, it’ll be March 9 at 9 a.m. with five days set aside.
