Oh' Deer

A Wisconsin man who argued that he could not be prosecuted for having sex with a deer because the animal was dead at the time, was dealt a legal setback when a judge rejected a motion seeking dismissal of a criminal charge against him. As a result of Circuit Court Judge Michael Lucci's ruling, defendant Bryan James Hathaway, 20, will have to stand trial for his alleged assault last month of the deer carcass. In his ruling (a copy of which you'll find linked below), Lucci denied a November 7 motion filed by Hathaway's lawyer, Fredric Anderson, which argued that the deer ceased being an animal upon its death (Hathaway, pictured at right, allegedly found the carcass in a roadside ditch). Anderson contended that a charge of sexual gratification with an animal could not be sustained because "the term 'animal' refers to a living organism, not a carcass." Lucci, however, noted that "most people understand that an animal does not necessarily cease being or qualifying as an animal or even being referred to as an animal once it's dead." He added that the "primary focus" of Wisconsin's criminal statute dealing with crimes against sexual morality is on "human behavior and on protecting sexual morality in the community, and not necessarily on animal protection."

Link to the report..