A district court judge who hinted last week he wasnt persuaded by arguments for dismissing the animal cruelty case against Cody Roberts filed an order Tuesday explaining why he was instead sending the high-profile case toward a trial.Watch the video below: Wyoming case proceeds as judge rules wolfs treatment not covered by predator exemptionDistrict Court Judge Richard Laverys six-page order stated that the plain language of an exemption for predators like wolves written into Wyomings animal cruelty laws didnt provide a blanket license to do anything to an animal. The specific, enumerated exemptions are for hunting, capture, killing or destruction of predators in any manner not otherwise illegal.At a hearing last week, Roberts attorney Robert Piper described the entirety of the wolfs time in Roberts possession as being an extended period of capture.Lavery didnt agree in his response to a motion to dismiss the case.[T]his case does not arise out of the capture of the wolf, Lavery wrote, but out of Defendants alleged conduct after capturing the wolf but before it was killed.The judge quoted legal precedent that established courts are not at liberty to add words to a statute that the legislature chose to omit.Roberts allegedly acquired a wolf by striking it with a snowmobile until barely conscious on Feb. 29, 2024. Photos from that night showed him posing for pictures with the wolf and even kissing it. The wolfs behavior suggests that it was gravely injured, according to biologists whove reviewed video of the muzzled animal while it was prone and listless on the floor of the Green River Bar.The incident touched off a wave of global outrage that inundated Sublette County with threats and caused Wyoming state agencies to suspend social media accounts peppered with upset comments.During the initial law enforcement response, Wyoming Game and Fish Department wardens cited Roberts with a $250 discretionary fine for possessing wildlife instead of sending him to court in pursuit of steeper charges.At the time, the state agency contended what Piper is now arguing: That predatory animal species are exempt from animal cruelty statutes.Sublette County law enforcement officials disagreed. Last summer, prosecutor Clayton Melinkovich convened a grand jury that later indicted the 44-year-old Daniel resident for felony animal cruelty, punishable by up to two years imprisonment. He has pleaded not guilty and remains free on bond.Roberts trial is scheduled to begin March 9.WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy. ...read more read less