Graves v. Dunlap

Graves owned a dairy farm and in 1901 rehabilitated and subsequently confined an injured doe found feeding on his property. Shortly thereafter, Graves acquired a buck and, through breeding the animals, grew the herd, which remained enclosed on his land with a number of pheasants. The county game warden and prosecuting attorney (collectively, the county) (defendants) sought to prosecute Graves, citing the state’s game code enacted in 1913, which stated that all game animals were the property of the state and prohibited any person from acquiring or controlling such animals. Furthermore, the county argued that Graves’s possession of the deer and fowl was unlawful under the game code as it existed at the time of original enclosure in 1901. Graves sought a restraining order to prevent the county’s interference with his ownership of the animals, arguing that the original confinement was lawful because possession of game was not made unlawful until 1903. Graves thus asserted that his resulting property rights could not be taken away without compensation. The trial court agreed with Graves and issued an order preventing the county from prosecuting Graves for possession of the animals and further stating that Graves was entitled to dispose of the pheasants “in such manner as he sees fit.” The county appealed the trial court’s order.