People v. Voelker
New York City Criminal Court
172 Misc.2d 564, 658 N.Y.S.2d 180 (1997)
- Written by Haley Gintis, JD
Facts
In 1996, Eric Voelker (defendant) filmed himself beheading three iguanas. The film was later broadcasted on a television show. Following the broadcast, the State of New York (plaintiff) charged Voelker with violating the state’s animal-anticruelty statute. The statute provided that a person was guilty of animal cruelty by unjustifiably injuring or killing an animal. Voelker filed a motion to dismiss the charges. Voelker claimed that the government had not established a prima facie case against him because the government had not proved that the killing of the iguanas was unjustified, as required under the statute. Voelker maintained that he had beheaded the iguanas to cook and eat them, which made the killing justified. In response, the government argued that the question of whether the killing was justified was a matter to be considered by the fact-finder and therefore dismissal of the complaint was not appropriate. Voelker also claimed that the statute was unconstitutionally applied because it violated his rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution by placing content-based restrictions on his ability to broadcast his message. The court considered the arguments.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Morgenstern, J.)
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