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Deer diary: Man charged in collision videos

Indictment claims ‘Deer Commander' tried to sell road kill DVDs

April 16, 2010 4:15 AM

BY DENNIS GRUBAUGH
Journal-Courier

A hearing is set for next week in a bizarre case against a Kampsville man accused of running over deer with his vehicle, filming the episodes, and selling them on DVDs.

Federal authorities this month unsealed an indictment returned March 11 by a federal grand jury in St. Louis. The case was kept under wraps until the man who is charged, Jarrod Lee Hayn, was taken into federal custody. He since has posted bail and been released.

Hayn, 38, is charged with possession of depictions of animal cruelty with intent to place those depictions in interstate commerce for commercial gain. He also is charged with sale of those depictions.

The indictment contends that between April 15, 2009, and Nov. 18, Hayn possessed DVDs titled "The Deer Commander — Sudden Impact." The recording is said to depict deer that were hit, maimed and killed with a vehicle driven on public roads with the intention of making money.

A second count accuses Hayn of selling the DVD on Nov. 12.

Federal law defines depiction of animal cruelty to mean any visual or auditory depictions, including any video recording, electronic image or sound recording in which a living animal is intentionally maimed, mutilated, tortured, wounded or killed, if such conduct is illegal under the law of the state in which the creation, sale or possession takes place.

Illinois law, according to the indictment, stipulates that no person or owner may beat, cruelly treat, torment, starve, overwork or otherwise abuse any animal. No owner may abandon any animal where it may become a public charge or may suffer injury, hunger or exposure.

The facts surrounding the Hayn case remain under wraps. Assistant U.S. Attorney Raymond Meyer said he could not comment at this point.

Hayn could not be reached. A woman answering the phone at his Calhoun County residence Thursday said he was not home but that she would leave him a message asking for comment.

Defense attorney Edward Fanning of Hardin was in court Thursday and unavailable for comment.

Interestingly, the U.S. Supreme Court now is considering a case from Pennsylvania in which a man charged in a similar animal cruelty case is pleading that the video he produced was protected under his First Amendment rights. The solicitor general division of the U.S. Department of Justice maintains that the video is not protected speech.

At issue in U.S. vs. Stevens is whether Congress overstepped its authority in 1999 when it passed a law barring the creation, sale or possession of any depiction of animal cruelty with the intent to distribute and sell it.

A decision against the United States could have ramifications in the case involving Hayn, but Meyer would not comment.

No trial date has been set. Hayn's lawyer has filed a motion for an extension of time to obtain evidentiary materials, as well as to determine whether further motions are to be filed.

A motion hearing is set April 22 before Magistrate Judge Thomas C. Mummert III in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

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