MONROE - It all started in January when an otter got caught in a muskrat trap and tried to get out but couldn't.
It ended Friday when an Albany outdoorsman, caught in a trap of his own lies and anger, tried to get out by representing himself at his own jury trial.
He fared better than the otter.
Timothy A. Cole, 63, defended himself Friday in Green County Circuit Court on two Class A misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing a conservation warden and a Class B misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.
Shortly after 6 p.m., after 45 minutes of deliberation, the jury of eight women and four men handed over guilty verdicts on the disorderly conduct charge and one of the resisting charges.
The jury did give Cole a small victory: a not-guilty verdict on the other resisting charge.
Until Friday's verdict, Cole had no criminal record.
Most game law violations never make it to criminal court and are instead settled in the field with an apology or, at most, a ticket. The details of this case are a study in how what could have been a minor citation can escalate into criminal charges.
On Feb. 16, Cole met with Department of Natural Resources conservation warden Ryan Caputo to register a trapped otter that was skinned but not yet fleshed. The meeting happened outside Cole's place of work, the H&R Block at 1821 6th St., Monroe.
Cole turned argumentative when questioned, and Caputo started to suspect that Cole hadn't personally trapped the otter.
"I didn't really want to make things awkward between us, so I did put a citing tag on the otter," Caputo testified in court Friday.
After the meeting, to follow up on his suspicions, Caputo made phone calls to his DNR supervisor and to Cole's 36-year-old son, Christopher Cole, who happens to be a DNR wildlife technician in Dodge County.
The son initially lied but eventually came clean about the otter's origins.
One of the muskrat traps he'd set in January near his home in Beaver Dam caught an otter. The otter tried to free itself but died a short distance away on the ice. The younger Cole hadn't purchased any otter-registration tags for the year and, per state law, should have turned the otter over to the DNR.
Instead, he took the otter to his parents' home on English Settlement Road in rural Albany and gave it to his father, knowing that his father had two otter tags but had so far been unsuccessful in catching one that season.
"I chose not to call (the otter) in. I decided to bring it home. (It was) the worst decision of my life," he said on the witness stand Friday. In April, he paid fines totaling $734.30 on citations in Dodge County for improper transfer of a permit and possession of an untagged raw pelt or unskinned carcass.
The situation has strained the relationship between father and son over the past year, according to the younger Cole. Visits became less frequent. When his father brings up the topic of the otter, "I usually cut him off. I don't want to know."
According to the DNR, Wisconsin trappers and citizens reported 1,617 otters during the 2016-17 season, a 29 percent increase over the previous season. Of these, 145 were turned over as "incidentals," which include roadkill but are primarily otters inadvertently caught by trappers trying to catch another kind of animal.
Armed with evidence that the elder Cole had tried to register an otter that was not his, Caputo and two other DNR wardens stopped by his home to claim the illegal otter on Feb. 18.
Cole came outside and lit a cigarette before the wardens reached the door. He knew the wardens were coming because he'd spoken with his son over the phone that day. In a profanity-laden tirade, he told them he didn't have the otter and yelled at them to get off his property. When Caputo put his hand on Cole's arm to detain him, Cole jerked away and went back in the house, slamming the door so violently that peeling paint fell off and the wardens thought it broke. Later, he shouted profanities out an open window.
An eventual search of the home turned up no fresh otter pelts, and Caputo referred the case to Green County District Attorney Craig Nolen.
Nolen offered a plea bargain in the case, but Cole refused. He also insisted on representing himself, despite Judge James Beer's advice.
"You would be wise to get an attorney ahead of time, because attorneys are trained just like doctors are. Would you want to remove your own leg, you know, or would you have a trained physician (do it)?" Beer said to Cole at a hearing Nov. 6.
Cole responded that the case "is more of a pimple than a leg removal so I'm not too concerned."
Among the issues discussed at trial Friday were what counts as "disorderly conduct" and whether the otter Cole tried to register with Caputo was indeed his.
On the witness stand, Caputo and other wardens testified that Cole's behavior outside his home in February was not only abusive but downright worrisome.
Cole was "very loud, very agitated. His face was very red," Caputo said. "There were moments where we were honestly concerned he might have a heart attack." After Cole went in the house and slammed the door, Caputo and other wardens testified that they retreated behind their trucks for protection.
"We didn't know if he'd be going into the house to get a firearm," Caputo said. At this, and other testimony from wardens, Cole's shoulders shook in an incredulous chuckle.
In his closing statement to the jury, Cole brushed off the charge of disorderly conduct and argued that the state's case was built on assumptions. Despite his son's testimony to the contrary, Cole maintained the state had no proof that the otter in question wasn't a second otter he'd caught alone.
As for the confrontation with wardens outside his home, "I used profane language, but that's called freedom of speech. An officer should be well enough trained to expect abusive language.
"I don't think they've proved anything other than I was irate," Cole said. "All I did was stand up for my constitutional rights."
Nolen said the case had clear evidence to convict Cole, including testimony from Cole's son and from four conservation wardens.
"What we've heard is that there may be some magical, mystical second otter," but there is no evidence to support this, Nolen said. "What is clear is that Cole is a man who believes himself to be above the law."
Nolen asked for a sentence of 30 days in jail and a three-year revocation of Cole's DNR licenses.
Beer said this seemed "a little harsh" and issued fines instead.
Cole has until Jan. 30 to pay $1,640 in fines, court costs and other charges. As a convicted criminal, he is also required to submit DNA samples at the sheriff's office.
It ended Friday when an Albany outdoorsman, caught in a trap of his own lies and anger, tried to get out by representing himself at his own jury trial.
He fared better than the otter.
Timothy A. Cole, 63, defended himself Friday in Green County Circuit Court on two Class A misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing a conservation warden and a Class B misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.
Shortly after 6 p.m., after 45 minutes of deliberation, the jury of eight women and four men handed over guilty verdicts on the disorderly conduct charge and one of the resisting charges.
The jury did give Cole a small victory: a not-guilty verdict on the other resisting charge.
Until Friday's verdict, Cole had no criminal record.
Most game law violations never make it to criminal court and are instead settled in the field with an apology or, at most, a ticket. The details of this case are a study in how what could have been a minor citation can escalate into criminal charges.
On Feb. 16, Cole met with Department of Natural Resources conservation warden Ryan Caputo to register a trapped otter that was skinned but not yet fleshed. The meeting happened outside Cole's place of work, the H&R Block at 1821 6th St., Monroe.
Cole turned argumentative when questioned, and Caputo started to suspect that Cole hadn't personally trapped the otter.
"I didn't really want to make things awkward between us, so I did put a citing tag on the otter," Caputo testified in court Friday.
After the meeting, to follow up on his suspicions, Caputo made phone calls to his DNR supervisor and to Cole's 36-year-old son, Christopher Cole, who happens to be a DNR wildlife technician in Dodge County.
The son initially lied but eventually came clean about the otter's origins.
One of the muskrat traps he'd set in January near his home in Beaver Dam caught an otter. The otter tried to free itself but died a short distance away on the ice. The younger Cole hadn't purchased any otter-registration tags for the year and, per state law, should have turned the otter over to the DNR.
Instead, he took the otter to his parents' home on English Settlement Road in rural Albany and gave it to his father, knowing that his father had two otter tags but had so far been unsuccessful in catching one that season.
"I chose not to call (the otter) in. I decided to bring it home. (It was) the worst decision of my life," he said on the witness stand Friday. In April, he paid fines totaling $734.30 on citations in Dodge County for improper transfer of a permit and possession of an untagged raw pelt or unskinned carcass.
The situation has strained the relationship between father and son over the past year, according to the younger Cole. Visits became less frequent. When his father brings up the topic of the otter, "I usually cut him off. I don't want to know."
According to the DNR, Wisconsin trappers and citizens reported 1,617 otters during the 2016-17 season, a 29 percent increase over the previous season. Of these, 145 were turned over as "incidentals," which include roadkill but are primarily otters inadvertently caught by trappers trying to catch another kind of animal.
Armed with evidence that the elder Cole had tried to register an otter that was not his, Caputo and two other DNR wardens stopped by his home to claim the illegal otter on Feb. 18.
Cole came outside and lit a cigarette before the wardens reached the door. He knew the wardens were coming because he'd spoken with his son over the phone that day. In a profanity-laden tirade, he told them he didn't have the otter and yelled at them to get off his property. When Caputo put his hand on Cole's arm to detain him, Cole jerked away and went back in the house, slamming the door so violently that peeling paint fell off and the wardens thought it broke. Later, he shouted profanities out an open window.
An eventual search of the home turned up no fresh otter pelts, and Caputo referred the case to Green County District Attorney Craig Nolen.
Nolen offered a plea bargain in the case, but Cole refused. He also insisted on representing himself, despite Judge James Beer's advice.
"You would be wise to get an attorney ahead of time, because attorneys are trained just like doctors are. Would you want to remove your own leg, you know, or would you have a trained physician (do it)?" Beer said to Cole at a hearing Nov. 6.
Cole responded that the case "is more of a pimple than a leg removal so I'm not too concerned."
Among the issues discussed at trial Friday were what counts as "disorderly conduct" and whether the otter Cole tried to register with Caputo was indeed his.
On the witness stand, Caputo and other wardens testified that Cole's behavior outside his home in February was not only abusive but downright worrisome.
Cole was "very loud, very agitated. His face was very red," Caputo said. "There were moments where we were honestly concerned he might have a heart attack." After Cole went in the house and slammed the door, Caputo and other wardens testified that they retreated behind their trucks for protection.
"We didn't know if he'd be going into the house to get a firearm," Caputo said. At this, and other testimony from wardens, Cole's shoulders shook in an incredulous chuckle.
In his closing statement to the jury, Cole brushed off the charge of disorderly conduct and argued that the state's case was built on assumptions. Despite his son's testimony to the contrary, Cole maintained the state had no proof that the otter in question wasn't a second otter he'd caught alone.
As for the confrontation with wardens outside his home, "I used profane language, but that's called freedom of speech. An officer should be well enough trained to expect abusive language.
"I don't think they've proved anything other than I was irate," Cole said. "All I did was stand up for my constitutional rights."
Nolen said the case had clear evidence to convict Cole, including testimony from Cole's son and from four conservation wardens.
"What we've heard is that there may be some magical, mystical second otter," but there is no evidence to support this, Nolen said. "What is clear is that Cole is a man who believes himself to be above the law."
Nolen asked for a sentence of 30 days in jail and a three-year revocation of Cole's DNR licenses.
Beer said this seemed "a little harsh" and issued fines instead.
Cole has until Jan. 30 to pay $1,640 in fines, court costs and other charges. As a convicted criminal, he is also required to submit DNA samples at the sheriff's office.