Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 12, 1990 TAG: 9003123010
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: RATCLIFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If enough evidence can be found to prove who placed the cow on the roof, the information "will be given to a commonwealth's attorney" for prosecution, Kavanaugh said.
But the Roanoke County and Salem commonwealth's attorneys, who both have authority to prosecute offenses on the county property in Salem, say they're not sure what - if anything - the prankster could be charged with.
Roanoke County Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart and Salem prosecutor Fred King said Kavanaugh has not contacted them about prosecuting the case.
"The sheriff, no one from the sheriff's office or anyone from the Salem Police Department has talked to me about prosecuting this case or even the fact they're investigating it," Burkart said.
"But I don't know if we have a case. The issue would be what would we charge them with?" the prosecutor said.
"What's he going to get them for? Littering? As far as I know, there was no defacing of the property. There has to be some damage to the property for that.
"I'm not sure how it would be trespassing," Burkart said. "With trespassing, you always get into whether or not the property's posted or if the person's been warned to stay off the property. I'm not aware of any `No Trespassing' signs down there."
King said that, with some stretching, you might be able to charge the prankster with violating the Salem sign ordinance. Unless the building was damaged in some way, that was the only possible charge he could think of, he said.
Kavanaugh disagreed, however. "I think there's a potential there" to charge the prankster, he said. "It depends on how much damage was done to the building."
When asked if the building was, in fact, damaged, the sheriff replied, "I haven't been up on the roof. That's what I have investigators for."
But Kavanaugh did not ask deputies in his department to find out who put the cow on his roof.
An evidence technician with the Salem Police Department was asked last week to examine the plywood cow for fingerprints, Salem authorities said.
Salem Police Chief Harry Haskins said he agreed to allow his evidence technician do a fingerprint analysis of the cow as a professional courtesy - on the condition that the sheriff was planning to prosecute someone for the incident.
Haskins stressed that his department was not conducting an investigation into the incident - only examining the cow for fingerprints.
Had Kavanaugh wanted the fingerprint analysis done simply for an internal investigation, Haskins said, he would not have allowed his evidence technician to examine the cow.
The fingerprint analysis turned up no identifiable prints on the brown-and-white cow.
But that was not the end of the investigation, the sheriff said.
When asked if he had any suspects, the sheriff replied, "Everybody who walks by this office is a suspect."
There has been speculation that the cow was placed on the roof by deputies. Deputies still grumble about citizens and police officers in other agencies making fun of them and mooing at them because of problems the sheriff had with keeping his cows on his farm.
In December 1988, Kavanaugh was charged with allowing his cows to roam into his neighbor's yard. A judge scolded the sheriff, but withheld a verdict on the condition that the cows not wander away again for six months.
The cows, however, became an issue for the sheriff, who has had other problems in his department in the two years he's been in office.
Burkart said this week that he would disqualify himself from prosecuting a deputy for placing a cow on the roof.
"I know all those deputies and I like them. I couldn't prosecute one of them."
Burkart said the sheriff would have a right to get a warrant to charge someone for placing the cow on the roof. But he said he hoped Kavanaugh would obtain the warrant in the city of Salem and let King prosecute the incident.
King, however, said he also would find it difficult to prosecute an officer from a neighboring jurisdiction for a prank like the cow. If the prank had occurred 150 yards to the west, it would have been on Roanoke College grounds and would qualify as a college prank, King said. He said he couldn't remember ever prosecuting a similar prank in Salem.
Burkart agreed.
"I can't believe that (Kavanaugh) would want to prosecute this," he said.
by CNB