Government Must Prove Rancher
Used Federal Land Knowingly

SALT LAKE CITY —(AP)— A federal judge has ruled that the government must prove a Summit County sheep rancher intended to illegally graze his flock on federal land before he can be convicted of a crime.

U.S. District Judge Dee Benson, in a ruling that goes against what a magistrate had decided, said Dr. D.A. Osguthorpe can't be convicted of allowing his sheep to graze illegally on federal land unless the government proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he did so "recklessly, knowingly or purposely."

The ruling reverses a magistrate's finding that Osguthorpe could be convicted if the government simply proved his sheep were on the land without authorization.

Osguthorpe, who also operated a Summit County sheep ranch for the past 40 years, was cited in 1994 for "placing or allowing unauthorized livestock to enter or be in the (Wasatch-Cache) National Forest."

He did not contest the citation and was sentenced to one-year unsupervised probation and a $65 fine. When he received three more citations in late 1996, he pleaded not guilty and asked for a ruling on whether intent is required to prove a violation.

Osguthorpe then entered a guilty plea conditional upon an appeal of the magistrate's interpretation of the law. He was sentenced to 30 days in a halfway house, five years probation and a $5000 fine.

Benson's ruling said the issue raised on appeal centered on the interpretation of "allowing" and "placing." The "common and ordinary" meanings of both words "indicate that some volition must be present," he said.

"To ‘allow’ one's livestock to be on Forest Service property requires some level of involvement on the part of the owner," Benson wrote.

Osguthorpe will now be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea and have the case tried under the new definition.

The Holladay veterinarian achieved international fame in the 1960s when he suggested the government was responsible for the deaths of 6000 sheep near the Dugway Proving Grounds in Tooele County. Osguthorpe said the sheep died from exposure to nerve gas.