UGA student charged in raccoon killing withdraws motions

<p>A University of Georgia fraternity member who is accused of killing a raccoon with a pellet gun has withdrawn two motions aimed at having an animal cruelty charge against him dropped.</p><p>Erik Robert Zimmerman, 20, of Marble, N.C., was arrested after a Dec. 12 incident in which he used a pellet gun to shoot and kill a raccoon that was behaving erratically.</p><p>Another member of Zimmerman's Phi Kappa Psi fraternity skinned the animal and another cooked and ate the raccoon's meat. The other students involved in the incident _ fraternity members Patrick Perry and Ivan Garcia _ do not face criminal charges because they did not participate in killing the raccoon.</p><p>On Monday, Zimmerman's attorney, Wayne Burnaine, withdrew a motion filed June 8 that claimed Zimmerman was deceived by Athens-Clarke County Animal Control officers, who responded to the incident at the Phi Kappa Psi House. The officers, the motion contended, used "deceit, trickery and psychological ploys" during their conversation with Zimmerman and never informed him of his right to remain silent or retain an attorney.</p><p>Burnaine also withdrew a motion he filed April 16. That motion claimed photographs taken at the scene by animal control officers had been digitally enhanced and were "an artificial recreation of the alleged raccoon."</p><p>But on Monday, Burnaine retracted his claim that the photos were altered.</p><p>At a February hearing, Zimmerman testified he was concerned the animal might have been rabid. He said he threw a construction pylon to scare it away. He said the pylon struck the animal and he did not want it to suffer, so he shot it with the pellet gun.</p><p>If convicted, Zimmerman could face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2866478)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/6/166803