INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says it is asking a prosecutor to drop charges against a Tri-State couple who nursed an injured baby deer back to health.
The DNR said in a statement Friday that Gov. Mike Pence asked the agency to reevaluate the case. The DNR says it is seeking the dismissal of misdemeanor charges of illegal possession of a white-tailed deer against police officer Jeff Counceller and his wife, Jennifer, of Connersville.
The couple found the injured deer in 2010. The DNR told the Councellers they needed a permit to aide the deer. When they called to get one, they were denied and told keeping the deer, which they named Dani, was illegal, that she had to be euthanized.
The day that was supposed to happen, the pen was mysteriously left open and Dani escaped. Now the couple face trial and a possible sentence of 60 days in jail for harboring a wild animal.
