Section 609.597 Assaulting or Harming Police Horse; Penalties - Minnesota Statutes

609.597 ASSAULTING OR HARMING POLICE HORSE; PENALTIES.

Subdivision 1.Definition.

As used in this section, "police horse" means a horse that has been trained for crowd control and other law enforcement purposes and is used to assist peace officers in the performance of their official duties.

Subd. 2.Crime.

Whoever assaults or intentionally harms a police horse while the horse is being used or maintained for use by a law enforcement agency is guilty of a crime and may be sentenced as provided in subdivision 3.

Subd. 3.Penalties.

A person convicted of violating subdivision 2 may be sentenced as follows:

(1) if a peace officer, or any other person suffers great bodily harm or death as a result of the violation, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both;

(2) if the police horse suffers death or great bodily harm as a result of the violation, or if a peace officer suffers demonstrable bodily harm as a result of the violation, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than two years or to payment of a fine of not more than $4,000, or both;

(3) if the police horse suffers demonstrable bodily harm as a result of the violation, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year and one day or to payment of a fine of not more than $3,000, or both;

(4) if a peace officer is involuntarily unseated from the police horse or any person, other than the peace officer, suffers demonstrable bodily harm as a result of the violation, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year or to payment of a fine of not more than $3,000, or both;

(5) if a violation other than one described in clauses (1) to (4) occurs, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 90 days or to payment of a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.

History:

1995 c 179 s 1; 2004 c 228 art 1 s 72