ALBANY, N.Y. – It wasn’t just the dead bear.
Days after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted to taking a bear carcass from the side of the road and placing it in Central Park as a prank a decade ago, he said that has been picking up roadkill his "whole life” and once had a “freezer full of it” at home.
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The comment came as the independent presidential candidate was leaving an upstate New York courtroom Wednesday where he had testified in a lawsuit seeking to exclude him from the state's ballot in November.
The trial has focused on whether Kennedy improperly listed a residence in the New York City suburb of Katonah as his home address on his nominating petitions, when he has actually been living in the Los Angeles area since 2014.
But the substance of the trial has been largely overshadowed in recent days by a story, unearthed by The New Yorker, that Kennedy once put a dead bear cub in his car while on a hiking trip, drove around with it for a day, then dumped it in Central Park with a group of friends when he realized he had to catch a flight.
In a video posted to social media Sunday, Kennedy told comedian Roseanne Barr that he planned to skin the bear, which was in “very good condition." He continued, saying, “I was going to put the meat in my refrigerator,” but did not specify what he intended to do with it.
Speaking to reporters in a hallway after court ended Wednesday, Kennedy was asked whether he picked up other roadkill.
“I’ve been picking up roadkill my whole life. I have a freezer full of it,” he said, eliciting laughter.
Kennedy campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear later said by text that he wasn't joking. She said that’s how Kennedy — a falconer who trains ravens — feeds his birds. She added that he no longer has the 21 cubic foot (0.59 cubic meter) refrigerator, which had been in New York's Westchester County suburbs.
On the witness stand, Kennedy was grilled for a second day about where he lives and whether he should be kept off New York's ballot in November.
He testified that his move to California a decade ago was only temporary so he could be with his wife, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actor Cheryl Hines, and that he always planned to return to New York.
Attorneys representing several New York voters have sought to demonstrate Kennedy is not a New York resident, relying on government documents and even a recent social media video in which Kennedy talks about taming ravens he feeds at his Los Angeles home.
In a testy exchange in the Albany courtroom, attorney Keith Corbett repeatedly asked Kennedy whether moving to California with his family and pets demonstrated his intention to reside in that state.
Kennedy balked at providing a “yes” or “no” answer, saying the reality was more nuanced.
“Do you want a yes or no answer, or do you want the truth?” Kennedy said.
“My intention is to return to New York and that’s the only requirement for residency,” he said.
Under questioning from his own lawyer, Kennedy said he moved to California out of love for his wife and concern for her career.
“I said I would figure out a way to make a living in California until we could move back, and that was our agreement," he said.
He said it was difficult for him to leave New York because he had built his life there.
The residence in question is a room in a home in well-to-do Katonah, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of midtown Manhattan. Kennedy testified Wednesday that he has only slept in that room once, citing his constant travel for his campaign.
Shown a photograph of the room, Kennedy acknowledged the furniture and painting in the room are not his, but he said pictures on the nightstand belong to him.
“I think one of them is a photo of me and Mick Jagger,” he said.
Kennedy's lawyer, William F. Savino, asked him why he didn’t just rent or buy a house in New York in the last 10 years. Kennedy said homeownership is time consuming and expensive.
“It snows a lot here," he said. “The pipes break, the driveway needs to be plowed and all these other burdens that are associated with home ownership.”
Kennedy, who lived in New York for years before moving to California, noted his father was similarly accused when he ran for a New York Senate seat in 1964 and won. Months before that election, his father, Robert F. Kennedy, rented a home on Long Island.
“He was also accused of not being a New Yorker,” he said.
The woman who owns the Katonah property testified Tuesday that Kennedy rents a room for $500 a month, but she acknowledged those payments began in May, a day after a New York Post story questioned the candidate’s claim that he lives in New York. Kennedy testified that he thought his assistant had been paying rent for the previous year and that he made sure payments started after the newspaper story.
The lawsuit against Kennedy is backed by Clear Choice PAC, a super PAC led by supporters of Democratic President Joe Biden. A judge is set to decide the outcome without a jury.
Kennedy’s campaign has said he has enough signatures to qualify in a majority of states, but his ballot drive has faced challenges and lawsuits in several states, including North Carolina and New Jersey.
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Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.