Man seeks death penalty for weather-predicting groundhog

The famous, weather-predicting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, has found himself on the wrong side of the law.

A prosecutor in the US state of Ohio is seeking the death penalty for the rodent, who wrongly predicted an early spring on February 2.

The indictment claims misrepresentation, and alleges the creature purposely led people to believe that spring would come early.

The season officially began on Wednesday, but the US National Weather Service sees no improvement in the forecast, with isolated snow showers for several states into next week.