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I am writing this letter to ask for your
professional assistance. My name is Matthew Mercier and I am involved
in a trial for horse abuse, neglect and Felony torture in the 12th
District Court in Jackson Michigan.
This case has many nuances that I believe would
interest you. It first started with Animal Control of Jackson County
ignoring their own contracted Veterinarian who stated it wasn’t an abuse
case. They then lied under oath to Judge Mazur of 12th
District to get a search warrant. They stated in affidavit that no food
or water was found on the property as well as lying about the County
Veterinarian making statements he did not make.
They received a search/seizure order and called a
Rescue group onto the property once they banned me from it. The rescue
group told Animal Control it was not an abuse case. Prosecutor Jennifer
Lamp told them not to come back onto the property. Animal Control then
called the News Media out after destroying the barns and injuring some
horses and broke the “story” in the news. They continually lied to the
public with such outrageous claims such as “abandoned for 6 months with
no food or water”, “living in a garbage dump”, and “huge mounds of
manure and filth”. There has been little evidence to support their
lies, even from the prosecution’s witnesses.
They have continually banned us from the property
for every reason. Judge Joe Filip ordered EX-PARTE the
euthanization of
a horse which we found out about on the 6 o’clock news. This was not
the first nor the last use of Ex-parte communication. We have not been
allowed to see the horses or have a say in their care other than 1 time
since March 20th.
The prosecution has provided me with over 2000
photos. Most of those 2000 photos show healthy horses, short of a
few. There was a 24 and 25 year old mare who had lost weight during
winter, and a young mare who had lost a dramatic amount of weight as a
result of illness. There was an injured horse that required off-farm
veterinary care, which Animal Control Officers cancelled 2
appointments. They then waited 30 days to get specialized care. There
were a group of moderately thin young horses who were pulled into the
barn and separated to be fed more specialized.
Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Lamp’s own Expert
witnesses have testified to 56 of 69 horses on the farm being of ideal
or close to ideal body condition. They have also testified it is not
uncommon for old horses to lose weight in the winter and that sick
horses can lose a dramatic amount of weight in a short period of time.
Judge Joseph Filip ruled on the Civil Forfeiture
of the horses and in Preliminary for the 3 counts of Felony Torture on
7/20/07. He ruled that we should lose ALL horses and be bound over on
Felony Torture. His rationale for ruling on the Forfeiture was that
essentially we were good people, but just got behind on cleaning some
things up and had too many horses. This justified taking away even the
56 horses in ideal or close to ideal weight and overall health. He also
made comments that we must not care about the horses if we were buying
used horse blankets and putting them on them, or it may have been
financial constraints and that is why the animals were skinny.
There was NO warning in this investigation;
warnings seems to be standard in animal abuse complaints. Only lies and
running in and seizing everything. Everything includes pickup truck,
horse trailers, saddles, farm equipment, land and all horses. They have
provided their own proof via pictures they stole equipment and tack from
us.
The ruling set forth establishes a dangerous
precedent for farming America. If your help quits, you get injured or
ill, something dies unexpectedly etc… the Government can run in and take
everything you have worked your life for with no chance to fix a
problem. The issues at the farm were easily fixable, and steps were
being taken to correct these issues prior to Animal Control coming in.
Jackson County is broke! The Animal Control
officers saw an opportunity to establish a reputation for themselves and
garner a little money for the county at the same time. Judge Joe Filip
now wants a $143,000 bond to continue ownership of the animals pending
outcome of the criminal trial. They are charging us for ridiculous
things that can’t even be construed as restitution. Cell phone
overages, hospital bills for volunteers on the farm, security costs,
t-shirts made up by Leelanau Horse Rescue etc… They also want us to pay
$22,000/month to continue feeding through the criminal trial. No farmer
could stay in business if they spent that to feed. They want us to pay
the salaries and overtime of the Animal Control, including the clerk at
the pound who answers the phone! It is plain and simple extortion.
Steal our property and hold a HUGE ransom out to possibly get it back.
This is the Jackson County taxpayer dollars at work.
We have been plastered all over the media,
including nationwide news and Animal Cops on Discovery Channel. They
have completely ruined my reputation and livelihood now and in the
future. Animal Torture is forever attached to my name!
We went to court today to argue the bond money.
IN my opinion Judge Joe Filip engaged in extortion. A very reputable farm
manager testified on our behalf. She testified that if they STALLED
every horse on the property and fed square bales, the maximum it could
possibly cost would be $193,000.00 per year to feed and take care of 69
horses. She also testified that only having to clean 2 stalls and feed
69 horses round bales of hay and maintenance would cost at most
$71,000.00 per year. Kim Luce testified to how they were feeding. They
want to feed round bales to all of the horses and square bales to a few
they stall, including the 2 stallions. Judge Joe Filip gave credit to
Ms. Chapin and said she was a very credible witness, yet ruled on her
$193,000.00 figure. This was directly contradictory to her testimony.
He decided to rule what suited him the most. He seemed to want the
defendants to not be able to come up with the money and lose all of the
horses.
Judge Filip also decided on his own accord to
change dollar figures, once again to suit his wants of us losing
everything. Both defense and the Prosecutor stipulated to 60 days for
trial. Filip decided on a whim to make it 90 days, therefore incurring
more costs to us. He basically did everything he could to ensure we
could not come up with the money.
We will continue to fight them. All of our horses
are lost as we cannot come up with a CASH figure like that. Filip
insisted on cash, no real estate or property despite the statute giving
that option. We will never regain the horses we had. Some are
irreplaceable. It is a sad sad day for not only us, but American
livestock owners as well.
I sincerely thank you for taking the time to read
this letter. It has been heartbreaking and terrifying to lose
everything because of corrupt officials and overzealous individuals
acting under the color of law. |
