THE COURT: Miss Lamp?
MS. LAMP: Your Honor, the People call Animal Control Officer Heather Wheaton to the stand.
THE COURT: Step up please. Raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you will give in this hearing will be the truth, so help you God?
OFFICER
THE COURT: Come on around. Watch your step coming up. The chair is on rollers, so be careful.
THE WITNESS: Thank you.
THE COURT: The microphone isn’t going to make you any louder, so make sure you speak up loudly and distinctly for us. State your full name.
THE WITNESS: Heather Lalainya Wheaton.
THE COURT: What’s the, Heather what?
THE WITNESS: Lalainya Wheaton.
THE COURT: Spell the Lalainya.
THE WITNESS: L-a-l-a-i-n-y-a.
THE
COURT:
THE WITNESS: Mm-Hmm.
THE COURT: Spell that please.
THE WITNESS: W-h-e-a-t-o-n.
THE COURT: Thank you. Miss Lamp?
OFFICER
HEATHER L. WHEATON
Called at 8:21 a.m. by the People, sworn by the court, testified:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Officer Wheaton, where are you employed?
A.
Q. And in what capacity are you employed?
A. I’m an animal control officer.
Q. And how long have you been so employed?
A. Since October first.
Q. Of 2006?
A. Yes.
A. Okay. And were you on duty on or about March fourteenth of 2007?
A. Yes, I was.
Q. And had you had some contact with Deputy Walter DeLand on or about that date?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Okay. And based upon the contact that you had with him, did you take some action?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. What did you do?
A.
Arrived, I arrived to
MR. DUNGAN: Objection to the hearsay, Your Honor.
MS. LAMP: Your Honor—-
THE COURT: Sustained.
MS. LAMP: Okay.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Without going into what they said, you made contact with the people that were across the street from the farm.
A. Mm-Hmm.
Q. And--
THE COURT: Is that a yes? Make sure you say yes or no.
THE WITNESS: I’m sorry.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Was that a residence there across the street?
A. Yes.
Q.
Okay. And what did you do after
you had your conversation with the
A. Drove back across the road and parked at the front gate.
Q. Of the farm there.
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And what did you do?
A.
I got out, began to observe and photograph the fence line that runs
along
Q. Okay. And could you describe any observations you made about the fence line on that day?
A. A lot of parts were laid down directly on the ground. I don’t know how any of that fence line along there would contain horses at all.
Q. Okay.
A.
There was clear paths where the horses have been coming and going, hoof
prints, manure, all along
Q. Okay. And what did you do—-what else did you do?
A. Photographed all of that and turned my direction looking back towards the barn and observed a dead horse lying in the driveway.
MS. LAMP: Your Honor, for the record I’m showing my photo board to defense counsel.
THE COURT: Is this marked as an exhibit?
MS. LAMP: It’s marked as People’s proposed exhibit one.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. I’ll set it here on the easel for you, Officer Wheaton.
THE COURT: Mr. Hurst and Mr. Dungan, do you have any objections to the admission of one?
MR. DUNGAN: To admission? I guess, Your Honor, only to the extent that I don’t believe that that particular horse is a subject of any of the criminal counts and certainly no one is trying to seek civil forfeiture of it, so I would question the relevance of it.
THE COURT: Well, with respect to the four counts though I think it would be relevant, whether it’s one of the horses or not, wouldn’t it, Mr. Dungan?
MR. DUNGAN: In what respect?
THE COURT: Well, if they’re charged with torture in counts one through three, adequate care—-
MR. DUNGAN: But not of this horse.
THE COURT: But it would be relevant on the conduct, would it not?
MR. DUNGAN: I don’t think so, Your Honor, but obviously, you know, we’ll accept the court’s ruling.
THE COURT: Any issues as far as foundation on it?
MR. DUNGAN: No.
THE COURT: Mr. Hurst?
MR. HURST: No.
THE COURT: Okay. Number one is admitted.
MS. LAMP: Thank you, Your Honor.
(At 8:25 a.m. PX 1 admitted)
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Officer Wheaton, photo board one, People’s exhibit one has been admitted into evidence. Does that fairly and accurately depict what you observed on that day?
A. Yes, it does.
Q. Okay. And what happened, what did you do after you made the observation of the dead horse laying in the mud?
A. Continued photographing it and observing the area around the horse.
Q. Okay. I am going to stop for one point and make a point of clarification. There is a photograph, there’s a large photograph on this exhibit at the top and there’s four on, below that. The lower right photograph is not from the date three fourteen at the farm, that’s from a later date, is that correct?
A. That’s correct.
Q. Okay, so let’s just clarify that and we’ll get to that at a later time. So you continued to make some observations. Go ahead and tell us what else you did please.
A. Observing, you know, along the way hoof prints throughout the entire property where the horses were clearly allowed to roam and meander through an absurd amount of dangerous debris.
Q. When you’re saying an absurd amount of dangerous debris, could you quantify what you mean by that, the amount and the type of debris please?
A. Old wire, nails, boards, steel siding, bunched up fence, downed buildings, plastic string, hoses, vehicles, toys.
Q. Okay. And did you proceed on further?
A. I did.
Q. What did you observe then?
A. Continued photographing, noticed open gates, downed fence line. I found no fence line that would clearly contain these horses any further, then I continued going back.
Q. Okay.
A. Barn door wide open, and I just kept moving on.
Q. Okay. And where did you go next?
A. Into the barn.
Q. Okay. And what if anything did you observe in the barn?
A. When I first entered the barn I noticed a pen to my left and it had approximately eight horses in it, very, very poor condition. There was one horse in the center and another pen of horses to the right and then a single horse again down towards the end of the barn to the right.
THE COURT: Was the pen in poor condition or the horses in poor condition, or both?
THE WITNESS: All the above.
THE COURT: Horse and pen.
THE WITNESS: Horse and pens.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Okay. Let’s start with the first pen. How many horses did you say were in there?
A. Approximately eight.
Q. Okay. And did that appear based on your training and experience to be an appropriate size for that number of horses?
A. Absolutely not—-
MR. DUNGAN: Well, Your Honor, I guess before she answers that question, can we hear what her training and experience is as far as--
THE COURT: Can you lay some foundation please?
MR. DUNGAN: --horses are concerned.
MS. LAMP: Absolutely, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Sustained, go ahead.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Officer Wheaton, have you had any experience with horses in your lifetime?
A. Yes, I have.
Q. Okay. And when did your experience with horses begin?
A. I’ve never gone a day in my life without a horse.
Q. Okay. So when you’re up and walking you’re starting out with horses.
A. They’ve been in my back yard.
Q. Okay. And what did you do with horses when you were a kid? If anything.
A. Showed in 4-H, pleasure, trail.
Q. Cared for them, ride them, that sort of thing?
A. Cared for them.
Q. Okay. And then as you grew up, did you get involved with horses more?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Could you describe that please?
A. I became a business owner. My first business was I had an indoor swimming pool and I swam racehorses, show horses. I’ve actually owned two farms that have indoor pools for physical therapy.
Q. Okay. And did you perform the physical therapy on the horses?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. And did you receive training to do that?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Okay. And when you were a kid and you were learning those horses, did somebody train you how to do that?
A. When I was a kid I had 4-H leaders.
Q. Okay.
A. We had neighbors who had horses and helped me along the way.
Q. So you learned as you were growing up.
A. Mm-Hmm.
Q. And so you had that that business. What else, if anything, what other experience have you had with horses?
A. Boarding, training, breeding, mounted police work. I’ve implemented mounted units. I went on to MSU and became one of eight certified MCOLES mounted police instructors in the state.
THE COURT: Certified what?
THE WITNESS: Certified MCOLES mounted police instructor.
THE COURT: MCOLES?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: Spell that.
THE
WITNESS: MCOLES, M-C-O-L-E-S.
THE COURT: Oh, very good. So that’s all initials then.
THE WITNESS: Mm-Hmm.
THE COURT: All right. Miss Lamp?
MS. LAMP: I wondered what it stood for too, sorry. I’m glad you clarified.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. So do you currently own horses and care for them?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Okay. And could you describe what you do currently with horses?
A. Currently I have three draft horses and one smaller quarter horse mare.
Q. Okay. And are those kept on your property?
A. They are kept at my grandfather’s property.
Q. Okay. And are you the primary caregiver for those horses?
A. Not since this case has started. Grandpa is.
Q. Grandpa is now, but prior to the case starting.
A. Yes.
Q.
Now are you the primary caregiver for the horses at the farm on
A. Yes, I am.
Q. –-that takes up most of your time now.
A. Yes, it does.
MS. LAMP: Okay. Your Honor, I think that Officer Wheaton has certainly established an extensive background for her entire life of taking care of and caring for horses among other things, and I think at this time I would move to qualify her as an expert in horse care and training.
THE COURT: You mentioned that you had some training. Is that formal training somewhere? A school, classes?
THE
WITNESS: MSU. I trained there to receive the MCOLES
certification to become a mounted police instructor with a man named Roger
Grant from
THE COURT: Mr. Dungan, do you have questions?
VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION(At 8:31 a.m.)
BY MR. DUNGAN:
Q. Have you ever run a horse farm where the horses are wintered outside?
A. Yes.
Q. When?
A. All of my farms I’ve had horses that have wintered outside.
Q. What’s the most number of horses that you’d have had?
A. Me personally? Thirty, forty head.
Q. That you would have wintered outside at the same time?
A. No, that’s total what I would have had on my property.
Q. At one time.
A. Yes.
Q. Would be thirty or forty.
A. Thirty to forty head.
MR. DUNGAN: Okay, thank you. I don’t have any other questions, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Hurst, would you?
MR. HURST: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: What was the question then to which you objected, Mr. Dungan? Do you remember? Do you remember the question?
MS. LAMP: Well, Your Honor, before we get back to that, I have moved to, is she qualified as an expert? Is the court--
THE COURT: I don’t know that that’s a field of expertise. I’ll allow her answers.
MS. LAMP: Well, Your Honor, I think that based upon her testimony and her extensive experience with horses, I think that she could qualify as an expert in caring for horses and I think that that would be—-
THE COURT: I’ll allow her answer. I don’t know what that field is and I don’t know if I’m qualified to say that there’s such a field that she’s an expert. But I will allow the answers.
MS. LAMP: Okay.
THE COURT: To be on the record and given what weight the court thinks is necessary or the transcript shows later for, if it goes further for some other judge to take a look at. But I’ll allow the answers based on what she’s testified today. You can go forward.
MS. LAMP: Thank you, Your Honor, I appreciate that.
DIRECT EXAMINATION CONTINUED(At 8:32 a.m.)
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Officer Wheaton, did that pen appear to be an adequate size for the number of horses that were contained therein?
A. No.
Q. Okay. And why is that?
A. There was too many horses held together in this pen. There was standing urine, feces, no dry spot for the horses to get out of it. No food, no water. The boards were either nailed, tied, dropped, exposed sharp points, there was downed lumber that the horses were physically standing on with nails protruding straight up from them. Everywhere you looked inside that pen was a disaster.
Q. So there was plenty of hazards within there.
A. Absolutely.
Q. Did the horses have enough room to move around inside the pen?
A. They could move around.
Q. Okay.
THE COURT: What’s the size of the pen, officer?
THE WITNESS: I’m going to guesstimate, there’s another officer who has the actual measurements, I don’t. I can guesstimate fifteen by twenty-five maybe.
THE COURT: Talking feet?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: Miss Lamp?
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. And could you describe the horses themselves that were in that pen as you observed them on the fourteenth of March?
A. Extremely emaciated, distended bellies. Their spines, hips, shoulder points were all I guess I want to say exposed or showing.
Q. The bone actually wasn’t exposed but you could see the bone through the skin, if I understand you?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay, all right. And you described there were some other horses in the barn, is that correct?
A. Yes, there was.
Q. Let’s move on to the next horse or horses that you saw.
A. The next horse was wearing a blanket so that I couldn’t physically see what his body looked like underneath of it.
Q. Okay.
A. But he also, now, he was, all his boards were nailed up. Had the barn, God forbid, had a problem, he wasn’t going anywhere.
Q. You mean that the gate to the stall that the horse was in was actually nailed shut?
A. Yeah, there were boards nailed across.
Q. Okay.
A. Nailed across the front of it. He also was standing in urine, feces, no dry spots anywhere. There was an extension cord down over the wall ran through his pen as well. He did have a container that had frozen solid, so at one point there was water there, but nothing he could drink.
Q. Because at the time that you were there it was solid ice?
A. It was frozen, yeah.
Q. Let me ask you just about the, how deep that manure was and the feces and the urine that you saw standing in those stalls.
A. It was up over their ankles in spots, so you’re probably looking at four or five inches.
Q. Okay. Moving on to the next set of horse or horses that you saw in the barn.
THE COURT: Let’s go back to this last horse you just finished. Is that a different pen then?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: We’re going down is it the right side as we’re going down this barn, the left side?
THE WITNESS: When you entered into the service door, I call it a service door, a short hallway.
THE COURT: Fine.
THE WITNESS: The larger pen was here that had all the first group of horses in.
THE COURT: The eight horses, right?
THE WITNESS: Yup, and then the single horse was almost directly in front.
THE COURT: Across?
THE WITNESS: Yeah, across. All the horses were on the same side except for one.
THE COURT: Which was the second one you just mentioned, is that--
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: The single horse?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: Okay. Miss Lamp?
MS. LAMP: Your Honor, maybe we could have her draw the layout of the barn and that would be helpful for the court to understand what she’s testifying about. Officer, would you mind stepping over…
THE COURT: From what I read, there’s a diagram somewhere in your exhibit list, Mr. Dungan? Do you have one? I thought I read that.
MR. DUNGAN: Not for today.
THE COURT: Oh. I didn’t know whether you wanted to use it relative to this barn or not.
(Witness at board)
THE WITNESS: Okay. This is where the--
THE COURT: Just go ahead and finish the drawing.
THE WITNESS: Okay.
THE COURT: And Miss Lamp will have some questions.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. I’m going to have you stay there for a second so you can point to where you’re talking about. So you’ve made this diagram here on the board. Obviously not to scale, is that correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. Could you show me where you’re referring to as the service door?
A. Here.
Q. Okay. And so when you enter into the service door and go straight over to your left, that’s the pen where the eight horses were?
A. Correct.
Q. And then that middle pen where it says one, is that where the horse was nailed into the stall?
A. Yes.
Q. And then you have a pen marked to the right of that. Could you describe what was there?
A. There was another group of horses in here that appeared to be approximately two or three year olds. There was-—I’ll check my numbers again but I’m going to say right around nine horses in there as well.
Q. Okay, all right. And could you describe their condition please?
A. They were also standing in urine, feces, no dry spots, very deep, no water, no hay. They were, and all these horses on here were completely enclosed in.
Q. Okay.
A. They had no access, no way to get out of where they were.
Q. Okay. And was that last pen that you saw, was that one also nailed shut?
A. No. This one had a gate as well, but it was tied and I believe there was also a chain around it.
Q. Okay. Were there any other horses there that you saw in the barn?
A. Mm-Hmm. There was another brown stallion and I also, I believe that there was a pen here, but he was moved a couple days later. I’m going to say approximately that area there.
Q. Okay. So there was a stallion in that corner stall, that being the southeast corner of the barn.
A. Mm-Hmm.
Q. Okay. Could you—-is that a yes?
A. Yes. I’m sorry.
Q. That’s okay. Could you describe the condition of the stallion in the stall?
A. Again, the stallion was wearing a blanket so I could not see his body condition under the blanket. I did not go in with him. His doorway was also nailed shut. And this horse had standing water.
Q. The one in the—-
A. This stallion had, he was in standing, standing water, standing urine, standing feces, all of the above.
Q. Okay. Were those, those were two different pens, right?
A. Mm-Hmm, yes.
Q. Were they nailed shut or was there a gate?
A. This was nailed shut.
Q. Okay. And the other one had a gate to get in and out of? A non-nailed gate I guess?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay, all right.
THE COURT: The stall with the non-nailed gate and the one to the left of it was nailed?
THE WITNESS: Nailed and nailed. A couple of days later this horse was moved over here.
THE COURT: That’s all I need to know. So the stallion was in the stall?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: And the other one next to it on the left you call a pen?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: All right. Tell me what’s the difference between a pen and a stall?
THE WITNESS: I consider this a stall. It would contain one horse.
THE COURT: The one with one?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: All right.
THE WITNESS: And the pens are holding multiple amounts of horses.
THE COURT: Big stalls.
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: All right, okay.
MS. LAMP: All right. If you would care to have a seat, that would be fine, thank you.
(Witness returns to stand)
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Was there a grulla mare that you observed in the barn while you were there?
A. Yes.
Q. And could you describe that mare for me please?
A. In my opinion she was completely emaciated.
Q. And was she in one of the pens then that was on your diagram?
A. Yes. She would have been in the northwest pen with the eight, the group of eight.
Q. Okay. And does this depict, directing your attention to People’s proposed exhibit three, for the record I’m holding it up so that defense counsel is able to observe it, does that depict the grulla mare and some of the other horses in that pen that you observed on the fourteenth of March?
A. Yes.
Q. Fairly and accurately?
A. Yes.
MS. LAMP: I would move to admit—-
THE COURT: The northwest corner pen?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Did you take these pictures?
THE WITNESS: Yes, I did.
THE COURT: Any objections to its admission, Mr. Hurst?
MR. DUNGAN: No, sir. I’m sorry—-
THE COURT: Mr. Dungan, that’s okay. No objection, Mr. Hurst?
MR. HURST: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Two is admitted.
MS. LAMP: Your Honor, that’s actually People’s exhibit three.
THE COURT: Oh, I’m sorry. Did we have a two?
MS. LAMP: We do have a two, I just haven’t gone there yet, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay.
(At 8:41 a.m. PX 3 admitted)
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. So after you made the—-were there any other observations that you made in the barn that alarmed you that you have not already testified about on the fourteenth?
A. The hallway in the barn was full of, full of debris from east to west, all the way through, again, standing urine, standing water, standing feces.
Q. I’m going to put this photo board number two up here on the easel. Again, showing it to defense counsel.
MR. DUNGAN: Let me see that poster for a second, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Is that marked?
MS. LAMP: It is marked as People’s proposed two, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Two.
MR. DUNGAN: Thanks.
MS. LAMP: You’re welcome.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. People’s proposed exhibit two contains six photographs, two columns, and Officer Wheaton, if you could take a look at this photo board here. Do any of these pictures describe what you’re currently testifying about that you observed in the barn?
A. Yes.
Q. Could you stand up and point to which pictures-—
THE COURT: Officer, did you take these photographs?
THE WITNESS: Yes, I did.
THE COURT: Do they reasonably and accurately depict the area you took at the time?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: Any objections to number two, Mr. Hurst?
MR. HURST: No, sir.
THE COURT: Mr. Dungan?
MR. DUNGAN: No, sir.
THE WITNESS: Two is admitted. Go ahead.
(At 8:42 a.m. PX 2 admitted)
MS. LAMP: And Your Honor, for the record as to the admission of People’s exhibit two, the top two photographs are from three fourteen ’07, and the bottom four are actually from three twenty, a later date.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Officer Wheaton--
THE COURT: Does that make a difference to you gentlemen?
MR. HURST: No.
THE COURT: Okay.
MS. LAMP: They’re labeled that way, but I just wanted to make sure that was clear.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Officer Wheaton, is this the center of the barn, up here, the top right photograph depicting the area that you were telling me that you were concerned about?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And--
THE COURT: That’s a hallway?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. And could you describe what your concerns were?
A. There is debris all the way through, junk, hoses, broken buckets, broken boards, nails, steel pieces. I’m not quite sure from what, broken pipes, maybe broken gates.
Q. Okay. And this photograph next to it shows a brown horse. Is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. That’s down on the ground.
A. Yes.
Q. And where did you observe that horse in the barn on the fourteenth?
A. This one was in with the group of eight and when I went in to continue photographing, it was flat out on its side and had rolled up, and I went in to take a look at it, make sure, you know, something wasn’t seriously wrong with it. I couldn’t get the colt to rise.
Q. And from your testimony and what it appears in the photograph, is the horse laying in the feces and urine?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. What did you do after that?
A. Secured what I could and continued on down to the next group of horses.
Q. Okay. Is this, are you still in the barn?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And we’ve kind of already covered those horses.
A. Yes, yes.
Q. Okay. What did you do then after looking at the barn?
A. Exited the barn and walked out on to pasture.
Q. And what did you observe on the pasture?
A. I stopped counting at about fifty head that were--
Q. Okay.
A. –-fifty head of horses that were out there. As far as your eye could see there was just debris everywhere, large pieces of sheet metal, piles and piles of scattered lumber and boards and everything imaginable just spread throughout the entire place.
Q. Okay.
A. With the horses meandering all through it.
Q. And this is out in the field?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. What did you do after that?
A. I photographed everything and began to move out of there.
Q. Okay. Did you, were you able to make contact with anybody at the farm who appeared to be a caretaker or owner of the horses?
A. No.
Q. Okay. Did you take some type of action to try to make contact with the person that may be in charge of caring for these horses?
A. What we do is I left a twenty-four hour notice.
Q. Okay.
A. I had one—-
Q. Can you describe what that is, please?
A. Yup. It’s a green card that we leave and we give whoever owns the horses twenty-four hours to make contact with us.
Q. Okay. And it has all the contact information on there, correct?
A. Yes, it does.
Q. And where do you post that at?
A. We post, I posted it at the front gate.
Q. And is there like one main front gate?
A. Yes.
Q. And it has a driveway there, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. So if somebody were to pull in to the farm, that would be the apparent place that they would go and see that. Is that correct?
A. Yeah. I also posted like the service door coming in so whether they came in through the front gate or had to walk into the barn, you’re going to have a warning there as well.
Q. Okay. So you posted in two places.
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Did you leave the farm then at that time?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. And what happened after you left the farm?
A. I returned back to my office.
Q. And did anybody contact you?
A. No.
Q. And after—-did you wait a twenty-four hour period, time period?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. And nobody had contacted you during that period?
A. No.
Q. Did you take any other action to try and make contact with the caretaker and owners of the horses?
A. I did.
Q. Okay. And could you describe what that was?
A.
I returned to the
Q. Would that--okay. And how did you come to go to that particular address?
A. Through making phone calls, again speaking to neighbors giving me names and just researching that, finding out where they lived.
Q. Had you run any of the registration on any of the trailers or stuff that you had found on the property as well or had you not done that at at that time?
A. I believe I had done that at that time. I believe I had Officer DeLand run it for me.
Q. Okay.
A. So that we had come up with an address and where, where the owners lived.
Q. And so when you went to the residence, what happened?
A. No--
THE COURT: We’re now talking about the next day then, is that right after the twenty-four hour period?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: March fifteenth then?
THE WITNESS: On the fifteenth.
THE COURT: What time were you there on the fourteenth?
THE WITNESS: One thirty approximately.
THE COURT: P.m.?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Miss Lamp?
BY MS. LAMP:
Q.
What happened when you got to the
A. Arrived, knocked, nobody answered, walked around to the back door, knocked, nobody answered. Posted that house as well.
Q. With the green posting.
A. With the green card for twenty-four hour contact.
Q. Where did you post the card?
A. Front door.
Q. Okay. And what did you do after you posted that address?
A. I left.
Q. Did anybody contact you after you had left?
A. Matt Mercier contacted me that evening.
Q. Okay. And how did he make contact with you?
A. He called me.
Q. Okay. And what happened when he called you?
A. He wanted to know why there, why he had received the green card and wanted to know why I had posted it.
Q. Okay. And what if anything did you tell him?
A.
I asked him, told him that we had received a complaint that horses had
been running loose on
Q. Did you try to see if you could go to the farm with Mercier to go through some of the concerns that you had with him?
A. I did, I did. I asked him if he could meet me out there, I was going to leave--I do believe Matt called me, I called him back, it had to have been approximately four thirty in the evening.
Q. Okay.
A. I offered to still meet him that night and he had umpteen excuses why he could not meet me.
THE COURT: Is Matt Mr. Mercier?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Miss Lamp?
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. And this is, you get off of work at five?
A. I do.
Q. And yet you were willing to take the extra time to go out there and meet with him and go through those concerns.
A. Absolutely.
Q. And he indicated to you that he was unavailable?
A. Unavailable.
Q. Were you able to set a time or date in the future that you could meet with Mr. Mercier and go through the farm with him?
A. No.
Q. No? And why was that?
A. He was going to be out of town, he had appointments, he had other things going on.
Q. Did you ask him if there was anybody else who owned the horses?
A. I did. I asked him if he was the owner of these horses. Mr. Mercier told me that he himself and James Henderson owned the horses together.
Q. Okay. And did you ask if you could get a hold of Mr. Henderson, perhaps have Mr. Henderson come to the farm and go through the concerns with you?
A. I did, I did. He told me that Mr. Henderson was out of town.
Q. Okay.
A. And was unreachable.
Q. Was that the conclusion of your conversation with Mercier on the fifteenth?
A. I believe so.
Q. Okay. And did you have contact with Mr. Mercier then the next day on March sixteenth?
A. I did.
Q. Okay. And could you describe that please?
A. I talked to Mr. Mercier in the morning and explained to him that I felt he needed to get a vet to that farm immediately to have the horses looked at.
Q. Okay. And what did, if anything, did Mr. Mercier say to you?
A. He told me that he himself had a doctor’s appointment-—well, I need to go back a little bit as well. One of the horses that was in pen eight had a very, very large leg wound.
Q. Okay.
A. And I had brought that to Matt’s attention.
Q. That was something that you observed initially on the fourteenth.
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And did you bring that to his attention when you talked to him initially on the fifteenth?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Okay. So on the sixteenth now, he says to you that he has a doctor’s appointment for himself?
A. Yeah, he stated to me he had a doctor’s appointment for himself and that he had a doctor’s, an appointment with the vet at three o’clock to take that horse in.
Q. Okay. And did you understand then as I understand from your testimony, that Mr. Mercier was going to take the horse to the vet and not have the vet come to the horse?
A. Correct.
Q. And what if anything did, else did he tell you about the appointment? Did he tell you who it was with or…?
A. Doctor Irving.
Q. Okay. And it was for three o’clock?
A. Mm-Hmm.
Q. Okay. So what happened then?
A. I told him, I gave him an hour to get a hold of his vet and get his vet out there this morning and give me a call, let me know and I would meet him out there, and I would be interested in hearing what his own personal vet had to say about the condition of the horses, the leg wound, the whole nine yards.
Q. So you didn’t want to wait till three o’clock, you wanted him to take care of it right away.
A. Yeah, we could get it done that morning.
Q. Okay. And did he contact you and inform you that somebody would be able to come out?
A. He called me at ten thirty approximately and told me that his vet Dr. Sray would be there at eleven.
Q. Okay, all right. So what did you do?
A. I left my office and went directly to the farm.
Q. Okay. And what happened when you got at the farm?
A. When I arrived Dr. Sray was already there. It appeared to me he had been there already. They were walking in from the main pasture.
Q. Okay. Was there anybody with Dr. Sray?
A. I believe she was a vet tech. I did not get her name. She didn’t say anything really.
Q. Okay.
A. She just kind of stood next to the doctor and walked with him.
Q. Okay. And what did you observe then when you saw them coming back in from the field? What happened after that?
A. Well, something that I observed when I first got there. The two mares that were in with the group of eight had been moved out of the barn outside into a small pen by the time that I arrived and there was a third horse that had been put in with them that come in off of main pasture. She was out with a large group of horses and they were very, very, very emaciated. He had put a lot of hay in front of them, filled water tanks. I noticed that some of the debris that was there the day before was now not there, had been picked up and moved, and so when I arrived and I walked in, Dr. Sray, Matt and this lady were walking up and we stopped in front of the pen that held the three horses.
Q. Okay. Go on with what happened.
A. Basically I said hello and we stopped and Dr. Sray looked at this pen of three horses--
Q. Officer Wheaton, I’m not going to have you go into what Dr. Sray said about the horses.
A. Okay.
Q. Because that would be hearsay and--
A. Okay.
Q. –-Mr. Dungan and Mr. Hurst will object and so just to keep it simple we won’t go through what he actually said. But I just want to understand what you observed while you were there with the farm and Dr. Sray and what you observed Dr. Sray do while you were there.
THE COURT: Let’s back up first. Where’s this pen? It’s not in this drawing.
THE WITNESS: No, no. This will be an outside, what I would consider a dry lot.
THE COURT: A dry lot, okay.
THE WITNESS: It’s a small fenced in area.
THE COURT: Okay.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Outside of the barn.
A. Outside the barn.
THE COURT: All right, okay. Now talk about what Dr. Sray did or whatever.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. What did you observe at that time?
A. I observed Dr. Sray stop in front of that pen, make his comments. I don’t know how to word that, but he said what he said, and appeared to start walking toward the gate to leave.
Q. Okay.
A. Matt had gone, Mr. Mercier had gone into the barn, Dr. Sray appeared to be heading out of the fenced in area.
Q. So they had split up.
A. Yes.
Q. Initially they were together and—-
A. MM-Hmm.
Q. Mr. Mercier went to the barn and Dr. Sray is moving toward the vehicle with the female assistant?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And then what happened?
A. I asked Dr. Sray what about the horses in the barn.
Q. And what if anything happened when you asked him about that?
A. He turned his direction and headed back towards the barn.
Q. Okay. And what happened when he went back to the barn?
A. Mr. Mercier had pulled out the mare out of that pen.
Q. Which mare?
A. Okay, there was the mare with the severe leg wound.
Q. Okay.
A. That was in with the group of eight.
Q. Okay.
A. Mr. Mercier had pulled her out of that pen and had her loose in the hallway. She was standing there in the hall.
Q. Okay.
A. And I observed Dr. Sray stand there and look at the horse.
Q. Did he do anything to the horse?
A. No.
Q. Did he administer any care to the horse?
A. No.
Q. Okay. And what happened—-did Mr. Mercier say anything about the horse while you were standing there?
A. Mr. Mercier told me that the leg wound was about five days old. He told me the horses had been in that pen only five days. Mr. Mercier also stated to me that the three horses that were moved out were very old and that he also stated that it had been a hard winter. He also stated that—-
Q. When he was saying that the mares were old and that it had been a hard winter, did you understand that he was pairing those two together as an explanation for their severely emaciated condition?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Was one of those mares the grulla mare?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay, all right.
THE COURT: Which mare?
MS. LAMP: The grulla mare, Your Honor.
THE COURT: The grulla? How do we spell that?
THE WITNESS: Grulla, it’s a color.
MR. DUNGAN: G-r-u-l-l-a.
MS. LAMP: It is the lighter colored horse in People’s exhibit three.
THE COURT: For the record can you spell it?
THE WITNESS: G-r-u-l-l-a.
THE COURT: Okay. Grulla?
THE WITNESS: Grulla, mm-Hmm.
THE COURT: Thank you.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. So he had offered that explanation as for the condition of, of those horses, including the grulla mare?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And what if anything else did Mr. Mercier say?
A. He also stated that, he said, well, if I did drop the ball on anybody, I dropped the ball on the grulla mare. She had gas colic back in December and had lost a little weight.
THE COURT: Now, which one is the grulla mare?
THE WITNESS: The—-
THE COURT: Do you have a picture?
MS. LAMP: We do, Your Honor.
THE WITNESS: Right there.
MS. LAMP: It’s on People’s exhibit three. It’s the lighter colored horse that is depicted both in the top and the bottom photograph.
THE COURT: That’s number three?
MS. LAMP: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Thank you.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Did you touch the horse with the wire injury?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. And were there any observations you made as a result of touching the horse?
A. Again, you could feel her entire spine all the way down her back, you could feel her hips, you could feel her ribs. She also had the distended belly.
Q. Was there any comment made about a wormer?
A. There was.
Q. What was that?
A. He stated that—-
Q. He being?
A. Mr. Mercier stated that the last time he had wormed that pen was back in December and yes, they were due to be wormed again.
Q. Okay.
THE COURT: Now, where at this point is the horse that’s got the injury?
THE WITNESS: She was standing in the hallway.
THE COURT: The hallway horse, okay.
THE WITNESS: Yes.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. He’s pulled her out into the hallway.
A. He had pulled her out into the hallway.
Q. Okay. And--
THE COURT: That’s not the grulla mare.
THE WITNESS: No.
THE COURT: That’s in the pen outside.
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: All right. And the one that’s standing in the hallway is the one you felt as far as body--
THE WITNESS: She had the severe leg wound and very bad body condition.
THE COURT: Leg wound. And thigh condition?
THE WITNESS: Pardon?
THE COURT: Thigh did you say?
THE WITNESS: No, very bad body condition.
THE COURT: Body, oh, very good.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. And Officer Wheaton, would the horse with the wire injury be accurately described as a yearling filly?
A. She is a filly, but I would call her probably a coming three year old this year.
Q. So what, would it just be a filly then?
A. A filly.
Q. And if you were going to describe her further, how would you describe her?
A. She’s a bay.
Q. A bay filly?
A. A bay filly.
Q. Okay.
THE COURT: All right. Where is this one? Where is this horse now?
THE WITNESS: She’s in with the group of eight. We do have--
THE COURT: Still in there, not in the pen outside.
THE WITNESS: Not in the pen outside.
THE COURT: Not in the hallway.
THE WITNESS: This is the filly that was brought into the hallway.
THE COURT: Oh, oh, okay. It’s a filly, all right. Very good, okay, thank you.
MS. LAMP: I’m going to put up People’s, I believe People’s exhibit two has already been admitted, is that correct?
THE COURT: Yes, one, two and three have all been admitted.
MS. LAMP: I’m going to put up People’s proposed exhibit four, showing to defense counsel.
THE COURT: Do you gentlemen have any objections to four admitted?
MR. HURST: No.
MR. DUNGAN: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Four is admitted.
(At 9:00 a.m. PX 4 admitted)
MS. LAMP: Thank you, Your Honor.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. And People’s exhibit four then depicts this bay yearling, bay filly?
A. Yes.
Q. It will take me a minute to get there, but I’ll get there. Okay. The bay filly, the injury on the leg on different dates, being three fourteen, three twenty, three twenty-seven. Is that correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. And--
THE COURT: This photograph has all six of the bay filly?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: All right, very good. Go ahead.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. And I’m pointing out to you on three fourteen, that was the first day that you observed the injury on this horse. Is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. And just for point of clarification. That piece up there is a piece of grass, that’s not the wire sticking out in that initial observation. Is that correct, Officer Wheaton?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. So at that time did you know there was wire in the horse’s leg?
A. On that day, no.
Q. Okay. When did you become aware that there was wire in the horse’s leg?
A. On the sixteenth when Mr. Mercier told me there was still embedded wire in her leg.
Q. Okay, all right. Was there anything else that occurred there on the sixteenth or does that pretty much conclude your observations there with Dr. Sray and Mr. Mercier on that day?
A. I believe that pretty much concludes it.
Q. Okay. Did you come back to the farm on the twentieth of March?
A. Yes.
Q. And why did you come to the farm on that particular day?
A. On the twentieth?
Q. Mm-Hmm.
A. I brought out the state veterinarians.
Q. Okay. And who are the state veterinarians?
A. Dr. Chickering and Dr. Altemose.
Q. Okay. And--
THE COURT: What’s their names again?
THE WITNESS: Dr. Chickering.
THE COURT: How do you spell that?
THE WITNESS: C-h-i-c-k-e-r-i-n-g, I believe.
THE COURT: And the other doctor?
THE WITNESS: Alternose(sic). A-l-t-e-r-n-o-s-e.
THE COURT: What do you mean, state doctors?
THE
WITNESS: From MSU,
THE COURT: Okay.
BY MS. LAMP:
Q. Were they from the Department of Agriculture?
A. Yes.