Everyone, sit down and take a deep breath. I have been through this a few years back with Diana Phillips and Freestyle Equestrian’s horse starvation case. Diana ended up serving time in prison. Her mother got jail time. But you have to be patient.
The hearing on 3/29 is required by law because of the seizure of the animals. The Commonwealth attorney will tell the judge why the animals were seized and why they should not be returned. The next step would be to charge her for animal abuse (can be both a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the facts of the case). A trial date will be set. The owner can apply for a public defender. In the Diana Phillips case, the seizure was in May and the subsequent trial was in late February the following year.
In fairness to GPjumper, the fact that multiple people are charged including a sheriff’s deputy is likely to lead to having the prosecution handled by another nearby county. Our prosecutors are country based and this is how conflicts of interest are handled. Recently we had a case in Culpeper where a deputy sheriff killed a woman in a car crash and it was moved to another county prosecutor, Fauquier I believe. So we shall see.
What I do recommend is that the horse community be vigilant, Go to the hearings and bear witness. If you know something that might be helpful, notify the prosecutors. In the Diana Phillips case, I had sold her mother one of the horse and I had the bill of sale. Her mother was trying to pretend that none of the horses belonged to her. You have to be willing to put yourself out there if you can help. Don’t just shrug and say “she’ll get away with it.” I think we are seeing more animal abuse prosecutions than ever and people are getting prison sentences. And I think most of us agree that when a case does result in a seizure and a trial, it is really bad.
So let’s watch this play out. Attend any hearings and provide evidence if it is germane. Luckily the Fauquier Times Democrat is covering the case. Thank goodness for local newspapers keeping track of what goes on! You can keep tabs on the case status online with the Virginia case tracking system. But mostly be patient with the process.
