Animal abuse case gets tossed in court

The Elmore County Sheriff's Office may have acted a little too quickly when it seized some horses last year from a home in Tipinuk, and that has caused the case to be thrown out of court recently.

After seeing for themselves that the allegations may be accurate, deputies from Elmore County Sheriff's Department acted on the advice of a veterinarian and removed approximately 37 horses from the property in the Tipanuk area.

The animals were placed in the custody of the Idaho Humane Society so they could be treated and offered for adoption. However, Zachariah Robinson and Sherri Hopson retained ownership of ten horses. Although the ten horses could be treated, they could not be adopted. Idaho Code does not contain a provision that allows the state to seize animals and simply terminate the property rights of the owners. But Idaho Code 25-3511 does provide for the animals to be returned to the owner once they are healthy.

Robinson and Hopson were cited for four counts of animal cruelty under Idaho Code 25-3510, for the four animals in the worst condition. The pair entered a plea of not guilty and court trial was set for January. Twice the trials were continued to later dates while the parties tried to work toward a resolution for the large amount of restitution and concern for the ten horses that were likely to be returned to the owners.

"The goal was to fashion a plea agreement that would put appropriate measures in place to ensure that any animals returned to the parties would be safe and taken care of," said Teri Kaptein, deputy prosecutor with the Elmore County prosecutor's office.

"However, before an agreement was reached, Mr. Robinson's attorney filed a Motion to Suppress all evidence gathered, on the grounds that the original entrance onto the property was illegal and violated the defendant's constitutional rights. Based on the facts presented at the suppression hearing, the court granted the motion," said Kaptein. She explained that although she was disappointed in the ruling, she believes the law enforcement officers did what they felt was necessary.

She noted the Idaho Code sections regarding animal cruelty cases are ambiguously written and do not give law enforcement as much authority as needed to deal with these types of cases.

"Because the evidence, basically the evaluations of the animals, has been suppressed, the state is unable to proceed on the four counts of animal cruelty. However, the Prosecuting Attorney's Office believes the parties may still be liable for at least some of the cost of caring for the animals pursuant to Idaho law, despite the lack of criminal charges, and the issue is currently being researched."