56 counts of cruelty for $1000? Are they on SALE?
Oct 22 2010
My original blog on Hidden Meadows Equine Rescue
No Justice for Starved Horses at Hidden Meadows Equine Rescue.
Can I just give a great big WTF to this? What, Kim, were you late for your nail appointment? Had happy hour started without you? Sale at Wal-Mart? What exactly IS the excuse for spending less time on 56 counts of cruelty than you putting on lipstick? EIGHT DEAD HORSES and you give a wrist-slap?
Based upon their web site, it appears the number for the Prosecuting Attorney’s office is 304-264-1971 and either Pamela Jean Games-Neely or Christopher Quasebarth is Crockett’s boss. Please do feel free to call with your opinion of this ridiculous plea bargain! (The usual advice applies: Keep it calm, logical and sane but it’s totally appropriate to note that you are disgusted with Crockett’s incompetent 5-second handling of a very well documented cruelty case that should have resulted in jail time.)
The survivors are recovering thanks to Days End Horse Rescue. Check out this video of the horses, and if you can, send them a donation. They do great work!
FYI, for those of you wanting to keep researching, I’ve made the Mystery Horse thread a permanent link. Just look at the list to your right and it’s there! So please keep checking back. Posts ARE being added daily!
65 comments to “56 counts of cruelty for $1000? Are they on SALE?”
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Just sick. Animal cruelty is just not taken seriously enough.
Holy crap!! If that’s not evidence enough to convict and get jail time, what is? What do you need?
I’m feeling like someone should have scooped up the dead bodies of these poor horses and dumped them on Kim’s doorstep. Maybe then she would’ve taken it more seriously? Sheesh
*headdesk*
http://36andsingle.blogspot.com/
$17.85 per count, rollback from 19.95! Save money, live better…
There has GOT to be an organization NOT affiliated with our sale shopper that will actually adequately punish her. This is ridiculous. Maybe instead of wasting our time with the prosecuting attorney’s office, who is obviously good friends with this woman (personally, if someone that worked for me pulled something like this they’d be out in the cold – as a matter of fact, if someone I was RELATED to did this they’d be out in the cold…) the media in the area should be contacted. Let the media find out why there was a wrist slap and embarass the bejesus out of the office at the same time.
Please forgive me if I am stupid but why do they all have grazing muzzles on?
Just curious
Makes me want to cry when you see horses that thin and to only get a slap on the wrist please!
Crazy, several of the horses were so thin, with nothing in their digestive tracts but dirt and gravel, that for them to eat “free choice” could have caused major health problems (major colic, etc). Here’s an article on refeeding syndrome:
http://www.starvinghorses.com/Refeedingsyndrome.html
The rescue dealing with those really bad cases is very, very experienced with emaciated horses.
In addition, the horses were trying to eat everything, including stall shavings, which could have been disastrous.
Thank you…I was wondering the same thing, and came to the conclusion that they’d probaby eat their shavings, etc.
I must say that all the rescues in the video were so bright eyed, I would be hard pressed to know which one I’d want to take home with me! They’ll probably all be gorgeous with a few hundred pounds on each of them.
How does a “human” look at so many horses under their care, and NOT see the ribs, and NOT care about them???!!! Piece of garbage…she got off WAY too lightly!
Days End had them all on grazing muzzles for a long time- they WERE eating the sawdust in their stalls even after starting the refeeding process.
I’ll never forget one pony named Diego who had so much stone dust in his digestive tract that it was apalling, it took at least a month to get all of it out. We could not feed him anything other than ridiculously watered down grain soup (which he inhaled) because we were so afraid of impaction as he tried to work the stone dust out of his system.
I’m afraid this is the way most cases are handled. I had a boyfriend once whose brother was an attorney, and when he was arrested, his brother just went down and “fixed it” with the judge and he never had to show up to court. It’s just that most of us who are law-abiding citizens don’t realize the way things work. Money talks, and if you can pay for a lawyer who is familiar with the judge, they will get together and do favors for each other.
Hopefully raising a big enough stink will see to it that this gal is not reelected. Well- is the Assistant DA an elected position?
As a law student, I can tell you that your bf’s brother/attorney probably saved you a ton of money in tax dollars by preventing his case from going to court. A settlement is MUCH cheaper than going to court in EVERY case. I don’t agree with this verdict, but I can tell you that any decent lawyer will try to get cases settled outside of court because it is cheaper. And while knowing the judge is helpful, most judges are going to be amenable to allowing settlement. Cases where you think someone should have gone to jail are often treated the same way (except in extreme cases), since prisoners are expensive to maintain and jails and prisons are overcrowded.
And Assistant DA is not an elected position. The DA appoints/hires them after they’re elected.
Grazing muzzles are used so they don’t eat too much too fast. HAve to let their digestive systems adjust first.
As some of you may know from past postings I worked at DEFHR for four years and adopted my mare from them. I’ve been closely following this case and their progress pictures- just sickening. If anyone is curious there are lots of photos on DEFHR’S facebook page.
I know defhr is having a press conference/protest today. This whole thing is just so sickening. From the DEFHR site and was posted via link on facebook this morning:
“I have some disturbing news regarding the Mary Obrien case. A hearing was scheduled today for the case, but before this could take place, a plea status hearing was conducted with only the public defender, prosecuting attorney (Kim Crockett) and the magistrate. Not a single person from the case was present including the investigating officer, animal control or myself. We actually showed up for the hearing and were told it was over.
The only information the prosecuting attorney had was the warrant for the arrest. She has never even seen the case file or a single record or photo from the case. In addition, she never spoke with the investigating officer, animal control or myself. Basically, she prosecuted a case without even looking at the evidence and then the magistrate agreed to the plea bargain without anyone being present or at the least consulted.
What a disappointment this judicial process has been. This was a very well documented case of animal cruelty. Both Animal Control and the Sheriff’s Department did their jobs. At least eight horses died or had to be euthanized from starvation and neglect in this case.
We are holding a press conference tomorrow in front of the court house at 11:00 A.M. to demand answers from the Chief Prosecutor’s office. We would appreciate any support from horse owners and the public. Please forward this to your contacts. Thank you so much for all of your help.
Sincerely,
Christine Bridges D.V.M”
Hey. Just wanted to add… I have my doubts that they care how many people phone them to complain privately. But they will care very much if enough people complain in public. There are voters out there.
In addition to those phone calls, it would help a lot if enough people bumped this (and the other news article) to every reddit, digg, etc. you can. And make your own blog posts.
She’s a baby lawyer. (Admitted to the bar in 2008, graduated L school 2005)
Looky: http://www.wvbar.org/members/memberdetails.aspx?BarID=10799
http://www.spilmanlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=766:crockett-m-katherine&catid=80:attorneys&Itemid=4104
WTF can you expect from West Virginia, though – growing up on the E. Coast, W. Va was always the butt of jokes – for good reason, it appears – between the fraudulent rescue whackjobs like HMER and CrossedSwords, and this huge miscarriage of justice…
I apologize. Normally I wouldn’t generalize about much of anything, but I am FURIOUS at this result – and it’s a done deal. : ( At least until she does it again – which we know she will, as this pathetic example of sentencing shows that West Virginia basically condones animal cruelty.
This cretinous fraudulent conartist sociopathic human stain of a skank got away with this. WTF
As usual, THANK YOU stupid stupid willfully ignorant low-IQ-having enabling ABRites, thank you for consigning more horses to lengthy starvation, misery and a painful lingering death because you fall for pretty stories and coy words from conmen and conwomen, consistently. You consistently – for years now – enable HORSE ABUSERS and HOARDERS. YOU are as much of the problem as they are – by your support, you condone them. Sadly, you make the case to reasonable people that slaughter might be more humane – at least it is a quicker death than months of slow suffering starvation/dehydration/parasite infestation. I wonder – are there ANY real horsemen/horsewomen on that board anymore?
ABR: it’s for grifters!
“As usual, THANK YOU stupid stupid willfully ignorant low-IQ-having enabling ABRites, thank you for consigning more horses to lengthy starvation, misery and a painful lingering death because you fall for pretty stories and coy words from conmen and conwomen, consistently. You consistently – for years now – enable HORSE ABUSERS and HOARDERS. YOU are as much of the problem as they are – by your support, you condone them. Sadly, you make the case to reasonable people that slaughter might be more humane – at least it is a quicker death than months of slow suffering starvation/dehydration/parasite infestation. I wonder – are there ANY real horsemen/horsewomen on that board anymore?
ABR: it’s for grifters!”
And it continues. I got rebanned for commenting on the recent thread complaining that AC4H and its minion, VFH are “approving” some very questionable homes.
Socrates, you might want to be more careful with your research. The “baby lawyer” in your post is NOT the prosecutor involved in this case. I would hate for her to get hate mail for something she’s not involved with at all.
The prosecutor for this case is KIMBERLEY Crockett, not Mary Katherine. She was admitted to the WV Bar in 2003:
http://www.wvbar.org/members/memberdetails.aspx?BarID=9335
This prosecutor is connected to the guilty party??? She certainly is incompetent. For heaven’s sake at least read the damn case before you make a plea. I mean someone in the DA’s office has to make the plea. WTF?
All those horses dead, all that time and money and grief and this prosecutor doesn’t even read the damn case? I hope someday she has to go hungry.
If you live in the area write letters to the editor, comment on the TV station’s reports, maybe organize a protest in the center of town against animal cruelty starring MOB (hey mob! LOL) with blown up pictures. It would help if any law people would show up but I can understand if they can’t. The DA should definitely be flooded with calls, emails, letters asking him why this happened?
It’s bad enough when they can’t or won’t prosecute because of lack of evidence but this was a slam dunk!
There’s a rat behind a wall, I can smell it all the way from New England. I find it impossible to believe that a prosecutor, on ANY case, would plea bargain without knowing all the facts. Seriously, does she think we have ‘dumb freaking idiot’ written all over our faces? What a gross misconduct of our legal system. We may be individual states, but we are still one nation and there needs to be some continunity to justice across the boards!
We have a case lingering in the judicial wind that should come to trial in the near future. The offender is facing a year’s jail time. He violated his 2003 probation for animal abuse by owning animals, and had his bail increased an additional $150,000 to a grand total of $500,000. Although he neglected in excess of 178 animals since 2003, I am not aware of any that died in his care, or lack therof. And he sure as hell isn’t a 501c rescue on top of it! He played every trick in the book like hiding the animals at various farms all over the state. But the diligent and dedicated officers who stayed on him like white on rice never gave up and worked tirelessly to get him. I don’t see probation in his future this time.
After reading horror stories like this from other states, I have to say that our little State of CT does an incredible job with mistreated horses. I know how dam good our investigators and prosecutors are now. Of course it doesn’t hurt that one of our prosecutors is a horse owner herself. Top notch gals.
OT but I have a question I should know the answer to but don’t. How do you wrap legs; i.e. polo wraps or track bandages? If you’re holding the wrap on the inside of the cannon bone, do you wrap forward or back? I know one direction is correct for tendon support. I personally use boots and velcro is blondeproof. thanks
You wrap clockwise on the off side legs and counterclockwise on the near side legs. The edge of the standing wrap should be on the bone, not the tendon. You can pull more snugly around the fetlock than you do around the tendon.
A little thing I used to remember way back when I was learning is “Forward between legs.” That way, no matter what side you are on, it was easy to figure out which way to go!
I use “tendons in, when you wrap the wraps, the tendons should be directed inwards
Maybe I missed something, but shouldn’t there be a separate charge based on scamming? She took money for a rescue and failed to rescue. Seems like there would be something to get her on there. Then again if the ADA doesn’t care about the starving horses, not sure that she cares about the public who donate money…
Well, the donors she scammed need to get off their butts and file reports.
Deputy Scott Myers wants to hear from everyone who gave the bitch money. Not sure I should post his email address here…
There is some activity in terms of getting fraud charges pursued, but all the people who donated to her NEED to report for that to happen. This from abr:
Call the U.S. (Federal) Attorneys office that has jurisdiction over Martinsburg WV. They will send a complaint form to you if you call them. The individual I spoke to was very informative and he become more interested when I told him that the sheriffs office as well as others had clear evidence of starvation- i.e. misappropriation of funds. And yes, interstate fraud (since $ was solicited online from around the country) comes under the jurisdiction of the federal attorney. If you know others who donated, they should also call the office to get a letter of complaint.
The assistant also said that to start an investigation, they need people to step forward and file complaints – in other words, they need this evidence.
Here is the contact information:
William J. Ihlenfeld, II, USA*
P.O. Box 591
Wheeling, WV 26003-0011
phone: (304)-234-0100
fax: (304)234-0100
Complaint forms would need to be filled out accurately, and supporting documents (cancelled checks) included. I have plenty of incidents documented of her lying online in her solicitations for money, but they need actual financial evidence to pursue this.
Deputy Scott Myers, from the sheriff’s department, is also getting any and all details of financial fraud together and can be reached at Scottmyers@policeone.com (by email only please!) with as many specific details as possible: Date, amounts, copies of your transactions if paypal, copies of cancelled checks, bank statements, credit card statements, debit card statements, savings accounts, checking accounts, a note to describe the purpose of the donation, i.e., George’s euth, Illegitimate’s euth, etc.
There is also a facebook group for the effort: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_168331123177939
Has anyone been able to find a link or report to the press conference this morning?
I am horrified at this outcome! We haven’t had very much success prosecuting a case I am currently involved in, but I personally met with the prosecutor, and handed her CDs of my photos and reports. They brought the charges, but are having problems actually getting to trial. However, the prosecuting State’s Attorney has been interested, diligent and determined to proceed.
Will be following this closely to see what happens.
Ten to one she lies low for a while and then starts rescuing, erm, I mean HOARDING, again.
This is just another classic example of how skewed our justice system is. What a shame.
Please know that the Sheriff working this case (Deputy Meyers) is absolutely, thoroughly disgusted with the handling of this case and is not ready to give up yet.
Many people are working to contact anyone who has supported this organization and contacting them to see if they would be willing to provide receipts of their donations, what it was earmarked for, etc. He is now working diligently to approach this case from another angle. I spoke with him this morning and he wants the information cross posted far and wide to reach anyone who ever supported this organization in the past. The WV Attorney General’s office has also been contacted in regards to filing complaints because their office has the ability to instigate an investigation for fraud. Complaints also need to be filed with the IRS via form 13909. The more letters, the better!
WV AG office number (they will send the paperwork to your home for you to fill out)
1-800-368-8808, or the link to file an internet complaint is here http://www.wvago.gov/pdf/complaint-form-instructions2010.pdf
IRS form 13909 complaint form
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f13909.pdf
Deputy Meyers personal email to send any evidence of canceled checks, paypal donations, etc:
Scottmyers@policeone.com
Please take a moment to tell him that you appreciate all of the hard work that he put in. He is devastated at this result beyond belief. He solicited volunteers, you name it in an effort to discover the full scope of this organization’s activities and to have it ready for prosecution. He even put off his own personal cancer surgery to be there and the outcome of this case is a travesty and a slap in his face. If anyone can help with filing complaints with the IRS and WV AG office, , finding receipts if you made donations, etc., your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
This happened with Champ (Mini cited on this site a week or so ago) and the Sheriff filed charges and got the perp arrested! It can be done, we need to keep up support as well as pressure….
Fugs, is there any way for you to include the link for filing complaints, etc on the page of your original article? I’m worried that it will get lost in the comments and Deputy Meyers needs all of the help that he can get.
2horseygirls I have not been able to find anything on the protest/press conference that was to be held today. I’ve been looking as I am very interested to learn who was there and how it went.
This ‘sentence’ is a travesty.
Not even looking at the evidence is… I don’t even have a word for that. How can you plea a case if you don’t even know what happened in it? Does she plea murderers that way too, without talking to the investigators?
Finally, her husband lived on that… hellhole. Can’t he also be charged, particularly since he was also on the BOD?
Readers please also read and leave comments at this news site so that the community gets a clear picture of how people feel about this kind of justice.
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=255251&format=html
Sorry this is OT but some horses are ‘angels without wing’s to put up with the stuff they do.
http://www.equinenow.com/horse-ad-305551
Wow… too bad that guy is in the US and I’m in Europe, or I’d go scoop him up for my husband… he looks about tolerant enough to be perfect for a beginner to fall in love with.
The prosecuting attorney, Kim Crockette, is either totally incompetent, in cahoots with Mary (hey, they could be related, it is WV), or just didn’t give a damn about the case. She bent the procedural law way too far on this one and is probably doing a major CYA move about now. And her boss, accepting a plea deal like that without questioning why the people who busted their asses on this case would even consider allowing O’Brien to walk? Sloppy. And lazy. I think that they are accustomed to people accepting this sort of shoddy work from them and will be surprised to see the level of outcry. I heard that the phones were ringing off the hook today in Neeley’s office. They need to keep ringing. I would also call the WV State Attorney General’s office. Darrell McGraw’s number is (304) 558-2021, fax (304) 558-0140. Let him know how unhappy you are that his underlings dropped the ball on this. File a formal complaint. The only way to get them to pay attention is to make a lot of noise. The charges for the misappropriation of funds will still be forthcoming. Let’s try to make sure they don’t screw that case up too.
Does it ever end?! Updates on rescue situations in Morgandom: Beth Lynne Hoskins recently allowed television crews into her barn to see clean, well-kept horses being fed. Apparently the county returned 40 of her 73 confiscated horses to her. Thus far, on the sruface, she appears to be reversing a horrible downward spiral. Will continue to update her.
Scarcely had Morgan lovers breathed a sigh of relief than another longtime breeder, Anne Hobbs in MI, was in trouble for emaciated horses on her property. According to thems that knows she is not being cooperative with enforcement. Morgan people from the USA and Canada are trying to pull out horses they know, once owned, bred, or just because.
On top of that, ForeverMorgans.org still tries to help adopt out anyMorgan or thought-to-be found in the kill pens, New Holland, local auctions, etc. Forever’s willing foster homes are full so the call is out for more volunteers. We are seeing registered, trained, show ring veteran horses, and usually the original breeder is stepping up once they are notified.
Being a Morgan lover I hate to air our own dirty laundry, but I speculate that the other breeds are in the same boat, and heaven help the poor fuglies who have neither beauty nor skills to recommend them, and no one in their pasts to care. I am proud of my fellow Morgan lovers who are doing the best they can, but it seems like bailing the ocean with a teaspoon.
Was at Morgan Nationals last week and saw many gorgeous horses in all disciplines. Some highend sales were afoot, but I rode home on the plane next to a knowledgable trainer who stated, “When I needed a vet check appointment at the end of the show, it was easy to get, whereas in past years we had to wait in line sometimes for two days as people shopped for new horses.” Overall number of horses on the grounds was up slightly, somewhere around 1200+, though many showed in fewer classes, thus cutting at least some expense.
OT but you should see this:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fredericksburg-VA/Battlefield-Shoeing/335107819121?v=wall#!/album.php?aid=290376&id=335107819121
What kind of farrier thinks THAT is ok? (The person who posted the pics was called out to fix it, not the one who butchered the horse’s hooves before anyone jumps the gun.) Clearly this guy was on drugs or had never trained a day in his life.
What the hell!!! I have seen large parts of hooves removed or lost in extreme cases, only when need be. But I would shoot a horseshoer for this job on hooves the shoes do not anywhere near fit the hoof. My horse shoer would have a cow if he saw this ( I might show him when he comes in a month and a half) . I have a wonderful farrier who believes in balancing each individual hoof. I got to stop before I rant……………………………..
I don’t think it looks like the previous blacksmith rasped the toes off the back hooves. It looks to me like he put a shoe on a horse who drags his feet to allow the toe to grow back. Notice that the toe is totaly smoth without any file marks and that there aren’t any old nail holes on those back hooves. Toe dragging isn’t a farrier problem. It’s a vet/chiro problem. All the blacksmith can do is try to hold things together until the underlying problem is fixed.
I will say that the back shoes look strangely oversized at the quarters/heels in some of the angles but that may be due to the fact that the hoof (which was previously barefoot) had very rounded walls and couldn’t be made flat without overtrimming it. This may have been the best job anyone could do with an overly worn hoof.
The front hooves look strange but you don’t know what the hooves looked like *two* weeks ago. This guy may not have had much to work with. The horse may be vastly improved and on his way to a more normal hoof. The shoes are set back to relieve breakover which means the farrier was thinking about the whole leg and not just the hoof and the shoes appear to fit properly. The clinches are done well despite the crumbly hoof wall.
Don’t act like a ninny just because you see some bad looking hooves. IT’S NOT ALWAYS THE LAST GUY’S FAULT.
This doesn’t look like something that happened in one week. Something was desperately wrong with those feet before the bad farrier ever touched them.
Lousy shoeing job…classic foot forward syndrome, but hey….this not all that uncommon….too many farriers simply put shoes on the bottom of the foot…a properly shod horse has to be properly trimmed first. So agreed….not a good job …but…why the remark in CAPS no less that the shoe job was only a week old….ummm….look at the nails/holes and length of toe….the rears don’t show a cut off foot…that is a horse that drags its feet. Think there is more to this story than we know.
Prosecuting Attorney
380 West South Street
Suite 1100
Martinsburg, WV 25401
Phone: 304-264-1971
Fax: 304-263-6092
There’s the address for those like me who find it easier to be nicely composed in writing c:
Oh, and don’t forget a judge approved this settlement! It is the DA’s job to represent the people’s interests but in a lot of cases there is room for the judge to have some say/avoid any egregious miscarriage of justice. It may not apply in this case but if it does… damn.
I think I might actually send a fax, lol, can’t miss that!
Really? REALLY?! Didn’t bother to look at the God-damn evidence?! The mind boggles. How does this woman have a job? Also, how many other times has she neglected to even pretend to DO HER JOB and gotten away with it?
I’m glad the people involved (who actually care) aren’t giving up on this one yet. If there’s not a way to reopen the case for incompetence, or appeal, or something, the system is more broken than I thought. And hell to the yeah on the fraud charges, I suspect that’ll stick better and do her more damage than an animal abuse conviction (unfortunately).
as someone who has lived in West Virginia all my life im sickened by this..but this is how our judicial system works..the judges/cops are into just as bad things usually as the people who commit the crimes
I haven’t seen this mentioned here. I don’t know the people, but read this on Brindleweb. Saltspring Island is beside Vancouver Island, which is part of British Columbia.
Hi All,
A good friend of mine has had her fiance’s horse stolen. “Pearl†is well known on SSI and it is believed that she was taken from the island on Sept 30. The suspect is a local woman who has had some altercations with the owner in the past and is now hiding from police. They believe that the horse is now on the mainland and is likely to be resold quickly. If you see this horse, please call the Salt Spring Island RCMP at 250-537-5555. There is a $2000 reward for her safe return. Please pass this on – it is greatly appreciated.
Pearl is a 10 yr old 17.2hh registered Belgian mare, without any tattoos or brands, but she has a distinct star/stripe/snip instead of a blaze, and her lower right foreleg is crooked (she paddles but isn’t lame); she also has a very light frame for a Belgian.
Note: Please send this out to any and all who are connected through horses. Let’s push to get the word out and get this girl home to the people who love her.
There are photos on Brindleweb.
Sorry, OT, but this story really pissed me off: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=12930485
Honestly? The mare is just OLD? She’s nursing a baby? So it’s completely normal for her to look like THAT? I’m quite miffed right now. If she’s that ancient, she shouldn’t have been bred in the first place–that alone constitutes abuse, nevermind the whole messed up leg/hoof and starving her to death thing. I hate people sometimes, I really do.
Oh, that was so not cool. I took great offense to how the reporter sugarcoated the situation and said “it might not be cruelty after all”.
Either someone willfully bred that old lame mare, or the horses were abandoned/turned loose. Either way… ownership FAIL.
I sent an email to the reporter.
Nursing a baby and old age don’t ordinarily create broken legs. I’m thinking someone dumped this gal after her injury and she’s not been doing well.
I’m too shy to call but I wrote a letter and I’m faxing it now to both Crockett’s office and also the state attorney general, and putting the copies in the mail to their offices.
Reading these really make me want to go to law school and become a judge, just to start slapping fines on these people and adding jail time that will make them think about what they have done… this is disgusting.
Dude. Kudos to you on that headline. “Are They on Sale?” is pretty brilliant.
http://your4state.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=143086
DEFHR’s facebook posted this earlier- it has actual comments from Crockett.
The prosecutor handling the case admitted she should have given more charges to O’Brien, but says the plea was consistent with other animal abuse cases in the county.
“In hindsight we probably would have had her plea guilty to a few additional misdemeanors, but the plea offer that was made to Ms. O’Brien was a plea offer that is consistent to other crimes that are prosecuted here in this county and her case was resolved similar to those other cases,” says Kimberley Crockett, assistant Prosecutor for Berkeley County.
O’Brien received only ten days in jail as part of the sentence.
“When you look at 56 animals and ten days in jail that works out to something like four hours and 17 minutes per animal that was starved to death,” says Delegate John Overington, (R – Dist. 55).
Even though O’Brien didn’t get a harsh penalty in her plea agreement she could face additional fraud charges.
“She’s still under investigation for the embezzling for her solicitation of funds for the care of these animals that apparently wasn’t used for their care, so she’s still probably going to be looking at additional charges that will happen at a later date,” says Crockett.
A restitution hearing has yet to be set for O’Brien, which will determine how much she will have to pay back for the care of the horses.”
I just don’t even have words to sum up how this makes me feel. Other animal abusers get by, so we should let them all get by!
GRAPHIC photo documentation of the premises. Do not say I didn’t warn you. I had found one last night that showed the horses when HMER got them- and then how they looked when they were seized. They were horrible before and afters and I can’t find them for the life of me right now and I have to go to work. I will try and find the link later tonight for anyone who wants it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairweather/5006621041/in/set-72157624868021341/
of course I found it right after I posted that last comment. These are the before/afters as well as some GRAPHIC photos of the dead horses on the property.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095168&id=1270884495&fbid=1673326394275
Okay… with all due respect to the sheriff’s deputy who seems to be authentically upset by this, isn’t it unusual that he had never talked to the prosecutor during the leadup to the case? I thought that was how DA’s were made aware of the evidence, etc. Before they enter a courtroom.
In our area, the prosecutors generally set up the meetings, if they are needed. I can’t imagine he didn’t cover everything that needed to be covered in photos and in his 1100 page report. Even though in hindsight he might as well filled it with knock knock jokes.
ADA Crockett is an uncaring idiot, I’d call her a horse’s ass but that’s an insult to horse’s asses.
Ugh, I really hate it when so many people struggle so hard to bring about justice about and then idiots, red-tape and lazy people ruin things. In order not to be a lazy person myself, I wrote three letters, one to Ms. Crockett herself and the other two to her possible bosses. A big thank-you to the commenter that posted the addresses, and another one to whoever worked out the cost-per-horse for cruelty (it seems as though justice is truly “on sale” Fugly). Here’s the letter in case anyone wants to copy bits of it (sent a similar but different one to Ms. Crockett herself):
Pamela Jean Games-Neely
380 W. South Street
Suite 1100
Martinsburg, WV 25401
Dear Ms. Games-Neely,
I am writing in regards to the recent animal cruelty case involving Mary O’Brien and the Hidden Meadows Equinie “Rescue,†where dozens of horses were found dead or dying, having been starved and maltreated for months.
While I commend Martinsburg officials for prosecuting this case and rescuing the remaining animals, I was terribly disappointed to hear that Assistant District Attorney Kim Crockett accepted Ms. O’Brien’s guilty plea to a single misdemeanor charge. This means that a woman who purposefully allowed innocent animals to endure extreme pain and suffering under her care will walk away after paying a small $1000 fine—about $18 per animal that she tortured, based the 56 counts of cruelty she was charged with. That’s $18 for every animal forced to eat gravel in an attempt to stay alive.
From all reports, it seems as though Ms. Crockett allowed this plea to happen without consulting anyone else involved with the case, without taking into account the immense amount of suffering these animals experienced, and without considering the huge amount of time and money it will take to rehabilitate or euthanize and dispose of the animals Mary O’Brien starved.
I hope that your office will take steps to ensure that Assistant D.A. Kim Crockett takes more care to see that justice is done in the future. I also hope that you will be prosecuting Mary O’Brien for fraud, since she solicited for and accepted donations for her “rescue†without using that money to provide even the most basic care for the horses on her property. Finally, I hope your office can do something to see that Days End Farm Horse Rescue, the organization that took in several of the most neglected horses from this case, will receive support in the days to come.
President John F. Kennedy once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.†Those who love justice and those who love horses in every state across America are waiting to see that Martinsburg will not continue to do little or nothing to punish those who commit unspeakable crimes.
Yours Sincerely,
Greenjourney, you are my hero!
I’ve been watching the agonizingly slow recovery of these poor horses at Days End Horse Rescue. One of them has passed away due to her condition being so poor. And only a thousand dollar fine and another chance to do the same thing again. Had it been actual people instead of horses, the charges probably would have been more severe. It really irks me to see that people think a human life is more valuable than any other living creature; in my opinion, they’re equal. Starving an animal nearly to death of any size or shape should be viewed the same as starving a human nearly to death.
My husband as usual cuts to the heart of the matter.
The prosecutor’s statement:
The prosecutor handling the case admitted she should have given more charges to O’Brien, but says the plea was consistent with other animal abuse cases in the county.
“In hindsight we probably would have had her plea guilty to a few additional misdemeanors, but the plea offer that was made to Ms. O’Brien was a plea offer that is consistent to other crimes that are prosecuted here in this county and her case was resolved similar to those other cases,” says Kimberley Crockett, assistant Prosecutor for Berkeley County.
So… translating from Bullshit to English, “The plea offer made in this case is consistent to other crimes prosecuted here in this county,” means “I do this all the time. Why the big deal this time? I NEVER do my job, and it never bothered anyone before!”
Love it – your hubby is right on target!
I think Ms. Crockett likes to settle:
http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/549122.html
How do you think this guys wife feels?
This crew almost makes the folks up in Maine look good.
“When she went back to the house, she alleged Kipps held a screwdriver and a knife to her throat, stating he was going to put it through her neck, records show”
NICE. And that’s who we let out. I sure hope his girlfriend was able to to relocate and leave no forwarding address, because I am sure he will be back the NEXT time has a few too many.
I used to live in WV and this type of bull shit does not suprise me the least. That woman needs the “eye for and eye” treatment if any one does. And that folks is American Justice!!
Have been reading the various accounts of the incompetent ADA Kim Crockett (and her superiors) and am
thankful that her name and reputation will be forever trashed thanks to the internet.
And hopefully her paraphrased spin “that’s the way they are all handled” will condemn any career she hoped for and sufficiently embarrass her office to improve it’s performance.