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CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #3219 Rating: 1.8 out of 5
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003
County: Hinds
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Jeanne Huston
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
Justice Court Judge Jason Thornton has decided that a Vancleave woman won't get back her 20 starved animals, clearing the way for caring individuals to adopt them.
The judge on November 18, 2003 ordered Jeanne Huston, 53, to pay $1,100 to cover the costs associated with the seizure and resulting care of her 18 undernourished horses and two llamas now at the Jackson County Animal Shelter.
Bill Richman, the shelter's director, said it would be at least another week before the adoption process is set up and applications are available.
Huston, who also was arrested and charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty, asked the courts to return the seized animals to her. During a hearing in early Nov, Thornton issued an order requiring her to prove she had enough healthy land, veterinarian care and personnel to properly care for the animals.
Thornton denied her request after a tour of a 165-acre site in Stone County that Huston purchased for these animals and the other 60-plus animals already on the property the day before the ruling.
In the Nov 18 ruling, Thornton said there was about 100 acres of partially fenced cleared land, a barn in poor condition with four usable stalls and a house that was under renovation but not ready for occupants.
"Huston had 37 horses, 14 goats and three llamas already on this property," Thornton wrote in the order. "There was enough feed to last about three days in the barn. There was no hay on the property at all."
Case Updates
Jackson County will auction the horses seized last year from a Vancleave home and will also auction horses seized from Charlie Mason's junkyard in Helena this month.
A warning with the announcement of the auction tells prospective buyers that the animals came from poor conditions, which forced the county to seize them, and need good, caring homes.
The auction will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Vancleave covered horse arena, with a pre-sale viewing at 10 a.m. It will feature 20 horses, including three minis and five ponies; two llamas, goats and pigs. The auctioneer will be Ransom Jones of Lucedale.
County Animal Shelter Director Bill Richman said he was leery of an auction because it gives the county little control over who gets the animals. But county leaders decided on an auction because of a high interest in the horses seized in Vancleave last year and fattened up by the county during the drawn-out court battle for the animals.
"When you put a lot into an animal," Richman said Monday, "you want them to have a better life."
Jackson County seized the animals from Jeanne Huston in October 2003 and has spent thousands on feeding and caring for the starved animals. |
Source: Sun Herald - Nov 30, 2004
Update posted on Aug 31, 2005 - 4:23PM |
Jeanne Huston, who is fighting abuse and neglect charges and trying to get back more than a dozen horses and llamas that the county seized from her in October, has appealed recent decisions in her case.
Her attorney, Briley Richmond, said late Wednesday that Huston has appealed to County Court the 20 counts of abuse and neglect that she pleaded no contest to in Justice Court this month. And she has appealed to Circuit Court the County Court's decision to have Jackson County keep the 18 horses and two llamas until the animal shelter could find suitable homes for them.
Huston wants the horses returned to her, especially an Arabian male that she had insured for $5,000. She has said the neglect of the animals followed a procedure in the fall that left her unable to take care of the them.
But neighbors have complained that the neglect was long-term, and county animal officials said there were too many animals on the five acres that Huston had fenced as pasture on her Vancleave property.
Huston has purchased 160 acres near Benndale, but one Justice Court judge questioned that setup and did not return the animals to her. That decision was appealed to County Court and now Circuit Court. |
Source: The Sun Herald - February 19, 2004
Update posted on Aug 31, 2005 - 4:20PM |
A Vancleave woman charged with 20 counts of mistreating animals has been fined $2,000 after entering a no-contest plea in Jackson County Justice Court.
The plea was entered Feb 5, 2004 by Jeanne Huston's attorney.
Huston, who didn't attend the hearing, was ordered to pay $100 for each of the 19 counts of animal neglect and one count of animal cruelty.
Huston's attorney, Briley Richmond, said the outcome of his client's bid to regain custody of the 18 horses and two llamas will determine if there will be an appeal. A custody hearing for the animals is set for Monday in Jackson County Court.
Huston, 53, had more than 100 animals on five acres in Vancleave when county officials got a warrant to go onto the property to check out complaints about the conditions of the animals. They found thin and sick horses, two carcasses, insufficient food and insufficient manpower to feed and care for that many animals. |
Source: The Commercial Appeal - February 7, 2004
Update posted on Aug 31, 2005 - 4:18PM |
References
- Mississippi Press - Feb 5, 2004
- Sun Herald - Nov 19, 2004
- Sun Herald - Nov 30, 2004
- Sun Herald - Feb 10, 2004
- Sun Herald - Feb 11, 2004
- Sun Herald - Feb 14, 2004
- Sun Herald - Feb 19, 2004
- Sun Herald - Feb 6, 2004
- The Commercial Appeal - Feb 7, 2004
- The Commercial Appeal - Dec 1, 2004
- The Advocate - Dec 2, 2004
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