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Case #367 Rating: 2.9 out of 5
Hoarding and neglect of 125 animals
Soldotna, AK (US)Incident Date: Friday, Sep 10, 1999
County: Kenai Peninsula
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Miriam Mahan
The Soldotna woman found guilty of animal cruelty early this month can still own an animal, but only one at a time, and it cannot be a horse.
The misdemeanor charge against Miriam Mahan, 36, stems from a Sept. 10, 1999, incident in which Alaska State Troopers and members of Alaska Equine Rescue seized 125 animals of 16 species from her home on Funny River Road.
Originally, Mahan faced nine counts of animal cruelty. Superior Court Judge Jonathan Link consolidated the charges, since they all stemmed from a single incident.
On March 13, Link handed down a suspended sentence of one year in prison and placed Mahan on probation for 10 years. During the time of her probation, she cannot own more than one animal at a time and is forbidden to own a horse.
Mahan also will be ordered to pay restitution at a later hearing. She is currently housed in Wildwood Correctional Center on other charges.
Assistant District Attorney John Wolfe said he expects the restitution amount to be between $20,000 and $30,000. "I think it was an appropriate sentence under the circumstances," Wolfe said.
The defense had 30 days to file a notice of appeal after the guilty verdict was handed down March 2. "I think this will pretty much wrap it up," Wolfe said.
Sarah Clampitt with Alaska Equine Rescue said Mahan's former animals are in foster care with her organization.
The defense in the case of a Soldotna woman accused of cruelty to animals got going in Kenai Tuesday with one victory under its belt already. Miriam Mahan, 36, is now facing just a single count of cruelty to animals, rather than the nine counts she started with.
Monday, Superior Court Judge Jonathan Link passed out a draft copy of a decision that the nine counts of cruelty to animals were excessive. Link reasoned that because the charges all stem from a single incident or pattern of behavior, it didn't matter how many animals were involved, the crime is only one count of cruelty to animals.
"If the current state of the law is to be changed, the Legislature must enact additional or different legislation. The court does not have the ability to do so," Link wrote in the notice he handed out Monday.
The difference is that according to Alaska law, animals are property and don't enjoy the same legal consideration that is applicable to humans. The prosecutor's office agreed and no opposition has been filed to consolidation of the nine counts against the defendant into a single count.
Cruelty to animals is a class A misdemeanor carrying possible penalties of up to one year in jail and $5,000 in fines for each count. The misdemeanor case grabbed attention shortly after Mahan was arrested.
On Sept. 10, Alaska State Troopers seized 16 different species of animals from Mahan's property after an ongoing investigation into the alleged criminal neglect of the animals. At least 125 individual animals were seized at the time and some counts have the tally running as high as 134 animals.
Defense attorney Carol Brenckle introduced a half-dozen witnesses who -- with one exception -- said Mahan was a kind-hearted animal lover who would never hurt any creatures in her care.
The witnesses also said the animals seized from Mahan were not in the desperate condition characterized by troopers and the Alaska Equine Rescue Association after the animals' seizure.
The first witness, Bill Hitchcock, was a resident of the Mahan farm and bore a great deal of the responsibility for taking care of the animals. Hitchcock told the jury that the animals on the farm had been fed and watered daily, including the day of the seizure, since his arrival in mid-June.
"I called the equine rescue people cattle rustlers and horse thieves and told them they had no right to do what they were doing," Hitchcock said.
Under cross-examination by Assistant District Attorney John Wolfe, Hitchcock said Mahan visited the farm at least every other day to help tend the animals.
The lone witness that Brenckle called who did not seem convinced of Mahan's humanitarian instincts was trooper Eugene Fowler, who, under the direction of a veterinarian on scene, had to shoot an injured pig. Other witnesses said Mahan's horses looked bony because they were old.
"Older horses just tend to look bony," said Alex Kime, a former feed store owner and horse-packer from Cooper Landing. "It's kind of like a 90-year-old person." Kime went on to say that he could tell a horse's age just by looking at it.
"You can just tell if you've been around animals enough," Kime said.
Wolfe kept the cross-examination short. "Have you ever been around starving animals before?" Wolfe asked.
"No," Kime replied, before he was excused from the stand. References- Peninsula Clarion newspaper
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