sodakadventure.com Blog

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, what we have here is a Witch Hunt, a Lynch Mob. My Clients have done nothing wrong and over the next few days I will prove to you that it was the horse’s owner and not my clients who was neglecting this fine animal. On the day in question, Ms. Hawleg turned her horse out into an open pen, not one designated for contestant horses but into the competition arena. It was July 4th, Firecrackers poping everywhere, enough to drive the typical human crazy not to mention an animal, a prey animal who’s insticts tell them to flee in the time of danger. After turning her horse out into a virtual WarZone, Ms. Hawleg went back to bed, not even worried about the fear her horse might be experiencing. My clients were having a party nearby, and yes they admit they were in no condition to be horse wranglers, but when they saw “Dually” escape, they felt it was their duty to track him down and return him to the fairgrounds. In his fear the horse ran uncontrolably, through a fence, into a car and down the paved streets of Fort Pierre. They could have simply contacted the owner, but she was nowhere to be found, and they were not sure who the owner was. After a fierce chase they found the horse and it looked awful, after trying to capture it they realized this horse was scared to death. This scared my clients, and they did not do the right thing, they too fled, thinking they would be held resposible for what had happened. This was not the right way to handle the situation, they should have called the authorities, hindsight is a wonderful thing. They did not call the authorities, however if they would have gotten Dually back to the Fairgrounds safely with no injuries, my clients would be rewarded instead of prosecuted. Over the course of this trial, you will hear testimony that shows that Dually was neglected but by his owner and not my clients”.

I know this is going to ruffle some feathers, but remember this is not my opinion or what I think happend, however I’m am trying to put myself in the shoes of the State’s Attorney as well as the Judge who will be issuing the warrants. Cases like this are won with lawyers, more than they are won with the facts. I will say again that I don’t believe this account and I do believe the horse was abused, but those of us waiting for the culprits to get what they deserve, may be waiting awhile.