Opinion ID: 987718
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: confining the animals in a cruel manner, or

Text: 2. failing to provide the animals in the person’s custody with food and water of sufficient quantity and quality to sustain the animal’s normal health. See § 45-8-211(1)(b), (1)(c)(i), MCA. Finally, the District Court instructed the jurors that they had to determine Cheryl’s guilt separately from Edwin’s guilt and that, “in order to find a Defendant guilty, you must unanimously agree upon the commission of the same specific act constituting the crime within the period alleged.” ¶15 On appeal, the Criswells challenge only the “without justification” element. They argue that the State failed to present sufficient evidence that the manner in which their cats were confined and nourished from December 17 to 25, 2010, was unjustified. The State, on the other hand, argues that the prosecution presented sufficient evidence from which a rational trier of fact could find that there was no justification for the cruelty the 6 Criswells inflicted. Given these arguments, we must review the trial record de novo, and in the light most favorable to the prosecution, to determine whether the State presented sufficient evidence on the “without justification” element. ¶16 According to the testimony of the State’s witnesses, the Criswells relocated from Idaho to Montana in July 2010. At that time, they had three travel trailers and roughly 100 cats. The Criswells initially moved around, staying at various campgrounds, but in early November 2010 they set up a campsite near Marion, about a half mile off Pleasant Valley Road, in a clearing where the forest had been cut back for power lines. Their campsite included an old Winnebago motor home, a yellow camper, and a green camper. ¶17 Upon arriving in Montana, the Criswells contacted Kate Borton, who operated a nonprofit livestock rescue near Marion. The Criswells told Borton that they were a nonprofit cat rescue, and they asked her about sources of funding and places where they could set up a mobile home. Borton referred them to several local organizations that had assisted Borton when she first started her rescue operation. ¶18 The Criswells had further communications with Borton over the next few months. She provided them with cat food when Edwin indicated they were running out. They continued to ask her about sources of funding for their “already active” nonprofit rescue and about a place to put their mobile home. Borton sensed, however, that the Criswells were “not forthcoming” and, in fact, were “evasive” with her about their living situation. ¶19 The Criswells also had contact with the Flathead Spay and Neuter Task Force in the summer and fall of 2010. They represented to Task Force personnel that they were an animal rescue group and that they had no money. The Criswells made appointments to 7 have a number of their cats altered at the Task Force’s spay-and-neuter clinics, which were held once a month. The Criswells were not always able to transport the cats to the Task Force facility, however, so Task Force volunteers drove out to pick the cats up. The Task Force also donated pet food to the Criswells. Notably, the Criswells always met Task Force personnel away from their campsite, and Task Force Director Mimi Beadles testified at trial (like Borton) that she felt the Criswells had been “evasive” about where they were living. She found it unusual that a “rescue group” would not have a website or a permanent facility where people could see the animals. ¶20 Task Force personnel observed medical issues in several of the Criswells’ cats. For example, the two pregnant females that were brought into the July clinic had upper respiratory infections, and three of the ten males brought into the September clinic had issues relating to their eyes. Beadles spoke with Edwin in October and expressed concerns about the welfare of the Criswells’ cats. Thereafter, the Criswells declined to have any of their cats spayed or neutered at the November clinic. ¶21 Sometime in the first half of December 2010, the Criswells contacted Beadles and admitted that they no longer could care for their cats. Beadles advised them to contact the Humane Society of the United States in Billings because that organization would be able to take in a large group of cats. Edwin expressly refused to follow through with this suggestion, however. ¶22 On December 16, Borton received a call from Edwin, who was at a gas station in Marion. He told her that his truck had broken down and that he and Cheryl were totally out of food, out of heating fuel, and out of money. He told Borton that “he was going to 8 walk back to the campsite where his wife was and his animals were, and he was done.” Borton immediately grabbed some bags of food and drove to the gas station. She bought some diesel fuel for the Criswells’ heater and helped Edwin get back to the campsite. ¶23 The next day, another individual who was camped near the Criswells gave them a ride to Borton’s ranch. As Borton later testified, Cheryl and Edwin appeared “in very bad shape.” They were “hungry, very thin, very dirty,” and “obviously cold to the core.” Borton noted that one of Cheryl’s feet was frostbitten. The Criswells’ demeanors “were very quiet, and they couldn’t look you in the eye”—except when Borton asked about the cats, at which point the Criswells became “very very defensive.” ¶24 Borton and a volunteer with the Spay and Neuter Task Force alerted Officer Paul Charbonneau of Flathead County Animal Control to the Criswells’ situation—i.e., that they were living near Marion with over 100 cats and were “in dire straits.” Charbonneau decided to conduct a welfare check that afternoon (Friday, December 17). He first drove to the Criswells’ campsite. Due to the amount of snow on the ground, he had to park on Pleasant Valley Road and walk to the campsite. Upon arriving, he knocked on the Winnebago and the green and yellow camper trailers, but no one answered. He could see through the windows that there were cats in both trailers. Charbonneau noted that he did not have a cell phone signal at the campsite. Even when he got back to Pleasant Valley Road, the coverage was “spotty” at best. ¶25 Charbonneau proceeded to Borton’s home after ascertaining that the Criswells were there. The Criswells admitted to him that they needed help and could not take care of themselves and the cats on their own. Yet, when Charbonneau suggested transporting 9 the cats to the Task Force facility, the Criswells indicated that they instead wanted to take the cats with them and find a shelter. Charbonneau tried to explain that they were not going to find a shelter able to take two people and a hundred cats. Borton offered to let the Criswells stay with her, but the Criswells elected to return to their campsite that evening. Charbonneau provided them with a bag of cat food. ¶26 Borton visited the Criswells’ campsite the next day (December 18). With “a lot of hesitancy,” they allowed her to enter the green and yellow trailers. Borton was surprised by the setup. Edwin had previously told her that the camper trailers were retrofitted with kennels for the cats, but Borton did not see any kennels. Rather, “there was a free-for-all. I walked in there . . . and I was jumped on by probably 15 or 20 cats. Had them on my head, my shoulders.” The trailers were “very small” and “cramped,” and there were “cats everywhere.” Borton even heard cats moving around in the ceilings. ¶27 At trial, Borton characterized the trailers as “uninhabitable” for both people and animals. “There was feces everywhere, and the smell of ammonia from the urine was so strong it burnt my eyes, made me cough.” In the yellow trailer, there was also a smell of diesel fuel that Borton found “so strong and vivid that I was afraid I was going to pass out.” Borton noted that many of the cats in the two trailers were emaciated, dehydrated, and visibly sick. She saw no water pans in either trailer, nor did she see any cat food in the yellow trailer, but she did note some dry cat food on the floor in the green trailer. ¶28 Charbonneau arrived at the campsite as Borton was leaving. He brought fuel and water, plus additional pet food. Charbonneau advised the Criswells that he had started making arrangements to have the road into the campsite plowed and the trailers towed to 10 the Task Force facility. As events ultimately unfolded, however, the process of removing the trailers was delayed for several days due to a number of logistical issues—most significantly, mechanical problems with the road grader. In the meantime, the trailers and the cats remained under the Criswells’ control. ¶29 Finally, on Wednesday, December 22, the road to the campsite was cleared and the trailers were towed (with the cats still inside) to the Task Force facility. Charbonneau testified that the Criswells did not exactly “relinquish” custody to him; rather, they “allowed” him to remove the trailers and the cats. The next day, he and Beadles made arrangements to transfer the cats into the clinic. Charbonneau entered the trailers to provide the cats with food and fresh water. At trial, he described the scene inside as a “free-for-all.” On the morning of December 24, Charbonneau began removing the cats. ¶30 Charbonneau and Beadles testified at trial about the conditions they had observed when they entered the trailers on December 23 and December 25, respectively. Their descriptions were similar to what Borton had seen on December 18. The trailers were still highly unsanitary. “[E]verything” was “entirely covered” with feces and urine. The cats themselves were also covered, to some extent, in feces, and some also had “some type of fuel oil” on them. Even with breathing apparatus, Charbonneau found the smell “overwhelming.” Due to the cold weather and the threat of predators (such as coyotes) in the vicinity of the Criswells’ campsite, the cats had been confined continually in this “filth[y]” environment. Other than what Charbonneau had provided on the 23rd, there was no actual cat food, no bowls of water, and no clean litter pans. 11 ¶31 Nearly all of the Criswells’ 116 cats had a medical issue of some kind. Dr. Terrance R. Yunker, the veterinarian who examined the cats following their removal from the trailers, summarized their conditions at trial. Twenty-one cats had eye issues, such as conjunctivitis, ruptured eye, sunken eye, corneal scarring, and ocular discharge. Nine of these cats had to have their eyes removed, and Dr. Yunker noted that one of the cats had been in “very severe pain.” Five cats had problems relating to their mouths, which required removal of their teeth. Twenty-five cats had respiratory conditions attributable to viral and bacterial causes. Forty-three cats suffered from dehydration. Three quarters of the cats were underweight, nine being severely emaciated. Fifty cats had ear mites. Two or three cats had skin lesions. An untold number had diarrhea. ¶32 Charbonneau, Beadles, and Dr. Yunker each testified that, in their professional opinions, the cats’ medical conditions were attributable to the manner in which they had been confined in the Criswells’ trailers. Dr. Yunker explained that “density” was one of the main problems. Cats, he explained, are not pack animals, and confining so many together in a small area not only put substantial stress on the animals, but also facilitated the transmission of diseases among them. The unsanitary conditions and lack of proper food and water only compounded the problem. ¶33 Eleven of the Criswells’ cats were less than six months old; roughly eighty-five of them were between six and eighteen months old; and the remainder were over three years old. Three of the cats were pregnant and two were nursing. Dr. Yunker testified that he believed most of these cats were genetically related to each other. He opined that the Criswells had rescued no more than half a dozen cats and had bred the rest. 12 ¶34 Dr. Yunker estimated that the cats’ medical conditions had been ongoing for several months before their rescue. Likewise, Charbonneau and Beadles indicated that the unsanitary conditions inside the trailers existed before the trailers were towed from the Criswells’ campsite. In this regard, Beadles testified that it required 20 volunteer hours per day to maintain sanitary living conditions for the Criswells’ cats following their transfer to the Task Force facility. Moreover, the cats consumed 25 pounds of cat food per day and 210 pounds of cat litter per week—at a weekly cost of $175, not to mention overhead expenses such as electricity. The Criswells had not been equipped to provide this minimal level of care. ¶35 Borton was questioned (on cross-examination and again on redirect examination) on the issue of funding. While acknowledging that it is not always easy for a nonprofit to obtain funds, she emphasized that a rescue organization must arrange proper funding before taking in the animals. She opined that “you don’t get the animal and go, oh, well, maybe in six months somebody will donate me a bag of dog food. You’ve got to have something in place, you’ve got to have a facility for them to live, you’ve got to have food, water, and shelter appropriate to that animal, you’ve got to have light, and veterinary care in place, absolutely.” The Criswells had not made such preparations. ¶36 The State’s final witness was Dr. Jeff Rosenthal, a veterinarian and the Executive Director of the Idaho Humane Society. The prosecution called Dr. Rosenthal to discuss events involving the Criswells several years earlier.1 He testified that in October 2005, 1 The District Court instructed the jury that this testimony was to be considered only for purposes of knowledge and absence of mistake, and not character or propensity. 13 he conducted an inspection of Voice of the Animals, a cat “rescue” that the Criswells were running on a fairly remote property in a rural area of northern Idaho. The operation consisted of eight trailers housing hundreds of cats. The trailers were “filled with feces and urine” and were “in poor repair.” Many of the cats showed signs of medical issues. ¶37 Dr. Rosenthal informed the Criswells during the October 2005 inspection that the conditions inside their trailers were unsanitary and were leading to illnesses among the cats. He told them that the animals needed to be segregated and that the Criswells should “divest themselves of as many of the cats as soon as they could, because the facility was unsuitable for the use it was being used for.” Nevertheless, when Dr. Rosenthal made an unannounced visit to the property eleven months later (in September 2006), conditions were even worse. There was “significantly more” fecal contamination and urine. While food and water were present, “much of the food was scattered among the feces, and much of the water wasn’t clean water.” With hundreds of cats confined together, Dr. Rosenthal testified that there would have been fights and competition for food, with the weak and sick cats not getting the nutrition they needed. The cats suffered “a great deal of stress” in this situation. Dr. Rosenthal diagnosed various medical problems, including upper respiratory disease, conjunctivitis, flea and ear mite infestation, and emaciation due to malnutrition or illness. He attributed these problems to the extreme number of cats, the extreme density of the cats, and the lack of proper food, water, and sanitation. In the end, 264 of the 400-plus cats removed from the trailers had to be euthanized. ¶38 Given the foregoing testimony from the State’s witnesses, we disagree with the Criswells’ contention that the State failed to present sufficient evidence that they acted 14 without justification. Again, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the Criswells knew of the problems that can (and ultimately did) result from attempting to house and care for a large number of cats without adequate funding and facilities. The Criswells knew that confining multiple cats together in cramped quarters, and failing to provide them with proper food, water, and sanitation, stresses the cats and leads to medical issues. Yet, despite this knowledge, and despite their lack of money and food, the Criswells chose to confine over 100 cats together in two camper trailers, which were wholly inadequate to house this number of cats. Moreover, they chose to situate themselves and their cats in a relatively remote location, a half mile off the county road, where there was no cell phone coverage and where vehicle access during winter months would be problematic. The unsanitary conditions of the trailers and the illnesses of the cats inside existed for weeks, perhaps even months, before the cats were rescued. Throughout this period, resources were available to help the Criswells and their cats, yet the Criswells maintained an intransigent attitude and persisted in concealing the true conditions of their facilities and their cats from those who could provide assistance. This included Borton, Beadles, and Charbonneau—who, upon learning of the severity of the Criswells’ situation, promptly rallied members of the community to effect a rescue. ¶39 Focusing on the specific dates charged in the Amended Information (December 17 to December 25), the Criswells contend that natural forces beyond their control—severe winter weather—dictated the manner in which the cats were confined and nourished from the 17th to the 21st, and that the cats were in the care and possession of the County from the 22nd to the 25th. Thus, they maintain that they could not have done anything to 15 improve the cats’ situation during this period. This argument, however, misses the mark. The issue before the jury was whether the Criswells, without justification, knowingly subjected animals to mistreatment or neglect. See ¶ 14, supra. Based on the testimony, a rational trier of fact could find: that the Criswells decided to keep a large number of cats, knowing that their finances and facilities were insufficient to sustain the animals; that the lack of proper food, water, sanitation, and medical care existed for several weeks, if not months; that the Criswells decided not to obtain meaningful assistance until December 16, at which point access to the campsite was hindered by snow; that the Criswells had no justification for their decisions to keep an unmanageable number of cats and to delay in obtaining assistance; and that the Criswells thereby subjected their animals to mistreatment or neglect, in the form of cruel confinement and/or inadequate nourishment, from December 17 to December 25. ¶40 For these reasons, we hold that the State presented sufficient evidence to support a “without justification” finding. ¶41 Issue Two. Did the District Court abuse its discretion in denying the Criswells’ motion for a mistrial?