Judge OKs charges in cow death

There is probable cause to formally charge two Spokane County sheriff’s deputies with animal cruelty in connection with the Taser death of a black Angus calf last spring, a judge ruled Monday.

Spokane County District Court Judge Sara Derr, acting on a citizen’s petition, ruled there is sufficient evidence to charge sheriff’s deputies Damon Simmons and Ballard Bates with second-degree animal cruelty, a misdemeanor.

The case ultimately could go to a jury. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

“This is a first for citizens of Spokane County,” said animal rights attorney Adam Karp, of Bellingham. He said he knows of no other citizen’s complaint cases in the state that have been allowed to go forward with these components: the defendants are in law enforcement, the victim is an animal and the prosecutor opposed filing charges.

“There are an interesting group of variables in this case,” Karp said.

He will now draft a criminal complaint and submit it to the court for filing within the next week, after review by the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office.

Karp said he may ask for the appointment of a special prosecutor because Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker refused to file charges and his deputy, Brian O’Brien, unsuccessfully argued Monday against the filing of the citizen’s petition.

Karp represented Chris Anderlik, of Liberty Lake, who sought to have the court file animal cruelty charges after the prosecutor’s office refused to act on her complaint.

“This has never been done before,” Anderlik said after the court’s ruling. “We’re very impressed with the judge and her willingness to listen to both sides.”

“I have nothing vicious against the sheriff’s deputies or the police,” Anderlik said. “We just think they weren’t sufficiently trained about what Tasers can do.”

Anderlik said she doesn’t think deputies have received any training about use of Tasers on animals “and I doubt they have much training about using them on people.”

“I don’t think they had any thought of being malicious,” she said. “But this animal was tortured mercilessly.”

Karp said he hopes the filing of the criminal charges will serve as a deterrent against the “needless killing and injuring of animals.”

The two deputies used their 50,000-volt Taser stun guns to shoot the 6-month-old calf that had escaped from a Greenacres farm on April 12. It was cornered and killed in a grassy area along the Centennial Trail.

Computer printouts showed Bates’ gun was discharged 42 consecutive times at five-second intervals for a total of 210 seconds, Karp said.

Simmons’ weapon was discharged for 253 continuous seconds, the animal rights attorney said.

“Cumulatively, you’re talking about more than 7.5 minutes of suffering for this animal,” Karp said.

Although the animal had broken loose and run through areas of traffic, it was grazing in a grassy area and not posing an immediate threat when the deputies used their Tasers, he said. Karp said the animal easily could have been controlled with a rope.

Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, reached for comment Monday evening, said the deputies’ conduct was completely justified. The deputies filed routine incident reports on the animal’s death, but didn’t have to complete “use of force” reports, which are required if the weapons are used on humans.

The animal was cornered close to Interstate 90 and Spokane Valley Mall, with heavy congestion.

“They were concerned the cow was going to get loose and cause a severe traffic accident,” Knezovich said.

“The guys were really doing what they thought was best for the animal and the public,” he added. “They really didn’t want to shoot the animal.”

The deputies elected to use their Tasers in the belief that electronically stunning the animal would give them a chance to hobble its legs until its owner arrived, Knezovich said.

“They didn’t want to shoot it,” the sheriff said. “The deputies were acting in good faith when they took this action.”

As a result of the incident, the sheriff said his staff is now reviewing protocols for handling large animals that break loose and become public safety concerns.

The county’s animal control agency, SCRAPS, doesn’t have personnel to handle large animals and a contractor who has worked for the county isn’t always available.

“It is something we’re looking at,” the sheriff said.