My experience in Oconee County Magistrate Court this morning with an accused murderer, cat killer(s) and my fine
The Oconee County Magistrate Court was quite the happening place this Friday morning: you had Fox 5 videotaping from Judge Eric Norris's third floor courtroom for the initial hearing of accused Chad Ruark murder suspect (and brother-in-law) Daniel Anglin to a packed house of attendees, along with another domestic violence case. My heart goes out to all involved in that case.
Next it was time for the probable cause hearing for Douglas Lanier Orr, a 70 year old Vietnam Veteran and accused animal abuser after four or five dead cats and a couple of chickens were found in his trash. The trash company called Animal Control, and Oconee County Animal Control Officer Hensley responded to ostensibly find one cat to have yet to have expired, complete with an eyeball out in the best Bill the Cat description I have heard in a while, and kudos to Judge Norris for not making the members of audience look at all the photos of the deceased animals.
The subsequent University of Georgia Veterinary School necropsy report of the animals deaths was not admitted because you need to have the person who wrote the report present to be cross examined. Also Officer Hensley does a very fine job of what has to be the most thankless task, but he does not have any informal or formal legal training, and this was to his extreme detriment repeatedly, especially concerning Mr. Orr's attorney was very skilled at creating doubt and skepticism despite the dead cats and a completely competent assessment of the situation by Hensley.
At the very least, the Oconee County Animal Control should hire an attorney, or have the County Attorney present, if not send their officers to the University of Georgia Law School, or at least a paralegal class or ten at Athens Tech. What Orr did to those animals may in fact be allowed by the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, but that does not make it correct, nor does Orr's ogre like presence in his neighborhood justify the execution of three, four, or five cats.
The crux of the case came down to Orr sewing doubt about ownership of feral cats, establishing his eccentricity and mass quantities of animals on his property that his claims are not his despite his having feed them, attempting to give them away, and apparently passively permitting his cat population to continue to grow unchecked due to lack of spaying and neutering.
Although this was way outside of the scope of what Judge Norris was supposed to determine, (if I were judge at the next trial now not forthcoming) I would have ordered Orr to immediately surrender, sell, or otherwise give away any and all animals on his property, not to obtain any more ever, and also to not shoot any more animals on or adjacent to his property, and no more threats or shots at squirrels. If he was as reckless with his antifreeze, battery acid, or just about any other chemical, then he should not be allowed to have animals that could have digested any poison, and "jumped up and down and rubbed their bellies" which ostensibly prompted Orr's actions against the cats.
This is the neighborhood where former UGA football coach Mark Richt called home. It is undoubtedly one of Oconee County's nicest neighborhoods, and has many wonderful residents who are very upset about this lack of arrest. I would suggest that area residents and neighbors band together to make sure that all feral, semi-feral or otherwise felines be removed from the Orr property with food around the neighboring property to keep the cats from coming back to the Orr feed lot barn.
Of course common sense, courtesy and consideration could have prevented all of this, but Orr certainly remained gruff, uncooperative, and downright hostile to any suggestion he was in any way criminally responsible for these cat shootings. He proudly admitted to shooting three of the supposedly ill kitties, and claimed to be unable to catch those three sick cats, and there was ultimately five dead or dying cats found in the trash.
Orr went back and forth from remembering the most completely unrelated obscure detail from his military service to not being sure which of his herd of cats he had dispatched. I found him to be completely unsympathetic, without any hint of remorse, no compassion or empathy, and in short quite the cold calculating cat killer. I am sure his wife and family have a different opinion of him, and I am sure he has done a lot to build houses in my neighborhood and other subdivisions, and thanks for your service to your country, but none of this gives a license to prey on innocent animals without the slightest bit of punishment or liability.
Never let the officers of the Oconee County Animal Shelter try to conduct legal proceedings without PAID PROFESSIONAL LEGAL help again, especially in high profile cases such as this. Their job is difficult enough without having to be Perry Mason for the pooches and kitties.
I accepted the plea offer in my case and paid $142.50 (instead of a possible $775.00) and learned more in one half day in court than eight years of pushing papers around for an attorney. Thank you to Sarah Bell and Saskia Thompson for showing up today.
Next it was time for the probable cause hearing for Douglas Lanier Orr, a 70 year old Vietnam Veteran and accused animal abuser after four or five dead cats and a couple of chickens were found in his trash. The trash company called Animal Control, and Oconee County Animal Control Officer Hensley responded to ostensibly find one cat to have yet to have expired, complete with an eyeball out in the best Bill the Cat description I have heard in a while, and kudos to Judge Norris for not making the members of audience look at all the photos of the deceased animals.
The subsequent University of Georgia Veterinary School necropsy report of the animals deaths was not admitted because you need to have the person who wrote the report present to be cross examined. Also Officer Hensley does a very fine job of what has to be the most thankless task, but he does not have any informal or formal legal training, and this was to his extreme detriment repeatedly, especially concerning Mr. Orr's attorney was very skilled at creating doubt and skepticism despite the dead cats and a completely competent assessment of the situation by Hensley.
At the very least, the Oconee County Animal Control should hire an attorney, or have the County Attorney present, if not send their officers to the University of Georgia Law School, or at least a paralegal class or ten at Athens Tech. What Orr did to those animals may in fact be allowed by the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, but that does not make it correct, nor does Orr's ogre like presence in his neighborhood justify the execution of three, four, or five cats.
The crux of the case came down to Orr sewing doubt about ownership of feral cats, establishing his eccentricity and mass quantities of animals on his property that his claims are not his despite his having feed them, attempting to give them away, and apparently passively permitting his cat population to continue to grow unchecked due to lack of spaying and neutering.
Although this was way outside of the scope of what Judge Norris was supposed to determine, (if I were judge at the next trial now not forthcoming) I would have ordered Orr to immediately surrender, sell, or otherwise give away any and all animals on his property, not to obtain any more ever, and also to not shoot any more animals on or adjacent to his property, and no more threats or shots at squirrels. If he was as reckless with his antifreeze, battery acid, or just about any other chemical, then he should not be allowed to have animals that could have digested any poison, and "jumped up and down and rubbed their bellies" which ostensibly prompted Orr's actions against the cats.
This is the neighborhood where former UGA football coach Mark Richt called home. It is undoubtedly one of Oconee County's nicest neighborhoods, and has many wonderful residents who are very upset about this lack of arrest. I would suggest that area residents and neighbors band together to make sure that all feral, semi-feral or otherwise felines be removed from the Orr property with food around the neighboring property to keep the cats from coming back to the Orr feed lot barn.
Of course common sense, courtesy and consideration could have prevented all of this, but Orr certainly remained gruff, uncooperative, and downright hostile to any suggestion he was in any way criminally responsible for these cat shootings. He proudly admitted to shooting three of the supposedly ill kitties, and claimed to be unable to catch those three sick cats, and there was ultimately five dead or dying cats found in the trash.
Orr went back and forth from remembering the most completely unrelated obscure detail from his military service to not being sure which of his herd of cats he had dispatched. I found him to be completely unsympathetic, without any hint of remorse, no compassion or empathy, and in short quite the cold calculating cat killer. I am sure his wife and family have a different opinion of him, and I am sure he has done a lot to build houses in my neighborhood and other subdivisions, and thanks for your service to your country, but none of this gives a license to prey on innocent animals without the slightest bit of punishment or liability.
Never let the officers of the Oconee County Animal Shelter try to conduct legal proceedings without PAID PROFESSIONAL LEGAL help again, especially in high profile cases such as this. Their job is difficult enough without having to be Perry Mason for the pooches and kitties.
I accepted the plea offer in my case and paid $142.50 (instead of a possible $775.00) and learned more in one half day in court than eight years of pushing papers around for an attorney. Thank you to Sarah Bell and Saskia Thompson for showing up today.
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