FARMINGTON – A Franklin County jury found a New Sharon woman guilty Friday of cruelty to animals and illegally possessing animals.
Carol Murphy, 60, sat with her hands folded next to her attorney, Andrews Campbell, and showed no emotion as jury foreman Anne DeSanctis read each of the guilty verdicts.
The jury deliberated about 30 minutes before returning to the courtroom with its verdict.
During the two-day trial, state prosecutor Andrew Robinson called witnesses and showed dozens of photos of the conditions and living quarters for the roughly 60 animals that the state seized from Murphy’s Lane Road farm last year.
Most of the animals had been kept inside the house. Several had died from starvation, dehydration and hypothermia outside the kitchen door before the state could help them.
Murphy had disputed the accusations, saying she did care for her animals and gave them the required medical attention, food and water, proper shelter and loving care. She also claimed that she was set up.
But testimony and pictures told another story of animals living in filthy conditions without food and water and requiring medical attention.
Robinson recommended the court order Murphy to undergo a psychological evaluation before sentencing on the cruelty charge.
He said he would be asking for a $100 fine for each of the animals possessed without a state permit: a Quaker parrot, peacock, pygmy hedgehog and Russian tortoises.
Campbell agreed with his recommendation on the evaluation.
Justice Joseph Jabar ordered the evaluation and Murphy’s return to court April 1 for sentencing. He also ordered that the bail conditions remain the same, including not possessing any animals except three cats and a dog.
When the state went in and seized the animals last March, the cats had bolted and the dog wasn’t around, Robinson said.
Afterward, Campbell said there were a number of evidentiary rulings that might have restricted her case.
“They might provide new grounds for a new trial,” Campbell said, “but it is premature to say.”
Robinson said, “We appreciate and respect the jury’s verdict.”
DeSanctis, the jury foreman, said Friday afternoon that jurors based their decision on the evidence, specifically the pictures and the testimony of state veterinarian Dr. Christine Fraser and Farmington veterinarian Dr. Robert Patterson.
The autopsy results and the pictures, among them a dog that weighed about 45 pounds and should have weighed about 130 pounds at 18 months, played a part in the jury’s quick decision, she said.
“We all agreed that there was enough incriminating evidence that there was knowingly cruelty to animals,” DeSanctis said.
The director of the state Animal Welfare Program, Norma Worley, said Friday: “We’re just thrilled with the jury’s decision and they, themselves, are sending a message that Mainers, themselves, do not tolerate cruelty to animals.”
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