State v. Emily K. St. Peter

¶ 1. Defendant Emily St. Peter appeals her conviction on five counts of cruelty to animals. She argues that the court erred in declining to suppress evidence about five horses she voluntarily surrendered during a cruelty investigation. * In particular, defendant contends that because the humane officer failed to have the horses timely examined and assessed by a licensed veterinarian within seventy-two hours of her voluntary surrender of them, as required by 13 V.S.A. § 354(b)(1), the court should have excluded any evidence acquired by a humane officer, veterinarian, or other witness following…