State v. Blom

LOWENSTEIN, Judge.

Factual and Procedural History

Appellant appeals from his conviction of one misdemeanor count of animal abuse under § 578.012, RSMo 2000.1 The action arose when trees fell on July 3, 1999, and downed Appellant’s fence. Approximately thirty of Appellant’s cattle escaped and entered Nancy Newton’s pond and soybean fields, spreading over an area of fifteen to twenty acres and damaging her crop.

At trial, the State, without objection, introduced evidence of prior incidents of cattle escaping. The first was a stipulation between the State and Appellant that prior to April of 1997,…