New Brockton mayor found guilty

A Coffee County jury took just over two hours to determine a local mayor was guilty of animal cruelty.

After being indicted in June by a grand jury on the misdemeanor animal cruelty charge in relation to the conditions of numerous dogs housed at the former New Brockton Animal Shelter, New Brockton Mayor Lenwood Herron argued his innocence in a two-day trial before Coffee County Circuit Judge Thomas Head.

An investigation into conditions at the animal shelter and also Herron and animal control officer Tony Bludsworth's roles in the abuse of five dogs began in May after officers with the Coffee County Sheriff's Department received complaints about the shelter.

When officers arrived at the shelter, they found four dogs living in feces inside a cage. Each animal, including two puppies, was found in need of medical attention, with undrinkable water and insect-infested food.

An additional dog was chained outside the shelter without food or water.

About 24 hours after the shelter was discovered, a puppy was euthanized because of injuries it had suffered and a lack of funds needed for the necessary medical treatment, according to Dr. Jake Hendrix, a veterinarian.

Before the jury began its deliberation, Coffee County prosecutor Jon Folmar asked jurors to understand the importance of the decision they faced.

"This matter is important. It is important to the dogs. It is important to the dogs who don't have a voice and can't come up here and tell you, ‘Hey, I just want to be treated fairly and humanely.'"

Folmar said last Monday the charge Herron faces is cut and dry.

He called witnesses who described the conditions of the shelter including Herron's co-defendant Tony Bludsworth, and experts who testified to the dangerous health hazards each dog faced.

Bludsworth testified that Herron allegedly had full knowledge of the conditions of the shelter.

According to Bluds-worth, Herron ignored requests on numerous occasions to purchase food for dogs housed in the shelter and would also allegedly refuse to provide medical care for the animals.

When asked about the conditions of five dogs found in the shelter that led to criminal charges against Herron and himself, Bluds-worth said, "I told him, ‘Lenwood, we have got to do something with those dogs down there. He said we can't right now...he said he would handle it."

Bludsworth also described numerous occasions in which he purchased dog food for the shelter when Herron allegedly failed to provide town funding for the animals, but said he didn't report conditions at the shelter or the alleged neglect of the dogs because he feared for the security of his job.

"Where I work, it is one of those things where we got a boss that you just don't do things without going through him," he said. "If you work for the town of New Brockton there is only one way. If you don't do it the mayor's way, you do it no way."

Numerous individuals, including Enterprise resident Jessica Nelson Parrish and Coffee County Sheriff Dave Sutton, described the conditions of the animals housed in the shelter.

Parrish testified that in seeing the conditions of the shelter she decided to call law enforcement and filed a report against town officials for animal cruelty.

Sutton described the conditions of the shelter as "deplorable" and said he considers it to be one of the worst cases of animal cruelty he has witnessed while in law enforcement.

Bill Brooks, SOS Animal Shelter board of directors president, owner of Dog Days and self-described animal activist, also testified the conditions of the shelter were the worst he had seen in 10 years working with animals.

Herron's defense attorney, Letta Dillard Gorman, argued that criminal charges levied against her client are part of a larger conspiracy to remove Herron from office.

"There are those in New Brockton who seized this opportunity (the investigation of the conditions of the shelter) to go after the mayor again," she said.

Gorman told jurors the case they were hearing was not what it appeared to be.

"This is one act in a long line of acts to remove the mayor," she said.

Touting the "good things" Herron has accomplished for the town, Gorman argued that the mayor's "economic changes are a shake up for the good ole' boy system in New Brockton."

Though Gorman also argued Bludsworth testified in an effort to help himself as Herron's co-defendant, Folmar said Bludsworth came forward and "told the truth knowing it could be held against him."

"He told the mayor something had to be done about the animals and what did he (Herron) do? He did nothing. He allowed the animals to continue to suffer," Folmar said.

A sentencing date for Herron has not been set at this time.

Animal cruelty in the second degree is a misdemeanor.

According to the Alabama Criminal Code, the first conviction of animal cruelty is punishable by a fine of up to $3,000 and/or imprisonment in a county jail for up to six weeks.

Though Bludsworth's trial was scheduled to begin following Herron's, prosecutors and Bludworth's attorney, Joe Sawyer, are currently negotiating a possible plea deal.

No deal was struck prior to Bludsworth's testimony against Herron.