While the four California animal activists will no longer face charges under Utah’s controversial ag-gag law, Iron County Prosecutors will still be pursuing charges of criminal trespass. The activists were arrested last September attempting to photograph Circle Four Farms.
No attempt is being made to bring the case to trial, said T. Matthew Phillips, attorney of the accused. Actions by the county authorities have been frustrating, he said.
“This is what kills me about the case; they’ve already pleaded not guilty and yet we don’t have any kind of future court date set, we don’t have any kind of evidence,” Phillips said. “I’ve asked them, ‘Well, what did they do?’ Nobody knows. I haven’t seen a report. There’s no police report anywhere. What is going on here? It’s so bizarre.”
The defendants claim that they were standing on a public road taking the photographs and, therefore, could not have been trespassing. The case is ready to be tried but local authorities have yet to release evidence of any kind, Phillips said.
“We have no evidence of any kind, whatsoever; we know no other allegations, except for the lone word ‘trespassing.’ I’m a savvy person and a lawyer, I appreciate the debate,” he said. “I’m dying to argue this, quite frankly, but they tell me, ‘Well, Mr. Phillip, I don’t have any police report yet, I don’t have any evidence, I just can’t comment.’”
Attempts to contact prosecutors in the case have not been successful.
