Horse-neglect suspect hours late for court
Judge came close to issuing arrest warrant for Charlotte H. Bright, 76, of Currieburg, who faces three criminal charges alleging she harmed 14 horses found dead in April
Editor’s note: A previously published version of this story indicated a warrant was issued for the defendant’s arrest Wednesday morning. While the judge made mention of such a warrant, one wasn’t issued at that time. We regret the error.
A judge also issued an arrest warrant for a Currieburg woman accused of neglecting and killing 14 horses when she was more than five hours late for a Wednesday court appearance.
The New Brunswick SPCA charged Charlotte H. Bright, 76, of Currieburg Road, just a few kilometres west of Stanley, this fall with three indictable charges alleging animal neglect and cruelty.
The charges - all stemming from April 8 events in Currieburg - allege she killed, maimed, wounded or otherwise injured horses she owned or cared for; neglected those horses by failing to provide them with adequate food, water, shelter and care; and allowed those horses to experience unnecessary pain or suffering.
She made her initial appearance in Fredericton provincial court on those counts last month, and she was ordered to return to court Wednesday to elect mode of trial and enter pleas.
But when Judge Mary Jane Richards called the case Wednesday morning, Bright wasn’t present, and no one appeared on her behalf.
During her previous court appearance Nov. 8, the defendant said she was working with a defence lawyer in Ontario.
Richards said she’d likely have to order a warrant for Bright’s arrest, but she set the case over to Wednesday afternoon, noting there had been some contact with a law firm in Toronto.
When the case was called again after the lunch break, Toronto lawyer Eric Gillespie appeared in court by telephone, but Bright still wasn’t on hand.
Gillespie said he’d had contact with her a short time before, noting he advised her she had to attend court.
“She’s on her way,” he said.
The Toronto lawyer said Bright had contacted his office recently, informing him that she was scheduled to stand trial Wednesday and wanted him to represent him.
“Today was not for trial, as your office believes,” Richards told him.
Gillespie said he’s not Bright’s counsel of record.
“We had advised her that we wouldn’t be able to attend,” he said.
The lawyer recently contracted COVID-19 and is on doctor’s orders not to work, he said, and he hasn’t arranged to get a temporary bar call to allow him to practise in New Brunswick.
“That hasn’t taken place, and I am physically incapacitated,” Gillespie said.
His firm has represented people in Ontario on similar charges in the past, he said, and he noted Bright is a former resident of Ontario.
Gillespie requested an adjournment to give him time to recover and to arrange approval to practise in New Brunswick, apparently anticipating he would be retained.
The judge set the case over to Feb. 2, but she noted that since the charges are indictable, a document known as a designation of counsel would have to be filed with the court to allow a defence lawyer to appear on Bright’s behalf in her absence.
As no such designation had been filed with the court as yet, Richards said she was issuing a warrant for Bright’s arrest. However, she noted she’d hold that warrant in the court file until the end of business Wednesday to give Bright a chance to appear, as Gillespie suggested she would.
However, if Bright didn’t show up, the judge said, the court would release the warrant and the defendant would be arrestable.
But shortly after 3 p.m., Bright ambled into the courtroom with the assistance of a cane.
The defendant noted she’d been in contact with her lawyer.
“He’s not your counsel as of yet,” Richards told her.
The judge informed Bright of the Feb. 2 adjourn date and directed her to be in court that morning.
“You must attend all court appearances unless the court tells you otherwise,” Richards said.
She vacated the warrant on the file.
Crown prosecutor Jennifer Bueno moved to amend the charges against Bright to expand the timing of when the alleged offences occurred.
She said her office was alleging the events occurred between Feb. 1 and April 8, and the judge amended the charges as requested.
In a news release in October, the NB SPCA reported that the charges arose after 14 dead horses were found dead in the Stanley area in the spring.
Bright previously ran afoul of animal-protection officials over her ownership of horses in Ontario in 2018.
Her neighbours complained that horses from her farm in Blessington, Ont., ran wild and caused damage to their properties, the Belleville Intelligencer reported a few years ago.
Bright told Ontario news outlets she bred Arabian horses, and had done so for decades.
The Ontario Provincial Police charged her with mischief, the Intelligencer reported, but those counts were withdrawn in January 2019. Bright instead agreed to enter into a peace bond.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
That is just so tragic. A true case of animal abuse. Let us hope, FOR ONCE, that justice is done on behalf of these poor animals.
animal abusers must be sentenced in the same fashion they treated animals in their care.