SHELBY, Mont. -- A Teton County justice of the peace said he'll decide early next week whether to retry accused collie abusers Jon Harman and Athena Lethcoe-Harman of Nikiski or shut the books on the case and send the couple and their nearly 200 animals on their way.
Justice Pete Howard said Tuesday he'll rule from the bench after hearing arguments for and against dismissing the case and returning the dogs to the Harmans.
The hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at the Teton County Courthouse in Choteau.
The Harmans were arrested at the Canada-Sweet Grass, Mont., border station Nov. 1 after U.S. customs inspectors discovered their tractor trailer crammed with 166 collies, five other dogs and 10 cats. The animals had traveled 2,240 miles over nine days and were dehydrated, wet, shivering and sick.
The Harmans were moving the collies from Alaska to their new home in Arizona. Officials confiscated the animals and charged the couple with 181 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty.
In the 117 days since, donations have poured in from all 50 states and volunteers from Florida to Alaska have flown to Montana to help groom and walk the dogs.
The case moved to Teton County after a six-person Toole County jury deadlocked over the Harmans' fate last month following a seven-day trial. A mistrial was declared, and Toole County Justice of the Peace Janice Freeland recused herself from further proceedings. At her request, Howard agreed to take over the case.
Meanwhile, Toole County Undersheriff Don Hale confirmed a few more twists, the most curious of which is that Lethcoe-Harman disappeared for several hours the night of Jan. 31, reportedly distraught over Toole County Attorney Merle Raph's announced intention to retry the case.
Sheriff's deputies, search and rescue personnel, ambulance officials and even a border patrol canine from Havre were called out to search for Lethcoe-Harman after a man reported seeing a woman matching her description lying on the railroad tracks near the high school, Hale said.
The man helped Lethcoe-Harman, who seemed disoriented, he told the sheriff's office. Lethcoe-Harman is a diabetic who occasionally becomes faint as the result of low blood sugar.
As temperatures fell, officials combed the field next to the railroad tracks, checked the high school, where a ballgame was under way, and canvassed grocery and convenience stores, churches and Camp Collie, the 4-H barn at the Marias Fairgrounds east of town, where most of Lethcoe-Harman's 170-plus collies are being kept.
Around 3:43 a.m. the next morning, Jon Harman notified officials that Lethcoe-Harman had turned up at their apartment minus her socks and shoes, according to Hale. The next day she sported a "pretty distinct" black eye and was favoring her right side, Hale said. Lethcoe-Harman told Hale she must have fallen down and also said she remembered lying beneath a train car.
In another development, the American Working Collie Association, which already had donated tens of thousands of dollars worth of supplies and manpower, began Monday paying three workers from the Shelby Job Service $7 an hour to clean the collie pens. Volunteers have been performing the chore, but "this is a horrendous burden," Hale said, made worse last week when the mercury plunged below zero.
The workers will replace a core group of mostly women who have devoted up to 30 hours a week caring for the dogs.
In his motion asking Judge Howard to return the collies to the Harmans, defense attorney Scott Albers says "numerous problems" have arisen with Toole County's care and upkeep of the animals.
Specifically, Albers cited the death of a collie in the hours after the Harmans' arrest; the theft of the couple's fox terrier from the search and rescue building (where the more vulnerable animals are being kept); the recent death of another collie after undergoing surgery; and the mangled ear of one of Lethcoe-Harman's show dogs, Crown Jewel, "which has ended her show quality status," Albers wrote.
Veterinarians testified during the first trial that the first dog to die was in bad shape when the Harmans stopped at the border. The second dog, a female at least 10 years old, died 3 1/2 weeks ago, Hale said, after undergoing surgery for a malignant anal-rectal tumor.
Hale confirmed that the male fox terrier, said to be Jon Harman's personal dog, was stolen Dec. 27 and neutered the same day. He said sheriff's officials tracked the dog's whereabouts through veterinary records, but wouldn't say whether the dog had been taken to Leth-bridge, as is rumored.
The terrier was returned voluntarily on Valentine's Day and felony charges of tampering with physical evidence and obstruction of justice are expected to be filed in connection with the incident, Hale said.
Albers also argues that Toole County is letting "rival collie breeders" and the Humane Society of the United States interfere with the dogs' care. He said the Humane Society is intent on destroying all dog breeders and has no business getting involved in the case.
In the wake of the Harmans' arrests, the Humane Society's Northern Rockies regional office helped prepare housing for the dogs and arrange emergency medical care with the help of several local veterinarians. The organization currently is scoping out other possible sites to move Camp Collie in an attempt to relieve the burden on Toole County.
The number of animals keeps growing. Seven puppies were born within hours after the dogs were confiscated in November, and last weekend a Siamese cat owned by the Harmans gave birth to six kittens.
In his response, Toole County Attorney Raph disputed Albers' assertion about rival collie breeders, saying the Camp Collie volunteers "are almost exclusively from this area and many if not most do not own collies."
He acknowledged that a dog received wounds to its ear, but "with 170 dogs to care for, incidents like that may happen despite the best of care."
"The court may wish to examine the dogs and the cats, and review their care," Raph added.
In his motion to dismiss the case, Albers quotes Article II of the Montana Constitution as saying that "no person shall be again put in jeopardy for the same offense previously tried in any jurisdiction." The state has had its chance to convict the Harmans and isn't entitled to another, Albers argues.
Raph counters that the double-jeopardy theory doesn't apply to hung juries in Justice Court. He cited a provision of Montana state law noting that "the jury shall return a verdict as instructed by the court" and that it must be unanimous.
"If the jury cannot agree with respect to all, the defendant or defendants ... may be tried again," the law states.
Carol Bradley is a reporter for the Great Falls Tribune in Great Falls, Mont.
