Rescued 3-Strikes Mustangs at Habitat for Horses last Spring - Photo by R.T. Fitch
BRIDGEPORT — A Morrill County District Court jury deliberated six hours before returning a guilty verdict in the case against Jason Meduna.
Meduna was accused of 149 counts of animal abuse, a Class IV felony.
The jury found him guilty of 145 counts.
Seven initial counts applied to specific horses, including two dead horses, one horse euthanized after Meduna’s arrest, and horses named El Mariachi, Wendy and Blue that were treated by veterinarians.
Seventy-four counts related to dead horses found in pits on the ranch and the remaining counts applied to horses seized from the ranch with poor body conditions.
In closing statements, Morrill County Attorney Jean Rhodes alleged that Meduna crafted stories about poisonings and the theft of a horse to create a diversion. She asked the jury to find Meduna guilty of neglecting the animals by depriving them of food, water and necessary care. He had a network of support, but never asked anyone about the “real problem” of starvation.
Meduna failed to get care for the animals because “(he) was willing to protect his image at the expense of the horses and burros at his place,” she said.
Meduna’s attorney John Berry asked that the jury find him not guilty, saying that Meduna may have been guilty of “stupidity” but firmly believed that his horses were suffering from poisoning or illness.
“He may have been arrogant,” he said. “He may have been stupid. He may not have been a ‘true cowboy.’ He did what he could to protect them. He may not have made the right decisions. In fact, he made some pretty stupid decisions.”
However, Berry said, cause of death couldn’t be determined in dead horses found on the ranch and that horses that survived didn’t suffer any long-lasting effects. He argued that if Meduna were guilty of any charge, he would be guilty of a lesser degree of animal abuse, a Class I misdemeanor.
The jury was instructed to weigh the Class IV felony count of animal abuse on each count. They were also allowed to weigh the lesser misdemeanor offense or return a verdict of not guilty. Rhodes said the jury found Meduna guilty of 145 counts, returning four not guilty verdicts on counts involving dead horses. She said those horses were skeletons.
Morrill County Sheriff John Edens said he felt that 145 out of 149 counts was a good result.
“It tells us that the jury was very diligent in the case. They considered each and every count.”
The verdict “showed the jury really worked hard,” she said, saying she respected the work of the jury, law enforcement and others involved with the case.
Edens agreed. “I appreciate the work that the jury did.They had to sit through a long week of a lot of testimony and deliberations were lengthy. I think they did a very good job.”
Meduna is set to be sentenced on Feb. 23, 2:30 p.m. Meduna faces a maximum of five years imprisonment, a $10,000 fine or both on each count. There is no minimum sentence for a Class IV felony.
One of over 70 Wild Horses found dead on Meduna's Ranch
BRIDGEPORT — Three horses brought into an Alliance veterinarian clinic showed no signs of poisoning as asserted by 3-Strikes Mustang Ranch owner Jason Meduna, Dr. Tom Furman testified Thursday.
Furman was one of three veterinarians who testified as part of the case against Meduna. Meduna faces 149 felony counts of animal abuse. Furman’s father and business partner, Jim Furman, has been among the several veterinarians testifying during the trial.
In his testimony, Furman said he first became acquainted with Meduna after he moved to the ranch near Alliance. He said he asked the rancher about health decisions he was making about the mustangs and told Meduna he respectively disagreed with his health plans. He cited Meduna’s use of chewing tobacco as a dewormer as an example.
Furman helped in treating a mustang brought to the clinic in mid-March. The mustang, Blue, had been represented by Meduna as having died of poisoning. He also helped in treating two horses, named El Mariachi and Wendy, that 3-Strikes client Pam Nickols owned. Nickols testified Wednesday about removing the two horses from the ranch, saying they were near death.
The horses were “emaciated and thin,” Furman testified. He said the horses’ body conditions were rated as a 1 and a 2 on the Henneke scale, a common scale used for scoring a horse’s body condition. “They were in tough shape.”
After just a few days of treating the malnutrition and parasites diagnosed, Furman said the horses’ experienced “massive improvement.” He said similar results were seen among the horses removed from the ranch after Meduna’s arrest. Some of those horses had body conditions as low as a 1 on the Henneke scale and most have recovered well.
Furman told the jury about the process of malnutrition and the effects of it on a horse’s body. The veterinarian also did necropsies on two horses found dead at the ranch and a third that had to be euthanized. Furman expressed that Meduna should have had necropsies well before 70 horses had died as a preventative measure.
Upon further questioning by defense attorneys about toxicity in the horses, Furman said he was certain that poisoning had not occurred among the animals. Lab tests confirmed the malnutrition and parasitic infection diagnoses and no toxins were present in the horses treated at the clinic or necropsies. None of the tests showed that the horses suffered heart damage, which would have been present if Rumesin had been used to poison the horses as Meduna has alleged.
The diagnosis from the case came not only from the horses tested and body conditions, but by looking at the poor conditions of the ranch, Furman said.
He called the extent of malnutrition and parasitic infection among the horses recovered from the ranch “overwhelming.”
“Personally as well as professionally, I had never seen anything like this,” Furman said.
The veterinarian was the last witness to testify for the prosecution as it outlined its case. After Furman’s testimony, the defense made a motion to dismiss the case. Defense attorney John Berry said the state had not proved that Meduna intentionally or recklessly abandoned, neglected or abused the animals or proved that any of the horses, with the exception of the dead horses, had suffered any lasting effects. Judge Leo Dobrovolny disagreed, denying the motion to dismiss and saying that enough evidence existed to present the case to the jury.
The defense started its case Thursday afternoon, calling two witnesses.
Anissa Meduna, the wife of Jason Meduna, testified that the couple had started operating the ranch in 2002 in Saunders County and moved to Morrill County in 2006.
“We heard about the plight of the mustangs,” she said. “We wanted to help and we knew we could do it.”
She said the ranch had yearly inspections and that Bureau of Land Management officials routinely contacted them to see if they would accept horses on the ranch. She said reports of inspections were given to the Medunas. She didn’t testify about any results of the inspections.
She testified that the number of horses at the ranch never exceeded 260, although 211 horses were seized from the ranch and 70 dead horses were found.
Anissa Meduna said she kept track of the bookkeeping at the ranch, but denied that the 3-Strikes Mustang Ranch charged boarding fees and other costs to horse owners as board members Kristy Heidorn and Amanda Davis testified earlier this week. She denied that El Mariachi owner Pam Nickols paid the ranch a monthly fee for her horse.
“She gave a $25 donation occasionally,” she said, adding that Nickols signed over ownership of the horse to the Medunas. Some horse owners gave donations, but Anissa Meduna said they were not sought in any manner and the ranch didn’t host fundraisers.
Anissa Meduna said she picked up hay from a local vendor, Steve Benzel, once or twice daily. Earlier this week, Benzel testified that Anissa Meduna would pick up 10 to 20 square bales of hay once to twice a week.
She testified that horses didn’t start becoming ill on the ranch February.
“Some of the horses started not looking right,” she testified. She said the horses started losing large amounts of weight in a short period of time and several horses had their hind quarters “give out.” She said horses started dying in March and referred to “whatever was happening,” although she never made any references to alleged poisonings.
The couple tried treating the horses with penicillin, vitamin B shots and giving them additional feed, but a veterinarian was not consulted except in the instance of taking the horse known as Blue to the clinic.
Over the summer of 2009, haying was done on the ranch and photos were taken, Anissa Meduna testified. She said photos were taken because the couple wanted to prove that grasses did exist on the land and that it had not been overgrazed as prosecution witnesses have testified.
The trial is scheduled to conclude today, but defense witnesses remain to be called. The prosecution will also be allowed a chance to present rebuttal witnesses before the case is handed over to the jury to decide the outcome.
If convicted, Meduna could face a maximum of five years imprisonment, a $10,000 fine or both on each count. There is no minimum sentence for a Class IV felony.
When a Colorado woman took her mustang, El Mariachi, to 3-Strikes Ranch, she intended to leave him in conditions as close to his natural habitat as possible. Instead, she testified Wednesday, her horse was starved.
Pam Nickols of Golden, Colo., testified in the trial against Jason Meduna, formerly of Morrill County. Meduna operated 3-Strikes Mustang Ranch until April 2009 as a horse sanctuary. He is charged with 149 counts of felony animal abuse. One count specifically applies to acting intentionally and recklessly in abusing or neglecting El Mariachi, Nickols’ horse.
“I wanted him to live out his life as close to the wild as possible,” Nickols testified. She described El Mariachi as “big, healthy, calm and reasonable” when she took him to the ranch in January 2008. “He was a remarkable horse. He was a beautiful horse.”
During El Mariachi’s stay at 3-Strikes, Nickols visited the ranch four times. She last visited the ranch a few days before Meduna’s arrest, removing her horse and another mare.
Prior to coming to the ranch, Nickols said she had been contacted by Meduna’s neighbor, Vicki Freiburger. Freiburger initially sent an e-mail under a pseudonym and Nickols allowed her to call her. She said she became aware of the conditions at 3-Strikes Mustang Ranch through Freiburger, who provided photos of her horse.
When she contacted Meduna, he told her the same story that he had told other witnesses, Amanda Davis and Kristy Heidorn. She attempted two trips that Meduna cancelled before she went to retrieve her horse on April 16 with Davis.
“He said Nebraska had the worst winter in history so all the horses were looking rough,” she said.
When seeing her horse, she tearfully testified, she said he was visibly emaciated. She described him as “skeletal,” saying that his ribs could be seen.
“My horse was near death, as were a lot of the horses on the property.”
After recovering her horse, she took it to an Alliance veterinarian, Dr. Jim Furman, and filed a report with the Morrill County Sheriff’s Department.
Furman also testified Wednesday. He spoke about a horse, named Blue, that Meduna allegedly told supporters had died as the result of poisoning by neighbors.
The horse, a blue roan, had been brought in by Meduna. Furman testified that the horse suffered from starvation and parasitic infection. The horse was never picked up by Meduna, despite Furman making repeated attempts throughout April to contact him.
Ray Gert, Bureau of Land Management veterinarian, also testified about the condition of a horse recovered from the ranch. Gert treated a BLM horse from the ranch during an inspection on April 14.
Gert testified that an adult mustang weighs an average of 900 to 1,000 pounds, but the horse recovered weighed 580 pounds. The horse recovered quickly, he said, weighing 700 pounds by April 28.
“We offered the horse feed and water. Nothing more,” he said in describing its treatment.
The horse suffered some heart damage, he said, which he admitted on cross-examination could also be attributed to toxicity, such as poisoning, trauma or even snakebite. However, he reiterated that his other findings lead him to a diagnosis of malnutrition and starvation.
In talking about proper care of a horse, Gert said that a horse should be fed at least 30 pounds of hay per day to maintain weight. Gert’s testimony reiterated testimony from previous witnesses.
Nebraska State Patrol Investigator Brian Eads testified that records seized during the investigation showed that Meduna had purchased $3,480 in hay during 2008. Using estimates of 285 horses, Eads testified that hay purchased at that amount would have only fed the horses for 19 days. He testified that while Meduna had made purchases in March and April, he had not made any hay purchases in January or February.
He did make purchases in March and April of $840. On Tuesday, Amanda Davis had testified that she raised more than $10,000 to go toward hay purchases during those months.
Witnesses Dave Cook, a range specialist, and Deputy Steve Lattin testified about the conditions of the range. Cook testified that unlike Meduna’s neighbors, he had little forage on his ranch. He said Meduna had exceeded recommended stocking numbers, adding he would recommend approximately 74 horses on the ranch if they grazed all year long and about 111 horses if they were feed supplemental feeding, such as hay.
After an analyzing six areas of the ranch, he determined it had been overgrazed at a utilization rate of 60 to 80 percent in most areas.
Lattin showed photos of the ranch taken during a flyover, showing the sandy terrain of Meduna’s ranch compared to his neighbors.
Meduna’s neighbor, Vicki Freiburger, also testified. Freiburger had been the neighbor accused by Meduna of stealing one of the horses from the ranch and of poisoning the horses.
Freiburger testified that cattle on her ranch were not feed with feed containing Rumesin, as Meduna has alleged was used to poison his horses. She also testified about making several attempts to get BLM officials and others, including the Humane Society of the United States, to visit the ranch. She also contacted board members of the ranch and owners of horses.
Morrill County Attorney Jean Rhodes, who is prosecuting the case, said she expects to wrap up her case today. The defense is expected to begin calling its witnesses by afternoon.
The trial is slated to conclude on Friday.
A Morrill County rancher didn’t listen to concerns about horses in his care and continued to stick to a conspiracy theory that neighbors were poisoning his horses, witnesses testified Tuesday.
Three associates of Jason Meduna, 43, testified that Meduna ignored signs that the animals were starving and furthered their conditions by neglecting them. Meduna is on trial in Morrill County on 149 counts of felony animal abuse.
While the animals withered, Meduna continued to collect funds for their care, board members told the jury. Amanda Davis of Colorado and former Hastings resident Kristy Heidorn had been board members of the 3-Strikes Mustang Ranch. Both women had horses on the ranch.
They testified that Meduna shared their love of horses. Heidorn said she felt his ideas were sound.
“His overall plan was to train mustangs, to change the stereotypes of mustangs as not being good horses and educate people about the mustangs,” she said. “(His plan) was to find suitable homes for them once they were trained.”
The duo helped Meduna despite various inconsistencies, such as finding that Meduna’s ranch didn’t have the non-profit status he originally claimed. They tried to help him get that status to support the ranch, they testified. Davis said she even worked with Meduna on plans to approach the Bureau of Land Management about serving as a holding facility for mustangs.
Heidorn, who operated her own shelter for abused and neglected horses, moved four horses to Meduna’s ranch and even had her own horse at his ranch for a period of time.
She recommended the ranch to another individual, she acknowledged, and promoted the ranch and its causes.
“At the time, I thought it was a good place to go, so of course I recommended it,” Heidorn said.
During a November visit, she said the horses were in good condition and she didn’t know of any problems at the ranch until March. At that time, she said, Meduna told her that he believed the horses were being poisoned. He reported one horse had died. Heidorn later learned the horse had not died and that funds she raised were not used for the intended purposes.
She said he didn’t express any significant concerns about large numbers of horse deaths and expressed no concern about needing help with the horses to feed them.
“He was always adamant that he had things under control,” Heidorn said. “He was always reluctant to accept help.”
Davis testified that she tried to help the ranch in numerous ways. She spent many weekends at the ranch, she testified, as she was working with Meduna to train her on handling mustangs.
Davis testified that she provided de-wormer to Meduna, but that most of it went unused.
After consulting with a friend, she said she became concerned that the horses were being starved and looked for signs. She raised funds for feeding the horses, raising more than $6,000 in March. She also raised an additional $4,000 after applying for an emergency hay grant through the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
People became increasingly concerned about conditions at the ranch. On the weekend of Meduna’s arrest, she recovered her own horses. She also helped recover one horse, known as El Mariachi. She helped the owner recover that horse on April 18, the day of Meduna’s arrest. The horse was emaciated, she said.
“He was just a bag of bones,” she said, saying they had to take great care in loading him because she was afraid he would collapse. “He put up no fight whatsoever.”
Steve Trent, a Montana man interested in horses, came out to help Meduna during the week before he was arrested. He testified that he contacted Meduna after seeing an ad on Craigslist. Meduna was seeking help with training the horses and in caring for animals that the ad said had been accidentally poisoned. Trent said he could visibly see that about an estimated 100 horses were in poor condition when he arrived at the ranch.
Trent testified that he became increasingly concerned during his five days as he found additional discrepancies in Meduna’s stories. One of those discrepancies was Meduna’s story that a prominent horse, Rayu, had been stolen from the ranch, he said.
Trent said he doubted Meduna’s claims that neighbors took the horse away because Meduna also boasted that Rayu “was the horse that no one could touch,” except Meduna.
He also testified that the horses were underfed. While horses were fed every day during his stay, Trent testified that Meduna was only feeding 10 pounds of hay per horse. He said the horses should have been fed a minimum of 30 pounds of hay per day.
Trent testified that he found Meduna to be arrogant and unwilling to take his advice.
“I learned that (providing advice) was a waste of my time and effort,” he said, saying he kept his mouth shut during the remainder of his stay. Defense attorneys got contentious with Trent during cross-examination, questioning if he had experience testifying in previous trials for the BLM.
Trent did testify that he left the ranch on the day that the Bureau of Land Management seized horses from Meduna’s property. While the BLM came to seize five horses, only one horse was found, Trent and Davis testified. Officials told them that Meduna had only reported the death of one of the horses.
A BLM official will be called to testify about the inspection and seizure of the horses. The neighbor accused by Meduna of poisoning the horses is also expected to testify, possibly Wednesday, when the trial resumes. She has been named as one of the individuals responsible for contacting the BLM repeatedly with concerns about the ranch.
One over 70 Mustangs found starved to death on Jason Maduna's ranch
BRIDGEPORT – A former Morrill County rancher presented himself as a “true cowboy” but instead starved the horses and burros he claimed he was giving sanctuary to, Morrill County Attorney Jean Rhodes told a jury Monday.
The cowboy claim was posted by Jason Meduna on his Web site for the 3-Strikes Ranch that he operated in northwest Morrill County. Meduna, 43, faces trial on 149 felony counts of animal cruelty. A jury of six men and six women heard testimony for the first day in a trial expected to last five days.
In a quote on Meduna’s Web site, Prosecutor Jean Rhodes said, he said, “A true cowboy will feed his horse before he feeds himself.”
It was a quote used often by media covering the case after Meduna’s April arrest and Rhodes used the presentation of former 3-Strikes ranch owner as a “true cowboy” when introducing the case against him during opening arguments Monday.
When law enforcement arrived at the ranch on April 18, Rhodes said they found no hay stacked for the winter and horses were left to grazing, irrespective of poor range conditions at the ranch. Seventy horses were discovered dead on the ranch as officials searched it in the following days. More than 200 horses and burros were removed from the ranch by law enforcement and animal rescue organizations that volunteered to help.
While Meduna had gathered supporters through his Web site and other Web sites for Mustang aficionados, he didn’t let board members and supporters onto the ranch. Rhodes implied in her arguments that he was hiding the deteriorating condition of the horses from his supporters, while still getting cash donations from them.
In charging Meduna, Rhodes said prosecutors focused on specific animals, such as a 3-year-old roan filly seized by the Bureau of Land Management, horses specifically identified by their owners and dead horses found on the ranch. More than 90 counts have been charged based on horses and burros classified as in poor condition after they were seized and examined by veterinarians.
As custodian of the horse, Rhodes told the jurors, Meduna was responsible for the horses he had taken in from the Bureau of Land Management and private individuals.
“He failed to provide proper feed, water or care,” Rhodes said, saying the state intends to prove that he acted intentionally and recklessly.
In his opening argument, defense attorney John Berry contends that Meduna didn’t intentionally starve the horses and the prosecution will fail in proving its case. At the conclusion of trial, he said, defense attorneys will be asking the jury to acquit him of the charges.
Instead of a person who intentionally or recklessly starved his horses, Berry painted a picture of a man who loves horses and was saving ones that the Bureau of Land Management was unable to adopt. Most of the animals on the ranch were “3-Strikes horses,” which the Bureau of Land Management was unable to adopt after three tries and sold for about $10 each.
Meduna had been around horses his whole life and his grandfather taught him to train horses, his lawyer said.
He dedicated his life to mustangs, Berry said, because “mustangs were a challenge.”
“Jason wasn’t alone in his vision,” he said. “… He gained support along the way” and those supporters helped him build a better Web site, promote his business and form a corporation.
The Bureau of Land Management also continued to allow Meduna to adopt horses, and Berry said, conducted periodic inspections. “Things were going well until about February 2009,” he said.
Berry said Meduna began to run short of hay and funds to purchase additional hay. Supporters helped him apply for a hay grant and sent him online donations. While Meduna thought things were turning around, he was suddenly plagued by sick horses and consulted with supporters online for opinions and advice.
It was from those opinions, and because of contentious relations with neighbors, that Meduna began to feel his horses were being poisoned. One supporter, who is expected to testify against Meduna, even recommended a health supplement that Meduna believed had improved the health of his horses.
Starvation claims were circulating at a conference for wild horse rescue groups before Meduna’s arrest, Berry said.
“Interest groups were waiting to get their hands on Jason’s horses,” he said, and law enforcement became involved. Out of concern for his horses, Meduna signed them over to the rescue groups, but continued to investigate potential causes of their ailments, including rumesin poisoning from cattle feed that Meduna alleges neighbors may have used to poison his horses or arsenic poisoning from a lake on the ranch.
Meduna didn’t have any motive for poisoning his horses or destroying the mustang sanctuary he had dedicated his life to, Berry said. Without that, he said, the state couldn’t prove its case. It’s clear that the horses needed help, he said, and Meduna cooperated by turning them over to rescue groups.
“You don’t have to decide if the horses got sick of arsenic poisoning, rumesin poisoning or if they died of starvation,” Berry told jurors. “You just have to decide if the state proved 149 counts that he acted intentionally or recklessly (in the care of the horses and burros).”
Testimony during Monday’s proceedings centered around establishing foundation, with Morrill County Sheriff John Edens and Deputy Cheree Conway testifying about photos taken at the ranch, at the Morrill County fairgrounds where the horses were moved after being seized and other photos that showed the poor condition of the horses and the ranch.
Edens also testified about Meduna reporting a horse from the ranch stolen and voicing that he believed neighbors were poisoning his horses.
Testimony in the case will resume at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Morrill County Courthouse in Bridgeport.