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PETA Staff Trial For Animal Cruelty Getting Wild !
By LAUREN KING, The Virginian-Pilot January 23, 2007 WINTON, N.C. — They were not the questions lawyers might usually ask when picking a jury for a felony case. “Do any of you have any pets?” District Attorney Valerie Asbell asked 12 potential jurors Monday as the trial for two PETA workers accused of animal cruelty got under way . To each pet owner, she asked whether the animals were indoor or outdoor pets, whether they were regularly taken to see a veterinarian and if any had ever adopted from a shelter. Defense lawyers also asked potential jurors about their interests in hunting and fishing, magazine subscriptions and whether any had ever euthanized a pet. In a trial to determine the guilt or innocence of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals workers Adria Hinkle of Norfolk and Andrew Cook of Virginia Beach, the answers potential jurors offered were important to the case, according to lawyers for the prosecution and defense. The pair are being tried together this week in Hertford County Superior Court on 21 counts of felony animal cruelty, seven counts of littering and three counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. Ahoskie Police say that on June 15, 2005, the two were arrested after officers observed them dump several bags of dead animals into a grocery store trash container. Police said they also found more dead animals in the pair’s van and a digital camera with images of living and dead animals. The trial has generated a lot of interest that drew a strange brew of spectators to the small town of Winton on Monday. Local and national news media mingled with PETA staff, supporters and opponents, such as a legal analyst from the National Association for Biomedical Research and the director of research for the Center for Consumer Freedom. The Center for Consumer Freedom, which opposes PETA and its practices, paid for a mobile billboard on a truck that pulled into the Hertford County Courthouse parking lot about 30 minutes before potential jurors were to report for duty. It also purchased a full-page advertisement in Monday’s New York Times. Both promoted the group’s Web site, which will offer updates posted from the trial by David Martosko, the coalition’s director of research. Martosko agreed to have the sign moved in time for the jury pool’s lunch break Monday after he met with the judge. The billboard was scheduled to tour around Ahoskie on Monday afternoon, according to a news release from the group. Jury selection will continue this morning at the Hertford County Courthouse. Superior Court Judge Cy Grant said trial proceedings should begin at 1:30 p.m. Submitted by Glenna 
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