Admissibility of evidence questioned as Armstrong cruelty case heads to trial

Roughly two years after 16 of his horses were seized by the SPCA, an Armstrong man accused of animal cruelty is finally getting his day in court.

Gary Roberts is charged with causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal, failing to provide necessaries for an animal and uttering threats.

Wednesday lawyers were arguing about whether evidence obtained from a search warrant should be admissible at the trial.

The SPCA constable who sought the warrant was questioned by the defence lawyer, who suggested some information that painted Roberts in a more favourable light was left out when the SPCA sought a search warrant. The constable denied that. Crown counsel argued the level of detail the defence was arguing for in the warrant application was unnecessary.

The judge ultimately didn’t exclude any evidence based the defence’s first argument about the content of the warrant application, but Roberts’ lawyer is also questioning the admissibility of photographs taken during the search.

The case returns to court on Thursday.

Roberts has previously denied he abused animals and argued the SPCA had gone too far.

Read More: Armstrong horse owner facing charges speaking out against SPCA

“I think the whole process that they’ve implemented against me is uncalled for and there should have been more consultation,” said Roberts in January 2015.

The SPCA denied it had overstepped its authority.

“I’d actually say, to be honest, we probably consulted too much. He was given a number of months to address the concerns,” said the SPCA’s Marcie Moriarty in January 2015.

After they were seized, three of the animals died.

– with files from Kimberly Davidson