Utah legislator looks to close loophole that led to acquittal of pig trial defendants

ST. GEORGE — In October, a jury in St. George found two men not guilty of burglary and trespassing for taking two piglets from a pork-producing facility in Beaver County on the grounds that the jury instructions said they couldn’t determine guilt if the animals had no value. 

Cuzzie the pig and supporters of the defendants in the Circle Four Farm trial outside the 5th Judicial District Courthouse, St. George, Utah, Oct. 4, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

And the jury determined because the animals were sick, they had no monetary value.  

But now, the Utah legislator who represents Beaver County said he is hoping to turn back the tide in favor of meat-producing farms in his county and Utah’s rural areas. Rep. Carl Albrecht, R, has introduced a bill that would change the law so that the next time animals are taken, a jury won’t receive such an instruction.

The title of HB114, Theft Defense Amendments, doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with the agriculture industry or livestock, but it would change the Utah Criminal Code to say that it is not a defense to take livestock from an owner if it is sick, injured or a liability to their owner.

Members of the jury in the October case that exonerated two animal welfare activists said recently that a jury instruction on the value of two piglets taken in 2017 from the Smithfield Foods Circle Four Farm in Milford was the main reason why they found Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) activists Wayne Hsiung and Paul Picklesimer not guilty.

This came despite both admitting they entered the facility on March 7, 2017, to document conditions inside the plant and took two piglets after they determined they were sick and dying. 

The bill is the latest in a battle between those who see the Smithfield Foods facility being a valuable part of the community and those who see it as mistreating animals, as well as a battle over the need for human jobs over animal welfare and between whether livestock is no different than property like a car or a sentient being. 

Albrecht says the agriculture industry in Beaver County has been under attack and needs protecting. 

“Smithfield Meats is a big employer in Beaver County,” Albrecht said during a hearing last Friday of the Utah House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee. “Good jobs in rural utah are hard to come by. Farmers and ranchers need to be protected from burglary and theft. A person shouldn’t be able to come in and do their own vigilantism.” 

Rep. Carl Albrecht of state House District 70 speaks during a Utah House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee hearing, Salt Lake City City, Utah, Jan. 20, 2023 | Photo via Utah Legislature screenshot, St. George News / Cedar City News

At the time of the  Oct. 8 verdict, supporters of the defendants and animal welfare called it a victory for what they called the “right to rescue” sick animals they say are neglected by their owners. 

If the change in the law prescribed by the bill was already in place at the time of the verdict, Picklesimer potentially be in the first of a five-year prison sentence. In a statement to St. George News, Picklesimer reiterated his praise of the jury system he gave at the time of the verdict that went in his favor, and said the bill is an attempt to usurp that. 

“Legislators are trying to criminalize what Utahns know is the right thing to do,” Pickesimer said. 

The Berkeley, California, man also testified remotely at the Friday committee hearing that took place at the State Capitol and mentioned laws that Utah used to have in regard to filming in an agricultural plant that was deemed unconstitutional. 

“Utah had ag gag laws and those are attempts to use the state to criminalize people just for taking a video,” Picklesimer told the committee. “Eventually those laws were overturned as unconstitutional and this is another attempt to criminalize free speech. This bill is designed to take the decision away from a jury.”

The 2012 legislature passed the bill, called Agricultural Operation Interference, which made it illegal to record an image or sound from an agricultural operation without permission. In July 2017, the law was struck down by the U.S. District Court in Utah. 

But while activists say the piglets such as those taken by Hsiung and Picklesimer are “sentient beings,” meaning they are able to experience feelings and sense pain, there are also many in Beaver County and other rural areas who say the animals at places like Circle Four and other farms are property. They say the issue isn’t about animal rights but about property rights.

And just as the law says you can’t take someone’s property from someone just because it is defective, the same should apply to livestock.

“Let’s say I have a Mustang Hatchback and I neglect it. Does that give someone the right to come on my property and put on tires and take it?” Rep. Casey Snyder, a Republican who represents Cache County, said during the hearing. “These animals are property. Justice was not served (in the St. George trial). Although an animal is sick or injured, it still has value to the farmer.”

Rep. Walt Brooks, chairman of the Utah House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee, speaks during their hearing, Salt Lake City City, Utah, Jan. 20, 2023 | Photo via Utah Legislature screenshot, St. George News / Cedar City News

Speakers against the bill Friday took issue with Snyder’s comments, saying that “animals are not cars.” 

Speaking of vehicles, opponents of the bill had said language in the bill that includes “domestic animals” meant that it would make it a felony if someone were to see a dog trapped in a hot car on a summer day and break the window to let the dog out. 

Southern Utah-based Rep. Walt Brooks, R, who chairs the agriculture committee, noted the especially hot summers in his native St. George and asked Beaver County Attorney Von Christiansen – who spoke in favor of the bill at the hearing – whether he would be in trouble if he rescued a dog from a hot car.

But Christiansen, who was also the lead prosecuting attorney in the October St. George trial, said the “domestic animals” language was removed in an amendment to the bill. 

“This doesn’t apply to them,” Christiansen said. “This just applies to livestock.”

Brooks and the other members of their committee then gave a unanimous 11-0 vote in favor of moving the bill to the House floor, where it will be heard in the next few days. 

Speaking with St. George News Monday, Brooks said in his view, animal activists like DxE are “more interested in fighting than they are actually trying to save animals.” In that respect, he said there may be room for a compromise between those who value the animals for being alive and those who value them monetarily.

“The reason that this failed in court is because the prosecutor could not show that the pigs had value. Well, if it’s a sentient being, which the other side says, why don’t we work together and say, let’s utilize this and sell those pigs for a buck?” Brooks said. “Reduce that liability from maybe not having enough veterinarians on staff, whatever else.”


Check out all of St. George News’ coverage of the 2023 Utah Legislature here.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

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