A 19th-Century British politician named William Gladstone is best known for remarking that "justice delayed is justice denied." Gladstone would have been mightily annoyed with the Hertford County, North Carolina Superior Court.
The November 13, 2006 trial of two People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) employees (scheduled for November 13, 2006) has been delayed for the seventh time. The defendants, Andrew Benjamin Cook and Adria Joy Hinkle, are charged with 22 counts of Cruelty to Animals and 3 counts of Obtaining Property By False Pretenses. According to sources in the Hertford County criminal justice system, the trial will not begin until at least January 2007.
Other trial dates for the "PETA2 Two" have included July 19, 2005; August 16, 2005; September 13, 2005; October 14, 2005; November 18, 2005; and May 29, 2006.
Police in Ahoskie, North Carolina arrested Cook and Hinkle on June 15, 2005 near a shopping-center dumpster, from which they recovered 18 dead pets in trash bags. Thirteen additional dead animals were recovered from the PETA-owned van in which they were traveling. Witnesses from the Bertie County (NC) Animal Shelter and the Ahoskie Animal Hospital later confirmed that the two PETA employees had collected animals earlier that day -- including puppies and kittens -- on the promise that PETA would find them adoptive homes.
Hinkle will be represented by Washington, DC white-collar criminal lawyer Blair Brown and local attorney Jack Warmack. Cook's lawyer is North Carolina litigator Mark Edwards. District Attorney Valerie Asbell will try the case. Both defendant's legal bills are reportedly being paid by PETA.
Government records from the Virginia State Veterinarian show that in 2005, PETA killed 90 percent of the animals it took in for adoption. Since 1998, the group has put over 14,400 dogs and cats to death.
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