Published: November 03, 2008 10:04 am      

Man who allegedly kicked horse is freed from jail

A rural McAlester man faces a felony charge for allegedly kicking a horse in the head and ribs after it fell into a swimming pool, while questions have arisen about how the man’s bond dropped from $50,000 to a recognizance bond.

Justin Williamson, 24, of Rt. 6, McAlester, is charged with a felony count of cruelty to animals.

The charge filed by District 18 District Attorney Jim Bob Miller accuses Williamson of “cruelly” injuring the animal by “kicking the horse in the head and ribs repeatedly with his foot at the Elks Lodge” on Oct. 24.

Williamson is also charged with a misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer for allegedly struggling with Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Deputy Tracy Parrott and attempting to break away from the officer as Parrott tried to arrest him for the offense.

Williamson had initially been held on a $50,000 bond set by District 18 Assistant District Attorney Lisa Birdwell and approved by Special Judge Donnita Wynn, according to court documents.

When Williamson made an initial court appearance on the bond in Pittsburg County court, District 18 District Attorney Jim Bob Miller and Assistant District Attorney Mike Miller represented the state, according to court documents.

During the initial appearance, the district attorney’s office dropped its recommendation for Williamson’s original $50,000 bond and Williamson was released on his own recognizance on a recommendation of the state, according to documents filed in the case.

Williamson pleaded innocent to the charges filed against him. He is represented by McAlester attorney Russell Uselton.

A preliminary hearing conference in the case is set for 9 a.m. on Friday.

Law enforcement officers became involved in the case after Pittsburg County sheriff’s deputies were called to the McAlester Elks Lodge on Oct. 24.

“Apparently the horse ran away from the stockyards and ended up across the highway from the stockyards at one point,” Parrott said.

He said the horse apparently went to the Elk’s Lodge, where it stepped onto a swimming pool cover and then fell into the empty pool.

The trouble continued when the horse could not get out of the pool when Williamson came to retrieve it, according to court documents.

Williamson is a big man standing six feet tall and weighing 360 pounds, according to court records.

Affidavits filed in the case by Parrott and by Dep. Kelly Stubblefield alleges that witnesses who were at the scene said Williamson starting kicking the horse after it would not get out of the pool.

The horse eventually was retrieved from the pool and was still at the scene when Parrott arrived, according to court documents.

Parrott said when he arrived at the scene, he saw blood on Willamson’s boots and hands. The deputy said he also found a tooth in the swimming pool which a deputy identified as a horse’s tooth.

Parrott said the horse has been turned over to Williamson’s father, who was the owner and was not at the scene or accused of mistreating the horse.

Today, District 18 District Attorney Jim Bob Miller said the case is moving forward, with the preliminary hearing conference set for Friday.

“The case has not been dismissed,” he said.

Asked about how Williamson’s bond had come to be dropped from $50,000 to a recognizance bond at the recommendation of the state, Miller said “We normally change bonds.”

He said in this instance the bond had originally been set at $50,000 after an assistant district attorney was told it was “an egregious case.”

“Once we got the case, it wasn’t as egregious” as the district attorney’s office had been told, Miller said.

Miller said that bond is set based on whether someone is a flight risk.

“You can’t set a punishment bond,” Miller said.

“The horse had a bloody lip,” the district attorney said.

The prosecutor said he had been told there had been a tooth knocked out of the horse’s mouth, but it was difficult to tell from the photos.

Miller said he also has different witnesses telling different stories about what happened.

The horse is fine and is in a pasture, Miller said.

He also said reports had been released to an animal rights group before he received them at his office.

The prosecutor said he intends to file an application to revoke a previous deferred sentence of Williamson’s.

Asked if he is related to Williamson, Miller said “Not really.”

“Supposedly, he’s some kind of an eighth cousin. I don’t really know.”

It’s a normal routine thing for his officer to lower a bond, Miller said.

Parrott, the arresting officer, said he had been puzzled to see the bond on the felony cruelty to animals charge dropped from the $50,000 set after he initially spoke with an assistant district attorney, to allowing Williamson to be released on his own recognizance without posting any bond during Williamson’s initial court appearance.

“I just do my job everyday,” Parrott said. “It makes it tough sometimes.”

Referring to Williamson’s bond being dropped from the original amount to a recognizance bond, Parrott said “It’s really upsetting that he would be OR’d.”

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.