A clerical error has led to the dismissal of animal cruelty charges filed against three former employees of an RV manufacturing company in Elkhart, Indiana.
The three men were charged with animal cruelty after allegedly putting two stray cats in a trash compactor at the Jayco facility.
They were later fired.
The Elkhart County Prosecutor, Vicki Becker, dismissed the charges on Friday because of a clerical error in an affidavit.
It read, “Devon Miller, Vice President of Operations at Jayco indicated he believed the men acted in the company’s best interest by placing the live cats into the trash compactor.”
That was news to Miller.
A statement from the company says: "Mr. Miller adamantly denies making the statement.”
It says his words were twisted “grotesquely.”
The prosecutor said, because of the error, the charges were dismissed.
But they can be refiled.
Press Release:
The formal charges against three individuals filed earlier this week, arising from an allegation of animal cruelty at a local business, have been dismissed due to the need for further investigation and clarification of facts and circumstances alleged and documented during that investigation.
Initially, a scrivener's error was noted in the Affidavit of Probable Cause filed in support of the original charges, which provoked additional investigative questions.
"4. Ptl. Yutzy spoke with Devon Miller, the vice president of Jayco, who indicated he believed the men acted in the company's best interest by placing the live cats into the trash compactor."
However, that phrase is not accurate as there is no evidence documented in the police investigation to suggest that Mr. Miller endorsed, or approved of, the decisions or the behaviors of the three employees. The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney was notified of the discrepancy and engaged in further inquiry regarding the facts and circumstances of the allegations.
As the Prosecuting Attorney is awaiting the results of that additional investigation, which has impacted the veracity of the original charging decision, a Motion to Dismiss each case was filed before anyone’s liberty was affected by an arrest.
The Prosecuting Attorney is bound to follow the laws enacted by the Indiana General Assembly, including those that limit her authority.
Until the additional information can be meaningfully considered, any amended charging decision will not be made.
Accordingly, both the Indiana Constitution and Indiana statutory law require that all persons are innocent until proven guilty in a recognized Court of Law, not in the eyes of the general public.
Once again, the detrimental and injurious effect of social media opining and premature conclusions is resulting in a social media frenzy that is wholly inappropriate.
No interviews will be afforded at this time as we are awaiting further evidence before any additional official actions will be undertaken by the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.