Newfane cow theft case is finally closed
NEWFANE — The case against a Newfane farm animal sanctuary owner accused of stealing a neighbor's cows is now "over."
The deadline for Niagara County prosecutors to file an appeal of a Wheatfield Town Court justice's ruling, that stripped them of key evidence in the case, has passed. That means the dismissal of the criminal theft charges against Tracy Murphy by Town Justice Gary Strenkoski will not be reversed.
"We did not file an appeal, there will be no further action in this case," Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman said Monday afternoon. "It's over."
One of Murphy's defense attorneys, Louis Mussari, said his client is pleased with the DA's decision not to appeal.
"Tracy, and everyone at Asha's who take such wonderful care of these animals, can finally move on from this unfortunate experience," Mussari said.
Strenkoski dismissed the larceny case against Murphy, who had been accused of refusing to return two cows that wandered onto her property in July 2022. The judge's dismissal followed a filing from the Niagara County District Attorney's Office on the day that jury selection was slated to begin for Murphy's trial, declaring that prosecutors were "not prepared to proceed" with that trial.
Seaman explained at that time that prosecutors had been left with no other options after a hearing the day before the trial was slated to start had revealed that New York State Police troopers and investigators had committed multiple mistakes in the execution of a search warrant at Murphy's sanctuary. Strenkoski then ruled that prosecutors were "precluded from mentioning the cows" at her upcoming trial.
"The court determined that no witness could testify about seeing the cows, what happened concerning the cows, or indeed mention the cows at all," Seaman said in a statement released after the court proceedings. "We obviously cannot go forward with a trial in which no witness is allowed to talk about the subject matter of the charged crimes."
The dismissal of the case came as a courtroom full of potential jurors waited for the start of jury selection.
"The justice made the correct decision to ensure my right to a fair trial," Murphy said Monday. "I was very pleased to learn the district attorney essentially agreed by not appealing."
Murphy had faced a misdemeanor charge of petit larceny for allegedly failing to return two wandering cows to a neighbor who claimed to own the cattle.
She was originally charged with third-degree grand larceny, a felony, on Aug. 2, 2022, after being indicted by a Niagara County grand jury. That charge was later reduced by prosecutors to the petit larceny count.
The indictment against Murphy was unsealed on Aug. 1, 2022, after New York State Police troopers and criminal investigators executed a search warrant at the farm sanctuary and took custody of Blackie and Hornee, two cattle who reportedly had wandered onto Murphy's Asha's Farm Sanctuary on Coomer Road in Newfane from a nearby neighbor's property.
Murphy's defense team said they had become "really unnerved" when they discovered that the state police senior investigator who supervised the warrant execution, the seizure of the cattle and the arrest of Murphy was her "neighbor's brother-in-law."
Murphy's lawyers also told Strenkoski that rather than use state police vehicles to transport the animals to a safe and secure holding place, troopers and investigators "allowed "a group of civilians" to load the cattle onto a private vehicle and trailer and return them directly to her neighbor.
The neighbor, Scott Gregson, told a reporter at the time, "I was advised by the state police that they were going to be executing a search warrant for my cattle. The police requested that I didn't go onto the property, so I sent someone else to pick them up. They asked me to reach out to someone who was familiar with cattle to assist in removing them from the property."
Murphy's lawyers said prosecutors failed to disclose the relationship between Gregson and the state police senior investigator until the day before her trial.
Assistant District Attorney Laura Jordan said she didn't learn about the connection between the state police investigator and Gregson until she was questioning prosecution witnesses. Murphy's lawyers said the relationship and late disclosure to the defense raised "serious constitutional issues" and potential violations of state law.
Murphy's defense also argued to Strenkoski that the search warrant signed by Niagara County Court Judge Caroline Wojtaszaek called for the seized cattle to be "returned to the court." Instead, after getting the cattle back from the state police, Murphy's defense said Gregson "disposed of them."
Prosecutors had offered Murphy a deal to plead guilty to a single count of disorderly conduct. In return for that plea, Murphy would have received a suspended sentence.
Murphy reportedly rejected the plea because it required her to admit that she violated New York law by refusing to return the cows. That admission of guilt, Murphy said, would be "dishonest."
