Attorney Tom Smith said District Court Judge Benjamin Lewis found his client, 47-year-old David G. Cobb, not guilty. Smith said his client went trial on Oct. 27, and the court took its ruling under advisement until Friday when it acquitted Cobb.
Smith said Cobb was found not guilty of 17 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and 17 misdemeanor counts of failure to properly bury or burn the animals.
Agents with the State Law Enforcement Agency arrested Cobb and a second man, William Robert Williamson Jr., in January on the criminal charges.
Williamson has already pleaded guilty to all 34 charges.
Shortly after their arrests, Houston County Sheriff’s Capt. Antonio Gonzalez said the charges resulted from deputies with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office responding to a complaint involving dead livestock. When they got there they found dead cattle on property off Forrester Road in Dothan.
Gonzalez said it appeared the livestock died from malnutrition.
Smith said his client actually lives in Panama City, Florida, where he runs a taxi cab business. But he said his client grew up in the Dothan area, and has continued to operate a feed lot on property on Forrester Road. Smith said the cattle belonged to his client.
Smith said evidence came out during trial of how his client had hired Williamson to feed and bury any animals that died on the property. He said his client testified during the trial, which also included testimony of how Williamson lived on the property where he served as the feed lot manager.
Williamson is a convicted sex offender, who also has a pending murder charge in Geneva County.
Smith said his client, Cobb, was very pleased with the court’s not guilty verdicts.
“He was very concerned about his reputation in the community, and among cattle farmers,” Smith said. “He feels like his reputation, although damaged, has been marginally restored by the judge’s ruling.”
(Dothan Eagle - November 25, 2014)
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