P. v. McHenry
Defendant, a licensed attorney and cattle rancher, was charged with seven counts of felony cruelty to animals (Pen. Code, 597, subd. (b); undesignated section references are to the Penal Code). All counts alleged that defendant unlawfully deprived animals of necessary sustenance and water on or about December, 2001 count 1 as to livestock generally, count 2 as to an individual bull, and counts 3 through 7 as to individual calves.
A jury convicted defendant on counts 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7, but acquitted him on counts 2 and 6. The trial court denied defendants motion for new trial, then sentenced him to five years probation.
Defendant appeals in propria persona, renewing several grounds raised in his motion for new trial: (1) The trial court was so consistently biased against defendant that it [a]cted as a [s]econd [p]rosecutor. (2) The trial court erred prejudicially by prohibiting the testimony of defendants key expert witness. (3) The prosecutor committed misconduct. Defendant also contends the trial court erred by refusing to reduce his felony convictions to misdemeanors and by denying his motion for new trial. Lastly, he contends he has been unconstitutionally deprived of citizenship rights for criminal conviction under a negligence standard.
court conclude the trial court abused its discretion by excluding defendants key expert as a discovery sanction without properly considering whether a lesser sanction would suffice. Moreover, because the case turned on a battle of the experts, we cannot find the error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, Court reverse. In light of this conclusion, we do not reach defendants other claims of error.
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