SOURCE: The Press-Enterprise

Tuesday, February 22, 2005
By Sandra Stokley

Jurors find former tiger rescuer guilty

COURT: The lawyer for John Weinhart calls his conviction "a great injustice."

RIVERSIDE - Former animal rescuer John Weinhart was found guilty Tuesday by a Riverside County jury on 56 of 61 felony charges against him, including child endangerment and 13 animal-cruelty counts.

Weinhart, who operated the Tiger Rescue sanctuary in Colton until it was ordered shut in April 2003, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read.

Superior Court Judge J. Thompson Hanks ordered Weinhart taken into custody. Sentencing was set for March 22.

He faces a maximum sentence of 14 years and six months in prison on the felony convictions.

The jury of nine women and three men began deliberating Thursday afternoon and signaled that they had reached verdicts shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Juror Jeanie Hall of Canyon Crest said all the jurors were impressed by Weinhart's knowledge of animals during his three days of testimony.

"But when it came to this trial, that didn't apply. It didn't matter that he loved animals. They weren't being cared for," Hall said.

The juror said the child-endangerment charge did not spark the debate she had anticipated.

"It was all of the conditions in the home with the tigers and alligators, the needles and the medicine," Hall said. "They were not conditions we would want our children in."

The case against Weinhart stemmed from an April 22, 2003, raid on his Glen Avon compound by state Department of Fish and Game agents and animal-control officers.

The agents had gone there on a tip that Weinhart was keeping two juvenile tigers and two alligators without permits. A zoning dispute with Riverside County required that he not keep exotic animals at the Glen Avon property.

The agents found the tigers and alligators and much more.

They found 11 newborn tiger and leopard cubs in an attic space, 58 cubs in a freezer and the rotting and mummified carcasses of at least 30 exotic cats around the property.

Investigators also found Weinhart's then-8-year-old son in his trash- and feces-strewn home where the alligators languished in the bathtub, a juvenile tiger was chained on the patio, and syringes and powerful animal tranquilizers, including PCP, were kept in an unlocked refrigerator next to food and chocolate Easter candy.

Weinhart and his longtime partner, Marla Smith, were arrested and charged with 63 counts.

Smith pleaded guilty to all counts on Jan. 24, just hours before her trial was set to begin, saying she did not want to force her son to testify against her. Her sentencing is set for March 10.

Defense attorney Addison Steele called the conviction "a great injustice.

"When we have a group of city folks asked to judge what happens on a farm, it's difficult for them," Steele said.

Steele reiterated his contention that Weinhart's son was never in danger and that, like any child raised on a farm, he knew the dangers of being around the exotic animals and knew not to touch the medications stored in the refrigerator.

"If Mr. Weinhart can be convicted of child endangerment, then any parent can," Steele said Prosecutor Stephanie Weissman credited the staff at the district attorney's office with helping her mount a strong case against Weinhart.

"We did a good job of presenting evidence to the jury and the jury did a thorough job of analyzing it," Weissman said.

But during his three days on the stand, Weinhart insisted that investigators had staged photos and lied to bolster their case against him and to steal his animals.

Many of the frozen cubs were the offspring of rare Javan tigers that Weinhart was hoping to clone to save the species. Experts believe Javan tigers are extinct.

In addition to the felony counts, Weinhart was originally charged with 46 misdemeanor counts including a failure to have permits and to keep required logs for the 11 tiger and leopard cubs. Two counts of breeding exotic cats without a permit were dropped during the trial.

Weinhart is also facing 10 misdemeanor counts in San Bernardino stemming from his treatment of exotic cats housed at the Tiger Rescue sanctuary in Colton.

That trial had been put on hold pending adjudication of the Riverside case.

Reach Sandra Stokley at (951) 368-9647 or sstokley@pe.com