[FEL-L] Couple to return to court in tiger case

[BigCatSimba at aol.com]

Simone D. 
 Couple to return to court in tiger case Tuesday, 1:05 AM 
Couple to return to court in tiger case 
By Star staff
January 2, 2007 
After a three-month delay, the federal court case against a former Tierra 
Rejada Valley couple believed to have owned the escaped tiger that was shot and 
killed in Moorpark in 2005 will be back before a judge this month. 
In September, the case against Gert "Abby" Hedengran and Roena "Emma" 
Hedengran, was temporarily halted by U.S. District Court Judge George H. King because 
of a medical emergency in the government counsel's family, court records 
state. 



 The couple face a host of charges involving animal welfare and obstruction 
of justice. 
Lawyers for the Hedengrans and the government were to make minor changes to a 
plea agreement submitted in August and issue a joint position, according to 
the judge's order at the time. 
The hearing on Jan. 8 at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles will be the 
first since late September. 
The Hedengrans had submitted signed plea agreements to the court Aug. 21 for 
their wrongdoing in the incident. The couple then asked to have a hearing on 
Aug. 29 delayed. They were expected to enter guilty pleas during that hearing. 
King threw out the plea agreements because of questions about some of the 
charges. King wondered whether some of the charges the couple face are violations 
of criminal statutes or more properly heard as regulatory violations, 
according to court records. 
Abby Hedengran had agreed to plead guilty to six counts, which included four 
misdemeanor charges for transporting exotic cats in enclosures of 
"insufficient structural strength" and in a manner that could cause them harm, exhibiting 
exotic cats without a license and keeping the animals in facilities that could 
not prevent their escape, according to court records summarizing the plea 
agreements. 
The remaining charges were felonies: making a false statement to a federal 
authority, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. 
Emma Hedengran had agreed to plead guilty to the same misdemeanor charges 
except for the exhibiting without a license charge. 
Only the misdemeanor charges were called into question by King. He suggested 
they could be violations of administrative rules and subject to an 
administrative hearing before the Department of Agriculture. It does not affect the 
felony charges Abby Hedengran faces.
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