Trio Accused Of Riding And Abusing Moose On Evanston-Area Ranch Plead Not Guilty

Three men charged with the abuse of a moose in May 2021 by roping, riding, and spurring the wild animal all pleaded not guilty in Uinta County District Court to various felony and misdemeanor charges on Tuesday.

Justin Martin and Range H. Martin, both of Evanston, appeared in court and Kylan W. Platt of Malad City, Idaho, by video before Judge James Kaste at their arraignment. 

Each case was arraigned separately.

Justin Martin is charged with two counts of accessory before the fact to felony cruelty to animals, and two counts of accessory before or after the fact to wanton taking of a big game animal-cow moose, both misdemeanors.

Kyle Platt and Range Martin are both charged with felony cruelty to animals, wanton taking of a big game animal, and possession permit required for live warm-blooded wildlife. The last two charges are misdemeanors.

Charges stem from a Wyoming Game and Fish Department investigation that began with the seizure of Justin Martin’s phone on a separate issue and finding video and screenshots of the alleged abuse of a cow moose by Justin Martin and Platt on May 4, 2021, and Justin and Range Martin on May 24, 2021.

Game and Fish allege that the abuse happened on Justin Martin’s M Arrow Ranch.

Justin Martin told the judge he “did a great job” explaining his rights and that he understood the charges and penalties he faces. The judge asked him how he pleaded.

“Not guilty,” Justin Martin said.

Kylan Platt and Range Martin, in turn, listened to the charges against them, told the court they understood the charges and associated penalties, and pleaded “not guilty.”

Kaste asked special prosecutor F. Gaston Gosar how long he anticipates a trial to take.

“Judge, if all cases were bound together, which would be the state’s preference, I anticipate this trial would probably take at least four days, if not a full five,” he said.

Justin Martin’s attorney Joe Hampton told the judge he thought the defense would take at least a day.

Background

The videos and associated screenshots uncovered on Justin Martin’s phone and testified to by Game and Fish Officer Heather Sterling at a preliminary hearing on Feb. 20 allegedly show Platt at Justin Martin’s M Arrow Ranch on May 4, 2021, lassoing, spurring and riding a cow moose judged by Sterling to be in poor condition.

“He’s smiling, and he is aggressively spurring the moose as if it’s a horse being broken to ride,” she said. “He doesn’t seem to have an issue in participating in this activity at all.”

Sterling said audio taken from the video had Justin Martin’s voice encouraging Platt as he rode the moose. 

She said that in addition to Platt having a rope around the moose’s neck, there was also a rope around one of its hind legs.

“In the video, you can hear Justin Martin encouraging this behavior and he says, ‘All right now, spur that son of a bitch, give him the dicks spur on him,’” Sterling quoted for the court. “'Spur him some more, go to the fronts, that’s a kid.’”

Sterling testified Justin Martin was laughing as he encouraged Platt. 

The investigation also found that Justin Martin sent the video to more than 20 phone numbers, she said. 

Other videos linked to the May 4 incident show Platt before riding the moose standing in the bed of a Honda off-road vehicle with a lariat around the moose’s neck and holding it as the moose struggles.

Another image taken before Platt’s ride shows him kneeling on the moose, pinning it down while holding a lariat tight around the moose’s neck, Sterling testified. 

He also had the front leg of the moose pulled inward toward its body similar to when a calf is branded.

A video from May 24 showed Range Martin with a cow moose standing in chest-high sagebrush with a lariat around its neck and pulling it while on a horse through sage brush. 

Sterling said the moose is shown falling and struggling to get back on its feet.

She said Justin Martin could be heard saying, “I don’t think Ol' Roany likes that son-of-a-gun too much.”

Trial Date Set

The judge said he would set a four-day jury trial date for Aug. 11, and a pre-trial conference for July 17.

“I know there are three defendants and we’re likely to try these things together, but if it takes more than four days, we’ve gone off the rails,” Kaste said.

Platt’s attorney J. Craig Abraham told the court that if the cases were joined, four days “is going to push it.”

“I just want to make sure I’m not being foreclosed here on being able to file a motion to separate if that is what we want to do,” he said.

The judge told him that there is no motion to join the cases before him and the defense attorneys can file their motions on whether to allow it or not. 

He said he was setting the trial date and pre-trial conference in the belief that joining the cases is probable but would “let the parties work through that process.”

The accessory before the fact to felony cruelty to animals charges carry a maximum of two years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. The accessory before or after the fact to wanton taking of a big game animal, a cow moose, charges carry a potential sentence of one year in jail and up to a $10,000 fine.

The felony cruelty to animals charges also carry potential penalties of two years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000; while the wanton taking of big game animal, a cow moose, carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine.

The charge of possession permit required for live warm-blooded wildlife, a cow moose, carries a potential penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.