Rutland Herald
Craig Mosher is not a farmer, he has an excavating business, said Burlington attorney Jerome O’Neill after Mosher’s hearing in Rutland criminal court on Monday afternoon.
O’Neill represents Kathryn Barry Bellis, whose husband lost his life last summer after striking Mosher’s loose Scottish Highland bull at night on Route 4 in Killington.
In April, the Rutland County grand jury indicted Mosher, 61, charging him with involuntary manslaughter in Jonathan Bellis’ death. And since that time, Mosher’s criminal indictment has sparked a national outcry from farmers and animal owners who say this is not a criminal matter.
“Since April 4, I have been getting calls from as far away as Texas. Any animal owner could face the same charges,” said Ray Duquette, president of the Rutland County Farm Bureau. “There is one farmer who is keeping his animals in the barn 24/7, one farmer who is not buying beef cattle because he can’t afford the liability and one farmer who is giving up farming.”
As a demonstration of support for the Killington man, more than 100 farmers and others packed into Courtroom Two just before 3 p.m. for Mosher’s hearing, which ended several minutes after it began. When Mosher turned to leave, several supporters clapped for Mosher as he stood and walked away from the defendant’s chair in the courtroom.
Mosher’s attorney, Paul Volt, said that he was still reviewing recently released evidence and filings, and he needed about 30 days before a discovery schedule is developed. The next hearing in the case was scheduled for July 11.
“Now that the facts are out, we are hoping they will see the case as it is, they will realize this is not about farming rights,” O’Neill said, mentioning misinformed letters to the editor about the issue. “People ignore the fact that the grand jury had all the facts presented to them.”
The details surrounding Mosher’s indictment were not available to the public because grand jury information is secret. But on Friday, Rutland County State’s Attorney Rose Kennedy filed documents in criminal court that included the Vermont State Police affidavit from the night of the July 2015 crash.
“This case is about public safety and the decision to indict Mr. Mosher was not taken lightly,” Kennedy said after Monday’s hearing. “The state has chosen to try this case in court, and not on social media.”
According to State Police, shortly before Bellis, 62, of Woodbridge, Conn., hit Craig Mosher’s 1,800-pound bull, a milk truck driver blew his air horn outside Mosher’s home to warn him that the bull was loose. The truck driver told State Police he banged on Mosher’s door, and eventually Mosher opened an upstairs window and said he would come out.
But when Mosher did not come out after several minutes, the driver said he called State Police to say he almost hit a bull on Route 4 in Killington.
Barely 15 minutes later, while en route to respond to the loose bull call, the state trooper received a report that a vehicle had struck the bull and there were injuries.
Bellis was pronounced dead at the scene and the bull was killed in the crash as well.
When Mosher arrived on the scene that night, he told State Police that after the milk truck driver warned him, he went to look for the bull on his property, couldn’t find him and went home and fell asleep.
“The defendant admitted that the milk truck driver woke him up and told him that his bull had been in the roadway and was down on the lawn of the Val Roc Motel,” Kennedy wrote in her notice to the court on Friday. “Defendant said that he did not look for his bull there, but rather only on his property, assuming the milk truck driver was wrong. Defendant said he did not see his bull so he went back inside his house and fell asleep.”
According to Kennedy’s filing, the milk truck driver, Jeffrey Herrick, said he had to stand on his brakes in order to avoid hitting the bull.
Witnesses to the crash told police that the bull was in the middle of the road, and when Bellis’ vehicle hit him, the bull landed on top of Bellis’ car, which then veered to the left, going off the road, striking a tree at full speed. According to State Police, a witness said he never saw the car brake.
Bellis’ wife was able to get out of the vehicle, but Bellis was unconscious and gasping for air, according to the affidavit.
Despite social media posts saying that Bellis was speeding, witnesses said he was traveling about 35 to 40 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone, police said.
On the night of the crash, State Police and Mosher walked the pasture fence line and found a section of the electric fence was lifted about 6 feet off the ground from a small apple tree.
Duquette said because Mosher is being charged in criminal court, it threatens all farmers or animal owners who might have an animal escape an enclosure.
But according to the indictment, Mosher was charged with involuntary manslaughter because he was criminally negligent and did not heed warnings about the bull being loose.
“On July 31, 2015, Craig Mosher of Killington ... was a person who acted with criminal negligence by having noticed that his Scottish Highlander bull was loose and failed to contain his bull or alert others to this danger and, that his failure to take action caused the death of Jon Bellis,” the indictment charged.
Court documents reveal that State Police were called five times — May 19, June 20, June 23, July 26, July 31 — regarding Mosher’s animals being out of the pasture and walking on Route 4.
If convicted, Mosher could serve up to 15 years in jail.
A civil case in this matter has already been settled, O’Neill said, adding that he is unable to discuss the settlement.
kathleen.phalentomaselli
@rutlandherald.com
O’Neill represents Kathryn Barry Bellis, whose husband lost his life last summer after striking Mosher’s loose Scottish Highland bull at night on Route 4 in Killington.
In April, the Rutland County grand jury indicted Mosher, 61, charging him with involuntary manslaughter in Jonathan Bellis’ death. And since that time, Mosher’s criminal indictment has sparked a national outcry from farmers and animal owners who say this is not a criminal matter.
“Since April 4, I have been getting calls from as far away as Texas. Any animal owner could face the same charges,” said Ray Duquette, president of the Rutland County Farm Bureau. “There is one farmer who is keeping his animals in the barn 24/7, one farmer who is not buying beef cattle because he can’t afford the liability and one farmer who is giving up farming.”
As a demonstration of support for the Killington man, more than 100 farmers and others packed into Courtroom Two just before 3 p.m. for Mosher’s hearing, which ended several minutes after it began. When Mosher turned to leave, several supporters clapped for Mosher as he stood and walked away from the defendant’s chair in the courtroom.
Mosher’s attorney, Paul Volt, said that he was still reviewing recently released evidence and filings, and he needed about 30 days before a discovery schedule is developed. The next hearing in the case was scheduled for July 11.
“Now that the facts are out, we are hoping they will see the case as it is, they will realize this is not about farming rights,” O’Neill said, mentioning misinformed letters to the editor about the issue. “People ignore the fact that the grand jury had all the facts presented to them.”
The details surrounding Mosher’s indictment were not available to the public because grand jury information is secret. But on Friday, Rutland County State’s Attorney Rose Kennedy filed documents in criminal court that included the Vermont State Police affidavit from the night of the July 2015 crash.
“This case is about public safety and the decision to indict Mr. Mosher was not taken lightly,” Kennedy said after Monday’s hearing. “The state has chosen to try this case in court, and not on social media.”
According to State Police, shortly before Bellis, 62, of Woodbridge, Conn., hit Craig Mosher’s 1,800-pound bull, a milk truck driver blew his air horn outside Mosher’s home to warn him that the bull was loose. The truck driver told State Police he banged on Mosher’s door, and eventually Mosher opened an upstairs window and said he would come out.
But when Mosher did not come out after several minutes, the driver said he called State Police to say he almost hit a bull on Route 4 in Killington.
Barely 15 minutes later, while en route to respond to the loose bull call, the state trooper received a report that a vehicle had struck the bull and there were injuries.
Bellis was pronounced dead at the scene and the bull was killed in the crash as well.
When Mosher arrived on the scene that night, he told State Police that after the milk truck driver warned him, he went to look for the bull on his property, couldn’t find him and went home and fell asleep.
“The defendant admitted that the milk truck driver woke him up and told him that his bull had been in the roadway and was down on the lawn of the Val Roc Motel,” Kennedy wrote in her notice to the court on Friday. “Defendant said that he did not look for his bull there, but rather only on his property, assuming the milk truck driver was wrong. Defendant said he did not see his bull so he went back inside his house and fell asleep.”
According to Kennedy’s filing, the milk truck driver, Jeffrey Herrick, said he had to stand on his brakes in order to avoid hitting the bull.
Witnesses to the crash told police that the bull was in the middle of the road, and when Bellis’ vehicle hit him, the bull landed on top of Bellis’ car, which then veered to the left, going off the road, striking a tree at full speed. According to State Police, a witness said he never saw the car brake.
Bellis’ wife was able to get out of the vehicle, but Bellis was unconscious and gasping for air, according to the affidavit.
Despite social media posts saying that Bellis was speeding, witnesses said he was traveling about 35 to 40 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone, police said.
On the night of the crash, State Police and Mosher walked the pasture fence line and found a section of the electric fence was lifted about 6 feet off the ground from a small apple tree.
Duquette said because Mosher is being charged in criminal court, it threatens all farmers or animal owners who might have an animal escape an enclosure.
But according to the indictment, Mosher was charged with involuntary manslaughter because he was criminally negligent and did not heed warnings about the bull being loose.
“On July 31, 2015, Craig Mosher of Killington ... was a person who acted with criminal negligence by having noticed that his Scottish Highlander bull was loose and failed to contain his bull or alert others to this danger and, that his failure to take action caused the death of Jon Bellis,” the indictment charged.
Court documents reveal that State Police were called five times — May 19, June 20, June 23, July 26, July 31 — regarding Mosher’s animals being out of the pasture and walking on Route 4.
If convicted, Mosher could serve up to 15 years in jail.
A civil case in this matter has already been settled, O’Neill said, adding that he is unable to discuss the settlement.
kathleen.phalentomaselli
@rutlandherald.com
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