Supreme Court grills defense in beating death of colt

The beating death of a thoroughbred colt reached the New Mexico Supreme Court on Tuesday, but the legal twists and turns may not be over. Three of the five justices were publicly skeptical of horse trainer Greg Collier's arguments that he cannot be tried a third time on a charge of animal cruelty. Both of his trials in Las Cruces ended in mistrials. Collier, 41, contends that the case against him should be dismissed because of double jeopardy, expiration of the statute of limitations and a violation of his right to a speedy trial. Both a district court judge and the state Court of Appeals agreed with him that the state should be barred from trying him for a third time, though their reasoning differed. The state's prosecution of Collier began more than five years ago. A grand jury indicted him on a fourth-degree felony, alleging that he used a whip handle to kill a thoroughbred yearling named Cowboy on Feb. 13, 2006, near Chaparral. Cowboy's owner had hired Collier to train the colt as a racehorse. Collier, of Lubbock, Texas, took notes as the justices grilled his attorney. Now he must wait for the Supreme Court to rule whether he is a free man or if the state can try him again...more