[hoosier]

Fri, May. 10, 2002

Frat president's attorney once accused of animal cruelty

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The attorney for a fraternity president, one of 23 Wake Forest University students accused of mistreating a pig at a party, once was accused of animal cruelty for castrating his dog at home.

Nate Pendley was tried for animal cruelty in 1995 after performing an at-home castration on his dog. He was found innocent after a judge ruled that the procedure was not considered willful, unjustifiable abuse under state law. Pendley told the judge hearing his case that he castrated his 40-pound mutt to try to make him less aggressive after the dog snapped at a child and bitten the clothes of two other people.

After a hearing Thursday, a security guard who was supposed to testify said Pendley asked him to say a particular student wasn't at the party.

That occurred Thursday, when the case against the students was postponed until Sept. 5. Their attorneys said the students were unable to attend because it is exam week at the university.

Pendley, representing fraternity president Andrew G. Smith, said he wanted to proceed with the case Thursday. Judge Laurie Hutchins denied the request after the district attorney said all the students should be tried together at the later date.

Forsyth County Animal Control officers cited 23 fraternity members with abandoning a pig, a misdemeanor under the state's animal-cruelty laws. Of the 23 members, 21 were also cited with the misdemeanor of allowing livestock to run at large.

The charges came after a April 20 party held by the fraternity under a rented picnic shelter at Tanglewood Park. The hog was found the next morning in nearby woods, dehydrated and unable to stand. Park officials said that the pig was drunk. The hog is in the custody of county animal control officers.

This week, Wake Forest suspended the fraternity's charter for three years and said that the students may face further disciplinary action depending on the outcome of their criminal cases.

Both the national fraternity and the school have suspended the WFU chapter. Craig Templeton, Sigma Phi Epsilon's executive director, said Friday he was pleased the students had been given the chance to finish their exams.

"We're working with the university to map out where we go from here," he said Friday.

After the hearing, Pendley said the students never gave the pig anything to drink. "If that pig was drunk it's because Barbara Cassidy got it drunk," Pendley said, referring to the director of Forsyth County Animal Control.

On Friday, Pendley disputed the wording of the remark and said he had made it as a joke. He also said he did not believe the pig was drunk.

"It was never intended as a serious allegation," Pendley said. "It was simply lampooning the situation."

Cassidy rejected Pendley's claim.

"That's utterly absurd. There's probably not much more I can say about it," she said Friday.

And Templeton said he had seen no evidence that Cassidy was involved with the pig's condition. "In talking to her and the students, we haven't seen any reason to believe that she did anything," he said. "I haven't seen anything to lead me to believe any of those statements."

He pointed out that Pendley represents an individual fraternity member and not the fraternity.

During the hearing Thursday, a security guard from Tanglewood set to testify in the case told Hutchins that he had been approached by a lawyer outside the courtroom and that the man had tried to get him to say that he had never seen a particular student who was at the party.

"I told him that I would tell nothing but the truth," said Steve Greenlee, a guard with Budd Security Services who works at Tanglewood. "When I did, the man started yelling at me."

A few moments later, Pendley entered the courtroom and Greenlee identified him as the lawyer who had approached him. Pendley later said that he had talked to Greenlee, but that it was the security guard who got agitated.

"The man seemed to think it was wrong for him to discuss the case with a defense attorney," Pendley said.