A Yorkton judge has granted a court-appointed lawyer to a 71-year-old Manitoba man facing animal cruelty charges.
Walter Goba appeared before Judge Ross Green September 8 to make the request for a lawyer to defend him on four Criminal Code offences, two Animal Protection Act charges and one count of breach of a conditional sentence.
Goba is the Swan River, Manitoba man who pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in a Winnipeg court in early April. The charges were related to 2010 complaints from the public that led to 25 dogs and 18 horses in various states of distress being seized.
He received a six-month conditional sentence and a 10-year prohibition from owning pets or livestock.
At the time, the Winnipeg Free Press reported the Court had shown leniency because Goba's wife was gravely ill and he was her primary caregiver.
Within weeks of that conviction, however, Goba was back in the news again facing similar charges, this time in Saskatchewan. In December 2013, the Saskatchewan SPCA responded to a report of possible animal abuse on a property near Yorkton owned by Goba. Investigators found 11 horses that Kaley Pugh of the SPCA described as being in "critical distress."
The judge questioned prosecutor Todd Wellsch as to the Crown's intent. Wellsch said he would be seeking jail time in consideration that the charges he is currently facing are the same as the ones he had already been convicted of and for which he is currently serving a conditional sentence.
Green was convinced that Goba should be represented by a lawyer given his age, medical issues and the types of charges. The judge was concerned, though, about probation office reports that described Goba as aggressive and uncooperative. He warned the defendant that he must cooperate with the court-appointed lawyer.
Court-appointed counsel is available when a defendant does not qualify for Legal Aid, but still cannot afford an attorney.
Goba's next appearance in Yorkton court is scheduled for September 29.
