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Times-Courier
A court case involving the former proprietor of a Gilmer County animal rescue and petting zoo will be heard in Superior Court.
Former Build an Ark proprietor Susan Littlejohn is charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty by Gilmer County Animal Control.
In March, Littlejohn appeared in Gilmer County Magistrate Court to be arraigned on the first four charges. Those charges were then to proceed to a court hearing.
In April, 10 additional charges were brought against Littlejohn by animal control.
Littlejohn’s legal counsel recently made a motion for the case to be transferred to Superior Court, confirmed Magistrate Judge Kevin Johnson.
“Through council, she is invoking her Sixth Amendment rights to a trial by jury in Superior Court,” Johnson added.
The case now awaits the accusation/indictment and grand jury processes before a court date is set. All the charges against Littlejohn are county ordinance violations, which are misdemeanors.
Because more serious cases normally have priority over nonviolent cases in Superior Court, it could take a year or more before the case goes to trial.
Build an Ark, which was operated on property owned by Coosawattee River Resort from 2010 till earlier this year, has since closed, and the property has been vacated.