Dead Animal House Search Admissible, Judge Rules

A Howard County Circuit Judge has denied initial evidence that was seized in an early search of a woman's were found in January, but declared the evidence seized after a search warrant was obtained to be admissible, according to an article in the Balitmore Sun.

This is the latest development in the case regarding , 40, who is accused of 60 counts of animal neglect, abuse and cruelty and also faces 23 felony charges in the discovery of dozens of animals left to die in her Columbia townhouse.

The grisly scene made headlines across Maryland.

In the afternoon of Jan. 16, police made a preliminary warrantless entry into the townhouse at the 9600 block of Lambeth Court and found two cats, a gerbil, a bearded dragon and a dead boa constrictor after being tipped off by a property manager, according to Wayne Kirwan, a spokesperson for the Howard County state's attorney's office.

The evidence seized in that search was ruled inadmissible by Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. McCrone Thursday, according to Kirwan.

Afterwards, police obtained a search warrant based on the animals seized from the home and the report of dead animals from the property manager, according to the Sun article.

In a motions hearing on Thursday, Lindenau’s lawyer attempted to have the search warrant evidence thrown out on the basis that only the property manager’s report was not sufficient to obtain a search warrant, but the judge sided instead with the prosecution, according to the Sun.

A second search of Lindenau’s subsequent home in the 9400 block of Hundred Drums Row on Jan. 17 was ruled inadmissible after police entered without a warrant through an unlocked sliding door at the rear of the house, according to Kirwan.

Howard County police have said that the animals in the Lambeth Court home had no food or water in their cages, nor was it available to animals that roamed the house. There was  in the home, but it was not accessible to the animals, police have said.

The heat and power in the house had been turned off, according to a statement.

According to neighbors, no one had been seen at the house for more than a week before police arrived.

The trial date for the case has been set for July 24, according to Kirwan.