Missoula Crime Report: Shocking Animal Cruelty Trial

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - The Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed 11 felony complaints this week, which is seven less than last week and less than the weekly average. According to County Attorney Matt Jennings, that is the lowest they have had since the first week of February. 

“We had five violent crimes, we had one endangerment crime, and we had five drug crimes,” Jennings said. “There was a lot of methamphetamine this week, even though I understand from Missoula police that some of those methamphetamine numbers have been going down while the fentanyl crisis continues to escalate. So, we were happy to see some of these offenses dropped for this week and give us a little bit of a reprieve.” 

READ MORE: Chief Addresses Missoula's Crime Trends in 2023 Annual Report

In addition, Jennings said they had two jury trials within the last week. 

“On wrapped up last Friday afternoon and that was a case against the defendant named Sean Lewis for assault on a minor,” Jennings said. “He was convicted of causing serious bodily injury to a young child in his care.” 

On Wednesday, they had a case involving Frank Rodriguez wrap-up. 

“That was an aggravated animal cruelty case,” Jennings said. “That case was something shocking and really seemed to pull on emotional strings for individuals. He was accused of abusing and decapitating two cats and then sending pictures of them to his small children.” 

READ MORE: Man Charged With Two Felony Counts of Aggravated Animal Cruelty

Jennings said jury trials take up a lot of resources. 

“They are kind of the Super Bowl for attorneys, but they can be very stressful and very uncertain,” Jennings said. “You never know quite how jurors are going to react. It can be difficult with a beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard to get a conviction. We've just been happy to have some success recently in reaching the issues that are important to jurors in Missoula County. 

The Missoula County Attorney’s Office provides a weekly crime report every Friday morning at 9:00 on Talk Back. You can listen to Jennings’ full report below: