Ashland, Kentucky The Independent
Published: February 17, 2010 11:24 pm
Attorney: Bat killings result of 'ignorance'
ASHLAND - An attorney representing one of the two men scheduled to be
sentenced today in federal court for the 2007 killings of more than 100
endangered bats at Carter Caves State Resort Park says his client's
misdeeds were borne of "ignorance rather than malice."
In a sentencing memorandum, attorney Michael Campbell also argues that
his client, Lonnie Wales Skaggs, deserves leniency because of lingering
emotional trauma resulting from abuse and neglect he suffered as a child
at the hands of alcoholic parents, and because he is the product of
culture that views the "indiscriminate killing" of bats and other
species of animals as not only acceptable, but expected.
Skaggs, 31, and his co-defendant, Kaleb Dee Morgan Carpenter, both
pleaded guilty in December to violating the federal Endangered Species
Act by crushing 105 endangered Indiana bats that were hibernating in
Laurel Cave with rocks, flashlights and their feet. The killings
occurred on Oct. 26 and 27, 2007, and drew horror and outrage from
wildlife-protection organizations.
Skaggs and Carpenter are scheduled to be sentenced beginning at 10 a.m.
today by U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward B. Atkins. Both face up to a year
in prison and a fine of up to $1,000.
Carpenter is the son of Skaggs' mother's boyfriend, according to court
records. Carpenter's age is not listed.
Twenty-three bats were killed the first night; 82 the second. In a
sentencing memorandum filed on Carpenter's behalf, Carpenter's attorney,
Matthew Warnock of Greenup, states that his client did not participate
in the second round of killings.
According to Campbell's sentencing memo, Skaggs' mother, Bonnie Skaggs,
drank heavily while she was pregnant with Lonnie Skaggs, which caused
him to suffer from mental deficiencies because of fetal alcohol syndrome.
Skaggs also suffered through a hellish childhood during which he often
witnessed his father abuse his mother "as both of (his parents) abused
the bottle," Campbell wrote.
"Lonnie's childhood was marked by violence, alcohol abuse and the
constant need for protection from both his father's violent outbursts
and his mother's neglect. Unfortunately, he never got the protection
which he needed."
Skaggs' parents divorced when he was 14. His mother moved out, leaving
Skaggs in the home with his father, Ronnie Skaggs. After his mother
left, his father's beatings and verbal abuse "not only continued, but
escalated," Campbell wrote.
Skaggs, who quit school in the ninth grade, began abusing alcohol
himself in his teens and subsequently had a series of minor scrapes with
the laws that stemmed from his drinking, Campbell wrote. Skaggs also was
drunk on the nights of the bat-killings, according to the memo.
Campbell also wrote that Skaggs was unable to grasp the significance of
killing the bats because he is "the product of a culture which teaches
that bats are bad.
"Lonnie looked upon killing the bats as other citizens might look upon
eliminating crows from a cornfield," the memo reads. "As difficult as it
may be for many of us to understand this way of thinking, it is folly
and foolishness to ignore its existence in eastern Kentucky.
"It is the contention of this defendant ... that the crime is one of
ignorance rather than malice."
Campbell proposes that Skaggs receive a 105-day sentence - one day for
each of the bats - and that it be probated on the condition that he
write, in collaboration with his attorney, a guest commentary on the
consequences of killing bats for publication in area newspapers. He also
recommends that Atkins require Skaggs to undergo substance abuse
treatment.
Count Gordon Birkhimer among those who believe that Skaggs and Carpenter
need to spend some time behind bars for their misdeeds.
Birkhimer is president of the National Speleological Society, the
world's largest caving organization. In a letter that was made a part of
the court record, he urges Atkins to impose the maximum penalties on the
two defendants.
The bat-killings "were truly an evil deed and these reprehensible
individuals who must be held accountable and made an example to avoid
any future catastrophes," he wrote. "The thought of the defenseless and
helpless being murdered in such a way is very disturbing and makes one
wonder what other violent acts they might be capable of."
Laurel Cave is one of four at Carter Caves that is home to Indiana bats.
All four locations have been deemed critical to the survival of the
species.
According to Birkhimer, the Laurel Cave bat-killings could not have
occurred at a worse time. A disease known as White Nose Syndrome has
wiped out huge numbers of the animals, he wrote, and the killings
applied more pressure to an already-stressed population.
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