Utah state legislators have passed a bill they say closes a loophole that allowed two people accused of burglary to be acquitted last year after taking two sick piglets from a Beaver County pig farm.
Known as the theft defense amendments bill, the measure would change the state’s criminal code to prevent as a defense taking livestock from an owner if it is sick, injured or a liability to their owner. The measure still needs the signature of Governor Spencer Cox, who has indicated he favors the legislation.
“I can’t think of anywhere else where it’s OK to trespass and steal property,” the Republican governor stated during a recent taping of the monthly PBS Utah Governor’s Press Conference program.
Utah lawmakers say the bill was created in reaction to a case in which two members of Direct Action Everywhere were found innocent in October of stealing piglets in 2017 from a Smithfield Foods farm in Milford. At trial, one defendant argued there’s a “big difference between stealing and rescue.” Three others accepted plea deals.
