Horse trial moving to Carson

The trial of three men charged with fatally shooting a wild horse will be moved to Carson City, a judge ruled Thursday.

First District Judge Michael Griffin's decision came two days after he ordered a change of venue in the case. He also considered moving the trial to Reno or Las Vegas.

A trial date for former Marines Darien Brock, 22, and Scott Brendle, 23, and their high school buddy, Anthony Merlino, 21, is expected to be set at a conference today.

Griffin ordered the change of venue Tuesday, saying coverage of the December 1998 slaughter of 33 mustangs stacked tiny Storey County against the three defendants.

He said it should be easier to find impartial jurors in Carson City, 15 miles southwest of Virginia City, the Storey County seat.

The judge said he was aware of only one previous time that a change of venue had been ordered in a criminal trial in Nevada.

Griffin said Tuesday that publicity surrounding the mass killing had become the ''talk of the town'' and that familiarity with the case among prospective jurors was unprecedented in his 20 years on the bench.

Sharon Claassen, Storey County's deputy district attorney, agreed.

''I have never in all my jury trials had a judge ask, 'Has anyone heard of the case?' And the entire panel raises its hands,'' she said. ''It just doesn't happen.''

The defendants were once accused of shooting at least 28 of the horses with high-powered rifles, but now are only charged in the death of a single mustang. The three were arrested in January 1999 after a relative of a sheriff's employee overheard one talking at a party.

They eventually admitted they had been in the same canyon during the days in question but had played a role in the death of only one horse.

Brendle said he shot one, and Merlino said when he came across one that had been shot, he put it out of its misery.

By all accounts, the 33 horses died horrible deaths, shot multiple times, some through the heart, one between the eyes.

Griffin last month ruled there was insufficient evidence to support the more than two dozen initial charges. The remaining gross misdemeanor charge carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

The shooting of the 33 horses in the hills east of Reno drew national outrage.