WISCASSET -- A judge has yet to rule if a search warrant executed in January at a Somerville woman's home -- resulting in the seizure of 66 animals -- was supported by enough evidence.

Fern Clark, 78, was charged with the five felony counts for animal cruelty in January after her home was raided by the state's Animal Welfare Program with assistance from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 18.

Andrews Campbell, Clark's attorney, told Justice Andrew Horton the search warrant did not present a probable cause for state officials and law enforcement to enter the home, and the affidavit provided "insufficient and vague" evidence to support the warrant.

Lincoln County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright argued that, even if Horton could not find probable cause in the search warrant, the affidavit detailing what the state found inside Clark's home provided the necessary evidence to move forward with the case.

Chris Fraser, a state-employed veterinarian, said it is unusual for her department, a branch of the Department of Agriculture, to conduct investigations by using a search warrant, but maintained the state was given little choice because they had been denied entry to the Clark home on multiple occasions to inspect the premises and investigate complaints.

A search warrant, Fraser continued, was the most certain way to gather evidence that animal cruelty was taking place.

"Evidence could have been changed, so we felt the need to expedite," Fraser said.

"(The Animal Welfare Program) was getting calls from the media about this, as was the town of Somerville," Fraser said of Clark's alleged operation. "There was concern the animals might be moved to another location or other evidence might be changed before we could investigate."

"This isn't cocaine you can flush down a toilet," Campbell replied, incredulous. "Where would she take (the animals)?"

Fraser said the Animal Welfare Program believed an unidentified Sidney breeder who sometimes sold Clark's animals, and Clark's daughter, also a dog breeder, were potential hiding places for the animals.

The warrant was reviewed by former Lincoln County Assistant District Attorney Lisa Bogue and approved by Justice Jonathan Hall, a justice of the peace from Damariscotta, Wright said. Lincoln County Sheriff's Office Lt. Rand Maker also looked at the warrant, Fraser testified.

Horton, the judge who presided at Tuesday's hearing, said the arrest of a Dracut, Mass., woman claiming to rescue several canines from Clark's home, presented a difficulty linking Fern Clark to operating a puppy mill.

The woman, Amy Moolic, was arrested Jan. 16 in Salem, N.H. Police officials discovered 22 dogs -- three dead -- in her car. Moolic said she had saved some of the dogs, though it has not been made clear how many of the dogs in the car were not originally hers and if they had indeed come from Clark, Horton said.

Matthew Clark, Fern Clark's son, also took the stand Tuesday, testifying that though his name was on the search warrant, he technically does not live at the same Hewett Road address his mother does, and agents would not have had any legal right in his home when the search warrant was executed.

Matthew Clark said he lives in an upstairs apartment within the house his mother resides in. His quarters have an electric meter separate from the rest of the house, though he said he owns the property and pays the taxes on it.

Matthew Clark also testified Fraser threatened him and his mother. On Nov. 1, 2006, Fraser and "some other woman" came to the house saying they were investigating a complaint regarding sick kittens, Matthew Clark told the court. He told Fraser he and his mother were not in possession of any cats, and if she would not show them the complaint, she would have to leave the property and come back with a search warrant.

"She looked me right in the eye and said, 'I'll get you any way I can,'" Matthew Clark said. "To me, that's a threat."

Fraser shot down the accusation.

"I have never said that anybody, and certainly not to the Clarks," she said to Wright. "I have always left the residence when I was asked to."

Meghan V. Malloy -- 623-3811, Ext. 431

mmalloy@centralmaine.com