Two Alabama seniors, convicted after feeding stray cats, file appeal and prepare to sue their city

After two Alabama women were arrested, fined and sentenced to jail as well as probation in connection to feeding stray cats in their neighborhood near Montgomery, their attorneys filed a formal appeal seeking a jury trial and are preparing to sue the city.

Beverly Roberts, 85, and her friend, Mary Alston, 60, were arrested in Wetumpka in June and hauled off to jail when police spotted them sitting inside their cars and suspected they were feeding stray cats. Roberts, a retired sergeant major in the U.S. Army, was originally told by authorities last summer to stop feeding cats on public property. The county said at the time that the cats were a nuisance and causing damage to county vehicles.

The police officer who pulled Roberts from her car during her more recent arrest told the grandmother she was being taken into custody "because you have been trespassed, and you have returned yet again."

"We're going to have to take you to jail, OK?" the cop said.

"Jesus Christ," Roberts replied. "This is what you're wasting city gas on."

Both Roberts and Alston — who was similarly dragged from her vehicle by law enforcement when she was arrested, as police body camera footage shows — were feeding the cats as part of a practice called "TNR." The acronym stands for trap, neuter and release, and is intended to reduce feral populations.

Steve Tears, who heads Montgomery's Humane Society, an animal welfare and protection organization, does not believe TNR is actually a public nuisance, and said that Roberts and Alston should be commended for their actions.

"It's actually the solution to your feral cat problem," Tears told CBS News.

Local police in Wetumpka have cited residents' complaints about stray animals "becoming a nuisance" as a result of being fed, a suggestion that Alston has countered with a different perspective.

"I'm trying to help that nuisance by catching 'em," she said. "They should be thanking me. I've got a trap set right there trying to help catch 'em and get 'em out of here."

Last week, Roberts and Alston, dubbed "cat ladies" in the press, had their day in court, with attorney Brad Ekdahl leading the prosecution.

"It's a criminal trespass case," said Ekdahl. "And a criminal trespass case hinges on: were you told to leave and did you come back?"

The city initially used its ordinance against trespassing to threaten the women with arrest if they continued to feed cats, which is legal. Judge Jeff Courtney, who incidentally said a prayer with the prosecutor and other city officials before Roberts and Alston's trial started, found the women guilty on all charges, which included disorderly conduct and interfering with a law enforcement officer, in addition to trespassing.

Alston said she was "very shocked and disappointed" by the conviction.

"And disheartened," Roberts added. "That they don't see any other way to do this."

But Roberts also said that "in a way," she did expect to be found guilty "because of the politics here." In separate comments reacting to both women being taken into custody and how that was handled, one of the arresting officers said, "I'm glad nobody was recording because a bunch of police officers beating up on a couple of old ladies. It was rough."

Roberts and Alston were fined $100 each and sentenced to 10 days in jail as well as two years of unsupervised probation. The jail sentences were suspended. 

Following the verdict, one Alabama newspaper featured an editorial piece saying, "They don't deserve a jail sentence, they deserve a key to the city."

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• Alabama