Fairview Twp horse owner Brian Arendosh pleads his case that he was coerced int surrendering healthy horses to the care of Equine Angels of Cabot .

Based on complicated twists, missing witnesses and unanswered legal questions, a Butler County judge postponed a hearing Wednesday to determine if a Fairview Township man should get back his horses intertwined in a criminal case and a civil matter.

Brian Arendosh, 49, alleges the animals were taken from him in March when state police were at his Cherry Road home.

Arendosh, who was charged with three dozen counts of animal cruelty, claims the horses were seized. And, he alleges that since county District Attorney Rich Goldinger dropped the case, he should get the animals back from Equine Angels, the Cabot-based rescue group that removed the horses.

Arendosh, who is represented by Butler lawyer Alexander Lindsay, asked Judge Timothy McCune to return the animals, which Arendosh denied ever mistreating.

Goldinger told McCune Wednesday that he agrees that any evidence seized as part of the investigation should be returned.

However, a lawyer representing Equine Angels Rescue asserts the animals were not seized as evidence. Attorney William Clifford of Pittsburgh said he has a handwritten letter by Arendosh giving the horses to Equine Angels and owner Pam Vivirito, “as I can no longer care for them.”

When confronted by the letter, Lindsay responded that Arendosh did not voluntarily write it, and it was intertwined in the criminal search and seizure process.

McCune said testimony from the two state troopers involved in the case could be critical to deciding if this issue should be determined by him as a search and seizure matter or by the federal courts, where a lawsuit is pending, as a private property matter.

Arendosh is one of five horse owners alleging their civil rights were violated when Equine Angels Rescue took horses from their properties. The lawsuit also seeks the return of the animals.

Clifford is alleging they are identical claims that need litigated only once.

Lindsay asserts there are different issues that need aired in different forums.

Lindsay said he made an attempt to subpoena the two troopers to attend Wednesday’s hearing. But a lawyer representing the troopers successfully petitioned McCune to quash the subpoenas because they were not properly served.

At the end of the hearing, McCune discussed with the attorneys the possibility of holding a meeting before the next hearing to determine exactly how this matter will proceed.

Arendosh and more than a dozen spectators attended the hearing, but they were not called on to speak.

According to court records, Arendosh is seeking the return of six horses: two paint horses, two quarter horses and two thoroughbreds. However, in court Wednesday, officials only spoke of four animals.