Loudoun County prosecutor drops animal cruelty charges; House where animals were kept now on the market for $4.25 million

By Audrey Carpenter

Loudoun County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joseph Gesley on Nov. 29 dropped multiple criminal charges involving a Round Hill animal cruelty case that garnered extensive media attention since last February.

Gesley dropped seven counts of animal cruelty, two counts of importing an animal without a certificate, and single counts of obstruction and other unlawful acts in Loudoun County General District Court against Nicole Metz, the former executive director of Luck of the Irish Animal Rescue.

Eight counts of animal cruelty and two counts of importing an animal without certification were also dropped against Kimberly Hall, former operations director of the group. Additionally, eight counts of animal cruelty were also dropped against Alex Hall, Kimberly Hall’s son, according to court records, who was involved in marketing efforts for the now-defunct group.

Metz and Kimberly Hall were next door neighbors and friends. Both lived in the 35000 block of Dundee Court in Round Hill and ran what they described as an animal rescue and welfare organization in the The Highlands at Round Hill neighborhood.

Hall sold her home on May 13, 2023 for $1.14 million three months after animals were seized from her home. Metz has now also put her house on the market as of Nov. 21, 2023. It is listed for $4.25 million by Debbie Henry with Samson Properties, the same realtor who sold Hall’s home.

A video of Metz’s home presented by Henry can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/875725577.

Ed Nuttall is listed in court records as Nicole Metz’s attorney. A voicemail for Nuttall was not returned and an email sent to him at his law firm, Carroll and Nuttall PC, came back as undeliverable. Nuttal ran in the November 2023 election for Commonwealth’s Attorney for Fairfax County as a write-in candidate losing to Steve Descano, who received 77.5% of the vote, according to the state election office.

How did this all begin?

In February 2023, an ambulance arrived at Hall’s former home for a medical call. Loudoun County Sheriff’s Deputies also responded to the home and while helping to attend to the medical needs of Hall, noticed animals that they described as physically suffering, caged and malnourished. One of the sheriff’s deputies then called Loudoun County Animal Services to report the findings and begin an investigation.

On Feb. 16, numerous animals were removed from Hall’s home. A month later on March 27, numerous animals were then removed from Metz’s home. All combined, there were 102 animals confiscated from both homes – 28 cats, 70 dogs, two parakeets and two rabbits – which were taken to Animal Services. There were also horses on Metz’s property. Three of the dogs had to be euthanized after arriving at Animal Services, officials disclosed.

Deputy Chief Humane Law Enforcement Officer Angela Chan wrote in a search warrant affidavit that Metz’s home was consistent with hoarding conditions. This is in stark contrast to the pristine conditions displayed in the video and photos of the listing for the home now for sale for millions of dollars.

An individual familiar with the case who asked not to be identified stated, “Animal Services was wearing Hazmat-like suits while going in and out of Hall’s house. They spent hours on the property removing animals.”

“After the removal of the animals from the homes, I counted nine Junk King trash removal trucks parked over a period of days in front of Hall’s home with workers removing a large amount of possessions,” the source described.

Prior to this, neighbors described hearing constant dog barking, foul smells and observations of numerous animals being brought into the houses and transported back and forth between houses and other buildings on the grounds, such as a cottage on Metz’s property in which a relative resided.

In May 30, Animal Control removed three animal carcasses from Kimberly Hall’s property and in June Metz, Hall, and Hall’s son were criminally charged.

“The entire neighborhood has watched this play out for months. We are concerned about the animals. Animal Services allowed six of Metz’s dogs to be returned to her,” the source said. “We are looking for justice in this situation and it is disappointing to hear that the prosecutor dropped the charges in this case.”

Why?

The Blue Ridge Leader reached out to the prosecutor on the case and Buta Biberaj, the former Commonwealth’s Attorney, asking why all charges were dropped in this case. Here is the response from Biberaj:

“The case was investigated by the Loudoun County Animal Services and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. During the investigation, the Sheriff’s Office seized a laptop and other evidence belonging to Luck of the Irish Animal Rescue. On November 22, defense counsel advised the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney that the laptop contained materials necessary for their defense, including medical records for the animals at issue and business records. Based on the representations, it was determined that the contents of the laptop likely contained Brady materials that require disclosure to the accused.”

[In criminal law, the Brady doctrine is a pretrial discovery rule that was established by the United States Supreme Court in Brady v. Maryland in 1963 that requires the prosecution to turn over all exculpatory evidence to the defendant in a criminal case. Exculpatory evidence is evidence that might exonerate a defendant.]

“Over the next few days, the Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys conferred with Animal Services and the Sheriff’s Office and learned that the Sheriff’s Office attempted to search the laptop but had been unable to do so with the tools they had available at the time and without a password.”

“Thereafter, defense counsel agreed to provide the password for the laptop so the information could be accessed and provided to the prosecution and defense by the Sheriff’s Office. After further consultation with law enforcement, it was decided that the Sheriff’s Office required additional time to produce the information. Thereafter, the attorneys agreed that due process required the trial needed to be continued.”

“On November 29, a request was made to continue the case. The continuance was denied by Judge [Deborah] Welsh. Until the Sheriff’s Office retrieves and provides the information stored on the laptop, the case cannot ethically proceed to trial. Thus, the Commonwealth made a motion to nolle prosequi [dismiss] the charges. Once the Sheriff’s Office gathers the information from the laptop, the charges will be refiled,” Biberaj concluded.

A request for comment from Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman and Nina Stivley, director of Animal Services, was not responded to before deadline.