纽约-周二，一名马车司机因一匹马在曼哈顿街道上摔倒而受审刑事案件这概括了现代社会对一个古老旅游景点的多年争夺。
检察官表示，伊恩·麦克伊弗在2022年8月的一个84度(29摄氏度)的日子里无情地驾驶着这匹马赖德，尽管有迹象表明，这匹马在返回他的谷仓之前一直在努力拉着马车。
“被告选择按部就班，照常营业，过度劳累莱德，”检察官泰勒·毛雷尔在她的开场陈述中告诉陪审员。这匹马幸免于难，但几个月后因为健康问题被实施了安乐死。
56岁的麦基弗对虐待动物的轻罪指控不认罪。他的律师说这匹马得到了适当的照顾，没有过热，只是绊倒了。
“赖德的摔倒令人心碎，但本案的证据不会显示赖德摔倒是因为伊恩过度劳累，”律师雷蒙德·洛夫(Raymond Loving)在开庭陈述中说。
150多年来，马车一直穿梭在中央公园和城市的街道上。在无数电影和电视节目中出现过，它们对许多游客来说是一个奇特的景点，对长期以来希望禁止它们的活动人士来说也是一个原因。
动物保护者称让马在曼哈顿的交通中穿行是不人道的。多年来，一些马受到惊吓，逃跑，并与汽车或其他物体相撞。除了赖德，其他人都在工作中倒下了。
马车的支持者将马车视为往昔纽约的浪漫遗迹。他们还指出，这些马车为游客带来了净收益，并为司机提供了数百个工作岗位，还为过剩的农场和赛马提供了工作岗位。
“如果他们没有来纽约，这些马中的大部分都已经死了，”麦基弗说在2014年告诉美联社。他说他自己的几匹马在他买之前将被送到屠宰场。
也许不可思议的是，马车变成了潜在的政治问题大约十年前，当市长候选人比尔·白思豪竞选时承诺在他上任的第一天就根除它们。民主党在2013年获胜，并遭到工会、报纸社论和其他马车支持者的抵制。两年后，一个限制车厢数量和范围的折中方案被否决了取消了议程在市议会投票的前夕。
麦基弗已经当了30年的马车车夫。他的律师说莱德属于被告的兄弟。
2022年8月10日，这匹马在外面呆了7个多小时，主要是在中央公园。旁观者卡罗琳·隆达尔-斯米特(Caroline Londahl-Smidt)周二作证说，在她看来，这匹马似乎处于“严重的痛苦之中”，正慢慢地走上一座小山，麦克伊弗摇晃着缰绳，似乎愤怒地试图让它加速。
后来，这匹马在晚高峰时段倒在了时代广场附近。旁观者视频由纽约邮报出版显示McKeever猛拉缰绳让他站起来。
根据警察局骑警队的文森特·丰塔纳中士的证词和人体摄像机视频，赖德侧身躺在人行道上近一个小时，偶尔试图站起来，因为警察用附近餐馆的水和冰给他降温。官员们在马头下塞了一个枕头，以保护他的右眼不被人行道挡住。
最终，这匹马站了起来，走进了一辆拖车，并被赶回了他的马厩。
丰塔纳说，麦基弗告诉他这只动物已经13岁了，但是检察官说它的年龄要大得多。
通过询问，勒夫强调，丰塔纳测量马的生命体征时，马的体温正常，呼吸也没有比正常情况快多少。他这样做是在警察开始冲洗动物之后。
预计麦基弗将在审判的晚些时候作证。如果罪名成立，他可能面临长达一年的监禁，尽管该指控也允许罚款或社区服务等替代措施。
New York carriage horse's collapse spurs criminal trial
NEW YORK --A carriage driver went on trial Tuesday over a horse's collapse on a Manhattan street, ina criminal casethat encapsulates years of modern-day strife over an old-timey tourist attraction.
Prosecutors say Ian McKeever relentlessly kept driving the horse, Ryder, on an 84-degree (29-degree Celsius) day in August 2022, despite signs that the animal was struggling to pull the carriage before he went down en route back to his barn.
“The defendant chose to press on, business as usual, and overwork Ryder," prosecutor Taylor Maurer told jurors in her opening statement. The horse survived the fall but was euthanized some months later because of health problems.
McKeever, 56, has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge. His attorney says the horse was properly cared for, wasn’t overheated, and simply tripped and fell.
“Ryder’s fall is heartbreaking, but the evidence in this case is not going to show that Ryder fell because Ian overdrove him,” the lawyer, Raymond Loving, said in his opening statement.
Horse-drawn carriages have plied Central Park and the city's streets for over 150 years. Featured in countless movies and TV shows, they're a quaint attraction for many tourists and a cause célèbre for activists who have long wanted them banned.
Animal advocates say it's inhumane to have horses navigating Manhattan traffic. Over the years, some horses have gotten startled, run off and collided with cars or other objects. Others besides Ryder have collapsed on the job.
Supporters of horse-drawn carriages see the coaches as a romantic remnant of a bygone New York. They also note that the carriages net tourist dollars and have provided hundreds of jobs to drivers, plus jobs for a glut of farm and racing horses.
“If they did not come to New York City, most of these horses would be dead,” McKeevertold The Associated Press in 2014. He said some of his own carriage horses were going to go to slaughterhouses before he bought them.
Perhaps improbably, horse-drawn carriages became apotent political issueabout a decade ago, when mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio campaigned on a promise to eradicate them on his first day in office. The Democrat won in 2013 and got pushback from unions, newspaper editorials and other supporters of horse-drawn carriages. After two years, a compromise plan to limit the carriages' number and range waspulled off the agendaon the eve of a City Council vote.
McKeever has been a carriage horse driver for 30 years. His attorney said Ryder belonged to the defendant's brother.
The horse was outside for over seven hours on Aug. 10, 2022, mostly in Central Park. An onlooker, Caroline Londahl-Smidt, testified Tuesday that the horse appeared to her to be in “major distress,” walking slowly up a hill, as McKeever shook the reins and seemed to be trying angrily to speed him up.
Later, the horse collapsed near Times Square during the evening rush hour. Bystander videopublished by the New York Postshowed McKeever snapping the reins at him and telling him to get up.
Ryder rolled onto his right side and laid on the pavement for nearly an hour, occasionally trying to rise as police cooled him with water and ice from nearby restaurants, according to testimony and body camera video from Sgt. Vincent Fontana of the police department's mounted unit. Officers tucked a pillow under the horse's head to protect his right eye from the pavement.
Ultimately, the horse stood, walked into a trailer and was driven back to his stable.
Fontana said McKeever told him the animal was 13, but prosecutors say he was considerably older.
Through questioning, Loving emphasized that the horse's temperature was normal and his breathing was not much faster than normal when Fontana took his vital signs. He did so after officers had started hosing down the animal.
McKeever is expected to testify later in the trial. If convicted, he could face up to a year in jail, though the charge also allows for alternatives such as fines or community service.
