Prosecutors in Yellowstone County, Mont., have requested that a new judge assume the James Leachman animal cruelty case after Leachman’s son Seth Leachman filed suit against Justice of the Peace Pedro Hernandez, the judge currently presiding over the case.

In December the herd of 450 horses were residing on 9,400 acres of deeded land and 30,000 acres of leased Crow Tribal land southeast of Billings, Mont., with scant forage and no water source. Several horses were also discovered dead on the property.

The horses’ owner, James H. Leachman, was later charged with a total of 16 charges of misdemeanor animal cruelty for negligently failing to provide veterinary care, food, or water to helpless animals. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

In March members of the Crow Tribe gathered the surviving horses from the leased tribal lands on which they were located. Those horses were later sold at auction. At that auction, Seth Leachman successfully bid on 66 of the horses. James Leachman later paid for those horses and placed them on Indian Trust Land he leases