An application to throw out evidence against a woman who allegedly killed hundreds of birds of prey in northern Victoria has been rejected.
WARNING: This article contains images some people may find upsetting.
Dorothy Sloan, 82, faces 342 charges for allegedly killing and possessing protected wildlife, and serious acts of animal cruelty.
In August 2019, authorities discovered 120 wedge-tailed eagle carcasses and the remains of other native animals in a raid of her Violet Town property.
Police and Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning officers also originally discovered the carcasses of kites, hawks, falcons, a cockatoo and kookaburra, as well as a number of kangaroo joeys.
A further search revealed dozens more eagle carcasses.
Some of the dead animals were found in a freezer and the skeletons of hundreds of birds were found in a paddock.
Forensic testing indicated the eagles died from consuming a chemical used to control mites.
But the warrant used to execute one of the searches was not filled out correctly.
Ms Sloan's defence argued 25 charges should be dropped because the warrant did not state the date the warrant would expire.
The court heard the evidence formed a crucial part of the prosecution's argument.
Admission of evidence 'strongly favoured'
Today the Shepparton Magistrate's Court heard the prosecution had conceded that the warrant was defective, invalid and the evidence was illegally obtained.
Magistrate Marita Altman had to determine whether the public interest of the evidence being admitted outweighed the illegality of the way it was obtained.
Magistrate Altman said there was also public interest in not giving "encouragement to obtaining evidence illegally".
Ms Sloan's defence contended that the use of a warrant was designed to protect the interests and rights of a person who was subject to a search, the court heard.
But the magistrate refused the application to exclude the evidence.
She said she was satisfied the probative value of the evidence was high.
The error on the warrant was found to be inadvertent or careless rather than deliberate or reckless.
Magistrate Altman said she "strongly favoured" admitting the evidence due to its importance to the serious charges Ms Sloan faced.
