Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 5/12/15

The former Pilgrim's Pride contract grower accused in the deaths of up to 300,000 chickens earlier this year has seen all charges against him dropped — for now.

According to a report on the Manning Live news site, covering Clarendon County, S.C., the judge in the case said Tuesday that authorities "did not have enough probable cause" in their case against James Laverne Lowery, who was charged in early April with eight counts of second-degree burglary and four counts of malicious injuiry to animals or property. Lowery previously was a contract grower from Pilgrim's Pride, but his contract reportedly was not renewed due to poor performance.

The bulk of the case reportedly rested on cell phone records; Lowery's defense attorney is quoted as saying there is no physical evidence tying Lowery to the birds' deaths.

The chickens were killed at 16 different Clarendon County chicken houses in February when the alarms were cut to the facilities and then the climate controls in the chicken houses reset to suffocate the birds. The birds were owned by Pilgrim's Pride, destined for the company's processing facility in Sumter, S.C.

Even as he dropped the charges, the judge noted that Lowery was not off the hook. The evidence still could be presented directly to a grand jury for consideration.

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