Acebot44
12-15-2004, 05:02 PM
Link (http://www.sanangelostandardtimes.com/sast/news_local/article/0,1897,SAST_4956_3380775,00.html)
A state district judge convicted Jonathan Benjamin Johnson on Monday of felony cruelty to animals and sentenced him to probation, ending a trial where attorneys sparred over whether Johnson was guilty of torturing the dog he beat with a skateboard.
Johnson, 18, remained expressionless as Judge Ben Woodward declared that Johnson did torture the stray dog in a downtown San Angelo parking garage March 1.,
Rather than order jail time, as prosecutors had requested, Woodward sentenced Johnson to two years of probation, with a one-year suspended sentence and a $500 fine. As part of his probation, Johnson must perform 60 hours of community service and avoid contact with his co-defendant, Kevin Ward Wright, 18.
''You made a mistake,'' Woodward said. ''And now it's time to pay the consequences for that.''
Because state law allows an enhanced charge for torturing an animal but provides no definition of torture, Woodward, prosecutor John Best and defense attorney Kirk Hawkins debated whether the beating - one blow delivered by Johnson - warranted the felony charge.
Cruelty to animals is a Class A misdemeanor, but a finding of torture enhances the charge to a state-jail felony, punishable by as many as two years in prison.
The case attracted national attention when Johnson and Wright sent the video they made of the beating to friends through e-mail and instant messaging, according to court documents. Animal-rights Web sites posted the video and formed letter-writing campaigns to Best and state district judges.
In an interview after the trial, Johnson said he regretted his actions.
''It was like a spur-of-the-moment thing,'' he said. ''There's not a day that goes by when I don't think of it four or five times and wish I could erase it and start over.''
Johnson was beaten up by a group of boys at a local skate park after the video became public, he said, a reiteration of statements he made during a videotaped confession played in court.
The trial turned emotional as Best played a video of the beating. Two people - the mothers who initially called police when they saw the video sent to their children in March - left the courtroom in tears.
The video shows the dog lying in a corner next to a vending machine in the Twohig Street parking garage when Johnson lunges forward, smashing a skateboard with two hands into the side of the dog's head.
The dog, after first jumping and barking, begins to stagger against the machine as one boy yells, ''You whacked it good!'' followed by laughter.
As the dog tries to turn away into the corner, another blow with the skateboard is delivered to its neck. The dog then curls into the corner.
Wright is scheduled to appear at a pre-trial hearing at 9 a.m. today. He also is charged with cruelty to animals with a torture enhancement, as well as felony criminal mischief in an unrelated case.
The felony conviction was important, Best said, because it set a precedent that will make cruelty-torture charges easier to prosecute.
''In all the case law, I didn't find any cases that had facts similar to this,'' he said. ''In that sense, it's good for other prosecutors prosecuting these types of cases.''
Best argued that a dictionary definition of torture as ''mental or physical anguish'' fit Johnson's actions, as did a body of state-court decisions that never ruled out such actions as torture.
Hawkins in turn argued that other cases where judges found torture was committed involved far worse crimes, such as poisoning, cooking and drowning animals.
Johnson, as a first offender, did not deserve jail time, regardless of public opinion, he said.
''He's suffered the wrath of the community,'' Hawkins said. ''This is a good kid who's never been in trouble before.''
Video (http://www.pet-abuse.com/database/case_pics/case2820_1103052887_1.wmv)
I didnt watch it. Just reading the description made my heart sink
:(
A state district judge convicted Jonathan Benjamin Johnson on Monday of felony cruelty to animals and sentenced him to probation, ending a trial where attorneys sparred over whether Johnson was guilty of torturing the dog he beat with a skateboard.
Johnson, 18, remained expressionless as Judge Ben Woodward declared that Johnson did torture the stray dog in a downtown San Angelo parking garage March 1.,
Rather than order jail time, as prosecutors had requested, Woodward sentenced Johnson to two years of probation, with a one-year suspended sentence and a $500 fine. As part of his probation, Johnson must perform 60 hours of community service and avoid contact with his co-defendant, Kevin Ward Wright, 18.
''You made a mistake,'' Woodward said. ''And now it's time to pay the consequences for that.''
Because state law allows an enhanced charge for torturing an animal but provides no definition of torture, Woodward, prosecutor John Best and defense attorney Kirk Hawkins debated whether the beating - one blow delivered by Johnson - warranted the felony charge.
Cruelty to animals is a Class A misdemeanor, but a finding of torture enhances the charge to a state-jail felony, punishable by as many as two years in prison.
The case attracted national attention when Johnson and Wright sent the video they made of the beating to friends through e-mail and instant messaging, according to court documents. Animal-rights Web sites posted the video and formed letter-writing campaigns to Best and state district judges.
In an interview after the trial, Johnson said he regretted his actions.
''It was like a spur-of-the-moment thing,'' he said. ''There's not a day that goes by when I don't think of it four or five times and wish I could erase it and start over.''
Johnson was beaten up by a group of boys at a local skate park after the video became public, he said, a reiteration of statements he made during a videotaped confession played in court.
The trial turned emotional as Best played a video of the beating. Two people - the mothers who initially called police when they saw the video sent to their children in March - left the courtroom in tears.
The video shows the dog lying in a corner next to a vending machine in the Twohig Street parking garage when Johnson lunges forward, smashing a skateboard with two hands into the side of the dog's head.
The dog, after first jumping and barking, begins to stagger against the machine as one boy yells, ''You whacked it good!'' followed by laughter.
As the dog tries to turn away into the corner, another blow with the skateboard is delivered to its neck. The dog then curls into the corner.
Wright is scheduled to appear at a pre-trial hearing at 9 a.m. today. He also is charged with cruelty to animals with a torture enhancement, as well as felony criminal mischief in an unrelated case.
The felony conviction was important, Best said, because it set a precedent that will make cruelty-torture charges easier to prosecute.
''In all the case law, I didn't find any cases that had facts similar to this,'' he said. ''In that sense, it's good for other prosecutors prosecuting these types of cases.''
Best argued that a dictionary definition of torture as ''mental or physical anguish'' fit Johnson's actions, as did a body of state-court decisions that never ruled out such actions as torture.
Hawkins in turn argued that other cases where judges found torture was committed involved far worse crimes, such as poisoning, cooking and drowning animals.
Johnson, as a first offender, did not deserve jail time, regardless of public opinion, he said.
''He's suffered the wrath of the community,'' Hawkins said. ''This is a good kid who's never been in trouble before.''
Video (http://www.pet-abuse.com/database/case_pics/case2820_1103052887_1.wmv)
I didnt watch it. Just reading the description made my heart sink
:(