PETA workers cleared of animal cruelty

MSNBC.com ^ | February 2, 2007 | AP

[Bubba_Leroy]

A jury found two animal-rights workers not guilty Friday of animal cruelty for euthanizing animals they took from shelters, but both were convicted of littering for dumping the carcasses in a trash bin.

Adria Hinkle and Andrew Cook, two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, were cleared of eight misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. Hinkle also was found not guilty of three felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.

Both received a 10-day suspended jail sentence and a year of supervised probation, meaning neither will serve jail time. Their van will be confiscated by police and each was ordered to pay $4,000 in fines and court costs.

[xcamel]

Just Damn..

[To Hell With Poverty]

AWFUL

[To Hell With Poverty]

Grrrrrr

[yankeedame]

You took the words right out of my mouth.

If nothing else why didn't they get nailed for illegal possession of controlled substance? That pheni???? (whatever its called) they used to kill those animals.

[xcamel]

protected groups and forgivable crimes...

[girlangler]

Ping

[word_warrior_bob]

You've GOT to be kidding me, I'm Pi$$ed, wonder how much it took to pay off the judge.

To cheer up come see the latest pictures of me and my new puppy.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1778381/posts

[yankeedame]

"One juror was sent home before the trial got underway, presumably for medical reasons (she arrived in court wearing a hospital bracelet), so the first "alternate" juror has been promoted to the real thing. The jury now includes nine African-Americans and three Caucasians, and is split 50-50 between men and women. "

================

Source

[ibbryn]

Amazed they got away (fairly) clean.
But also amazed they lost their van.

That't the penelty for littering? You have to forfeit your vehicle? That doesn't seem right either.

[george76]

[Calpernia]

unreal

[Slings and Arrows]

May these vermin rot in hell.

[mom4kittys]

Yes indeed.

[JerseyJohn61]

Those two never need to move into my neighborhood....JJ61

[supercat]

If this were simply a case of PETA destroying animals which people had dropped off, I wouldn't see grounds for animal cruelty or other such charges. After all, there simply aren't enough resources to care for all the animals people want to get rid of. Unfortunate, but that's life.

On the other hand, it sounds like these people went out of their way to get animals to kill. And there's something not right about that. I don't know exactly what charges should best apply, but I would think something beyond littering.

Among other things, if the shelters would normally charge a fee to people who adopt animals but waived the fee in this case, I would think there might be a basis for regarding such fee waiver as fraudulent.

Bizarre in any case.

[Lady Jag]

May these vermin rot in hell. They are definitely past their sell-by date.

[B4Ranch]

>>"I gave the penalty I thought was appropriate," Superior Court Judge Cy Grant said.<<

>>Hinkle, 28, of Norfolk, Va., and Cook, 26, of Virginia Beach, had each faced 21 felony counts of animal cruelty until Grant reduced those charges Thursday, saying prosecutors failed to prove malice, a necessary element of the felony charge.<<

Somebody bought the judge, IMHO

[GovernmentShrinker]

This is not necessarily the end of these perps' legal troubles. They are still very much exposed civil suits from the shelter workers, for fraud, for damaging the shelters' reputations by making people afraid to leave there pets there for fear they won't get a decent chance at adoption, etc. The standards of proof are much lower for civil cases (remember OJ?), and PETA is unlikely to be paying legal defense fees for any civil cases, as it's clear the perps weren't complying with PETA's policies when they did the illegal dumping.

[Rembrandt]

Nothing in that verdict prevents any of us from using that case to beat PETA over the head at every opportunity!! Load up with large animal bones and start the pummeling!!!!