CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #4251 Rating: 1.0 out of 5
Cat beaten, thrown against wall
Raleigh, NC (US)Incident Date: Monday, Mar 28, 2005
County: Wake
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Charles Everette Thompson, III
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
On March 28, 2005, Thompson was arrested for allegedly beating a cat with a shower rod until it was brain dead, then throwing it against the wall. He was charged with felony cruelty to animals under Offense Code 6206, Statute 14-360(B). Thompson was reportedly intoxicated at the time and had been home alone drinking all day. Neighbors called the police because Thompson was banging against the walls and making a lot of noise. Thompson claims he does not remember the incident. He is expected to go to court on the animal cruelty charges on April 18, 2005.
Case UpdatesCharles Everett Thompson III will spend 10 days in jail after admitting in court Wednesday that he was guilty of killing Clara, a black-and-white longhair cat that belonged to his former girlfriend.
Thompson's jail sentence begins Friday, Sept 9, 2005.
Wake County District Court Judge Alice Stubbs could have sentenced Thompson, 27, of Raleigh to an active sentence of 45 days in jail. Instead, the county District Attorney's Office and Bradley Bannon, Thompson's defense attorney, negotiated a plea agreement.
Thompson originally was charged with one count of felony cruelty to animals. The agreement allowed him to plead guilty to misdemeanor cruelty to animals.
In addition to the active sentence, Stubbs sentenced Thompson to 20 days of probation and 160 hours of community service, Bannon said Wednesday.
Although she knew of the plea agreement, Clara's owner, Caroline Johnson, 24, of Raleigh, said she was unhappy with the sentence.
"Personally, I don't think it was as hard it should have been," Johnson said Wednesday.
Late Easter Sunday, Johnson found Clara severely hurt in her apartment. She said that hours earlier she had gone to pick Thompson up from a friend's house, where he'd had dinner and drinks. After picking him up, she dropped him off at the apartment they shared near Cameron Village and then turned off her mobile phone for about an hour.
When she turned the phone back on, she said, there were several calls from Thompson, informing her that Clara was bleeding from the eyes and the mouth.
"She was brain-dead when we found her on the couch," Johnson said. "Right above her, there was blood and hair against the wall."
Clara was later euthanized.
Johnson recalled that the night of the incident Thompson had "blood all over him and was covered with scratches."
The noise from the apparent fracas startled their neighbors, who called police twice.
The case was prosecuted by Wake County prosecutor Tom Ford. | Source: News Observer - Sept 8, 2005
Update posted on Sep 8, 2005 - 11:12PM |
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