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CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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When you vote, you are voting on whether or not the punishment fit the crime, NOT on the severity of the case itself. If you feel the sentence was very weak, you would vote 1 star. If you feel the sentence was very strong, you would vote 5 stars.
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Case #5773 Rating: 3.4 out of 5
Monday, Dec 10, 2001
County: King
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: George Coleman Patterson
A King County judge issued a six-month jail sentence and a stern warning to an Auburn man for beating a cat and being violent with his girlfriend in front of their children.
George Coleman Patterson pleaded guilty May 20 to a misdemeanor charge of harassment and a felony charge of animal cruelty for the Dec. 10 incident. His age was unavailable.
Patterson's attorney, Jeff MacNichols, said in court that his client has had 15-17 charges of domestic violence assault and similar charges filed and dismissed, most of the time because Patterson's' girlfriend, Tamra Cabuco, failed to appear as a witness.
MacNichols asked that those offenses, some of which he said Cabuco admitted making up to get back at Patterson, not be considered when Superior Court Judge Laura Gene Middaugh decided the sentence.
And Cabuco asked Middaugh not to issue an order prohibiting Patterson from having contact with her and their two daughters, 6 and 9. Middaugh asked why she didn't want the no-contact order.
"I just don't think I need it," Cabuco said. "Ultimately, I'd like to work things out with George."
But Middaugh said she wanted to stop the violence in the home and ordered Patterson to only professionally supervised visits with the children until he makes headway in several treatment programs.
"I'm very concerned, Mr. Patterson, about the violence you are committing in front of your children," Middaugh said. "You're teaching them that violence is acceptable."
In addition to jail, which Patterson can serve through work release, Middaugh sentenced him to a domestic violence batterer's treatment program, ordered him to get a drug and alcohol evaluation, follow any treatment recommendations and complete a parenting class.
According to a police account of the incident for which Patterson was sentenced:
Patterson came home drunk and threw or kicked the cat repeatedly. He then woke up the children and told them they didn't have fleas anymore because he had broken the cat's neck.
Patterson proceeded to terrorize and threaten the family until police arrived. Patterson threatened the officers and tried to get them to shoot him before he was taken into custody.
MacNichols said yesterday that the cat had no permanent injuries.
References
« WA State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in King County, WA