CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #8559 Rating: 3.7 out of 5
Dog cut with razor-blade covered stick
Texas City, TX (US)Incident Date: Friday, Apr 1, 2005
County: Galveston
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Manuel Garcia
A man received probation in May 2006 for injuring his neighbor's dogs with a stick affixed with numerous razor blades.
Manuel Garcia, 62, told jurors the stick, into which notches had been etched, then fitted with razor blades, was a garden tool designed to kill slugs and caterpillars.
However, police officers testified that he told them last year that he had placed the bladed stick into a hole at his fence line to teach his neighbor's dogs not to dig there.
Having found Garcia guilty of animal cruelty, the County Court No. 1 jury could have sentenced him to up to a year in jail, as well as a fine of up to $4,000. Instead, jurors sentenced him to a year of probation and a $500 fine. If Garcia violates his probation, he could be sent to jail for 30 days.
Defense attorney Carlos Garza asked jurors for probation, citing his client's clean record and the many family members who testified on his behalf. Even prosecutor Tiffany Theobald referred to Garcia as "a good man" who had "made a mistake." Still, she asked jurors to let Garcia spend some time in jail, so that he felt the consequences of his actions.
She noted that police found a nearly identical stick in the same spot six weeks after Garcia's initial arrest in April 2005.
In both cases, the dogs suffered numerous cuts to their paws. References« TX State Animal Cruelty Map
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