Posted on 05/16/2009 4:00:46 PM PDT by JoeProBono
Ronald J. Chenette, convicted six months ago in the death of a police dog, knew he was going to prison for life well before Friday's sentencing hearing in Clark County Superior Court. Everyone else knew, too. Ronald J. Chenette, convicted six months ago in the death of a police dog, knew what was going to happen well before Friday's sentencing hearing in Clark County Superior Court. Everyone else knew, too. The sentence was dictated by a "three strikes" law that locks away felons for life after three violent crimes. The absence of suspense, then, maybe explains why nobody who didn't have to be at the hearing showed up, save for Chenette's parents and one other supporter. When Judge Roger Bennett expressed surprise that no officers showed up on behalf of Dakota, a 5-year-old German shepherd owned by the Vancouver Police Department, Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson shrugged.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Death penalty.
It would of been nice if some police showed up at the court.
Is it only police dogs that you equate with humans or is it all dogs?
This is stupid. Killing a dog does not warrant life in prison. I don’t care how expensive the dog is or who owns it.
“The sentence was dictated by a “three strikes” law that locks away felons for life after three violent crimes. “
Police absolutely not necessary for a court appearance wouldn’t be called to court. Shift changes in the interim means their appearance would be “on overtime”—most often sharply curtailed administratively.
The judge pointed out that the three strike rule is unwavering. He said, “Even a shoving match at a 7-Eleven over a bottle of beer could have resulted in life in prison”.
Also the felony committed wasn’t killing the police dog. It was for using a firearm in the commission of a crime.
So you are against all three-strikes laws?
It’s a dog. Three strikes my ass.
Well, I for one would sure want anyone who killed my dog to go to prison for at least life---LOL!
Actually, I'm not quite that bad, but I sure do love my dog and would be devastated if anyone harmed her.
The dog in question was a trained police dog--they are trained to protect their policemen, as well as to attack and bring down a bad guy. This does make them a bit more valuable in the food chain of life, I think.
WHat crime? If the police had not sicked their dog on him, there wouldn’t be any dead dogs.
You are bleating like a sheep. The state owns the dog, therefore it’s more important than a dog that you own.
That should make your blood boil.
I wonder if they prosecute police who shoot homeowners’ dogs while busting in a house on a warrantless, no-knock raid at the wrong address?
How many chances do they want?
THere is a definite double standard. People need to wake up and quit acting like loyal subjects. Killing a police dog is NOT the same as killing a cop. How or why we allowed the dam scumbags to tell it is is infuriating.
A dog has no ability to discern my rights as a citizen or a human being. Therefore any mean dog that threatens me is NOT going to be viewed by me as a police officer. I don’t care if the dam dog is wearing a badge.
If dogs have souls, then what do you have to say about the swiss? They eat st bernard.
Not necessarily. The police not even bothering to show up for a felon who get’s a life sentence makes him even less in everyone’s eyes.
Do you get it, he gets life, and the cops do not even bother wasting their time on him. It is like a gross insult. Life for a human in a cell, and the cops don’t even bother their time to go to trial. He is not important enough.
“WHat crime? If the police had not sicked their dog on him, there wouldn’t be any dead dogs.”
That is one of the most incredibly stupid things I have ever read. If it had been a policeman that went up to get the guy and the criminal had shot the policeman would you say, “What crime? If the policeman had not gone up there there wouldn’t have been a dead cop?”
A cop is not a dog. And vice versa. Maybe you are not quite as brilliant as you imagine.
It does if the convict has prior history of violent crimes. While wait until the jerk actually kills somebody?
IF he hadn’t committed a crime, nobody would have sicked a dog on him.
>>Death penalty
Delivered by the police dog’s handler.
In a cage with no one to observe.
God has a special place in heaven for our pet companions. And a special place in hell for those who hurt them. And I will petition God to let me be a handler in that special place in hell to provide eternal justice.
OK, then. Tell me what special place god has for a dog that kills a dog?
What a crock.
>>OK, then. Tell me what special place god has for a dog that kills a dog?
Well, the owner of the killer dog will answer. The dog-killing dog will someday be at peace.
God is very smart and understands what passes for “motivation” in His creatures. The ones He has designated to be companions to His children are blessed and have a special place in His House.
The real crime was not even one of the ones listed, it was "felon in possession of a firearm", and for someone who is a felon, mentally retarded, and prone to drink (I will bet it wasn't just a couple of beers) life is an appropriate sentence.
Lets all understand this -- the guy likes to get loaded and play with guns. Sooner or later someone is going to get shot. Taking him off the street is the right thing to do.
I meant for a show of support for the poor dog.
and yet i don't believe that cop that strung up his own Dog Partner and BEAT IT was ever charged with assaulting an officer...
It is not a “dog” in its capacity as a “canine officer”. the reason police dogs were given this distinction is because they serve much in the same way any other “police partner” serves.
the police dog serves alongside his human cop..the canine officer can hold, or grab and hold and “detain” a criminal; they can “attack’ and knock down a criminal, they can “stand in the way of a bullet “ or attack meant for a human officer.
In service, the police dog BECOMES AN EXTENSION OF THE OFFICER....and the officer depends on the canine for intervention, tactical support, combined police work in situations,etc....much like any other “human “ partner.
In legal and in REAL terms, the canine officer IS an officer of the law....not a “dog hanging out with a cop.”
This guy is a violent paranoid schizo who does not deserve to be out among the general population.
Locking him up for life for his third strike is the appropriate thing to do.
Yeah. It’s called destruction of property.
Cop kills dog as cuffed family watches
Another "lost" cop kills another dog and steals.
Double standard, eh?
Whatever.
Then my dog is an extension of me. If you threaten my dog, then I kill you.
See how stupid your post is?
YOU said no crime was committed when you said, “what crime?” in post 13. You have got to be near the top rung of stupid. If you want to argue that the sentence is excessive than fine, that can be legitimate. But to argue that there was no crime when obviously there was simply shows you were dropped on your head too many times as a child.
I've had it with you. Stop taking meth or crack or whatever it is you take moron!
Oh, and stop being so stupid as to stake out an indefensible position and then decide you are going to hold onto it regardless of it’s foolishness.
Read the article again. The guy didn't go to prison for life for killing the dog per se. He was already a convicted felon, and apparently this was his third felony, and he committed the felony using a gun. He went to prison because of the three strikes and you're in for life law.
Since I have found most dogs to be better company than most humans, anyone who injures or kills one of these creatures should be locked away.
You can’t argue the logic...so you call me stupid...
just go away.
“anyone who injures or kills one of these creatures should be locked away. “
Well that puts nearly all animal shelters and all vets in prison.
First off, killing a dog, without a good reason (ie, the dog was rabid, it was out of control and attacking him) will usually get anyone at least a few months in prison, under animal cruelty laws, even if it’s just a stray or someone’s pet. Second of all, he had a gun, which is illegal for a convicted felon, AND if possession wasn’t enough to get him his third strike, he used it in a crime. Also, whatever the guy was doing that caused the officers to confront him with the dog was probably illegal, and he may well have gotten punished for that. The canine officer wasn’t like some gangster’s ‘thug dog’ that might attack without warning - it was highly trained, a human officer must make the decision and give an order for it to bring down a criminal, and if you look at stuff about police misconduct, they’re much better at following orders than human officers. And, last but not least, the dog was probably somewhere in the vicinity of its human handler, so considering that police in general tend to shoot when someone draws a gun at them (not like the stuff in the movies or on TV when they walk forward slowly and try to talk the guy out of shooting), and the guy went further and discharged a weapon in their general direction, he’s lucky they didn’t just shoot him dead on the spot.
As far as the three-strikes rule, the guy was a twice-convicted felon who wouldn’t play by the rules - what should we do, keep spending time and money and clog up the court system with fourth and fifth and tenth time repeat offenders, and just install a revolving door on the jail? That’s why we have three-strikes rules,
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