Posted on 12/05/2008 4:22:37 AM PST by TornadoAlley3
COCOA — For nine months, Theresa Clifton has rallied with roughly 50 other protesters who attended each hearing for a woman accused of moving out of her home and leaving behind her dog to starve to death, calling for nothing but the maximum yearlong jail sentence.
On Thursday, a judge ordered Christine Abrams, 30, of Cocoa to spend eight months in jail as part of a 12-month probation sentence, after she pleaded no contest to two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty for the starvation death of her 1-year-old German shepherd, Ella.
Judge Kelly McKibben also ordered Abrams to perform 80 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 fine, along with other court costs.
Protesters called the outcome bittersweet.
"I'm not happy with the outcome . . . but we are happy that it has been acknowledged that it was a heinous crime," said Clifton, executive director of the Central Brevard Humane Society. "It dismays me that anyone in this community would think it's OK (to starve an animal) just because it's a dog."
The case drew the attention of thousands of people worldwide who have created Web pages, signed petitions, donated money to local animal organizations and begun lobbying lawmakers for tougher animal-cruelty laws in Ella's memory.
The humane society named a dog-walking path in Ella's memory.
Emotions run high
Abrams was sentenced during an emotionally charged hearing characterized by courtroom outbursts from protesters who rallied outside the courthouse beforehand, admonishments from the judge that Abrams' attorney not direct comments at the audience, and a post-hearing battle of words in the hallway between the lawyer and a protester.
After the hearing, deputies said Abrams was escorted out the back of the building, away from protesters waiting in front with signs.
She will return to court Dec. 16 to determine when she has to report to the Brevard County jail to begin serving jail time, after her lawyer, Andrew Stine of West Palm Beach, indicated that he planned to appeal the judge's previous ruling on a motion to suppress evidence.
McKibben said Abrams may not own any animals during her probation.
"The facts of this case are very egregious," McKibben said. "I think she made a very bad decision on that date."
Abrams was arrested March 12, after prosecutors said she moved out of the home and left Ella in a cage for several months, with an unopened bag of dog food and a bottle of water mere feet away.
Police said Abrams, discovered less than a mile away at a friend's home, told them she moved out because her water had been cut off, and said she didn't take Ella with her because her new roommate allegedly didn't like dogs.
Abrams had faced a maximum of a year in jail and $5,000 fine had she been convicted at trial.
Prosecutors on Thursday asked that she be sentenced to nine months in jail as part of the probation, to 100 hours of community service, and that she be ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
'Only a misdemeanor'
In seeking a sentence that didn't include jail time, Stine drew loud protests from the courtroom gallery, when he asked that Abrams be placed on probation and house arrest, and to publish a letter of apology in the local newspaper or one of the Web sites dedicated to Ella.
He said Abrams -- who had wanted to address the court, but did not on his advice -- is remorseful and has donated the home where Ella died to Catholic Charities. He pointed out that she has no prior criminal record.
"No matter how cruel and inhumane it may appear, it's only a misdemeanor. And it's a misdemeanor for a reason. It's because this was an animal, this was a dog," he said, drawing gasps from the audience.
McKibben said she "appreciated" Abrams' showing of remorse and acceptance of responsibility, but the facts of the case warranted jail time.
There was no evidence pointing to a need for Abrams to undergo psychiatric or psychological evaluations, she said.
Sentence delayed
McKibben granted Stine's request that she delay Abrams' jail sentence until after the circuit court rules on his appeal of her ruling last month that police did not violate Abrams' Fourth Amendment rights by entering her home without a warrant.
McKibben sided with police, who said they feared Abrams might be in need of immediate medical attention after peering through a window and catching sight of Ella's decomposing body.
Stine had argued in pretrial motions that the warrantless search was illegal unless police had reason to believe they or someone inside was in immediate danger, or that evidence was about to be destroyed. Death eliminated those possibilities, he said.
Based on McKibben's decision, "today in Brevard, if an officer comes to your door and says he smells death -- which I don't even know what that is -- he could enter without a warrant," Stine said after Thursday's hearing. "I don't believe that's what our forefathers intended."
Protester concerns
Protesters said they are worried Abrams might be a flight risk, and questioned why she didn't donate her home to an animal organization and whether she actually wanted to apologize to the court.
"If she were remorseful and actually accepting guilt, she wouldn't be trying to delay this again and weasel her way out of jail time," protester Holly Gann of Merritt Island said.
I’m biased on this. We have dogs, the wife is on the Humane Society board of directors here. My life is better cause of the dogs in our family. So its just my honest opinion, a rather biased one I happily acknowledge and embrace.
My dogs will jump in the koi pond. They will occasionally eat the dry wall (true as of this day, btw).
But they’ll never screw me over in a business deal, they’ll never turn their back on me unless its to get the ball I just threw, and they are always happy to see me, some times to the point its a bit embarrassing.
No opinion in that last, its fact...(chuckle)
The last time I rented, the woman in the appt upstairs got evicted for non-payment and did this to her cat. I saw the cat in a window about 3-4 days after the woman left and called the landlord to let him know. Legally, he couldn’t enter the appt, but somehow he and the guy that did the maintenance found a way around that and rescued the cat. No food, water, or litter box had been left. Absolutely unreal.
Cruel beyond words.
I really don’t understand why every time there’s an animal abuse story Freepers come on and seem to claim that as long as abortion is legal animals should somehow be left to suffer.
Why is it that enforcing a law against animal cruelty brings out this tut-tutting, whereas all the thousands of other daily protections of other people’s rights don’t generate the same response?
Somehow because abortion is legal, no animal rights should be enforced?
NON-RELATED QUERY FOR SOME ADVICE:
There are sure to be plenty of dog lovers on this thread. We have discovered an abandoned stray hanging around our backwoods, but he is very skittish. Looks to be a pup. Still growing, big, handsome fella. Some kind of shepard/newfoundland mix possibly.
He is young and dumb and I doubt he will survive the Winter.
We are trying to lure him so that we can get him to a No-Kill shelter. I don’t think they would have any problem finding a home for him.
I’m thinking some kind of FRAGRANT food or other incentive would entice him, so that we could get him out of the cold.
ANY ideas?
I have two dogs. The one thing that always gets them to come running is beef jerky. They can smell it as soon as it enters the house.
I wish you good luck capturing him. I hate the thought of harm coming to him/her. My mother has two dogs that just showed up one day and decided to live with her. Dogs are funny things.
I am aware of that.
However, most of us, even Christians, have a hard time overcoming “human” feelings especially when based on experience.
To me, given whole “groups” can be classified as “bad”, it is truly hard to think of loving humans vs. animals at large. Never mind individuals.
“somehow he and the guy that did the maintenance found a way around that”
It’s called, “Elaine’s sliced ham solution” using Kramer’s slicer, of course.
We have some of that around here somewhere. I will give it a shot, though he is very quick and doesn’t allow himself to get too close.
Thanks.
Why don’t you call the shelters?
Some of them don’t have the capability to do a “capture” and this boy is really elusive.
He stops by our yard briefly throughout the day and then is off. We back up to a large wooded area. Even if they did have the ability to nab him, it would take a team all day to locate him.
That is why I’m trying to entice him closer in to our home.
ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! MY German Shepherd’s name is Ella!!!!
That poor dog! I’m so glad this witch got jail time!!!
Whoa back the truck right up.. I am an animal lover as much or moreso than anyone, I was just commenting on the disparity or peoples reactions. I love my little girls dearly (Cocker Spaniel, and Shit-tzu/ Cocker) and would never allow anyone to harm them. But there were an awful ot of people at this woman's trial an being very vocal in the community. I would just hope that they are just as vocal over human injustice.
“Abrams was arrested March 12, after prosecutors said she moved out of the home and left Ella in a cage for several months, with an unopened bag of dog food and a bottle of water mere feet away.”
Do the SAME to her.
I am and animal lover and have cats and dogs. I have done foster work and kitten rescue.
This story is absolutely horrible but I see both sides.
I break down in tears every time I see an animal or human suffer.
As much as I love my pets (animals) I would never put an animal's life above a humans live or needs.
I understand why some are upset and irritated with stories like this because it is a shame that more likely than not most of these people who took time out to protest and such for this poor dog probably didn't give Terri a second thought while she was starved to death
That's not even true. Let's start with Natalee Holloway, Carly Brucia, Jon Benet Ramsey, Jessica Lunsford, Jesse Dirksen -- go on and on about grisly stories of chldren that are abused, murdered and maimed. This doesn't include the countless local stories that never hit national news.
Point is, all the murdered children stories, FReepers start posting they're sick of hearing about it, just as you're sick of hearing about people who care about animals. Then the abused/murdered pet stories, FReepers are sick of hearing about it. Maybe we need some guidelines so that nobody posts anything that anybody cares about.
The citation of disaster stories only adds to my point - it often takes a major disaster to bring in sympathy for people.
Also not true. What should we have in lieu of a major disaster? Going door to door asking if people need help? All I know is that Americans are the most generous and caring on the planet. Sometimes all that caring may not exactly dove tail with every single one of us.
Go care about humans. Let the people who care about dogs do that. Then we have all our bases covered. Just don't click on the thread if you hate people because they love animals. Just don't click. If you click, resist the urge to post.
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