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MAINE STATE LAW: TO DELIBRATELY KILL A CAT IS A FELONY IN MAINE
Cat killer gets four years in prison
Friday, December 03, 2004 - Bangor Daily News
AUGUSTA - A Randolph man who is the first person in Maine's history to be charged under the new crime of felony animal cruelty will spend the next four years behind bars, a Superior Court judge ruled Thursday morning. A jury in November found John W. Witham, 27, guilty of deliberately driving his pickup truck over a pet carrier containing his girlfriend's cat as it was having kittens in the driveway of their Augusta home last February.
"It's me or the cat," Witham reportedly told Jessica James.
Witham then dropped the cat carrier containing the animal out of the window of the truck and told her "last chance" before backing over the crate, crushing it and killing the pet. The couple had lived together for 10 months.
Somerset-Kennebec District Attorney Evert Fowle said Thursday that Witham sent the state a message about what he was capable of when he deliberately ran over the cat.
The action, said Fowle, was a deliberate attempt to intimidate the girlfriend.
"This is more than the killing of an innocent animal," Fowle said. "This is in the context of domestic violence and intimidation."
Witham's full sentence was five years in jail, all but four years suspended, and four years probation.
Defense attorney Andrews Campbell of Waldoboro said Thursday afternoon that he was appealing the sentence as extreme.
"We feel it is outrageously excessive," Campbell said. "The usual sentence for animal cruelty is 60 days.
"Four years reflects the public hue and cry rather than justice."
At the time of the cat killing, Witham was on bail from a previous domestic assault against the woman and was prohibited from having contact with her. He also had been charged with possession of heroin and at the time of his trial was serving three years in Kennebec County Jail, all but nine months suspended, for the drug conviction.
"We are very pleased with [Justice Joseph Jabar] for this sentence," Fowle said. "We didn't just take the killing of an innocent animal into consideration but also all the medical and scientific studies that tell us that people that kill and torture animals will do so to people."
Witham's attorney maintained throughout his trial that his client accidentally ran over the cat carrier.
Fowle explained that the incident began last February when James' mother called from Gardiner to tell her the cat was in labor and to come and get it. Instead, Witham picked up the cat carrier and cat and returned to Augusta where he told James to choose between him and the cat, Fowle said.
Witham fled the scene and then called James twice, once when an Augusta police officer was at her home. During the second call, James reportedly said, "What do you mean? I'm next?" to Witham.
http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=104530&z=6
Cat killer gets four years in prison
Friday, December 03, 2004 - Bangor Daily News
AUGUSTA - A Randolph man who is the first person in Maine's history to be charged under the new crime of felony animal cruelty will spend the next four years behind bars, a Superior Court judge ruled Thursday morning. A jury in November found John W. Witham, 27, guilty of deliberately driving his pickup truck over a pet carrier containing his girlfriend's cat as it was having kittens in the driveway of their Augusta home last February.
"It's me or the cat," Witham reportedly told Jessica James.
Witham then dropped the cat carrier containing the animal out of the window of the truck and told her "last chance" before backing over the crate, crushing it and killing the pet. The couple had lived together for 10 months.
Somerset-Kennebec District Attorney Evert Fowle said Thursday that Witham sent the state a message about what he was capable of when he deliberately ran over the cat.
The action, said Fowle, was a deliberate attempt to intimidate the girlfriend.
"This is more than the killing of an innocent animal," Fowle said. "This is in the context of domestic violence and intimidation."
Witham's full sentence was five years in jail, all but four years suspended, and four years probation.
Defense attorney Andrews Campbell of Waldoboro said Thursday afternoon that he was appealing the sentence as extreme.
"We feel it is outrageously excessive," Campbell said. "The usual sentence for animal cruelty is 60 days.
"Four years reflects the public hue and cry rather than justice."
At the time of the cat killing, Witham was on bail from a previous domestic assault against the woman and was prohibited from having contact with her. He also had been charged with possession of heroin and at the time of his trial was serving three years in Kennebec County Jail, all but nine months suspended, for the drug conviction.
"We are very pleased with [Justice Joseph Jabar] for this sentence," Fowle said. "We didn't just take the killing of an innocent animal into consideration but also all the medical and scientific studies that tell us that people that kill and torture animals will do so to people."
Witham's attorney maintained throughout his trial that his client accidentally ran over the cat carrier.
Fowle explained that the incident began last February when James' mother called from Gardiner to tell her the cat was in labor and to come and get it. Instead, Witham picked up the cat carrier and cat and returned to Augusta where he told James to choose between him and the cat, Fowle said.
Witham fled the scene and then called James twice, once when an Augusta police officer was at her home. During the second call, James reportedly said, "What do you mean? I'm next?" to Witham.
http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=104530&z=6