Victory for Dogs and Advocates yet More Delays in Vick-like Dog Fighting Trial
Bronx, NY
The case was last heard on June 11, 2009 before Judge Steven Barrett (Docket #02688-2008). Two of the defendants with misdemeanor charges, Israel Cuevas and Alterik Mason (they were spectators, not dog fighters) were hoping to plea out but thankfully the Judge and ADA Jacob Kaplan rejected their plea and confirmed that their case would go to trial with the others.
Jennifer Panton, President of United Action for Animals and Director of the New York Anti-Animal Fighting Campaign, a partnership with UAA and NYC Animal Care and Control, said “It will be interesting to see what Cuevas and Mason receive. I feel it’s important to mention that currently NY state is rated nearly the worst (48th) in the country, yet NJ is rated the best.”
Summary of New York State charges for dog fighting:
(1) Dogfighting: Felony, Max 4 years, Max $25,000
(2) Spectator at a Dogfight: Misdemeanor, Max 1 year, Max $1,000
(3) Possession of Dogs for Fighting: Max 1 year, Max $15,000
You can click here to see state rankings for dog fighting laws – note the stark difference between ranking for New York and for our neighbor, New Jersey. Please note that on June 2, 2009, an amendment to the current law passed. For the full details, refer to an earlier post about this.
On June 16, 2009, Alexander Estephane, Juan Toledo, Lauritz Acoy, who received felony charges for dog fighting (and Cuevas, Mason misdemeanor charges as spectators), will face the same hearing, where final charges will be made official. They already do not have a chance at plea deal. In other words, all five defendants will be charged with the maximum crimes – no charges have been or will be reduced.
There is a sixth person, Rashan Johnson, who Panton believes is AWOL and is waiting from the ADA for confirmation.
Delay in setting trial date
While the news about the charges is good for the prosecution and advocates showing up to each hearing, making their presence known for the ADA and the Judge, the bad news is that there are more delays in establishing a trial date.
Judge Steven Barrett (Docket #02688-2008) who set another hearing date of July 8th to establish a trial date for all 5 defendants also calendared July 27th as an estimated trial date for all defendants. The ADA, thankfully, had requested that both misdemeanor and felony defendants to stand trial together rather than separate trials. However, after the hearing finished on Thursday morning, ADA Kaplan told us that the July 8th hearing was merely to “discuss” a trial date, admitting that because there are six attorneys involved (including himself) there will be conflicting trials and summer vacations to contend with, and, therefore, the July 27th tentative date will likely will get pushed back.
Petitions and letters to Judge help uphold the no-plea deal
Kaplan thanked us for the help with the plea option, and by that, Panton says, “I think all the letter writing to the judge and [online] petition helped”.
See below her letter to Judge Barrett.
--
From Jennifer Panton, United Action for Animals
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Dear Judge Barrett,
Please see the attached document which contains over 1,500 signatures from a petition regarding the Bronx Dog Fight Case (Docket #02688-2008). This petition and signatures can also be view at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/126/stop-animal-fighting-in-new-york-city
We would like to express to you that the defendants should be given no plea deals and have a speedy trial date established at their June 11th and June 16th hearings, as these alleged crimes were committed over a year ago with overwhelming evidence (i.e. one dog died on the way to the shelter that night).
Regarding the two defendants, Israel Cuevas and Alterik Mason, that were already lucky enough to dodge felony charges due to current law, please note that on June 2, 2009, the NY Senate’s Agriculture Committee unanimously passed S.3926, to increase penalties for spectators at animal fights as well as for persons possessing animals for the purpose of fighting (please see press release attached for your reference).
Additionally, please keep in mind that animal fighting does not occur in a vacuum. Animal fighters are violent criminals that engage in a whole host of peripheral criminal activities. Many are heavily involved in organized crime, racketeering, drug distribution, or gangs, and they arrange and attend the fights as a forum for gambling and drug trafficking.
Thank you for your time.
Jennifer Panton
President
United Action for Animals
P.O. Box 635
New York, NY 10021
Tel: 212-249-9178
www.ua4a.org
--
The online petition was exported into a document, which Panton references above. She says, “our petition elaborated about our stand – that New Yorkers want these criminals punished to the max for these heinous crimes and to rid animal fighting out of our great City.
Please sign this petition – we need as many signatures as possible for continued letters and evidence that we are not going anywhere, that we represent a large constituency of voters and influentials that stand strongly for the prosecution and conviction of people who commit dog fighting.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/126/stop-animal-fighting-in-new-york-city
Official Summary of Case:
--
INDICTMENT
Supreme Court of The State of New York
County of Bronx
__________________________________________________
People of The State of New York -Against-
Alexander Estephane, Docket # 36626C-2008
Lauritz Acoy, Docket # 36624C-2008
Juan Toledo, Docket # 36622C-2008
Rashaan Johnson, IBNA
Israel Cuevas, Docket # 36625C-2008
Alterik Mason, Docket # 36623C-2008
Defendants.
__________________________________________________
Indictment # Grand Jury # 43788/2008
COUNTS
Prohibition of Animal Fighting
Agriculture and Markets Law § 351 (2)(a)
(count one)
Prohibition of Animal Fighting
Agriculture and Markets Law § 351 (2)(d)
(count two)
Prohibition of Animal Fighting (four counts)
Agriculture and Markets Law § 351 (4)(b)
(counts three – six)
A Panel, 8th Term
August 1, 2008
A True Bill
ROBERT T. JOHNSON
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
_______________________
FOREPERSON
FIRST COUNT
The Grand Jury of the County of the Bronx, by this Indictment, accuses Defendants Alexander Estephane, Lauritz Acoy, Rashaan Johnson, and Juan toledo of the Crime of Prohibition of Animal Fighting, in violation of Agriculture and Markets Law § 351 (2)(a), committed as follows:
Defendants Alexander Estephane, Lauritz Acoy, Rashaan Johnson, and Juan toledo, acting individually and in concert with each other, on or about June 14, 2008, in the County of the Bronx, for amusement or gain, caused any animal to engage in animal fighting.
SECOND COUNT
The Grand Jury of the County of the Bronx, by this Indictment, accuses Defendant Alexander Estephane of the Crime of Prohibition of Animal Fighting, in violation of Agriculture and Markets Law § 351 (2)(d), committed as follows:
Defendant Alexander Estephane, on or about June 14, 2008, in the County of the Bronx, permitted animal fighting to occur on premises under his control.
THIRD COUNT
The Grand Jury of the County of the Bronx, by this Indictment, accuses Defendant Israel Cuevas of the Crime of Prohibition of Animal Fighting, in violation of Agriculture and Markets Law § 351 (4)(b), committed as follows:
Defendant Israel Cuevas, on or about June 14, 2008, in the County of the Bronx, was knowingly present as a spectator having paid an admission fee or having made wager at a place where an exhibition of animal fighting was being conducted.
FOURTH COUNT
The Grand Jury of the County of the Bronx, by this Indictment, accuses Defendant Alterik Mason of the crime of Prohibition of Animal Fighting, in violation of Agriculture and Markets Law § 351 (4)(b), committed as follows:
Defendant Alterik Mason, on or about June 14, 2008, in the County of the Bronx, was knowingly present as a spectator having paid an admission fee or having made wager at a place where an exhibition of animal fighting was being conducted.
FIFTH COUNT
The Grand Jury of the County of the Bronx, by this Indictment, accuses Defendant Rashaan Johnson of the crime of Prohibition of Animal Fighting, in violation of Agriculture and Markets Law § 351 (4)(b), committed as follows:
Defendant Rashaan Johnson, on or about June 14, 2008, in the County of the Bronx, was knowingly present as a spectator having paid an admission fee or having made wager at a place where an exhibition of animal fighting was being conducted.
SIXTH COUNT
The Grand Jury of the County of the Bronx, by this Indictment, accuses Defendant Juan Toledo of the crime of Prohibition of Animal Fighting, in violation of Agriculture and Markets Law § 351 (4)(b), committed as follows:
Defendant Juan Toledo, on or about June 14, 2008, in the County of the Bronx, was knowingly present as a spectator having paid an admission fee or having made wager at a place where an exhibition of animal fighting was being conducted.
Scheduled Arraignment Date: September 8, 2008
Arraignment Part: Part 60
Other Associated Indictments: None
Completed: August 1, 2008
A.D.A. Jacob Kaplan
Rackets Bureau
---
Protests, showing up to court, media, buzz...
While most of our court advocacy has been just showing up to court (sitting in the audience), at each of the seven hearings, to make the judge, ADA, and defendants know that we are watching them and supporting the voiceless victims, Jennifer and several others have led one protest and there will be more such activism once the trial starts.
Personally, and I wrote Amy Sacks of the New York Daily News this, I know that my goal, which I'm sure Jennifer and others share, is to make an example out of this case, as a local Michael Vick case, the Vick wanne-be being, of course, Alexander Estephane. The extent to which the accused had set up their training facility in the basement of the Tremont, Bronx, house is not unlike that of the Vick compound – only it was indoor and a small backyard, a more confined space (it's New York City, after all...). According to the Daily News article which came out the day after nine men were arrested, "They [NYPD] found an animal house of horrors filled with bite sticks used to separate dogs during jousts, syringes, painkiller medication, weigh-in scales - and a 9-by-9-foot fighting pit, police sources said. Rusted metal and wooden cages heaped with dog waste were found in the backyard of the E. 179th St. building. One dog, showing fresh injuries from a recent battle, died while being rushed to a shelter [NYC AC&C] for treatment."
The mindset of these people, their will to torture animals and watch them writhe in pain, to gamble and live outside the law, is all the same. Should people in New York who really followed the Vick story turn their eyes on a nearly identical case happening in their own city – the support on our side, media coverage, and buzz surrounding it would have far reaching implications, including that of educating people, inspiring teachers and parents to talk to their children about animal fighting cruelty, cruelty in general, open more eyes of the NYPD so they take reports of fighting and cruelty more seriously, etc.
The movement behind this case has the potential to be characterized as a local version of that behind the Vick story. Hopefully a larger grassroots effort will build within Jennifer Panton's NYC Anti-animal Fighting Campaign and we can really show New York that they can't turn away from it anymore, because it is happening here and it's that bad.
See link here to today’s Daily News article, quoting Jennifer Panton, regarding this case, coverage for which I helped facilitate and will continue to do so for all media as much as I can. Media coverage for the trial is especially important, and I’m committed to working hard to get it. We need the media to reach New Yorkers, inform those who don't know about the case as well as affirm the compassionate supporters trying to help.
Television coverage is especially important for Day 1 of the trial. More exposure means more access to the public, more people will pay closer attention to this potentially precedent-setting case.
If you are a member of the media or have a media connection, please contact me to get details on the latest with this story.
Courtney Kistler, ckistler@rational-animal.org, 212.933.1688
there is another Sadie who probably came from a similar background as our little Blackstar. A pit with somewhat distended glands under her belly, Sadie probably had puppies recently and was thrown away. She was rescued from the euthanasia list not the day of but the HOUR of what would have been her death. A couple I am friends with had seen her at the Brooklyn AC&C a few days prior and inquired with me last Saturday night. I was shocked, because I knew she was to be put down the next morning -- less than 12 hours from the time I learned they were interested in her. When I told them that she was to go down, they decided to foster her.
out the couple's landlord objected, even though he had said they could have a dog in their apartment not long before.
out the couple's landlord objected, even though he had said they could have a dog in their apartment not long before.
large). She is even fine with cats. Sadie is able to remain calm and collective amidst city noises and distractions, so she would be a perfect city/apartment pup. Sadie requires exercise and would be a great running partner for someone. Her sweet nature attracts many a dog lover at the park who also comment on her pretty face and loving eyes To meet Sadie, please contact United Action for Animals at 212-249-9178 or info@ua4a.org. Our adoption fee is $150. Sadie is up-to-date with routine shots and spayed/neutered."
large). She is even fine with cats. Sadie is able to remain calm and collective amidst city noises and distractions, so she would be a perfect city/apartment pup. Sadie requires exercise and would be a great running partner for someone. Her sweet nature attracts many a dog lover at the park who also comment on her pretty face and loving eyes To meet Sadie, please contact United Action for Animals at 212-249-9178 or info@ua4a.org. Our adoption fee is $150. Sadie is up-to-date with routine shots and spayed/neutered."
