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September 10, 2024
A reminder that kicking a cat down the road can get you sentenced to years in a federal prison
I am a big animal lover, especially cats, and so I was struck by this notable NBC News story about a federal sentencing today in Texas for kicking a cat. The story details that this cat kicking was quite extreme and horrific:
A Texas man on Tuesday was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for kicking a cat “as if kicking a football field goal,” in a case of abuse that was recorded and shared on social media, prosecutors said.
Donaldvan Williams, 30, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas said in a statement....
He pleaded guilty in October to animal crushing and aiding and abetting in connection with the Oct. 15, 2021, incident in the parking lot of a Beaumont apartment complex, according to court records. The cat was foaming at the mouth and convulsing as if it was poisoned, according to a factual basis of the crime filed in court following a plea deal....
The kick was recorded by another man, Decorius Mire, who encouraged Williams to kick the cat, prosecutors said. Mire posted the video to social media. Mire was sentenced last year to 18 months in prison....
Williams was charged with kicking the cat, but the animal’s torture did not end there. Someone else, whose identity was not known when the case was presented to a grand jury, poured an accelerant on the cat and set it on fire, the indictment against Williams says. The animal running away on fire was also recorded on video.
Each man's guilty plea dealt with kicking the cat and recording it, not the animal being set on fire, records show. Court records in the cases don’t appear to say if the cat lived or died.
I am inclined to suspect that the defendants here may have had some criminal history and/or were linked to the further torture of the cat to drive these sentencing outcomes. Still, I suspect these cases may involve record-setting sentences for cat kicking. Interestingly, almost exactly a decade ago, the New York Times a piece headlined "Should You Go to Jail for Kicking a Cat?". That piece was a follo up to prompted by this NY Times piece headlined "He Kicked a Stray Cat, and Activists Growled."
September 10, 2024 at 08:11 PM | Permalink
Comments
Does anyone know the connection to interstate commerce? I like to keep tabs on the outer boundaries of federal criminal jurisdiction.
Posted by: Tim Lynch | Sep 10, 2024 10:37:08 PM
I’ll take “a criminal offense that is the epitome of what-should-be a state/local crime, but somehow isn’t” for $200 Alex/Ken.
Where’s a true “federalist” when you need one?!
Posted by: Contestant | Sep 11, 2024 12:08:18 AM
This is terrible. I have become familiar with the term "animal crushing" recently. How can it be a thing??? The sad part is that it seems to be punished a lot less severely than selling drugs. Neither is a good thing, but at least in case of drug dealing the dealer sells drugs to people who have the free will to buy or not. Cats, monkeys and other animals do not have such a luxury. I just recently came across a case where a middle-aged pharmacist with a PhD paid someone in Indonesia to film a monkey being tortured; he also selected ways how he wanted the poor animal to be tortured, e.g. with pliers. Ugh. The man got one year and a day of prison time. I know, it's just a monkey, but again it had zero ability to decide whether it wanted to be a part of the torture or not. People are the worst.
Posted by: Anon | Sep 11, 2024 5:16:27 AM
When I practiced law in Atlanta, I was astonished by a Georgia criminal case that was tried in the Superior Court of Fulton County. A group of teens was prosecuted for killing kittens and puppies by placing them inside a microwave oven and turning it on HIGH for 10 minutes. Just evil and disgusting. I also saw a case [from DeKalb County, I recall] where a 23-year-old gang leader was tried and convicted for the torture murder of a teen girl who he thought had snitched to the police about the gang. They tortured her for 2 days, with pliers and a car battery with cables, before killing her. In the end, they duct taped her limbs to her body and held her upside down, with her head submerged in a cooler full of ice water until she drowned. He got life without parole. There is evil in this world.
Posted by: Jim Gormley | Sep 11, 2024 11:01:36 AM
I would like more details -- what is the federal jurisdictional hook. This guy seems like he deserves the maximum state sentence for animal abuse but I have trouble seeing this as a federal offense.
Posted by: tmm | Sep 11, 2024 11:01:49 AM
Part of the issue with this kind of behavior is that people who have it sometimes escalate do doing the same thing to other people. I think this is sufficient reason to punish it severely. I have no problem with a 3-year sentence.
Posted by: William Jockusch | Sep 11, 2024 2:45:49 PM
Well, you know the old joke:
"Why do you have a cat?"
"So you don't have to kick the dog when you get home."
I have cats and a big fluffy dog (love that dog, love the cats too, but not like the doggo).
All kidding aside, this cruelty gets magnified because society loves animals, and we don't like people who harm a defenseless animal. So f him is my view. Has to be noted that bringing Molotov Cocktails to a riot and torching a cop car with one doesn't get you close to the time!!
Posted by: federalist | Sep 11, 2024 7:56:37 PM
Well said, well said!..Except for 'federalist' shame on you!
I have a question about the law...My hypothetical client, who is in federal juvenile court (I can't give his name, and won't matter, because the case is sealed), has been indicted because he "seized" "two great black cats" "by the throats" and "struck them dead"...During the same incident, he also "seized his cutting knife, and cried, 'Away with ye, vermin,' and began to cut" "black cats and black dogs with red-hot chains" "down."..He walks around the prison, saying, "If I could but shudder!!"..How do I make him stop?
In an unrelated incident, a theoretical person was charged for violating a postal civil penalty statement, for mailing the contraband of the Grimm Fairy Tales...Which organization should I advise him to contact first?
Why does the website put periods where spaces are supposed to go?
Posted by: Isaac Koch, scholar | Sep 12, 2024 12:08:49 AM
Shame on me? Really? Because I point out the difference in sentencing between those who bring and use Molotov cocktails to riots and cat kickers? Or did you not like me bringing up that joke?
Posted by: federalist | Sep 12, 2024 9:19:19 AM
No.__Let's start with your real name.__Next, your role, as our host has politely phrased it.
Posted by: Isaac Koch, scholar | Sep 12, 2024 6:18:35 PM
Doug, I thought we were going to be more civil. As for the soi-disant “scholar,” why do you care? It’s a blog dude.
Posted by: federalist | Sep 13, 2024 7:28:32 AM
federalist: I have been generally allowing all comments of late because it seems like nearly all folks are, generally speaking, trying to be more civil. But this thread is taking a turn away from recent successes, and I might be inclined to just close it up if it fails to turniback toward being more on-topic, productive and polite.
Posted by: Doug B | Sep 13, 2024 9:41:40 AM
I don't really care that much about the slight or the scholar trying to enforce the rules. At least I got to use some French. I do find it interesting that instead of engaging my point, the scholar chose to attack me personally.
Posted by: federalist | Sep 13, 2024 11:32:19 AM
Those comparing harming an animal with harming an innocent human being need psychiatric help.
An innocent human life is worth infinitely more.
A year for animal cruelty is about right, with conditions that the person can never own animals again. That it is a federal crime is ridiculous.
Posted by: TarlsQtr | Sep 14, 2024 11:23:51 PM
