A La Habra man who beheaded his German shepherd was convicted Thursday of animal cruelty, a charge that could send the third-striker to prison for life.
A sanity hearing is scheduled to start Monday in Orange County Superior Court for James Andrew Abernathy, 42, who says he was insane in January 2002 when he killed his dog, whom he had named Marie in honor of his girlfriend.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Heather Brown said anger, not insanity, drove Abernathy to beat his dog with a golf club, shove a stake through her heart and then decapitate her with pruning shears.
He did those things, Brown said, "all because his girlfriend had broken up with him."
After the trial, Morrissey said his client was a diagnosed schizophrenic who was not on medication when he killed his dog. The prosecutor contends Abernathy is faking his symptoms
Although felony animal cruelty carries a three-year maximum sentence, California law allows prosecutors to seek a life prison term for a defendant's third felony conviction. Abernathy was convicted twice in 1986 for assault with a deadly weapon.
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-me-shepherd4jun04.story
A sanity hearing is scheduled to start Monday in Orange County Superior Court for James Andrew Abernathy, 42, who says he was insane in January 2002 when he killed his dog, whom he had named Marie in honor of his girlfriend.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Heather Brown said anger, not insanity, drove Abernathy to beat his dog with a golf club, shove a stake through her heart and then decapitate her with pruning shears.
He did those things, Brown said, "all because his girlfriend had broken up with him."
After the trial, Morrissey said his client was a diagnosed schizophrenic who was not on medication when he killed his dog. The prosecutor contends Abernathy is faking his symptoms
Although felony animal cruelty carries a three-year maximum sentence, California law allows prosecutors to seek a life prison term for a defendant's third felony conviction. Abernathy was convicted twice in 1986 for assault with a deadly weapon.
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-me-shepherd4jun04.story