I get that people love their pets, but come on! The dog was swimming in the water around boats and got hit. How is this not negligence on the part of the owners? How is a felony charge even on the table? There's not even a mention of the driver being impaired. He just didn't see the dog in the water.

So, what? Now, every time someone hits a dog in street there's a chance you get charged with a misdemeanor and maybe a felony?

This world is insane.

quote:
A dog named Cletus died July 16 after being struck by a boat near Goat Island on Lake Martin, and now the Elmore County sheriff says the boat driver will be facing criminal charges - though it is not certain whether the charges will be designated as a misdemeanor or felony. This decision will be determined by a grand jury and the dog's owners, the latter of whom have refused to sign a misdemeanor warrant deemed fitting by the 19th Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office in hopes of signing a felony warrant, said Sheriff Bill Franklin.

In the meantime, the owners could still sign the misdemeanor warrant. "I do not know what their intentions are, but right now I can tell you that I've talked to them, and they are OK being subpoenaed and being able to come down here and testify before the grand jury and try to explain to them exactly what they witnessed and what they saw," Franklin said. Cletus died "as a result of the negligence" by a man who was driving a boat on Lake Martin, Franklin said.

The incident happened near Goat Island, a popular gathering spot where visitors can meet and feed goats. A banner on the island states, "No Dogs Please," and goat owners Ricky and Stacie Baker have asked that no dogs be brought to the island in an effort to protect the goats through their Facebook account.

Not to mention the dog wasn't even supposed to be on the island in the first place.

quote:
Investigators have gotten versions of the story from Cletus' family and the boat driver, said Franklin.

"But, nonetheless, you're not going to erase the fact that a dog died pretty much a tumultuous death there," Franklin said. "I mean, that's a pretty horrible death."

Franklin also remarked that he was the one who got in touch with the district attorney's office to see if the case could be presented despite it being deemed a misdemeanor. "And usually 99 percent of all your cases that are presented to a grand jury are felony cases," Franklin said.

"But what we're going to do is we're going to present this case and let the victims come and talk to a panel of grand jurors and try to explain to them exactly what they saw.

"The grand jurors, upon hearing that testimony, in all likelihood, I feel very confident they'll either return an indictment on the misdemeanor statute or the felony statute. And whichever one they return, then we will pick up the responsible party."

This Sheriff sure seems to have his priorities in order, convening a Grand Jury over a dog getting hit.

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CLETUS 2018 Never Forget

This post was edited on 7/31/18 at 3:35 pm