Man Gets Three Years in Dog's Death
Pet Was Flung to Death in Bout of Road Rage

By RON HARRIS
.c The Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 13) - A judge said he didn't believe the apology of a man convicted of throwing a small dog to its death in traffic and sentenced him Friday to a three-year prison term, the maximum.

''I'm really sorry for what happened,'' Andrew Burnett testified before the sentencing. ''I'd like to say I'm sorry to the McBurnett family. If there's anything I could ever say or do to bring back Leo, I would.''

The courtroom erupted in applause as Judge Kevin J. Murphy imposed the sentence after saying the 28-year-old man was a danger to the community.

Burnett sought leniency after his June 20 conviction animal cruelty. He threw a bichon frise named Leo to his death following a fender bender with Leo's owner, Sara McBurnett.

''What the defendant said is he was sorry. It was an accident,'' Murphy said. ''It wasn't an accident.''

The judge said Burnett lied about the events that occurred Feb. 11, 2000, when McBurnett's car tapped the bumper of Burnett's car near the San Jose airport.

Witnesses said Burnett snatched the dog from McBurnett's lap and tossed him into traffic. Burnett's attorney maintained his client merely acted reflexively after Leo bit him.

''To describe his story as unbelievable is being polite,'' Murphy said.

Burnett's attorney, Marc Garcia, said he expects his client to appeal.

''I can't imagine that somebody who for 28 years had led a crime-free life, has been productive, has been responsible, could receive three years in prison on a first-time offense,'' Garcia said. ''It's just something that is unprecedented.''

Burnett is scheduled to go on trial next week on theft charges for allegedly stealing equipment from his van when he worked as a telephone repairman.

''Words can never convey the depth of love I had for my dog Leo,'' Sara McBurnett testified at the sentencing hearing. ''His clear intent was to terrorize me in the fastest and clearest way he could under the circumstances.''

Judy Nemzoff, a spokeswoman for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in San Francisco, said the case sends a strong message that society will not tolerate the wanton mistreatment of animals.

''We anticipate that society will demand that more and more offenders will be prosecuted to the extent of the law,'' Nemzoff said.
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I'm really conflicted on this one... our prisons are overcrowded and this seems like a crime of a lesser nature than rape or murder and yet I feel it was an incredibly violent act that shouldn't go unpunished.

Perhaps an incredibly hefty fine??  Community service??  If we had the accommodations readily available in jail I would have no qualms.  What do y'all think?

I'm glad he got the time. The standard liberal excuse I hear is that 'gee this other guy killed somebody and he skated'...the killer should have gotten FRIED!

the sentence should fit the crime, not the availability of prison space.  EOS

scott out

PS. consideration of parole at a later date is where one can factor in jailtime vs. overcrowding.  

but overcrowding is 'our' responsibility, the criminals must pay their debt [that is their responsibility]

I agree.. I really do...

Was just trying to look at all the angles on this situation.

MM,

check my edit above

Well, he got what he deserved but had I been the dog owner it would have been me that was put in jail cause I would have beat the pure holy crap outta the guy if he had done that to my Jack.

Course, she'd have taken a good plug outta him before he had a chance to chunk her amoungst the cars.

This punlk got exactly what was comming to him. This is not his first time in trouble and he will be in court again very soon for stealing a PacBell van. This is also not his first time around for animal cruelity. He's got all the trapping of a career criminal in the making. I assume the judge is trying to scare him out of the direction he is heading in or realizes this guy will never be a productive member of socitity. Some guys just can't play nice...

The guys an asshole. One report claimed he had killed a dog in the past in another fit of rage. Maybe he would learn his lesson better by having to pay huge considerations to the animal owner, then have to clean dogshit at the local spca for a year...or something on those lines!

What is really scary about this guy is that he has done something like this previously.  I'm pretty sure he is capable of doing this again in future and next time it may not be a dog.  I say keep him out of the streets as long as possible.

he is a punk.tearing a little dog out of an old ladys car and throwing it into traffic.we will see how big a man he is when bubba and the boys cornhole him.

Yeah...this is horrible. Whaaaaaaaa
What about OJ and two (2) human lives. He walked.

CS

Imagine if this guy had used an AR15. It would be the fault of the eeeevil black rifle.

That type of crime against pets or people should be punished, What gets me is that groups like PETA put more weight on animals than humans.
We just had fire that killed 19 horses in a barn because a 20yr old wanted to scare the horses with fireworks. People are just going to have to take responsibility for their actions reguardless of the nature of it. A crime is a crime.
Ron

Yeah, during childhood. This guy is [b]28[/b].
I do agree he should be punished. Unless, of course, it was a Chihuahua.
CS

That's how the system works (or doesn't).  I followed the case pretty closely myself.  Do I believe O.J. did the deed?  Yes I do.  Do I think the defense raised reasonable doubt?  Unfortunately, yes I do.  The prosecution did a bad job, and it's THEIR job to prove guilt beyond the shadow of a doubt.  If we go changing the rules because a high-profile criminal can get away with murder, then we open the door to much worse transgressions against innocents.  

I'll take the system we've got.  It ain't perfect, but it beats the Inquisition by a long shot.

Why was she driving with the damn dog on her lap in the first place!! CO wants to outlaw useing a cell phone while driving a car. This "lady" has a dog in her lap!!. I don't agree with what the guy did, but 3 years is a bit much IMHO.  

In the end he will get what is coming to him.

DOG IS GOD SPELLED BACKWARDS

3 years,he got off easy in my book.now i'm just hoping that a prison buck takes a real intimate liking to his sorry ass.mmk

How about just tossing him from a low bridge onto Rt.80 here in NJ? I'd give him 2 seconds before he was bounced around from tractor trailer to tractor trailer. Or we can toss him into a cage with a police K9 German Shepard.

Rape victims and murder victims usually have a choice (Likely we'll never see MissMagnum or ARLady as a crime statistic).  Dogs do not have an equilizing means of defense.
He crossed the line.  He has some serious anger management issues that a stay in jail will likely only exasberate.  Unfortunately, I don't see it as the courts duty to give this guy counseling.  After all, he's has 10 years as an adult to find help for his problem.
Lastly, no way no day should violent criminals be shown sentencing leniency due to an overcrowding issue.  Let out the drug dealers and the bad check writers.

Coversix,
If you're going to compare crimes, compare convicted crimes.  We're talking sentence length here.  Kinda difficult to sentence someone that was (unfortunately) found not guilty.

I don't know all the circumstances...  This guy is a shithead and deserved what he got..... but If I walked up to a car and a dog lunged out the window and bit  "as he claimed"   I would have done the same...  or maybe just been nicer and politely snapped scruffy's neck....

I would have not reached in and grabbed the dog..  But if it was extended from the car and had a grip on me, well.... At least she wouldn't have had a bloody scruffy .....

I'm betting he will. Children, pets, family. These are the things that convicts cherish the most while in stir. They, like most of us take them for granted on the outside. After staring at the walls and photos of the things they love and missing them, while surrounded by people who want to rape and kill them, they develop a seething hate for anyone who would abuse such treasures. Once word gets out(and it will,convicts read the papers) they will literally have his ass for breakfast.

Miss Magnum, I agree the over-crowded jails
and prisons are a problem but as one person
mentioned above the jury/judge must consider the crime and make this sick-puppy a reservation somewhere !!
I know I'll probably catch it from the LEO's but we can't build enough prisons while we still
incarcerate people for smoking a joint or having $1.35 worth of coke.  These are the people occupying thousands of cells that rightfully belong to the murders, child-molesters and rapists.
I'm probably prejudiced against this criminal a
little more than usual as my "alpha" Chow is
named "LEO."
This criminal is a [whacko]

How in the HELL is a man's life worth 3 years in jail over a GOD DAMN DOG!!! I agree what he did was WRONG, but three years in jail for the life of an animal!!!!! NO SIR, NO WAY!!! WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!!!

[left]I think there was a guy sentence to prison for about a year for riding his bike in a forbidden area, but I don't know the whole story on that one, you will see a more crackdown on society has a whole. its like that girl got suspended over a kitchen knife. and this guy in Wisconsin got 24 years in prison for breaking a door in and punched a guy in the face because his girlfriend slutted around on him.[/left]

PETA = People Eating Tasty Animal's. I have been a dog owner all my life. Never would I consider my dog's life over a person's. NO WAY!!
One day of jail time over the life of an ANIMAL is WRONG, WRONG ,WRONG!!!!!!

I love mt dog (Debo), and if my dog were the victim, I would skin that bastard alive when he got out of jail.

"The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs."
-- Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), in "Some General Comments, Entre Nous...," Time, 8 December 1967

"The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too."
-- Samuel Butler (1835-1902), Notebooks, 1912

"Politics are not my concern... they impressed me as a dog's life without a dog's decencies." --Rudyard Kipling

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful
and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be
worthy of such devotion".  -- Unknown


"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man." --Mark Twain