ARIZONA -- The Yuma man charged with shooting and attempting to bury his roommate's dog while it was still alive took a plea deal in Yuma County Superior Court on Wednesday.
Anthony Hultine, with his attorney Kristen McManus standing by his side, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage. In return for his guilty plea one count of disorderly conduct and one count of cruelty to animals against him were dismissed.
Superior Court Judge Maria Elena Cruz said had the plea agreement not come with a stipulated sentence of probation, Hultine could have been sentenced to between four months and two years in prison. He is currently out of custody on his own recognizance.
Cruz further explained to Hultine that his term of probation, according to his plea agreement with prosecutors, could not be longer than three years, but that is also came with a condition that he could also be ordered to serve some time in jail.
When asked how he pleaded to the charges, Hultine answered that he was guilty. However, when Cruz asked him if he had shot the dog, McManus told the court that when her client abandoned the dog it had a bullet hole.
Cruz explained that in order for her to be able to accept the plea offer, Hultine had to admit to shooting the dog, to which McManus responded by saying the charge allows her client to admit to willfully causing the dog harm by taking it out to the desert and leaving it there.
Wanting the matter clarified, Cruz continued the hearing until the prosecutor who offered the plea could be brought to court to clarify the matter.
Later, when Cruz recalled the case, prosecutor Jame Eustace of the Yuma County Attorney's Office, stated that while Hultine admitted to his friends that he shot the dog, he never admitted to it to law enforcement. As a result, the plea is worded in a way that Hultine can admit that his actions caused harm to the dog.
Hultine is scheduled to be sentenced at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 23.
After the hearing, Yuma resident Susan-Jean Campbell, who is the founder of the Facebook page Yuma Proud Pet Owners, said while she is disappointed with the sentence, she understands and is grateful that there is a guilty verdict on Hultine's record now.
In May, deputies with the Yuma County Sheriff's Office met with the dog's owner at the time, who told them that he had found the dog as a stray and decided to keep her after he couldn’t find her previous owner.
The owner also told deputies that he had traveled out of town and left the dog with his roommate, identified as Hultine.
The dog was later found on April 26 in the 12400 block of East County 8th Street by a second person, who discovered that it had a gunshot wound. That person then made posts on social media in an attempt to locate her owner. The owner saw those posts and went to claim her.
The dog, later named Brady, had suffered fractures to her maxillary sinus cavity, maxillary premolars and mandible. Those injuries were consistent with that of a gunshot wound, and the dog was taken to a local veterinary clinic where she underwent surgery. Brady died the following month of a seizure.
On May 4, deputies served a search warrant at the home of the roommate suspected of shooting the dog and found weapons and ammunition. As a result, Hultine was arrested and booked into the Yuma County Detention Center on felony charges of animal cruelty.
(Yuma Sun - Aug 26, 2015)
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