17 year old gets 23 years for fatally shooting police dog

A 17 year old Florida teen was sentenced to 23 years in prison for fatally shooting a retired police dog during a robbery.

While I have no sympathy for the teen or his codefendants I find it Ironic that cops are shooting peoples dogs at an alarming rate all over the country and nothing ever happens to them, but a 17 year old can get 23 years for shooting a cops dog.

Again I do not want to sound sympathetic to three guys who break into someone's house and kill their dog. I think they deserve 23 years in prison.

But I also think when cops raid the wrong house and kill the dog they should get 23 years too.

A South Florida teen has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for fatally shooting a police dog during a burglary

www.wptv.com...

Florida has a mandatory sentencing law that requires 20 years to life for using a firearm while committing a crime.
Life if you kill someone and a police dog is considered a LEO even if its retired. i would say he got off easy considering.

Violence sent down the hierarchy is called order. Violence sent up the hierarchy is called terrorism.

weird. i just read this old article on salon from last year and in it, it talks about cops killing dogs. as much as i do love animals, this is ridiculous. kid should not have shot and killed the dog. yes, he needs to be punished! but 23 years? when you had a man in florida, think it was 15 years ago,( he went on the talk show circuit justifying his actions and the sentence) killed his estranged wife because she left him for another woman. he unloaded his pistol, reloaded, and fired more into her. he got only a few years because she was a lesbian and that was WORSE than her life. he even got CUSTODY of their child! and this kid gets 23 years? so, a police dog is worth more than this late woman? okay, i get it now!

www.salon.com...

Yes i agree, unfortunately police officers are rarely even prosecuted or sentenced to serve time even for killing humans unjustly. Would be nice to fix that. Though i doubt it will happen. Gov offices all protect each other.

a reply to: blackthorne

I think 23 years is just about right for breaking into someone's home and shooting their dog..

originally posted by: alienjuggalo
a reply to: blackthorne

I think 23 years is just about right for breaking into someone's home and shooting their dog..

Regardless of if you have a badge or not.

originally posted by: skunkape23

originally posted by: alienjuggalo
a reply to: blackthorne

I think 23 years is just about right for breaking into someone's home and shooting their dog..

Regardless of if you have a badge or not.

or if the dog has a badge,

I'd take that judge to court, and get a PI on him to drum up serious criminal charges and people rallied to break him out and protect him by the thousands.

People have to stand up and not allow crimes against humanity to take place and refuse this system.

But this takes a lot of people and unity.

Have you ever been to prison? I don't want to think what that guy will be like when he gets out but man, some people think putting other people in a cage is acceptable. its not. bottom line prison is the new slavery.

a reply to: nrd101
yeah you are right its totally fine to break into places armed and shoot whatever stands in your way.
in what way is prison slavery i am confused ?

originally posted by: EyesOpenMouthShut
Florida has a mandatory sentencing law that requires 20 years to life for using a firearm while committing a crime.

That's a good point. The US clearly has a problem with guns used in crime (the gun murder rate proves this) and the only way to counter this is to have tough - some may say draconian - sentencing tariffs. As a person from the UK where sentencing is somewhat less severe I can pretend I am shocked, but I'm not. The US policy is to remove violent offenders from public view for long time and that's how I would react in a society awash with guns.

Florida's sentancing

On the dog. Real shame, but it could have been a person. If you carry a gun to a crime then you should suffer the consequences. If you don't like the potential sentence then don't do the crime in Florida. Everyone has a choice.

Regards

originally posted by: alienjuggalo
a reply to: blackthorne

I think 23 years is just about right for breaking into someone's home and shooting their dog..

Really? I think your dreaming. But I don't live in America and someone in my country would receive about 2, maybe 3 years for the same crime.

originally posted by: DarknStormy

originally posted by: alienjuggalo
a reply to: blackthorne

I think 23 years is just about right for breaking into someone's home and shooting their dog..

Really? I think your dreaming. But I don't live in America and someone in my country would receive about 2, maybe 3 years for the same crime.

It seems appropriate to me. The act of possessing or especially discharging a firearm during the commission of a crime as he did is a very serious offense in most, if not all US jurisdictions. Most prosecutors will look to throw the book at the perpetrator in that instance, and rightly so, IMO.

SO the Dog that was killed was a RETIRED police dog, does that make the dog worth 23 years of someones life. 23 years is WAY WAY too long. THis is absurd, His life is absolutley ruined, Although I feel he should not have killed any Dog, to be sentenced for 23 years is cruel. I want to see some of these police officers sentenced for killing other peoples dogs.

a reply to: Glassbender777

Animal cruelty was only one of the charges. He was also convicted of burglary and a serious weapons offense.

a reply to: vor78


Not a 23 year offense which is obscene evil. You'd have to be a mass murderer like the political fiends to get that, of humans.

a reply to: Unity_99

Maybe in Canada that's true, but not here. One of the consequences of the 'gun violence' issue has been much tougher mandatory sentencing for possession and/or discharge of a firearm while in commission of a crime. In Florida, its a mandatory 10 years for possession, 20 for discharging the firearm. He presumably would have been subject to the latter. The other charges tallied up another 3.

originally posted by: nrd101
Have you ever been to prison? I don't want to think what that guy will be like when he gets out but man, some people think putting other people in a cage is acceptable. its not. bottom line prison is the new slavery.

Then don't commit a crime, and go there. It's pretty simple, and the vast majority of humanity follow the rules. If you are too dumb to realize that, then you deserve to go to jail. Otherwise, what do we do? Throw fluffy kittens, and pillows, at rapists, murderers, and vandals, so that they don't do it again.

Please....

originally posted by: Glassbender777
His life is absolutley ruined,

All his own fault - how about personal responsibility? He know what the likely sentence was for what he was doing, but did it anyway. It was his choice, and he chose jail!