BETHEL – An unusual animal cruelty case wrapped up Thursday in Bethel District Court when a man was sentenced to 180 days in jail for killing his sister's pet dog with a flashlight.
James B. Whitman, who will turn 30 this month, pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, reduced from a felony. A charge of resisting arrest was dismissed. He beat the dog on Sept. 10 to intimidate his sister, the prosecutor said. He had been drinking, according to court records.
Sarah Whitman struggled after the hearing to talk about her beloved Irvina, a moppy-haired white terrier she raised from puppyhood, but said she wanted to put attention on what happened to stop that kind of mistreatment.
"Just like with any human, they are not easily replaced. They are still important members of the family," Sarah said.
She has two other dogs, including Irvina's mother, and said it's painful now to take them on walks, seeing the places Irvina liked to go, the water she loved to swim in. People ask her how she's doing and they mean well, but even that is too much sometimes, she said.
At the hearing, Magistrate Judge Bruce Ward said the case stood out because of the high level of public interest generated through social media. An animal activist said later it also was a rare animal cruelty criminal case in Bethel.
The Bethel court received 66 letters from across Alaska and beyond urging tough action against James Whitman and arguing against a plea deal with reduced charges, Ward said.
"The court has read each and every one of those letters. Mostly they are from Anchorage but we also include letters from Palmer, Wasilla, Craig, Eagle River, Fairbanks, Homer, Ketchikan, Kake, Nome, Juneau and Sutton," Ward said. People also wrote from Washington state, Utah and North Carolina, he said.
Alaskan Shelter Dogs, a group that promotes adoption through networking, and Bethel Friends of Canines, a rescue group, put out alerts about the case on Facebook.
"The defendant's actions were utterly unjustifiable, morally reprehensible, demonstrated a callous disregard for the helplessness of an innocent creature and what's probably even worse, is that pet was used as an object to get to Sarah," the judge said. "That compounds what happened exponentially."
But the plea deal for a misdemeanor was fair, Ward said. Whitman should get a chance to integrate back into the community, the judge said.
Six months of jail time ensures that Whitman will be isolated and feel the community's condemnation for what he did, District Attorney June Stein said. His age and minimal past record support an emphasis on rehabilitation, she said. He was convicted in 2008 of resisting arrest and criminal mischief and in 2005 of assault.
Whitman, dressed in jailhouse yellow, softly answered the judge's questions about whether he understood the proceedings and paused for a few long seconds before making his plea.
"Guilty," he said with his lawyer, David Case, by his side.
Besides the jail time, he was sentenced to four years of probation, during which he cannot drink, with another 180 days of jail time suspended. He must get a behavioral health screening by May 15 and must comply with any of its treatment recommendations including up to 45 days of residential treatment, the judge ordered.
He also must stay away from his sister Sarah unless she gives her consent in writing. She said she doesn't want to resume a relationship anytime soon.
Joan Dewey, one of the founders of Bethel Friends of Canines, sat by Sarah in court and helped organize the public campaign for a tougher sentence. She said she was disappointed. A felony conviction would have meant supervised probation, while misdemeanor probation usually is up to the community to monitor and enforce, she said.
"This was a very shocking assault on the community. It's an act of family violence," Dewey said.
The Friends of Canine board of directors had urged a sentence with a "restorative service" element. Whitman could have been ordered to catch fish for his sisters or do home repairs, a way to make amends to the community and help people heal "so that he is accountable on another level," Dewey said. It's the kind of case that could have been dealt with before a panel of elders in a tribal court if Bethel had an active one for criminal cases, she said.
"It's something that's not over with this sentence," Dewey said.
The case still brought valuable attention to the problem of animal cruelty in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, she said. It's the first criminal case that she is aware of, though Bethel police say there have been others. It's at least the first that has been prosecuted and publicized since Bethel Friends of Canines organized in 2011, according to the group.