Patrick - Trial Day 1

First TRIAL date set for Patrick the Pit Bull


Posted by: O Jefferson

Patrick - Then & Now

The time is getting close to the first TRIAL in the court room for Patrick the Pit Bull who was severely abused over two years ago.....we need as many people as possible to fill that court room! If you can be there on July 9th that would be awesome!
Of course, we know that not everyone can attend/live too far, etc and we APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT 'IN SPIRIT. Please wear green/light candles/send thoughts that we can finally get the justice Patrick deserves. We ALWAYS remember and know that we are thrilled that Patrick lives each day in a loving foster home and is beyond healthy!!!! WE ALL LOVE YOU PATRICK!!!

July 9th - 9 am
ESSEX COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
10TH FLOOR - Judge Joseph Cassiini III
50 MARKET ST.
NEWARK, NJ
973-693-5700

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A NON-JURY TRIAL....Judge Cassini will hear both sides and then make a decision.

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Here is the very first newspaper article that explains it all!!!

NEWARK — Kisha Curtis, the Newark woman accused of abusing and abandoning the 1-year-old pit bull named Patrick, appeared for the first time in Superior Court this morning, pleading not guilty to animal cruelty counts.

Meanwhile, on either side of the West Market Street courthouse, nearly 100 protesters from two loosely organized animal-advocate groups called attention to what they said were the state’s lax laws against animal abuse.

Curtis, 27, was charged last month with two counts of tormenting and torturing a living creature and two counts of abandonment. The emaciated dog was found by a custodian in a trash bag that dumped down a Newark apartment building’s trash chute in mid-March.

Patrick - After he was found by the custodian

Patrick, so named because he was found the day after St. Patrick’s Day, has become synonymous with animal cruelty. Several animal rights groups nationwide and advocating for Patrick and stricter animal-abuse laws have popped up on the Internet since the case became public.

In court today, Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Cheryl Cucinello told Judge Joseph Cassini III she would present an evaluation of the evidence to a grand jury within two weeks.

Curtis, who appeared in court wearing a red top, blue jeans and sneakers, did not speak at the roughly 20-minute hearing, officially a plea disposition conference.

In a departure from protocol, Cassini addressed the case’s notoriety this morning and gave courtroom attendees a lesson in civics.

Newark woman accused of abusing pit bull Patrick pleads not guilty
Two demonstrations took place outside the Essex County Court House as Kisha Curtis, the alleged abuser of Patrick the Newark pit bull, plead not guilty to charges of animal cruelty. The protestors were trying to bring attention to what they said were weak laws on animal abuse in New Jersey. Patrick was found in a Newark apartment building garbage chute near death in March. He has since made a miraculous recovery and his health continues to improve at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls. (Video by Andre Malok / The Star-Ledger)
“There’s been an amount of emotion surrounding this event,” Cassini said. But, he added, “those emotions … don’t trump the rule of law.”

Cassini said he felt compelled to make those comments after receiving several emails in the last few days. He said it was the court’s role to ensure that due process is achieved, for both Curtis and prosecutors.

And although Cassini said that to some the judicial process would take too long to achieve a result, he said that was purposeful. “The wheels of justice grind slowly so that justice can be done,” he said.

The pit bull is currently recuperating at a Tinton Falls veterinary hospital.

“He’s doing really well,” said Patricia Smillie-Scavelli, hospital administrator of Garden State Veterinary Specialists, in a phone interview today. “He’s a people dog.”

Cassini set June 2 as the date when he would decide where Patrick would ultimately be placed.

Before the plea conference got underway this morning, one animal-rights advocate, Gerry Leighton, said Patrick’s plight was partly the result of lax state laws against animal cruelty.

“They’re not trash,” Leighton, of Flanders, said.

“They’re helpless,” she said. “They depend on us for their well-being.”


Facebook Event:
http://www.facebook.com/events/287114328052020/

Thank you to Howard Epstein & Janet McGowan Domanski for getting all of this together! ♥