Lawyer and client: cut from the same cloth?
December 5th, 2008 by admin
Christine Abrams, who has sentenced yesterday for abandoning her dog “Ella” to die in a locked kennel without food or water, found a lawyer who was perfect for her. This is not because the lawyer, Andrew Stine of West Palm Beach, helped her very much- Abrams received a jail sentence just four months short of the maximum for misdemeanor animal cruelty (she also received the maximum $5,000 fine)- but because they both seem to be heartless individuals.
During sentencing, Mr. Stine told the court, “No matter how cruel and inhumane it may appear, it’s only a misdemeanor. And it’s a misdemeanor for a reason. It’s because this was an animal, this was a dog.” Thankfully, Brevard County Judge Kelly McKibben considers the starvation death of a dog to be a serious crime; Judge McKibben called the facts of the case, “very egregious.”
Mr. Stine first displayed his true colors in October when, as they were awaiting trial, he asked for a delay because he was going hunting!
It is some justice for Ella that Christine Abrams will be going to jail.
Now that the case has concluded, we’d like to give one last thank you to the dedicated group of activists in the Brevard County area who for nine months attended every single court hearing, and protested outside the courthouse, to ensure that the suffering of Ella would not be forgotten, and to demand tough sentencing for Abrams.