What the Charges Mean In "Sparkle" Case.
By: Charlie De Mar
Updated: October 18, 2012
Colin Andrews, an attorney at the law office of Tracey Rosswurm, says from his experience animal abuse trials differ from other cases, mostly because of how easy people connect with pets.
"Dealing with human emotions can be very tricky so one has to be careful not to let their emotions get too much in the way of their job but also you can't put your emotions on a shelf," said Andrews.
For the defending attorney, finding a jury that can find that emotional balance is much easier said than done.
"It's very difficult to deal with a situation like this when you are dealing with a baby kitten an innocent little animal and from what I've seen the injuries were pretty horrific," said Andrews.
Andrews says Animal Cruelty trials are usually straight forward, as the evidence often speaks for itself.
"There might be pictures, you may have video tape, you might have audio who knows what they are going to see and that can be just damaging to a case," said Andrews.
Predicting the outcome of any criminal case is difficult to do, but it appears that if convicted-- Jerome will be behind bars.
"Generally you're looking at three years maximum sentence and a $10,000 fine is kind of the ballpark you are looking at," said Andrews.
Andrews explains that with animal abuse cruelty cases in particular that jail sometimes isn't the right fit for all people who commit this type crime
"A court may order counseling after a conviction of this type and you don't see that in all statues," said Andrews.
This case in many ways will be used as an example to those thinking of committing a similar crime.
"I know the prosecutor and legislators are looking at different ways to stem this and to stop this and hopefully this case will lead to a little bit more education of the public," said Andrews.
Jerome will be back in court on September sixth.
