I found this posted on a yahoo group i frequent... Thought i'd share...
Jury convicts duck killer
By Brian Fraga / New Bedford Standard-Times | Wednesday, December 9, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
An Acushnet man who ran over a duck in a mall parking lot was found guilty yesterday after only 15 minutes of deliberations.
Joshua Linhares, 25, was sentenced to one year of probation for the animal cruelty conviction. Prosecutors were looking for a year in jail with seven days served.
The high rate of speed he drives off in shows this was something more than an accident, said Assistant District Attorney T.J. Rebello, who prosecuted the case in New Bedford District Court.
Jurors were shown a surveillance video taken from Macys in the Dartmouth Mall, which captured the moment Linhares car struck the mother mallard duck as she crossed a parking lot with her 12 ducklings.
Linhares said he didnt see the ducks when he drove into the middle of a three-way intersection in the parking lot on June 13.
After striking the duck, he said he slowed down and then drove away without stopping because he panicked.
I was nervous. I didnt know what to do, Linhares said.
A woman who was at the intersection testified that Linhares sharply turned his vehicle and sped directly at the ducks, which were heading in the direction of the nearby Olive Garden restaurant.
According to Dartmouth Animal Control, the mother mallard had been nesting for at least five years in a retention pond behind BJs and Home Depot at the Dartmouth Town Center.
The orphaned ducklings were temporarily adopted by a Westport family until they were released into the wild.
Jury convicts duck killer
By Brian Fraga / New Bedford Standard-Times | Wednesday, December 9, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
An Acushnet man who ran over a duck in a mall parking lot was found guilty yesterday after only 15 minutes of deliberations.
Joshua Linhares, 25, was sentenced to one year of probation for the animal cruelty conviction. Prosecutors were looking for a year in jail with seven days served.
The high rate of speed he drives off in shows this was something more than an accident, said Assistant District Attorney T.J. Rebello, who prosecuted the case in New Bedford District Court.
Jurors were shown a surveillance video taken from Macys in the Dartmouth Mall, which captured the moment Linhares car struck the mother mallard duck as she crossed a parking lot with her 12 ducklings.
Linhares said he didnt see the ducks when he drove into the middle of a three-way intersection in the parking lot on June 13.
After striking the duck, he said he slowed down and then drove away without stopping because he panicked.
I was nervous. I didnt know what to do, Linhares said.
A woman who was at the intersection testified that Linhares sharply turned his vehicle and sped directly at the ducks, which were heading in the direction of the nearby Olive Garden restaurant.
According to Dartmouth Animal Control, the mother mallard had been nesting for at least five years in a retention pond behind BJs and Home Depot at the Dartmouth Town Center.
The orphaned ducklings were temporarily adopted by a Westport family until they were released into the wild.
