Menlo Park man charged with killing a puppy last year by hurling it against a fence entered a plea of no contest in a pre-trial conference in San Mateo County Superior Court on March 6.
The judge hearing the case said the sentence, yet to be handed down, will be no longer than one year in the county jail, but the district attorney, appalled by the brutality of the incident, is seeking a more severe sentence.
Jolterrance Long, 18, killed his girlfriend's 9-week-old puppy on the evening of December 20 by throwing it across Ivy Street in Menlo Park, said deputy district attorney Jennifer Choi.
Ms. Choi said that the Peninsula Humane Society determined that the puppy died of major internal bleeding from a blunt-force injury to the chest, the result of being thrown across a wide street and striking an iron fence.
Judge Steven Hall referred the case to the Probation Department for further study before the sentencing hearing. The district attorney's office responded with an appeal to the Probation Department to recommend a longer sentence.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 5.
Mr. Long's defense attorney could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Long initially faced the possibility of up to six years in state prison. The maximum penalty for animal cruelty is normally three years, but Mr. Long had a previous conviction for robbery, which could have doubled the sentence under the state's three-strikes law. The robbery was found to not qualify as a first strike, however.
