Justice for kittens: law student wins first case
3:22 pm, February 26th, 2013
A third year law student working as a district attorney intern won his first jury trial last week, sending the villain to jail for the abuse and neglect of four kittens, the Savannah Morning News reports on its website, Savannahnow.com.
While a double murder trial was going on in another courtroom, intern and Mississippi College Law School student Boone Phillips, 26, tried an animal cruelty case, accusing the defendant, William Ingram, 43, of abandoning a house and leaving the kittens to starve, according to the news report.
A key witness for the prosecution was landlord Johnny Berry, who found the kittens Aug. 4, 2011, dehydrated and nearly starved, eating bugs to survive. The landlord rescued the kittens, but one died.
The defendant will do time, according to the news report, which says Chatham County State Court Judge Gregory Sapp sentenced Ingram to 12 months in jail with 10 days to serve, a $500 fine and 120 hours of community service.
The Morning News reports that Phillips, scheduled to graduate law school in May, is the son of Savannah attorney Bobby Phillips. He’s working as an intern for District Attorney Meg Heap under the state’s third-year practice act, which requires that he work with a licensed attorney. Assistant District Attorney Mitchell Mobley took second chair.
The Morning News story included a photo of the lawyer, but not the kittens.
Contributor: Katheryn Hayes Tucker in Criminal Cases | subscribe to rss | 
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