25-yr Sentence for Killing Dog; All-clear for Death of Mental Patient

I love dogs and cats. I even had a pet chicken as a girl, and I guarantee you that chickens are intelligent! There was nothing "bird-brained" about Wobble Tail! Although I agree that animals need protection from heartless people who abuse and kill them, 25 years in prison seems excessive sentencing for Alex Castro's crime: he killed his girlfriend's dog. If Castro had killed a black mental patient, authorities might have helped him hide the body. People need dog justice!

See a UPI report excerpt on Castro's sentence below. The entire article is at the link that follows.

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Man gets 25 years for killing dog
Published: Sept. 26, 2009

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 26 (UPI) -- A Milpitas, Calif., man has been sentenced to more than 25 years in prison for killing his girlfriend's 10-year-old dog, Copper, prosecutors said.

Alex Castro was sentenced Friday for beating Copper to death with a hammer in 2007. His sentence was influenced by two former violent felony convictions, Deputy District Attorney Kevin Smith said.

"Despite the defendant's claims he was getting too much time for 'only killing a dog,' he is getting this sentence for the violence in his past," Smith told The San Jose Mercury in a story published Saturday.

Joanie Gonzalez, who owned 10-year-old Copper, a cocker spaniel, said she was "satisfied" with the verdict.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/09/26/Man-gets-25-years-for-killing-dog/UPI-38601253991429/

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Compare Alex Castro's investigation, prosecution, and sentencing with the amount of disclosure and justice my handicapped brother's death received, which was zero. Dogs have apparently surpassed disabled Americans for protection under the law, especially African American men. Isn't that something? California now has one more inmate costing the state $50,000 per year at a time when the its senior citizens and disabled people reportedly received IOUs instead of live checks this summer.

Castro's murder of Copper, the cocker spaniel, will cost taxpayers roughly ONE MILLION TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,250,000.00) if Castro serves his entire sentence and does not get sick and require special services, and if prison rates do not increase.

Judges sometimes give lengthy sentences as a warning to others that the defendant's offense is considered very grave by the court. All who learn about Castro's lengthy sentence are made fully aware that California will tolerate no animal abuse and murders. Following that logic, what message does it send to police officers across the country to learn that Larry Neal, a schizophrenic heart patient, was secretly arrested in Memphis Shelby County Jail in 2003 and his family was denied records and legal recourse? Does it tell police departments that mental patients don't count like dogs do?

What does it tell lawyers when they learn that The Cochran Firm was not censured at all for committing fraud against Larry's family, having pretended to act as our wrongful death attorneys for 10.5 months while actually doing nothing to file the family's lawsuit against the jail? Does this tell lawyers that it is OK to contract with plaintiffs and trick them to benefit their clients' defendants, who are usually more wealthy? For instance, if you contract with an attorney after a drunk tractor trailer truck driver crosses the expressway and kills your family, would it be OK if the lawyer (secretly a major investor in that trucking company) withheld your lawsuit to spare the trucker's insurance from paying damages?

The lack of due process of law after Larry's demise is the reason my advocacy started. I became aware of gross inequities in the justice system as evidenced by the sentence Alex Castro received for killing Copper compared to wrongful deaths of some citizens. Plenty of people were given lesser punishment than Castro's for killing humans, and some (as in Larry's case) were not even questioned.

"Equal justice"? Some people must aspire not only to be treated equal to other humans in this justice system, but they must also compete for DOG JUSTICE. Mental illness is criminalized in America, and citizens with that health condition are frequently victimized in their communities and in custody. Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI), founded after Larry's death, works to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness and advocates for officials to replace imprisoning psychiatric offenders with inpatient and outpatient treatment.

See more about the secret death of a schizophrenic heart patient throughout this blog and at the link below by Pam Wagner, celebrated poet and co-author of "Divided Minds":

Life with schizophrenia/bipolar, Lyme disease, poetry, and art

Incarcerated and Mentally Ill: Larry Neal’s Story http://wagblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/incarcerated-and-mentally-ill-larry-neals-story/

Mary Neal
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI
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Petition Requesting Dog Justice for the Mentally Ill

http://www.petitiononline.com/Neal/petition.html

Sign the Petition

To: United States Department of Justice

See http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com. On August 1, 2003, mentally ill heart patient, Larry M. Neal, died while incarcerated in Shelby County Jail, Memphis, Tennessee. During the 18 days of Larry Neal's fatal incarceration, his family and social worker searched for him as a missing person, while the jail repeatedly denied having Larry Neal under arrest. In 2003, Shelby County Jail was under the jurisdiction of the United States Justice Department, following suit by the United States of America due to violations of inmates' civil rights. To date, all requests by Larry Neal's family for official reports and an investigation regarding his death have been denied or ignored. The undersigned petitioners ask that Larry Neal's death be thoroughly investigated by the United States Justice Department and that Larry's family be given full disclosure of the results of the investigation on a regular basis, with a final report upon close of investigation. We ask that the Justice Department also investigate the possibility of a conspiracy between Larry Neal’s family's attorneys and Shelby County Government to deny the family's right to due process of law following Larry’s alleged wrongful death. The undersigned petitioners feel strongly that a mentally ill citizen's death deserves at least the same investigative efforts and call to justice as the abuse and deaths of America's dogs.
Sincerely, Sign the Petition
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Request from New Organization
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill ("AIMI"):

PLEASE TAKE OUR SURVEY!

Please help by taking our 2-minute survey about incarceration and the mentally ill. Persons concerned about mental health should work to make this a primary campaign issue during our upcoming elections. Your identity will be anonymous, unless you otherwise instruct. Thanks in advance for your participation!
Click here to be taken to the survey.

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DOG JUSTICE, by Mary Neal

Too bad you weren't a dog, my brother
In my heart, I cried
Many more people would care about you
And wonder why you died

You had no spots or floppy ears
You never fetched a ball
instead, you were a human being
But poor, black, and flawed

You died in jail for mental illness
I know down in my heart
Your death would be investigated
If only you could bark

Dog deaths get swift justice
Their abusers are sent to jail
Poor Mama would have closure now
If you'd had a wagging tail

But you were made in God's image
And some day, I have no doubt
The mentally ill and American dogs
Will have at least equal clout

by Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com