Man guilty in animal cruelty case

By JOHN LYNCH

A 23-year-old former Longview man was sentenced to a year in jail Tuesday after he admitted to angrily throwing his girlfriend's puppy twice against a wall and once over a fence.

Lee Michael Rhea denied the 19-year-old woman's claims that he also beat and kicked the 6-month-old Boston terrier bloody during an altercation at her home March 22. The abuse, described as torture by police, left the small dog called Pretty Boy bleeding and hurt, but did not break any bones or cause serious injury.

The Mount Pleasant native told District Judge David Brabham he was "raging" and "plenty messed up" from a combination of prescription pain killers and at least three days without sleep when he tormented the puppy.

Rhea said he was sorry about hurting the dog and he didn't intend to. He said he was really angry at his girlfriend.

"I took it out on the dog. I didn't hit her," he said. "I wish I would have walked away."

Rhea pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony charge of animal cruelty, throwing himself on the mercy of the court. Assistant District Attorney Alfonso Charles said the conviction is the first in Gregg County under a new law that makes it a felony to torture an animal.

Much of the state's case rested on the testimony of the dog owner, Brandi Michelle White, whose account was bolstered by witness statements and police reports. The March incident ended their rocky three-month relationship.

White testified Rhea held the puppy like a "baseball" before throwing him against a bedroom wall the first time. She said he then pulled the dog from her arms and again threw him against the wall.

"I was begging him to stop. He was holding (Pretty Boy) to the ground, telling me he was going to break his neck, going to kill him," she said in testimony that was often tearful.

She told the judge Rhea punched and kicked the dog several times. At one point, White testified, Rhea threw the puppy over a fence, telling her that he wanted to see if the animal could fly. White said she ran from the apartment, and Rhea later told her the dog "was hanging from the tree, dead."

White told the judge that Rhea was angry because the dog would not come out of his kennel for a walk. She said Rhea also told her the puppy had bitten him. White testified the dog had previously suffered a broken leg — an injury she said Rhea told her occurred when he had thrown the puppy onto a concrete patio.

Rhea denied breaking the dog's leg. Testifying about the March incident, he said he "slapped" Pretty Boy because the dog had urinated on the floor and that White got angry because he was disciplining the dog, and started hitting him. He said he threw the dog at her "defensively" and didn't mean for it to hit the wall.

Rhea squabbled with Charles about how much he remembered about the incident, particularly whether he hit the animal with his fist.

"I broke a man's jaw with one punch. I think I'd have killed the dog if I punched it," Rhea said in testimony prosecutors later described as bragging.

He also argued with Charles about how long he spent tormenting the dog and White. Rhea estimated the encounter lasted 20 minutes maximum, while the prosecutor, citing the police investigation, said it was three hours.

Questioned by the prosecutor, Rhea also admitted to having a problem controlling his temper, testifying that he once broke White's car windshield by punching it. He was never physically violent with her, he said.

Rhea, who now has a Dallas address, asked for deferred adjudication probation, which would have kept a felony conviction off his record, if he kept out of trouble. Rhea also wanted a court-ordered drug treatment program.

He testified that a felony conviction would squash his dream of following in his father's footsteps as a banker. He said he needed a second chance to overcome drug and alcohol problems that he developed in his early teens. He said he quit using drugs in May.

But Charles argued that Rhea had his last chance with an November 1998 conviction for breaking a man's jaw during a fight in Titus County.

Both Charles and defense attorney Rick Hurlburt argued that the case turned on Rhea's potential.

Probation, with incarceration for drug treatment, would punish Rhea, but also help him develop into a productive member of society, Hurlburt said.

"There's no question we have a man with potential to be someone in society," the lawyer said. "He's ready for punishment. He's sorry for what he did."

"He's violent, your honor. He's been violent since 1998," Charles told the judge, asking for an 18-month jail term. "He chose to torture this dog. He chose to torture Brandi. That's his potential."

Brabham sided with prosecutors, ordering the 1-year sentence. The maximum penalty is two years and a $10,000 fine.