A California man convicted of hurling a lap dog to its death in a notorious case of "road rage" was sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison after the judge rejected his last-minute apology for a crime which sparked an international outcry.
Animal rights activists packed into the San Jose courtroom cheered as Judge Kevin Murphy passed sentence against Andrew Burnett (27), who said he was sorry for the death of "Leo" the bichon frise and begged for leniency.
"I'm just very sorry," Burnett, handcuffed and clad in an orange jail jumpsuit, told the court. "If there is anything I could ever say or do to bring back Leo, I would."
Burnett showed no emotion as the sentence was read, although his lawyer said he was "shocked and disappointed" by the severity of the penalty.
Burnett's three-year sentence stood in sharp contrast to another recent "road rage" case in San Jose where a defendant was accused of causing the death of a 27-year-old man.
In a plea bargain that resolved that case, a 34-year-old San Jose man pleaded no contest to a charge of misdemeanor manslaughter in return for a sentence of nine months in prison, including credit for time served.
Animal rights advocates, led by Leo's owner Ms Sara McBurnett, said the judge was right to throw the book at Burnett for plucking the fluffy white dog out of her car after a minor traffic accident in February, 2000, and hurling it to its death in oncoming traffic.
"Andrew Burnett was enraged by a minor incident in traffic and took out his rage on Leo because he was the easiest target," Ms McBurnett said before sentence was passed. "His clear intent was to terrorize me in the fastest and severest way he could under the circumstances."
Ms McBurnett, dismissing Burnett's courtroom statement as "an apology from a pathological liar," said he had never shown any sign of true remorse for Leo's death.
"He was told what to say to try to get as much sympathy from the court as possible. I'm sure none of it was genuine at all," Ms McBurnett said, adding that she believed he deserved as much as ten years in prison.
Judge Murphy agreed, calling Burnett's explanation that he had instinctively flung Leo to the ground after the dog bit his hand "ridiculous" and an insult to the court's intelligence.
"It is not simply an animal cruelty case. It is a case of rage-induced violence. It is a case that needs to be dealt with harshly," Murphy said.